DISTRESS IN WALES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5278, 23 February 1878, Page 3

DISTRESS IN WALES.

The distress in the coal and iron districts of South Wales (aayg a recent - exchange), owing to‘ the stagnation* of these staple-industries, is week by week extending over a wider area, and intensifying in those places where it. has existed for some time. Of the 6110. collieries of Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire, none are working full time, : and some are almost closed. The price at which coal has been sold within the last nine months has been such that the council of the Coalmasters* Associa-. tion Affirm" that not a'single, ton has been shipped at the South Wales ports for months that did not involve a loss to the coal merchants of from 6d. to’ls. 6d. per bon. There are now at* the Cardiff docks miles of coal-laden'wagons-waiting: for shipment. The coal shipments at Cardiff have recently fallen off nearly -200,000 tons a month. For months the earnings of colliers have been only sufficient to provide the family with bread, and the suffering, now that the cold has begun for the: winter, is very great. The population numbers about 40,000, all depending on colliery operations. in Cardiff is now so crowded that f the “board-room’’ is to be converted into a dormitory, and the.guardians will meet for the distribution of relief at the Town Hall. The money distributed for outdoor relief is increasing about £l s to r £2O per week. All along the valley ,of Ogmone; in Glamorganshire, and the Ebbw, in Monmouthshire, there is one general cry of destitution. The colliers, who are almost starving, fail to see that a reduction of 10 per cent, on their wages will improve their position, and it is almost certain that they will refuse to accept, the masters’ proposition. • i