The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1914. A DAMNING REPORT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 140, 6 November 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1914. A DAMNING REPORT.

The report presented to Parliament on Saturday by the special Commission appointed to investigate the Huntly mining disaster is one of the moat damning | documents ever laid before the country, it shows that the accident by which fort'-three men wore swept into eter--1..1.,.' iu,» (.id-el ie- r..sJ'lect on the part of ; : -.e mil;-.- ii-.:i;:....;eine!it, the slowiutss ui L::i: D'.jii'.iti!" ul to act when its at-•-er.yiPii v.-as 'in. v:i forcibly by its own

. .;ii ,;i to i !, i! J:, nacrous conditions in -i.e ii.ims anil ti ■ defective nature of the .uinii.g lav.v,. We arc informed that the mine "did not see that tho mine was properly vvr.ii lated in all parts, and did not sec thai the working of tho mine was carried on .-'ith ali reasonable pro-vi.-ioiw for the sa)ety of the persona employed." In spit', of repeated warnings in the form of minor explosions, he continued to allow faked lights to be used, in violation of the law, and apparently lie was able to disregard, or at least partially neglect, the recommendations of the District Inspector of Mines. The Inspecting Kngii.i • r for Mines, Mr. Frank Reed, the chief mining expert of the Department of Mines, had reported to the ruder-Secretary for Mines that in Ralph's colliery "the elements for a colliery disaster were all present." In all, according to compel, Mr. Reed wrote six warning letters to the Undersecretary, and Mr. iieecUimVelf deposed that after the session was opened he reported: "I fear a holocaust in Ralph's mine;" and again on 211 th .inly (the forty-three-minors were not killed till 12th September) he reported that the gas-ignition I injuries on 9th .inly to Kelly (a miner j who was among the slain on 12th Sep- ' tembor) "might have been a holocaust." I Notwithstanding all these warnings, I commencing over six :nontlis before tile | disaster, the Department of Mines took jno effective action. The holocaust could I Lave been prevented by better ventilation, by bettor gas-testing, by better ! fencing-oir of old workings, or by the j use of safety lamp's. What did the Department? do? The head of the Department instructed the District Inspector I to prosiv ite tin mine manager, who was I simply l.»> rcj:ri tentative of a company J in the nuitter, on a charge of a breach of the mine regulations, but the instruc- ; tion was made ■■subject to a favorable J legal opinion o! Ihe case being obtained," The legal opinion was that an action would not succeed. Delay occurred. Mr. Reed was insistent, fie recommended that, even if success in Court was not to be hoped for because of "an obsolete Mining Act," the prosecution should be gone on with, for it would have moral effect, and (to quote from Mr. Reed's published evidence) "would at least show I the public that the; Department was j alive to the petition."; The Department

did nothing. It simnly awaited the passing of legislation that would strengthen its hands in swli a case, but one would think that, considering the gravity oi tiie position, and the possibility o'f a holocaust occurring unless something were immediately done, the Department would have taken the bit between it's teeth and acted. There would «»ve been no doubt as to the issue. Public opinion would have canned the shutting up of the mine until the necessary safeguards were provided, however defective the law was. As it is, the Department cannot escape its share of the responsibility for the death of the forty-three miners. The Prime Minister has deprecaU.s criticism of the case whilst there is the possibility ot a charge of manslaughter being brought against the mine company's chief o'.licial. lint how about the Mines Department? Is it not equally cul. pubh-'r Tiie 'logical outcome of the Coniinisrion's report is that the Department should also be arraigned for rj'.unslaiightei-.

MORAL QCAUTIKS LV YVAiI An article in the current issue, of Blackwood's Magazine, entiiled, "Moral Qualities of War," is not only a, striking confession of a soldier's faith, but also the military testament of one who was among the lirst to lav hi., life. f ol - his country in the present war. The article is unsigned, by Mr Blackwood states that it was written by Major C. A. 1a Yeat, of the King's (: W n Lijv'ht Yorkshire Infantry, whose, death in action was announced in the lirst casualty list published on September 3. The following passage occurs:•--'•The importance of moral qualities for success in war can scarcely be over-estimated. .Xapoicon, by comparison with material factors, put it at three, to one. .Since, his day their relative value mav lie -aid to have increased. The "times when serried masses- or even supple columns and xhouldor-to-shoiiidcr lines—moved right up to a hostile position are past and gone. Then, an advance through a comparatively shallow zone of lire with comrades close at hand was succeeded by a bayonet attack or by a retrograde movement whie'e soon brought immunity lrom hostile weapons. Two-day battle's were rare; many encounters celebrated in history iasted only a few hours or 'less. The long periods of rest and freedom from danger which intervened between battles served to restore shattered nerves ami. weary frames. But of I present-day warfare the distinguishing | feature is its intensity. Ung - marches, .irrespective of weather and season, t will frequentl) mark tho opening stages of a campaign; ineessanf vigilcnee' '.s needed from the moment war is declared; constant is -the risk of sudden des-truction-which iu these later days may come from even the sky above-chilly bivouacs must often be the substitute for snug win),,,, quarters of the pre-Na poleomc days; battles lust for days and even weeks, and while they endure scarcely a spot for some miles f rom the enemy is safe irom shot and shell- moreover, experiments prove that the verv latest projectiles in use cause wounds more terrible llwiiv any previous weapons have done. What a strain on nerves overtaxed already in many cases by our * modern high-pressure existence? What j a test for bodies accustomed to the 'comforts* of latter-day civilisation?" '