§ Mr. PENNEFATHERasked the President of the Board of Trade whether coal miners and their families are to be rationed in regard to the amount of coal they consume in the same way as the public generally; and, if not, will he state the maximum weight of coal which may be supplied to a coal-miner's family, and how that compares with the ration allowance to other families, not being coal miners, of an equal number of persons?
§ Mr. WARDLEThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. Free or cheap coal for miners in many cases forms part of the remuneration of the men. With regard to the second part, no data are at present available, but the allowances to miners will vary in accordance with the practice which is in existence at the present time and which has obtained in the past at each colliery. A miner's fire has to be maintained practically continuously, for the following reasons:
- 1. Members of the same household engaged in the mines frequently work on different shifts.
- 2. The necessity for drying damp clothes, and washing purposes.