Omaha daily bee., 1916-12-17
COAL MINERS ONCE
MORE IN TROUBLE
Lloyd George Settled Mess a
Year Ago for Quarrelsome
South Wales Laborers.
WANT NEW WAGE SCALE

Cardlft, wales, Dec. 5.-Atter
year of comparative peace labor and
capital are again at loggerheads in
the South Wales coal fields. For
nearly generation the colliery own
ers and the miners have maintained
an attitude of mutual ill-temper and
suspicion, and war has not been al
lowed to displace their traditional
quarrel. A year ago fve-day stop
page of the mines, on which the
British navy largely depends for fuel.
actually took place, and prolonged
deadlock was only averted by the i'll
tervention of Lloyd George, who
summarily granted most of the min
ers' demands over the protests of
the owners.
The demands now made by the
miners may be summarized as fol-
lows:
Immediate concession of IS per
cent advance in wages to cover the
increased cost of living.
An independent audit of the coal
owners books to show exactly what
are the profits on all classes of coal
over a long period of years.
That the financial relation Of wages
to profits be ultimately arranged so
that the percentage shall be the same
as before the war.
Payment to be made for Small
coar henceforth on a tonnage rate
to be established by later negotia-
tions.
That the selling price of coal be
henceforth established by a compe-
tent independent authority on a basis
of the standard wage paid.
Peace Far Ahead.
1t is evident from this comp1i-
Gated and elaborate series of de-
mands that a settlement must neces-
sarily involve protracted negotia-
tions. The miners contend that the
IS. per cent wage increase is urgent
and should be granted at once. The
other demands may be taken UP more
leisurely before any suitable trbu-
nal.
One of the most puzzling of the
demands is that which seeks payment
for the so-called Small coal" This
is a new demand and meets with de-
termined opposition from the owners
Hitherto the workmen who received
payment on tonnage basis-so much
for every ton of coal miner-havc
been paid only for the large, or first
quality, coal. Every ton of coal
which miner sent to the surface was
first passed over the screens and only
the, residue after the small coal had
been screened out was weighed and
paid for. Ordinarily miner who
sent twenty tons of coal to the sur
face would receive payment for min
ing only about seventeen tons, three
tons having passed through the
screens and been discarded as Small
coal" The men now point to the
large increase in price which the
owners are obtaining for this small
coal today as compared with the
price before the war. This price
shows an increase from about 9 shil-
lings ($225) to nearly lS shillings
($450) per ton.
Much More Wages.
In reply to the mems demand for
an immediate increase of IS per cent
in wages, the owners have made de-
mand for 10 per cent decrease. The
last dispute was patched up by Lloyd
George year ago with an award of
a IS per cent increase. while the own
ers were permitted to add half a
crown (67 cents) per ton to their
wholesale price. The miners now de-
clare that the OWNERS are making a
handsome additional profit out of this
half-crown, and also out of the sale
of the small coal" and they claim
their share, on the ground that the
basis of their wages has always been
the selling price of coal. To this the
owners reply that all the expenses of
mining, other than wages. have gone
up, and that some of their mines no
longer pay to work. The balance
sheets of the largest coal companies
in the district, which show great
increase of profit during the war, fig
ure prominently in the evidence sub
mitted by the miners.
While feeling in the coal regions
is at high pitch, the attitude of the
country at large is one OF undisguised
impatience with any quarrel between
capital and labor at time when the
energies OF the country are so largely
concentrated on war. Wide publicity
has been given i'll the coal districts
to an editorial in the London Times,
which says: =