ALLAN MCINTOSH.]

57

I.—4a.

767. Were the hours of working fixed ?—Yes. 768. Was anything said in the Arbitration Court award as to how the hours should be counted—whether from bank to bank or from face to face ?—Yes. ; 769. What ?—The award distinctly says eight hours at the face. The men walk in and out in their own time. 4.u a 77 ?; """L^ 8 Act C , ame into force ' would vou abide b y the award of the Arbitration Court or bv the Act ?—lf the employees wished to continue under the awards of the Court—which thev do now—l would be perfectly satisfied. They seem to be satisfied—thev must be satisfied or they would have hied a new reference, and taken the matter into Court again. 771. The Act of last session has not been adopted?—No, not afall. a* 7 ?° y ° U think , this of bank to bank or face to face would be better settled by an u \°L a rhamen t' or do y°u think the Arbitration Court is best capable of settling it '—I consider Parliament ratl ° n " F ° Per PlaC6 t0 g ° *° With * ny § rievance ' under the present Act of „ 1 77 f T ou ? re aware that eo al-mines differ very much in different parts of the colonv ?— Certainly they do, to a great extent. J ' 774. Do you think it would be fair to pass an Act that would apply to all coal-mines, with reference to the number of hours worked ?—lt would not be at all suitable 775. You think it would be better for the Arbitration Court to settle the matter'—Yes Every colliery could be represented, the owners could state their grievances, and the Court would be able to deal with them. 776 . Mr. B. McKenzie] In answer to Mr. Gilfedder, I think you said that the miners had several smoke-ho s ?—Yes, there is no restriction with regard to that. _ 777. Is it customary in the Allandale Mine for the miners to smoke'—Yes esoeciallv cigarettes. . ' r^w-y 778. Is the Allandale Mine subject to black damp at all ?—Oh, no. lIW £• , white dam P ? —No- I am not aware of white damp existing in New Zealand 780. Did you get special permission from the Inspector of Mines to allow smoking in vour mine I—l1 —I am not aware that there is any restriction without the permission. 781. I suppose that you know the coal-mines regulations fairly well ? Yes 782. Unless you have the special permission of the Inspector of Mines have you any right to allow your men to take lucifers into the. mine or strike a light there ?—lf the question cropped up we could certainly apply for the permission, which would be granted right away, because there is nothing to prevent it. 783. As a matter of fact, if your are allowing your men to smoke in the mine, you are acting contrary to the Mining Regulations ?—I could not answer that. 784. You said that you only worked one shift in your mine? Yes. 785. Did you ever work two shifts ?—No ;it would not be profitable at all •i.u 7B6^? ld y° U T r USe a saf ety-lamp in any of the other mines that you have been connected with m Otago «? order to see whether the mine was safe or not ?-Mv experience has been confined to Green Island, Shag Point, and the Allandale Colliery during the time I have been in New Zealand. 787. Have you ever had occasion to use safety-lamps in any of those mines '—I have used a lamp occasionally to see if gas exists there, but such is not the case. You asked if there was black damp. It does occur m our collieries, and wherever it exists there is no explosive damp • 788. Does your underground manager or deputy examine the mine before the men start'Yes ; the deputy goes round to all the working-parts. He meets the men at a certain stage before they go near the working-faces and tells each man what he has got to do. 789. Does he report to the men on the surface or in the mine ?—At the first station 790. What do you call the first station ?-The first from daylight, where the men accumulate lhe deputy meets them there. 791. That is in the mine ?—Yes. 792. Your custom now is to -work eight hours and a half ?—That is the custom 793. Do you allow that time—when the men are kept at the station while the deputv is examining the mine—out of the eight hours ?-The men are not kept at the station. The deputv is there meeting them as they arrive. They have only to pass by. 794. That is in your case ?—Yes. 795. Supposing he had to keep them there for an hour or two?—They are not kept a Second.. 796. But say in other cases ?—You are talking of where there are explosives in the mines 797 In answer to Mr. Herries, you said that you considered the Arbitration Court should decide the working-hours in each particular case ?—Yes. u L 9 u Suppose the Arbitration Court were abolished altogether, who should decide then'-It should be left between the employer and the employee. . 799. Which would you prefer, to work under the awards of the Arbitration Court as you are doing now, or to work in the way in which you did before the Arbitration Act was passed '—I am perfectly satisfied with the existing awards as they stand now. 800. Mr. Guinness.] Is your mine worked by a shaft or a tunnel ?—By an incline 801. What is the length of that incline?—l,2ooft. J . 802 ' What do you think is a fair average time for miners working in a coal-mine to take for their meal-time ?—Half an hour is a reasonable time. 803. The miners at your mine, I believe, have time for what they call " smoke-ho " ■ is that so?—That is so. ' *" 804. At what times do the men knock off for smoking ?—Whenever they think proper.