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Monthly Circular.
No. 224.	August.	1914.
To The Members.

Gentlemen,

The Conciliation Board Meeting.

The Quarterly Meeting of the Board was held on Friday, the 7th of August. The facts of the situation as to the ascertained prices and the action of the employers in consenting to adjourn the consideration of the wages for three months although the tendency of the market was downward have already been made clear to you. I have no doubt whatever but you will have appreciated to the full the action of the employers as indicated by the statement you have received. Even in its very baldest form, and if it had resulted from lengthy and persistent pressure on our part it would have been deserving of such appreciation. When however you consider the full meaning of their having drawn up in anticipation of our meeting the resolution which the Federation Board has sent out to you that appreciation will be largely increased.

They could with great justification have said to us (if we had asked for an adjournment) "Why do you ask for such a course. As a board we decide upon data supplied by the past three months. Whatever change may evolve from the war will be indicated to us at our next meeting and dealt with then." No one with a knowledge of our procedure could have found any fault with their reasoning in that form. We from our side could have and no doubt would have made deductions from the peculiar circumstances in which we found ourselves and urged the status quo. That would have appealed to us with great force and while we should have used the arguments to the best of our ability we were not (I confess) prepared to find ourselves so agreeably placed by the anticipated resolution which you have received. We therefore conclude that the friendly procedure they adopted will enhance our appreciation of it.

Let us hope that before our next meeting this awful war (which really staggers humanity) will be ended and we shall be getting back to our normal state of trade. Be that as it may the prominence which our last meeting has given to the main principles of a Conciliation Board will not be lost sight of. These are a recognition of the circumstances surrounding the industry at the time when we are in the midst of our negotiations, the bringing into play as far as we possibly can the play of mutuality, and the drawing together of the two sides engaged in the industry. Comparing the present with the state of feeling which obtained when in 1870 the German and French met in their last great war the drawing together of the employers and employees in our coal fields has been beyond what was in the mind of the most optimistic of that day. Who can place a limit to the nearer approach in the immediate future. Such a consummation is worth striving for. No benefit will accrue from the action of the mere carper and the suspecting pessimist who lives in a continuous atmosphere of vapouring charges without proof, and who makes the class a man may live in the standard of his honesty. It is not only an unjust but an unsound mode of logic. Look how foolish the syllogism stands. "All capitalists are bad far-reaching self-seeking men, this man is a capitalist therefore he is a bad man." It is not a man's sphere of life that makes him honest or the reverse but his mode of life in that sphere. Test the soundness of the syllogism by a slight alteration in the terms. State it like this "All workmen are honest and pure in their intention, this man is a workman and therefore he is honest." It is not for me to decide, I am simply trying to show how foolish are the staple parts of many of the speeches we hear and I am asking that the light of our experience should he brought to bear upon the mode of reasoning as set forth above. We hear it often. No doubt it pays the stater individually. That is not the real test. The true standard is how much will it benefit the community collectively.

I have said before and I repeat it here that to speak of and act towards the employing class as if they were rogues throughout and there was no good in them is not merely unjust and a mode of reasoning we should repudiate if applied to ourselves as a class, hut it is a collective evil. How can we expect candid and friendly treatment from men if we openly (to catch the popular breath) bulk them in one category and classify them as extortioners. Any one who in these days of open and equal collective bargaining has had to conduct negotiations will be well aware that there are mental laws which will no more admit of violation than any law enacted in this or any other nation. The violation carries its punishment and the man who does it will risk failure when he might ensure success. "He that would have friends must show himself friendly" is a truth of Holy Writ and the experience which comes from human relationships gives it emphasis and enforcement.

This reflection finds its spring in the action on the wages at the Conciliation Board and is made prominent because it illustrates the real inner meaning and spirit of' those Boards. If that he not the spirit then there is a wide difference between the name and nature of them and they should be spoken of under another nomenclature. It matters not whether the amount at stake be small or great the spirit is still the same and its recognition and application as clearly manifested and the lesson stands out as imperative in its demand for imitation whenever the decision requires in the future operation of the Board.

The War and its consequences.

