The Express.
London, England, 1867-12-05 00:00:00

Tx z attention of Parliament must soon be called
to the recent numerous and disastrous explosions ix
collieries. A notice was given the other day on this
subject in the House of Commons,and we trust that
this will prove to be a first step towards obtaining
a full andexhaustive inquiry. Thepnblic conscience
is disturbed about these colliery "accidents." A
strong suspicion has arisen that such catastrophes are
not altogether unpreventible, and each time a score
or two, or a hundred or two, of poor fellows are
immolated in a coal-mine, we have to ask our-
selves the ugly question whether we, as members
of the public, are not in some degree responsible
for their deaths. It may possibly be that these
disasters are practically unavoidable. It may be
that all practicable precautions are already taken
to prevent loss of life in coalpita. If so, it
would be a great comfort for the public
to know it ; for there is now only too good
reason to fear that many lives are annually
sacrificed by the ill-performance of a duty that
the public has taken upon itself. In consequence
of the exceptionally hazardous character of the
collier's occupation, we have surrounded it with
special legislation and with a special system
of inspection. This involves the assumption on
the part of the public of a responsibility usually
left to individuals, and it becomes a public duty
to see that those seeming securities accom-
plish the object for which they have been
created. At present there is strong reason to
believe that they do not accomplish that object.
Whether the fault is in defective legislation or in
defective inspection is a matter for inquiry ; but
explosions frequently occur under circumstances
that could not exist were the law and the means
of enforcing it perfectly effective. Explosions oc-
curring from deficient means of ventilation, and
from the reckless disregard of atmospheric condi-
tions dangerous to the lives of miners, are clearly
occurrences that effective legislation and adminis-
tration might prevent.

The objects of any royal commission or parlia-
mentary committee appointed to inquire into this
matter will be to ascertain, first, to what extent
colliery explosions are preventible by legislative
and administrative measures ; and, second, to
what extent such measures could be applied with-
out crippling the coal trade as en industry. The
first question will be easily disposed of. Explo-
aions in collieries are preventible exactly in the
degree in which the necessary precautions are
taken, and the real question comes to be how far
those precautions can be adopted in the practical
work of coal-getting. If every precaution that
science and experience could suggest were applied
to a coal-mine, the exceptional danger attending
the occupation of the collier would almost entirely
disappear ; but it is very probable that the adop-
tion of such elaborate precautions would make the
industry entirely unremunerative. The ex-
tent to which it is possible to apply
the precautions suggested by science and
experience is, therefore, • matter for care-
ful ascertainment by a court of inquiry. But
there are certain absolutely necessary precautions
that clearly ought to be insisted upon under any
circumstances. The existing legislation and system
of inspection have been created to secure the due
ventilation of coal-pits ; but we have the best
reasons for thinking that they have entirely failed
to secure that object. We have plenty of evidence
of the insufficient ventilation of ooal-pits. When
an explosion occurs the public are at once assured
that the unfortunate colliery was admi-
rably ventilated. The disaster must have
occurred through the carelessness of a
workman, or by a mysterious visitation of Provi-
dence, or from any other cause than defective
ventilation. By-and-bye it begins to be whis-
pered about among the engineers who hasten to
the spot that perhaps the ventilation was not all
that could be desired, and by the time the in-
quest is held it is discovered that the system of
ventilation was radically defective. That was the
experience in the great Barnsley explosion of last
year. At first no one could understand why a pit
so excellently ventilated as the Oaks could ex-
plode, but in the end it was found that the means
of ventilation employed were quite insufficient
for so extensive and fiery a colliery. The exist-
' ence of such pita shows how defective the inspec-
tion system is. It may be impossible for any
system of inspection to supervise the daily manage-
ment of a colliery, so as to see that lives are not
exposed to dangerous conditions of a temporary
character, but if inspection is to be useful at all

__--
it ought to be able to deal effectually with what
we may call the organic defects of collieries. The
same knowledge that enables a scientific witness to
tell us that a certain disaster was caused by having
i
one shaft instead of two, ought to have been
brought to bear by the inspector, so as to have
prevented the explosion. The fact that such
organic defects are left to be pointed out by a
deadly explosion is of itself sufficient proof that
our present system of inspection is very defective.
But those who know anything of collieries will
not require any proof of the kind. The inspec-
tion of collieries is notoriously a sham, and the
working colliers have a right to complain, as they
do bitterly, of the utter inefficiency of a system
that professes to guard their lives.

A recent calamity calls attention in a very
striking manner to another important branch of
this inquiry. Collieries that are perfectly safe in