Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1910-07-14
From a Correspondent.

London, June ~, lJIU.-IHe sLdpOI
party continues to be profoundly dis
satisfied with the political situation.
Rumors have been afloat that the Con-
ference which is now sitting to deal
with the House of Lords may last for
six months. The Labor party spokes-
man points out that those ministers
are misleading themselves who expect
ed that the Labor movement in this
country was going to twiddle it thumbs
for six months while the important
business for which they were sent to
the House was at a standstill Ger
tain it is that upon the Labor party
and the Irish party, the two smaller
sections in the House of Commons, will
fall the major part of the work in
keeping the Government up to its
promises
One prominent leader of the Labor
party in the House, Ramsay McDon-
aid, said that the seven or eight new
Peers created by the Liberal Govern
ment were awful warning of what
would happen if they voted for the
reform of the House of. Lords. ''Look
at the list" said Mcdonald. IF I am
going to have an aristocrat 1 want a
genuine aristocrat, and not merely a
plutocrat.@ If we are to have men of
title holding even the limited power in
the Constitution, which the Veto reso-
lutions give, I want men whom can
respect, and not men who have bought
their way into the Upper Chamber by
literally subscribing to party funds"
Referring to the Conference, Nc
Donald said that Liberal papers were
assuring them that if they did not like
any agreement the conference came to
the House of Commons need not ac-
cept it, He disagreed. The Govern
ment and Opposition Whips would
picket every door leading to the divis-
ion Hobbies and the power of the
House of Commons to alter even a
comma was merely nominal and did
not exist in reality. There was going
to be a fight. The Labor Party would
not allow this new aristocracy to sub
vert the will of the people.
In quiries at the offices of the Labor
party elicit the information that the
appeal issued a. few weeks ago for
250,000 six-pences 12 cents) to consti-
tute a special fighting fund is meeting
with a hearty response in all parts of
the country. Some of the money sub
scribed~ will be used for assisting mem
bers of Parliament whose respective
trade unions have been prohibited I'M
der the Osborne judgment from max
ing a Parliamentary levy. Upwards of
5000 Trade Union branches have re-
ceived circulars and about 5000 collect
ors have been appointed.
The Northumberland coal miners
have been meeting the coal owners
with reference to an amendment of the
Cancellation Board. The men recon-
mend that there be a new basis wage
for all classes equal to 80 per cent on
the present basis wage, the new basis
to be minimum wage. Further, that
dages shall rise or fall by 1 per cent
for every penny e cents) rise or fall
in prices; but that it be open to either
side at any meeting Of the Cancellation
Board to ask for variation owning to
the special state of trade. 1t is also
advocated by the men that there be
an automatic ending of the Board
every three years, the first ending to
be December 31st, 1918. The men also
suggest that either side be at liberty
to issue a verbatim report of the pro-
ceedings at every meeting of the Con-
Citation Board to the whole of the
members. At the close of the proceed
ings the Chairman intimated that the
decision of the owners would be COM
municated to the Miners ASSOCIATION
Memories of noted calamity were
recalled at the laying of the founda-f
ton stones on June 18th of a group
of memorial cottages for aged miners
at Hartley. The site of the cottages IS
in the immediate vicinity of the old
shaft where 2O4 lives were lost in Jam
uary,, 1862. John Cairns, of the Homes
Association, mentioned that $4lS,66o
was subscribed for the dependents OF
the victims, and that after making due
provision for them, the surplus of $685.
600 had been by anorder of the Court
of Chancery allocated to the Aged
Miners Homes movements in Durham
and Northumberland. The Hartley
cottages were the first to be erected
out of this money.
Thomas Burt, M. p, who proposed a
vote of thanks, said they stood on
memorable ground He well remem-
bered standing amongst the crowd on
the pit heap, and the terrible suspense
of the time. But out of that calamity
good things had come. 1t sounded the
death knell of the single shaft system,
and gave immense impetus to one of
the finest institutions in the North of
England, the Permanent Relief Fund.
The Board of Trade return has been
issued dealing with the wages paid to
the workmen in those branches of ser
vices, classified as of public utility
namely, roads, sanitation, gas, electri-
city, water and tramways. The re-
suits concerned total of 26S,000 work
ers, mostly employed by the local rep
resentatives. It is shown that the
average earnings in an ordinary week
work out for male workers at $3.50 and
for female workers at $3.25. Wages
rule highest in the gas supply services
where the mems average is $7.75 per
week. In electricity supply the mems
average is 6 cents per week lower than
this. In tramway work the average
of mems wages is SIPS per week and
in water supply 800 per week.