The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-11-07

7 N~"~"N~@ %~~@%F'* wv
trOdds class, 1 Judge is Sould not at an B
inpFude, ia me, nor opt Of plHcs, with you
leave, to enlighten, 50 far 40 my Unite,
knowledge goes, The gentlsmaa, I win cal
him friend upon the subjecs mo bred after.
Our friend firstly asks, "Whss wages d,
she miners receive ?" They receive no uni
form wage, but are generally paid 90 mssl
per ton, or bushel- The mines then are, q
. rule, left open at oil hours, and are acces
sible to the men, 20 70 and come when The,
wish, work all the time their physical ener,
gies viii permit, and as Il is piece work, the
harder they work, and the more coal they
dig, the more wages they get, for the time
heiAg, at least. Ny frieod will thus see. thai
.he strong mau has powerful advantage
over the weak, provided aiwayf as Oh.
former has the same skill and xpsr .sHce as
tbe latter. There 10 also q great deal Of
difference in the strata itself, that is in ths
amount OF labor necessary to be expended
10 the production Of the same amount Of ton,
or bushels, Is compared with even . few
yards distance, so widely does a coal FED
vary. | do not wish il 10 be under stood thai
certain uniform price per ton, or bushei,
/ is paid for all the coal dug. No. What
mean Is suppose coal field to extend over
an area Of 1000 acres, the vein to be Of q
thickness, or within q few inches, aud say
there are four mine owners operating on
that distance, all gong into the same mar
ket, selling at the same prices, and paying
the same for digging the material, there rs
generally . wide difference IN the wages
question, "what wages do the miners re-
eeive I" Is difficult one to answer accurate
~, even m q single district. The Oaly way,
therefore, we have OF estimating the u. ner 5
wages IS to ascertain what wage the coal
mine owner pays to the man, OF men, who
work by the day for him, rs in ain JSt every
mile some OF those are required, aud they
are generally paid about the average. For
example, here at BIadwood, the company
pays man So 90 per day wheI he works
day Tor them. We will consider ourselves safe
then, IN stating that So 90 Is the wage here,
some may be more and some less, but this is
the rule. Ia sumo Of the older states in the
easI, less wages are paid than the above,
whilst farther vest a much higher price IS
gwen. But | believe in no one case, so far
as ! am aware, does il extend 10 the very
handsome, get Just sum set down by our
worthy friend, namely - 90 per day.
Next Our friend says-s'A service should
b. and IS expecttd to be, rewarded accord
ing 10 IT'S degrve OF CANCER True, indeed,
this should be the case, but alsS, Tor the
miner, II " not. That il is one Of the most
disasreeabie and dangerous branches Of the
worlds Industry, requires but visit 10 the
nfst place from any intelligent man, who is
at ali skeptIcal about Ihe truth OF Tins asser-
Gion and 10 the second place, examine the
yearly reports of the inspectors OF the Brit
ISL mines 5, aud | assure hlm these will furu-
ish al all convincing argument sufficient to
overthrow the last Yestlge vi a douOt. But
some might cay, we cannot contrast the IN
spectOrs reports Of the accidents In the
British mines with those that occur in
American mines, for We never hear OF any
such tGpiosIOns nor fearful catastrophes SUCH
as happen IN England. Mortality, therefore,
ought TO be much less In this country IN
consequence. But IN the absence OF any
proof TO the contrary, would it not be far 10
say u were greater, lor accident sud dsath
don't always come upon the miner BY way
Of fire damp explosion. No; 1t comes n
many different ways, such as the falling 10
OF roof, the falling OF coal, the breaking Of
ropes, machinery, &C., and many others,
among them stands prominent the Inhalation
Of poisonous gases These do Their work
silently but surely, imperceptably but etfcc-
tUally, and though a man feel ~ not in bis
youth, nor 10 The spTlngume Of HE, yet ere
the season when "tbe scar aud yellow leaf
sets in with other men, the coal miner 10
swept away into a premature grave, a vast
60, helpless Old man, al 40 VI so, the victim
of systv IN which, undoubtedly, could be 10
a great extent TeInedied were proper mans
adopted.
Ia Great Britain there are laws OF a Very
stringent character IN existence relative to
the safe working of the mines there, with
goodly number Of men (inspe;tcIs) appoint
ed by government to see that these laws are
properly observed and carried out. II not,
they are vested with the power Of causing
operations TO Ue suspended until the require
ments Of the law are fully complied with,
and at the same time Of inhicIing heavy
fines for operating without those requisites,
which is a violation Of the law. Nov, what
is the re. son that those laws exist 10 log
land9 Il il rot because they are essential
TO The safety Of human lifer Ii surely 10,
else they should never have been made by
an enlig htened British parliament. Why 10
it then that there lie not q single word rela-
ting 10 the coal miners Of Amer 10 uLon all
her whole code? ls il that An erican mine
owners are more sclicitous for their work
ingmen's welfare Is il that tle mines are
less susceptible TO accident? Is Is because
they are better managedr No it 10 none
Of those, at least ! have not seen is. Ny ex-
| perieDce has been, that operators 10 this
country are as listless respecting the safety
Of their WOrkingmen, at those are 10 Eng
land. Accidents are as frequent (thouEn
not by way Of explosions aad the mines As
rue, are no bester managed. Then il
must be the apathy of the men themselves
that prevents them from acting in that which
\ concerns them mOst-the safety OF life and
limb, or blinded az to the necessity Of such.
II the former, then they need some able pa
/ triotic spiritto rouse them into action. II
the latter then they require some kindly
missionary soul to teach and educate them
TO see the dangers they have every day to
ehcountery ana Inc best means q rurmOunt-
\ ing them.
Trusting have not trespassed too much
on your space TO obtain a place, and that
"a Seeker after Truth" will forgive any
thing hat might seem to him amiss in this,
and that | shall be glad to answer auv ques-
tioDs that be desires to put, if can.
Yours respectfully, JOIN JAMES.
4
Address to the scottish Miners.
The following address has been ISSUED
rom the conference Of Scottish Miners, Al