If it were possible we might have selected a more congenial subject, for I confess I am against war in general, and was against this in particular at its origin, for I could not see what part or lot we had in the difference between Austria and Servia, and if it had been confined to these two Nations, I should still have been against it. But how much wider and more complicated is the area and circumstances. It is quite clear that the Servian situation was but a pretext. It is the old fable of the "Wolf and the Lamb," in a slightly altered form, but with the same end in view. The Triple Alliance was to be used as a means for German aggrandisement, and as a consequence we have the whole of the European continent (with a probability of the far East) suddenly turned into a great armed camp, and the peoples who have no difference with each other, are drawn from their peaceful and beneficial occupations, and turned into destroyers of property and mutual slaughterers.

What a change a short three months has wrought. Who in the month of May would have said that we in England would been in such a war, with all its probable dread results as we are now brought face to face with. Who would then have said that before the month of August we should have landed an expeditionary force of 165,000 of our best, as our first quota, to stop in his wild progress the Mad Mullah of Europe. The probability might have been in his mind, and the minds of other Crowned Autocrats, political intriguants, and those who profit by the manufacture of the material and instruments of war, but such an idea was a long remove from the bulk of the populations who are now not only being called upon to do battle against each other, because one man is full of the spirit of vaulting ambition and intoxicated with the idea that he rules by Divine Right, and as a consequence hem and he alone, must be the sole arbiter of and dictator in the affairs of nations, and who is so full of the wine of intoxication that he will not hesitate to take the first place when he speaks of the Almighty and himself until "Myself and God" has become a German proverb.

"Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad." Surely there was never a clearer illustration of the proverb than in the action of the German Emperor. At the commencement of the sad business it was Austria against Servia; but hardly were the first shots fired before the Kaiser was launching his thunderbolts in the shape of ultimatums against great and small, except Great Britain, and he tried to bribe us by what Mr. Asquith rightly designated, — "A most infamous proposal." We were to be bought for the present and dealt within afterwards, when we had dishonoured ourselves as a cats-paw, to effect his purpose. All his ultimatums were disgraceful, both in terms and time. In one case sent at 7 p.m. on Sunday evening, with a demand for an answer by 7 a.m. on Monday. Truly such arrogance was never seen, neither has it ever before entered into the heart of man to conceive an instance so glaring.

We are past the causes of the war, Whatever may have been our diversified views they are lost sight of, or should be. We must know nothing except our duty and the nation's honour. By our loyalty to one the other will be maintained. That is the idea that is resting securely in the heart of the nation, unlimited by age or class, it is cheering to see how the youth of the nation is rushing to enroll, prompted by a pure spirit of patriotism, and I feel confident that if it should be necessary for the greyheads to take their places as far as their strength will permit, they will not be found wanting. It is a war that affects every man and home. Not merely of the soldier, but the whole of the peoples.

Not merely in the desire to do duty on the battlefield is the nation in unity, but in the mutual material help which is being prepared to meet the necessity which will fall on many a home as a consequence of the war. Everywhere are Committees being formed, and efforts being made, and it is very cheering to read the reports of their proceedings. By those efforts the needs of those whose breadwinners have been called upon to serve will be met in part if not completely.

In this connection I would like to place on record our appreciation of the action of our employers in the help they have given to the families of the men who have volunteered now, or who were in the reserves or territorials. Our Committee recognised it, and by resolution acknowledged it. The help is not uniform, but I think with rare exceptions is universal. You will know what has been done at your respective collieries, and will join with the Executive Committee in tendering thanks wherever such are due.

With the unity of feeling and the mutual help, there can be but one ending to the war. It is the greatest war the world has ever seen. Greatest in armies and greatest in issues. For the progress of the world there must be but one termination. The struggle is not merely to make Germany see the right or wrong of the Belgian neutrality. That is too small. This war must be to insure the peace of the world, which can never be so long as German Imperialism retains its present position in the world. A storm centre from which at any moment may burst another war, hindering the progress of the people, and wasting the resources of every nation, which should he devoted to the alleviation of the misery of which there is too much in every country.

Let me say this is not a war against the German people, and therefore I hope there will be no hurtful manifestation against any of that nation who are in our midst. Our aim must be at the end of the war to make it impossible for such a state of things to recur again, and if possible to guarantee the peace of the world, and consequently the welfare of man universal. The democracies of the world have no difference, and the path of peace is the real path of progress, for "Peace has her victories more lasting than war."

