THE MINERS' COMMISSION: aERE are few occupations which have greater
claims on the consideration of the community than that of the miner, yet there are few which are perhaps less often made the subject of the efforts of philanthropy. Out of sight is in this, as in so many other cases, out of mind. Miners are in- visible by day, and so do not inspire the cultivated class with that yearning compassion which is extorted from it by the dull animal stolidity of agricultural labourers. These never- theless pass the weary routine of daily- labour under the cheerful sky, and this is a compensation which no one easily estimates aright until he has been deprived of it. Here and there a narrative of imprisonment has been written which the world will not forget, but perhaps we lay more stress on the forced inaction or the harassing suspense of the captive than on the mere privation of light and air. It is worth remem- bering that a miner habitually works in a place competed with which the dungeon of the prisoner of Chillon was a cheerful and commodious abode, under conditions so peculiarly own called miners' asthma. And yet he has for the most part been overlooked altogether both by sanitary commissions and philanthropists. The "Act -for the Regulation and In- spection of Mines" is of very partial application. It applies neither to the mineral mines of Devonshire and Cornwall, nor to the lead mines of Yorkshire and the North, nor to the salt mines of Cheshire. The population employed in these dis- tricts has been hitherto abandoned to itself, and though there seems to be no reason to impute any particular blame to the owners of mines, we should be surprised if a mere sense of interest had been found sufficient to enforce precautions which are sources of expense to the owners and almost always irksome to the men. The report therefore of the Commission which was appointed to " suggest the most practicable means of improving the health and safety" of the miners discloses a state of things which must, on the whole, be regarded as satisfactory. So far as their knowledge extends, the agents who superintend the mines seem anxious to secure the health of the labourers, and the owners generally comply with the recommendations of the agents. Of course in the poorer mines, and where the lode is of doubtful extent, sanitary precautions are often sacrificed to economy, but it is clear also that the men are careless. What seems most to be wanted is some systematic control to be exercised by the Government over all mines. A Govern- ment inspector would make recommendations without having the fear of losing his place before his eyes on the one hand, or of making himself unpopular with the men on the other. The peculiarity of the mining population is that their health "gives out" prematurely. It is a common remark in Corn- wall that "a person of 50 is old for a minor." Up to 45 the average annual number of deaths among them is not very greatly in excess of that among males engaged in other occu- pations, but after 45 the decline is rapid. In Cornwall if we compare miners between 45 and 5.5 with the rest of the male population of the same age, we find that 33 of every 1,000' miners die in a year, and only 14 of the general population. Between 55 and 65 the proportion is 63 to 24, and between 65 and 75 it is 111 to 58, or nearly double. The specific disease is pulmonary. It does not, however, seem to be con- sumption proper, for the families of the miners are healthy when employed above ground, but rather to be a disease of a bronchial or asthmatic character. But its character is still very imperfectly known, in great measure from the prejudice of the surviving relatives against post-mortem examinations. The Committee, however, seem to think that these prejudices are not altogether insuperable.
