New Zealand Times. MONDAY, JULY 13, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4153, 13 July 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. MONDAY, JULY 13, 1874.

The necessity for providing without delay some stringent measure for the regulation of mines must be apparent to all who consider how many dangers are inseparable from this branch of industry, and how largely it will be engaged in throughout the Colony before many years are past. It is not possible for the most careless reader to take up the valuable reports of the Geological Department without being struck with our widely spread and apparently inexhaustible mineral deposits. In other countries the national prosperity has been dependent on what is below the surface far more than on a fertile soil or a genial climate. If New Zealand is ever to take a high place in the work of the world, it must be by the development of mines and those industries which convert their produce into articles of utility. Without seeking to undervalue the importance of goldmining, it may safely be asserted that the advantages to be derived from it are trifling when compared with those which would follow the extensive working of iron and coal. In the one case, with the separation of the metal from its matrix all demand for labor is at an end, whereas in the others endless varieties of workmen are required to change the form of the raw materials furnished by the mines so as to command a place in mercantile transactions. Comparatively healthy though coal mining is, many dangers attend its prosecution, arising from the very nature of the material. Those terrible calamities from the explosion of inflammable gas, of which we are so often doomed to read, may not as a matter of statistics actually cause so great a sacrifice of human life as tho equally certain disasters from tho insidious poisons inhaled in working lead and copper. But then, it is always felt that they are preventible. by due care, and consequently every accident leaves the belief that life has been made to pay the dreadful penalty of mismanagement. The Bill for the Regulation of Mine 3 brought in by the Minister for Public Works, though applicable in degree to all descriptions of mining, derives its main' interest and importance from dealing with the working of coal.. Similar in many respects to the Bill introduced last session by Mr. Donald Reid, the proposals ef the Government are.marked by a closer study of the subject, and provido for many contingencies previously overlooked. No little credit is due to Mr. Reid for the pains ho must have taken in the preparation of his Bill, and perhaps it may be thought by some he should have been permitted to complete the good work. From this view of the case we must take leave to differ. Where tho welfare of a largo part' of the people is involved it is the duty of any Government to assume the responsibility of legislation, and not leave it to a private member, however able and conscientious. Tho delay insisted on by Mr. Vogel last year has given time for mature consideration, and the Government acts wisely in taking action before vested interests grow up strong enough to insist on a half measure because capital has been expended previous to restrictions being imposed. The arduous and long-pro-tracted struggles of tho coal miners at Home to securo some measure of safoty in the prosecution of their labor, to put an end to tho barbarous practice of employing women and children in underground work, and by proper checks to mako certain of being paid for the quantity of coal actually sent to bank, though at last successful,- would have been so many years ago had it not been for this bugboar of vested rights and the cry of interested persons against interfering with tho employment of capital. Blind to the losses sustained by themselves when accidents took place, many coal owners fought I against any expenditure demanded for the safety of tho workmen, and clung

tenaciously to the power of keeping young children in ignorance by the temptation of wages being earned for the benefit of their sordid parents. When such obstacles existed in England, where coal owners, as a rule, are men of large means, still more might be expected to be found in this Colony, where capital is less abundant and the inducement to starve the necessary outlay will consequently be much greater. To say before an enterprise is begun that it shall only be carried out under certain known conditions, can inflict no loss on any one. To direct by law expensive alterations to be made some years after work has been commenced might be ruinous to the man of small capital. Hence, spite of the objection that legislation should not be precedent, it is more just to prescribe at once the terms on which alone raining shall be carried on. Whatever difficulties and dangers exist in other parts of the world will certainly be developod here. The nature of the material is the same, the methods of working must be the same, and the experience of other countries teaches exactly what precautions should be taken. The English miner will never be tempted to como among us unless he is fully insured against the evils so long endured at Home, and in no other calling is unskilled labor of less comparative value.

Part of the Government Bill contains the provisions necessary for the personal safety of the workmen. It begins by insisting on two separate and distinct openings communicating with each other, so that in case of one being being closed by an accident, escape will still be possible. The melancholy loss of life some years since at Hartley is the strongest argument in favor of this provision, for had two shafts existed there, the imprisoned miners would have been saved. Following this are carefully prepared restrictions as to ventilation, fencing of machinery, protection of shafts, and other essential precautions. Part 3 permits the appointment of a check weigher paid by the men, to protect them against the dishonest falsifications to which they were in some places subject. The want of such a person was an old griovanceatHome, and led to an amount of bitterness between masters and men that should never be allowed to arise here. Part 4 absolutely forbids the employment of boys under thirteen, and of women and girls below ground, and limits their hours of labor above ground. It * also compels the attendance at school of children lawfully employed, and so prevents the possibility of their growing up in brutish ignorance. However some of the baser sort might desire the abominable gains from the employment of women and children, the great body of miners have always placed such provisions as these among the chief demands from their employers. Without constant inspection it would not be possible to ensure a law being carried out, where self-interest is constantly acting against it, and part 5 secures this, and cannot be considered at all unfair, especially with the.'elaborate provisions for arbitration in case of dispute. It is not necessary to go through the Bill in detail, and we Bhall conclude by a reference to the salutary punishment provided in clause 35. When death or injury is inflicted owing to the non-observance of the provisions of the Act, and is not solely due to the negligence of the sufferer, or is owing in any way to the negligence of the owner or his servants, compensation may be recovered by the representatives of the person killed or by the person injured. This will operate as a standing threat to the careless or miserly owner, and will go farther to compel obedience than any number of penalties.