Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [‎181v] (362/442)

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Coal Mines
296
[ LORDS ] (Northumberland) Bill.
I think it is conceded by my noble
friend that this Bill, if passed, would
reduce employment. If you say that in
twelve hours out of twenty-four no work
is to be done when during those twelve
hours work is now actively being done, it
follows that you reduce employment.
That is the first consequence. I would
remind my noble friend that twelve to
fifteen months ago when the coal trade
in Northumberland was active there was
no disposition on the part of the men
employed in the three-shift collieries to
remove their work to the two-shift collieries.
The demand was great; and if the grievance
had been serious, and if the miners’ agents
and the employers had been unwilling to
meet it, there would have been a migra
tion from one pit and one coalfield to
another. But the men did not want the
proposed restriction and the consequent
reduction of employment. Then having
reduced the employment of the total, you
will increase the hours of those who remain.
That is equally inevitable, and it is a
result which I take it is not desired in this
county.
Having reduced the number of men
employed and having increased the hours
of those who remain, you will increase
the cost of every ton of coal. Now, that
is a serious thing. People seem to think
that every increase in the price of coal is
a source of profit to the coal owner. That
is far from the case ; and it is very much
against the interests of the colliery pro
prietors that the price of coal should rise
to such a cost as to prej udice its free
purchase in the great industries of this
country. And Northumberland of all
counties during the last few months has
had a very serious lesson as to the result
of the increased cost of production
attributable to half-a-dozen different
causes. That lesson is that for the first
time there has been a marked and
menacing invasion of the London market
by Westphalian coal. It is only a few
hundred thousand tons at present, it is
true. But if Westphalian coal once finds
its way into the London market it will
find its way into other parts of this
country. The methods of work there are
well up-to-date, and assuming the quality
of th ecoal to be good we are faced for the
first time in recent history by competition
in this raw material upon which our
industries at home rely, and upon the
export of which the trade of the North
The Earl of Crawford.
of England so largely depends. By this
Bill you are proposing to reduce the
amount of employment and to increase
the cost of fuel, and you are proposing to
do that just at the moment when it should
not be done for the reason I have given.
I am satisfied that my noble friend Lord
Willoughby de Broke has not only over
estimated the demand for this Bill but has
under-estimated its far-reaching results.
I ask him, Why is this Bill limited to
Northumberland ? There must be some
reason. The House has a right to know
why it is limited to Northumberland, when
the three-shift system is in active operation
elsewhere. The raising of coal at night is
in active operation elsewhere. In the
neighbouring county of Durham 90 per
cent, of the coal is brought to the surface
during hours which under this Bill would
be prohibited in Northumberland. I do
not think it at all wise in an industry of
this kind to particularise between counties,
and to put different counties under different
working conditions. The whole case in
favour of the Eight Hours Act being
applied to these counties was that you could
not differentiate between the North of
England and the Midlands. My noble
friend is now proposing to differentiate on
behalf of one of three mining counties in
the North. That is piecemeal legislation,
which is dangerous and in this instance
can hardly be justified.
I do not think this Bill will remove the
difficulties to which my noble friend has
referred. He has called attention to this
l grievance. If he is right in thinking that
it is more widespread than it appears to
be he will have performed a good service
and have earned the gratitude of those
on whose behalf he has spoken. His speech
on the Bill will afford a stimulus to all
parties concerned to put their best efforts
into the matter to bring these difficulties
to a settlement. His Bill itself will not
succeed in doing so, but he at any rate
has been able to concentrate attention upon
the subject. His speech will receive wide
spread notice amongst all those concerned,
and I think he would be acting wisely if
he were to content himself with the know
ledge that he has developed a propaganda
and created public interest in this topic,
and not proceed with a Bill which, even if
it succeeded in removing the difficulty
to which he has referred, would, I fear,
entail others in many ways more serious.