Compensation Cases in Court.

There has been a case decided in the County Court during the month which deserves notice on account of the principles it dealt with. The case was that of G. T. Coulson, a hewer at South Moor. The essential point to decide was whether a legal notice had been given within six months. The facts of the case are briefly as follows :— Coulson was injured in November 1911. About an hour after it happened the deputy came in and he was told about the accident and the nature of the injury described to him. He continued working for nine months without making complaint. It was then found he had ruptured himself, and after being off for a month or two he returned to work. He then made a claim through the Lodge Secretary, but the owners objected, alleging that Coulson had not given proper written notice.

It was given in evidence that the custom of the colliery was that the injured person should report to the first official he met, and in all cases the verbal reporting in that manner was accepted. This custom was corroborated by the local Secretary and was emphasised by Mr. Heath in answer to whom the Secretary said such a procedure had never been disputed but claims had been paid without any demur.

The Counsel for the employers admitted the rule but said "no notice had been given in the statutory form. The existence of that rule does not absolve the men from the requirements of the Compensation Act to give the written notice required by the Act. Of course the employers, when that verbal notice is given, act upon it, but that it is no ground for saying that no proper notice is to be given."

The Judge, in giving his judgment expressed himself as being satisfied that the injury was described, "but the real question in the case was whether the plaintiff had made the claim within the prescribed period. Under Section 2 of the Act the claim must be made within six months of the accident, but although the accident happened in November, 1911, the claim was not made until March of the present year. There was a proviso that failure to make such claim shall not be a bar to maintenance of proceeding if it were found such failure was occasioned by mistake, absence from the United Kingdom, or other reasonable cause. Mr. Heath contended that there was reasonable cause for not making the claim until 13th of March this year. The claim for a written notice had been waived in this particular case. The only question was whether there was reasonable cause for not making the claim until two-and-a-half years after the accident."

The judge decided that Coulson should have made a claim sooner, and he found for the employers on that point. The evidence and the verdict contain two points. First, the notice of accident which should have been in writing, but which the owners waived, but is none-the-less important. Second, the time which elapsed before a claim was made. Although the written legal notice was not pressed, it indicates clearly that our verbal mode of giving notice will not stand the test if the employers were desirous to challenge it. Of course if such were done we could after the first case re-introduce the legal and agreed form which we had in operation in the first stages of the Act, but I have no idea that the employers contemplate any such change from our present procedure.

The second point is one we have brought before the notice of our members on many occasions. We would ask you to urge upon the members of your lodges to be as precise as possible in giving notice of the accident, and in making a claim at the earliest moment.

Compensation Committee.

There were 23 cases dealt with by the Committee. Of these 13 were fatal, and 10 non-fatal.

Fatal Cases

Lodge	Name	Age	Occupation
Murton	Charles, Bradwell	57	Wasteman
South Moor (Hedley Pit)	Thomas, Clifford	54	Hewer
New Brancepeth	Albert, Deighton	33	Hewer
Silksworth	William, Dobson	14	Driver
Craghead	William, Flood	52	Hewer
Burnhope	William James, Hobbs	54	Deputy
Lintz	Joseph, Hutchinson	67	Shifter
Heworth	John A., Johnston	20	Wagon Lad
Delves	Thomas, Kelly	32	Hewer
Hylton	Arthur R., Rigby	14	Driver
Boldon	William, Roberts	21	Putter
Morrison Pit	Frederick, Tarr	58
Felling	Arthur, Ternent	31	Hewer
Lambton	Thomas, Turner	15	Driver

Non-fatal Cases

Lodge	Name	Age	Occupation
Eldon	J., Bell	47	Waggonwayman
Marsden	William, Cotterill	40	Hewer
Oxhill	A., Ledger	37	Stoneman
Sherburn Hill	Charles E., McGregor	21	Hewer
Lintz	Edward, McKenna	19	Driver
Malton	Joseph, Milburn	34	Hewer
Houghton	D., Shaw	20	Coal Cutter

Durham, 1914. John Wilson.

 

Source:

NEEMARC - Ref: NUMDA/1/6/39, D.M.A. Minutes, Circulars etc. for 1914 (two volumes: covers Jan-Jun, Jul-Dec)