The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-31

section provides they must not loiter at all around the mine.
 By section T the operator is given the right to promulgate rules and vio- lation of these rules is made a criminal offense, to be punished as such. It may be that this provision is unconstitutional, in that it attempts to delegate to the i, operators the power to create crimes in Alabama, but nevertheless it just as strongly shows the purpose of the opera tors in this bill.
 Another example of most outrageous attempt to deprive a miner of any com- pensation for injuries, and at the same time to fix crime upon him, is shown in section 62. We quote: "It shall be un- lawful for any miner to enter his work ing place in a gaseous mine without first ascertaining that such working place is in a safe condition" Now, any practical miner knows that 1t is impossible for a miner to ascertain that there is no gas in his working place without entering it. Ii can be neither seen nor smelled, and yet miner is made a criminal in order that the operator might fix partial blame upon him for a failure to safeguard the lives of the miners by proper ventila- ton and thus escape all liability to the miner for injuries or to his family for his death.
 Section Il still farther illustrates that this law is not for the protection of the miner, but solely for the protection of the operator against any liability for the maiming and killing of those whom they send down into the bowels of the earth, and for whose protection they might fail to take the precautions now required by law of the operator.
 After requiring that the inspectors, after an accident, and in other contin- gencies shall make an examination of the mine and ascertain the cause, this section proceeds as follows viz But none of the information contained in any report of accident shall be divulged by any of the inspectors or their employees to any person whomsoever, and such re- port shall not be admitted in evidence in any suit against the operators growing out of the accident reported" It thus appears that in and by this bill, which the operators profess to be so carefully considering for the protection of the miners, the operators are seeking to cre- ate and maintain a force of inspectors, paid by the state, whose mouths shall be absolutely sealed if anything is found re- fiecting on the operators, but whose tes- t:mony- can be forced by the operators in event that it is considered favorable to them.
 In section 110 the operators have under taken to shield themselves from liability in cases where any other person or cor pcration would be liable. For instance, if a miner is killed by the gross and wan ton disregard by the operator of the plainest requirements of the law, and is without blame himself. yet, under this section, there can be no recovery what ever against the operator unless 1t be shown that deceased left dependent rela- tives. If under even such circumstances, that is, wanton killing by the operator, deceased should leave father and mother brother and sister, and they did
 |. k< l~@ INv,k It there could be no recovery whatever, and the operator would be absolutely ab- solved from liability for this killing, al- though private individual not operating 8 coal mine, a railroad, or a corporation operating any other industry, would under the same circumstances be an- swerabe in damage to the administrators of the deceased.
 There are many other features of this nefarious bill nearly if not quite as dam aging to the good name of the state as the above, but we forbear to take more space. We have quoted sufficient sam ples by which a justice-loving public can form some idea of the iniquities sought to be put upon the miner
 It is to be hoped that the legislature, many members of which body doubtless know little of the mining industry, will not thoughtlessly allow themselves to promise vote for this measure without carefully scrutinizing it for the good of the state. There is no doubt that the operators intend 1t for their own good. The writers, however, believe that, as all unjust and oppressive measures rebound against the oppressor that, should this bill become a law, it would really work out to the disadvantage of the opeR- tor, in that, as intimated at the outset, no decent and self respecting miners who could avoid the state would work in the mines here, and the miners would be filed with an inferior class of labor. Any good business man knows what this means. Respectfully,
 J. l.. CLEMO, R. A. STATHAM, | J. R. KENNARNES. January 90, 1911.