The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-01-19
SPECIAL MESSAGE

work. shall be Instructed as TO tho
Iparticnlar danger incident to his
work, and furnished copy OF the
mining law and rules Of the mine;
and that every inexperienced person
shall work under the direction Of
1.-THE mine foreman, or his assistant,
or such other experienced mine
worker as may be designated by the
foreman, until such inexperienced
person is familiar with the danger
incident to his work. This proyi.
sion is in the nature of a compro.
mise.
Another matter which was a bone
OF contention was the closing down
of a mine when the conditions we're
such as to put in imminent danger
the lives of the men working in Il.
The present law requires that the
inspector shall apply to the circuit
court for an Injunction Of which
there shall be an Immediately hearing.
do not agree with the commission
in retaining the old law upon this
point. suggest that when the dis
trict inspector finds the conditions
In mine such as to put the lives
Of the men working in 1t in immi:
nent danger. he should notify the
chief inspector by the quickest meth.
cd ayailabie-by telegraph. or tele.
phone-and it shall be the duty Of
the chief mine inspector, with one
or more of his deputies. to make an
immediate examination of the mine
in question, and II the chief find the
mine to be in the condition reported.
he shall have authority to order It
closed and to be kept closed until
the conditions are good. II the OPP
orator of such mine feel that the
mining department has made mis-
take, let him apply to the court for
AN Injunction. Certainly the opinion
of State officers, who are under oath
and under bond, should stand for
something There are other reasons
why this should be done, which I
forbear to mention.
Another matter at issue was the
examination of mine foreman and
bosses by boards, as to whether It
should be by a board in each min.
ing district or by one board. It is
evident that one board would be
more likely. to be competent body,
be less expensive. and result in
greater uniformity, as there would
be but one standard and not dozen.
That mine foreman and bosses
should be competent men, and that
this competency should be guaran.
teei by competent board, seems
altogether right and proper; for, IL
these men are not the agents of the
operators by whom employed. and
the operators are not therefore re-
sponsible for their careaessness or
incompentency, then certainly the
State should step in and regulate
the employment of these persons,
who seem to be quasistate officers.
The commission has recommend
ed the dividing Of the State into
twelve districts, with deputy for
each district. There are now seven
districts and seven deputies) An
increase in the number Of deputies
is necessary II there is to be ade.
quate inspection. The commission
also recommends increase in the
compensation of the inspectors; this
is proper also. While believe we
have good corps of competent in
spectors. yet several men have de-.
clined the work because Of made
quacy Of compensation. "A man ut
for inspector can usually command,
from private employers, a salary
anywhere from $3.50 to 5000
month. 1t, therefore, seems neces.
sary that an increase be made in the
number of inspectors and in their
compensation.
In a short address / made to the
commission at its first meeting. I
suggested that, the law be made not
too rigid. discuss this policy more
fully under the head of "Cast.rron
Laws" in my regular message. The
conditions in the mines vary very
much. do not think it is well to
cover all of the details in the
statute. Let the statute law. down
the broad principles of the law, ami
let the inspection department have
to draft proper regulations in har-
mony with the law, varying these,
If necessary, to meet the peculiar
conditions in any mine.
The conditions in this State are
these: Many of the mines are In fine
condition. as for instance, the mines
of the Fairmont Coal Company. This
company has large force of inspec.