The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-08-20 00:00:00

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•ATLTIDAX, AUGUST 20, 1887.

OUR COLLIERS.

IT was very gratifying to find that though,
through much press of business, the Govern-
ment had to abandon, for this Session at
least, many of the bills, dealing with isnport-
ant subjects, which they had intended to
press forward, one measure of considerable
moment and of an uncontroversial character,
politically speaking, has not had to be sacri-
ficed—we refer to the Coal Mines Regulation
Bill. Any legislation aiming at hedging
round the lives of coal-miners with addition-
al precautions for procuring immunity from
accideet cannot fail to evoke the sympathy
of the public, for there is no class of men
more in need of sympathy and more descry.
in of consideration than those whose avoc.
ation takes them deep down into the bowels
of the earth. Their daily toil is a ministry
t) wants of their fellows, carried on at
ts''.crilice of sunlight, and often in a noi-
some atmosphere ; surrounded always with
I he danger of a terrible death, no matter how
great be the care exercised, how wise and
rigid the regnlations imposed and observed.
Tic majority of colliees of Britair, it is tree,
are men of small;ambition, characterised by
coatentedness with their surroundings, and
hawing little longing for extended knowledge.
They are far less ignorant than they were a
a few years back, and they have in a measure
began to feel their strength and assert it in
questions of the duration and payment of
labour : but they are comparatively careless,
as heedless, in fact, of peril as they are un-
doubtedly- courageous. They will not puzzle
*at plans for the prevention of explosionF,
they will not even think about the plans pro-
posed by others. So far from insisting that
mine managers and mine owners should
adopt every possible safeguard in the work.
ins, they will not, as a class, take the
trouble to avail themselves of the means
provided for their protection, and often, in-
deed, evince a foolhardiness that is little less
than amazing. It is highly necessary there-
fore that statesmen should move for the pro-
tection of the collier from all the hazards
which imperil him day by day, for his pro-
tection against his employers and his fellow.
workmen, and for his protection against
himself. Stringent regulations have been
found necessary to the good order and se•
curity of life in our factories; they are
doubly so in the shafts and workings of our
ooal pits. In the factories the inspection
systnm has worked well ;f =Ye extensively
eniploynd it could not but be of great value
in the mines What is wantAd is that
practical colliers of intellectual capacity
shou:ci be selected, given a special technical
training, and appointed inspectors. They
would know the temptations and the failings,
the needs and desires of the collier; and none
likei :hem cold examine whether the regn-
l.-..tions icr mine working were being
olhwv,A by masters and obeyed by men.
Yrs.:Aka: inspectors of this sort are needed
in sufficient quantity to guarantee efficient
oversight of the mines throughout the
country ; they should work on the plan of
surprise visits, having authority to penetrate
at will to the innermost recesses of any pit.
They should be controlled by ineFi of admin-
istrative ability, answerable to Government;
and the whole inspection staff should be ftS
incorruptible and vigilant as it ought to be
efficient, not likely to overlook any failure of
precautionary provision on the part of the
mine oweer, or to neglect to report negli-
gence or culpable carelessness discovered in
*ny working collier. We should have liked
to have seen more attention paid to this
matter in the Government bill, wnich has
cootaitily shown a good deal of consideration
foe the et Li ta !I of the workmen, and afforded
die, a legai status iu several things from
which thy have hitherto been debarred, as,
for instance, in giving the miner a right of
representation at coroner's inquests in con-
nection with accidents at the pits. The
examiuttioa of the mine before each shift,
Imavisiou for which was insert‘d in the bill
on Tans lay, night, will be a very valuable
-regalati.at, and ought to do much to ensure
greater security. Then everything danger-
3rtg 1111-1111 I.l' rigorously* excluded from *
rninv, ii*•:) far as it is at all pznsible. Such
a nutuaor's.l•Aa that of the certified colliery
ma:lagers of North Staffordshire to the
Homo S.3,:retary shonld not be overlooked,
calling attention as it does to the necessity
for preventine the use of gunpowder for
blasting purposes in any ventilating district
here gas has het found leaning, or to have
accumulated within- font- months previouelv.
Gunpowder, these practical men assert, is
use
wholly nnneeeasary ; and eveeeone k-aows
litow likely. nuder each cir metalves, its
is to riosult in serious explosion and con-
seprent It=ss of life. Since science foned out
the value of the gelatinous compounds and
Tele -, cArtridges W,!:1 tric
Cl.nre has been asin:eular
fm.n oelarnity wherever they have been
thoug- h their use hes howl air:rely
r"-tellalifit: We hold that the State should
cv;Tep‘lniine owners to hare none but the
anfeet of s!iparatus Of oiery kind in working,
ProPPr penaltie- s for disobeyenent of
'L above all, the voice practical ought
_ -ring when new rules and -
req-
framed. The new bill
se the position of the
rlarl iament deserves
'ussion of the
e fag en 1 of