The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1921-10-20
GOVERNOR RICHIE WILL IN
SPECT MARYLAND COAL MINES
With State Mining Commission He
Will Visit Operations in This County

With State Mining Commission He
Will Visit Operations in This County
Governor Richie, together with the
State Mining Commission which he
appointed at the close of the last ses-
sion of the Legislature, and a few
guests interested in mining, will make
a trip to the mine regions of the State
for the inspection of the various types
of mines and investigate into the
problems of mine operators and min
ers. The trip will probably be made
IN automobiles and will occupy three
days, beginning November 18th.
A big fight was made at the last
session Of the Legislature over the
mine bills which had been introduced.
and as something of compromise all
the bills were dropped and Governor
Richie appointed a commission COM
posed Of G. Marshall Gillette. repre-
senting the operators; William J.
Trickett, representing the miners, and
William NJ. Maloy, chairman of the
Public Service Commission, as repre-
sentative of the public. This COM
mission was instructed to go over all
the mining laws on the statute books
and to draft a new code of mining
laws for the State. This code was to
+olya coori1oOco ~ ,,o,r- ,o,,1;+;z,,.. =,
mining and to settle the continuous
demand for mining laws that has been
presented at every session of the leg,
islature for twenty years or more.
This new code has been tentatively
drafted by the commission with the
assistance of Charles T. Clayton, who
helped to draft the Federal mining
law, and who is regarded as an ex-
pert in mine legislation. This code
will be printed and circulated all over
the State for suggestions and criti-
cisms, and it is hoped that the out
come will be the adoption of a set of
laws by the next Legislature which
will be absolutely fair and just to
miners and operators alike. The ten
tative draft is entirely satisfactory to
the representative of each side now
on the commission.
The Governor and his party will
start from Baltimore at noon No
vember 18th and motor to Cumber
land, where they will spend the night.
Next morning the party viii go to one
of the big vein mines at Frostburg
and after an inspection of it they will
have meeting at Frostburg, which
will be attended by the members of
the next Legislature from Allegany
and Garrett counties, the mine in
spector, a number of operators and
miners. At that meeting there will
be a general discussion of the whole
mining situation.
The following day the party will
visit one of the small vein mines and
see how the miners have to work in
mines of that character. Then they
will go to Kempton for an inspection
of gaseous mine and return to Bal
timore that night or the following
day.
1t is pointed out by the commission
that the entire character of mining in
Maryland is rapidly changing; that
the big vein mines are rapidly being
worked out and that from drift min
ing the business is developing into
shaft mining of much greater depths
than has heretofore been common. This
means that the miners are becoming
more and more subject to work in
mines of gaseous character and that
mining in Maryland is becoming more
OF dangerous occupation than it has
heretofore been. 1t was the desire of
the miners and the operators alike
that the Governor see the conditions
in the mines as they are today, in or
der that he might act with intelligence
on the mine measures that may be
presented to him, that they urged him
to make the inspection and investiga 9.
ton, and he consented.