Some of the causes which operate unfavourably on the men's health are not removable. The mines arc meetly old, and are therefore now worked at very great depths—in many cases from 200 to 280 fathoms, or from 1,200 to 1,680 feet below the surface. Not only does this increase the difficulty of ventilation, but it greatly increases the heat, and therefore also the exhausting character of the labour. Other evils, however, certainly are removable. The miner often spends no less than three hours in going to and from his work. The access to the mines is almost invariably by "ladders, some of which are perpendicular; and few much inclined." So labo- rious an ascent increases the action of the heart, and the men arrive at the surface completely exhausted and perspiring. Then they have frequently to walk some.distance to the place where they change their clothes, exposed to the wet and the keen upper air. So soon does their mode of life tell on their physical powers that they soon become incapable of working on the lowest levels, and these have to be entrusted to the youngest and least experienced workmen. We are disposed to attribute more importance to these removable evils than to those which are common to all mines. Imperfect ventilation, dust, powder-reek wherever there is blasting, these are things which can never be entirely remedied, and to which the coal-miners of Durham and Northumberland are as much exposed as the metal-miners. But the mortality of the coal-miners is not so very greatly in excess of that of the general population, and there is no sudden increase of deaths after middle age, as in the case of the metal miners. If we compare the annual mortality of the two classes we find that out of every one thousand between 45 and 55 years old, 33 metal-miners die to 16 coal-miners ; between 55 and 65, 63 to 24; and between 65 and 75, Ill to 65. Again, if we compare the Cornish metal-miners with those of York- shire and the North, we find that the latter are considerably more healthy than the former. Yet the "bad air, the powder-reek, and the stour," of which the men complain, are the same in both cases. But in the North the mining distriot is cut by streams running in deep channels considerably below the surface of the country. Entrances can therefore often be made into the mines from the level of the streamq, and the men are thus saved the exhausting ladder ascents which are the peculiarity of the Southern mines. These entrances, or adit levels, as they are called, obviously also do away with the labour and expense of raising the ore by the shafts. We can therefore have little doubt that the ladders must be considered as among the chief causes of disease among the miners, as they are also the most fruitful source of accidents. The rungs if made of wood decay, and if of iron become "sharp" from wear or "greasy" from wet. The same objections apply to what are called " stemples" as to lad- ders. Indeed the picture of a man and boy tied together by a rope and ascending a stemple has a rather frightful appear- ance, but the danger is probably much less than it looks to persons unaccustomed to use them. The men generally pre- fer them to the ladders. Fortunately there is no difficulty in providing mechanical means for raising and lowering the men. In some mines a machine called "the man-engine" is used for this purpose, and a visible improvement in the health of the miners is said to have been the result. But even these are on Hi to the objection that they are dangerous. The "cages' by which the men are conveyed up and down in the coal mines are recommended by the committee as combining the maximum of expedition with safety. It would, however, be impossible to say what would be in all cases the best means of replacing the ladders, but there can be no doubt that in all mines the proprietors should be required "to provide some mechanical means of conveying the men to and from the sur- face when the mines are of great depth."
The subject of ventilation seems to be less amenable to direct legislation. The most simple method seems to be the best. Two shafts, "so contrived that one shall be upcast in all states of the weather," are essential. If the natural ventilation is insufficient, the rarefaction of the air in one of the shafts by means of a furnace is generally the most efficacious. But the most that could be effected by legislation would be to have the mines regularly in- spected, and to give any two magistrates power to close them on the application of the inspector, whenever the owners refused to adopt the best means of ventilation. There ought also to be proper houses at the mouth of every mine in which the men may change and dry their clothes, and the boilers and other machinery should be subjected to a .careful periodical examination. At present the boilers are often without either safety-valve or water-guage. More caution might be enforced on the men in the matter of blast- ing and keeping the levels free from obstruction, if necessary even by a system of fines. If these rules were enforced, there can be little doubt that the excessive mortality of the miners might be greatly diminished, though no doubt mining would always remain an unhealthy pursuit.
Another evil is that at present boys of twelve or in some cases ten years of age may be employed in these mines. But it is a notorious truth that persons who enter an unhealthy trade before they have arrived at maturity succumb to its influences more readily than men whose frames are fully formed. Boys under fourteen ought not to be allowed to work below the surface. The other recommendations of the Committee relate to causes of suffering which are common to all classes of the labouring population, and scarcely come within the province of legislation. But this report will, we are convinced, be of little practical effect unless its recommendations are enforced by an Act of Parliament. Sanitary reform of all sorts must come from above. Miners are, unlike most English workmen, temperate, but they are as fond of "mugging on " in the old way as other people. No employes will ever importune their employers for improvements which cost money, and employers will be supine unless there is some outside pressure put on them. A system of Government inspection is the only thing which can supply these deficiencies, and we regret that the Committee did not consider such a recommendation within their province. But with or without a recommendation it is clearly the duty of Government to take the matter in hand without delay.
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