§ Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any information as to the voting of the miners in the matter of the suggested national coal strike; how many men and boys are employed underground in the coal mines of Great Britain and how many surface workers are there; and, in the event of the majority of the underground and surface men refusing to continue their work under present conditions, what steps, if any, do the Government intend to take to see that the ordinary industries of the country are kept going and that a sufficient supply of coal at ordinary prices is maintained for transit and fuel purposes?
Mr. BUXTONAccording to the statement issued to the Press by the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, 445,801 miners voted in favour of giving notices to establish the principle of a minimum wage, and 115,721 voted against giving notice. I understand that half-members (i.e. boys and youths and certain other members not paying full subscriptions to the unions) were excluded from the ballot. The number of men and boys employed in getting coal in 1910 is estimated at about 830,000 underground workers and 190,000 surface workers. As regards the last part of the question, I must ask the House to allow me to refrain from making any statement to-day on the subject of the grave situation which has arisen in the coal trade and the action of His Majesty's Government with regard thereto.
§ Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEWill the right hon. Gentleman say when he will be in a position to make a statement?
Mr. CLEMENT EDWARDSasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, apart from and in addition to general or district wage agreements in the coal trade, there are in existence a large number of agreements or arrangements between individual colliery proprietors and their employés or the local miners' associations, under which, either by special allowance or otherwise, provision is made to secure a minimum wage to the miners working in "abnormal places," or under such other circumstances as to cause their total piecework earnings to fall short of a recognised reasonable wage through no fault or lack of exertion on the part of the men themselves, and whether many such agreements or arrangements provide for machinery for investigating and settling all claims to make up such minimum wages. And whether, in view of the urgent need for the public being fully informed of the facts in the grave and imminent crisis in the coal trade, he will take immediate steps to procure particulars of such arrangements and agreements, and cause the same to be published at the earliest possible date?
Mr. BUXTONAn account of the agreements in the various coal districts affecting miners' wages has already been published, and is given on pages 24 to 48 of a Report published by the Board of Trade in 1910 on Collective Agreements 303 between employers and workpeople. I am sending a marked copy of this volume to my hon. Friend.