Evening star., 1942-09-23
By DAVID NJ. NICHOL.

going down.
Miners Attacked.
Faced by this unusual complex.
conservative elements have begun
an attack on the miners themselves,
an attack which appears unjusti-
ned from the conversations of these
workers at the pitheads, in village
streets or In their, neat, well-kept,
graystone houses which are so typi-
cal of these valleys.
The miners bitterly resent the
criticism for the most part
These men are working as hard
as anybody" said one who was
waiting to draw his weeks wages.
1t is admitted that there is q
proportion OF slackers. It is ad-
mitted that they also are chiefly
the younger men, for the most part
unmarried, but that absenteeism is
about the same in the coal industry
as In others. There seems to be no
reason to single out the miners for
criticism on this ground.
One explanation was "income
tax" A grimy elder statesman Of
the pits insisted that this was re-
sponsible for some cases. The men
earned as much as they required
Tor living In q period when money
buys little beyond rationed goods.
and then stopped for the week.
More plausible, however, is the
story OF another worker. Some Of
those who absent themselves from
work. he said, are partially disabled
or LII vorkers-and the coal industry
has the highest percentage of any
British industry in this regard.
They work four or five days. one
said. Then give out. They come
back As soon as they are able"
Illness Studied.
Illness is one of the problems the
government is studying carefully, but
so far no new recommendations have
been made. Silicosis and other lung
diseases continue to take q heavy
toll. In one valley there were more
than 600 applications for medical
certificates among $4,000 workers in
the hrst six months this year. Three
hundred Of these already have been
certified-a death sentence within
five years. The number would be
higher except that British compen-
sation laws fail to cover related lung
disorders which are almost equally
crippling but, so far, oficially un-
recognized.
Hopes are expressed that fracture
clinics will soon be established and
contribute to the labor supply by
speeding return to the pits of in
jured workmen. Convalescence
sometimes seems unnecessarily long.
An important additional factor
Is the increased average age of these
workers Since the wars beginning
only trickle of younger men have
entered the pits replacing those
compelled to retire through injury,
illness and other causes. Age has in
creased an estimated four or five
years. 1t Is not unusual at all to
see men in their seventies coming
from the shafts in work clothes
after seven and one-half hours on
face"
Fights for Existence.
I'm alright" said one. I'm only
CO." and there was special emphasis
on only" Another met at his COT
tage, surrounded by his family, was
almost 10. He had stopped working
| in the mines two years ago and after
So years underground, not because
OF his age but because the mine was
worked out. He is now employed in
. sheet steel mill.
AS background for all other fac
tors, however, is the war British
miners have been fighting for their
own existence for generations. They
are bitter about their experiences
following the last war. They are not
altogether convinced that what fol-
lows this will be any better. The
Atlantic Charter has not yet pene-
trated these front-line trenches far
underground.
In one sense, they have achieved
a miracle OF patriotism. They have
put aside many Of their grievances.
1t is surprising the effort they have
made.
(copyrisht, 1912, by Chicago Daily Nevs)