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working at these machines to work the same time as the mine. (23.) All outside general labourers to be paid 10s. per day. (24.) Working-hours to be not more than eight hours from bank to bank and six hours on every Saturday. (25.) All work to be shared amongst unionist employes. The Board recommended as follows :— Denniston Industrial Union of Workers v. Westport Coal Company, This agreement, made in pursuance of " The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1894," this 21st day of October, 1897, between the Westport Coal Company (Limited) Industrial Union of Employers and the Denniston Coal-miners' Industrial Union of Workers. The said parties to this agreement agree that —(1.) Tonnage rates on all solid workings to be 2s. 4d. per ton. Any place below 4 ft. to be a deficient place. (2.) Bords to be 18 ft. but not less than 16 ft. wide. (3.) Headings—6 ft., 7s. per yard ; 9ft., 6s. per yard ; 12ft., ss. per yard. (4.) Bottoms: When taking up bottoms in bords the full width any thickness down to 3 ft. 6 in. to be paid for at pillar rates ; from 3 ft. 6 in. down to 2 ft. to be paid for at bord rates ; below 2 ft. to be a deficient place. (5.) In the event of a man driving narrow work through one pillar to take out another pillar he shall in all such cases be paid ordinary pillar yardage rates—that is, 4s. per yard. (6.) Pillars : Prices to be paid for pillars as follows : Any thickness from 6 ft. 6 in. and upwards, Is. Bd. per ton ; below 6 ft. 6 in. and down to 5 ft. 6in., Is. lOd. per ton ; below 5 ft. 6 in. and down to 4 ft., 2s. per ton. Places below 4 ft. to be deficient places. (7.) All pillars below 6 ft. in height to be single places, the manager to have the right to put on two men if necessary. (8.) Tops to be classed as pillars. (9.) In any height of coal up to 5 ft. 6 in. thick, if stone in coal or stone on top of coal which cannot be kept up, the price to be paid shall be, for anything up to the first 3 in., Id. per ton, and Jd. per ton per inch afterwards. Before any stone scale comes into force the stone must be of sufficient thickness to necessitate its being picked out of coal. Above 5 ft. 6 in. of coal the stone scale shall cease, and no allowance will be made for stone. This scale is not applicable to Big Dip, as special charges are paid there. (10.) All coal to be cavilled for every three months—bords, pillars, and headings. All men who are competent to be included in the cavil, and in any case where a man has finished his place in any section of the mine, and has to remove to another section through scarcity of places, he shall have the first place that is ready in the section which he left. (11.) 6 in. sets of timber .in bords not to be paid for by company. (12.) Trucking to be by contract or shift-work at option of company. (13.) Water to be removed from working-places by company. (14.) Men taken from the face to be paid 10a. 6d. per day clear of cost. (15.) The company to deduct check-weigh money from the wages of each miner if authorised to do so, under section 19, subsection (7), of "The Truck Act, 1891." (16.) All unclaimed boxes to go to the check-weigh fund. (17.) Working-hours to be the same as heretofore. (18.) The company to provide tamping, and place it conveniently for truckers to take to a place. (19.) That as regards hewing coal and trucking and tipping, so long as there are sufficient capable men at Denniston out of work the company shall employ these either by contract or day-labour, provided that they are willing to contract or work at reasonable rates, before the company calls for tenders from outsiders or employs outsiders. (20.) That the turn of trucks throughout the mine be regulated as evenly as possible. The prices for Big Dip section to remain as at present. Mechanics to be the same as heretofore. The provisions of this agreement to continue in force for one year from this date. In witness whereof the parties have hereto set their hands this 21st day of October, 1897, at Westport, in the Colony of New Zealand. For the Westport Coal Company (Limited) Industrial Union of Employers— Adam Jamieson, Agent. Thomas Bbown. Alfbed B. Lindop. For the Denniston Coal-miners' Industrial Union of Workers— John Fosteb, Chairman. Witness —C. A. Barton, Clerk of Awards. The Westport Coal Company (Limited) Industrial Union of Employers and the Granity Creek Coal-miners' Industrial Union of Workers. This agreement, made in pursuance of " The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1894," this 21st day of October, 1897, between the Westport Coal Company (Limited) Industrial Union of Employers and the Granity Creek Coal-miners' Industrial Union of Workers. The said parties to this agreement agree that—(l) Tonnage rates on all solid workings to be 2s. 3d. per ton ; any place below 4 ft. to be a deficient place. (2.) Bords to be 18 ft. wide, but not less than 16 ft. wide. (3.) Headings 10 ft. wide : Single shifts, 3s. per yard ; double shifts, 4s. per yard ; treble shifts, ss. per yard. (4.) In any height of coal up to 5 ft. 6 in. thick, if stone in coal or stone on top of coal which cannot be kept up, the price to be paid shall be, for anything up to first 3 in., Id per ton, and Jd. per ton per inch afterwards. Before any stone scale comes into force the stone must be of sufficient thickness to necessitate its being picked out of coal. Above 5 ft. 6in. of coal the stone scale shall cease, and no allowance will be made for stone. (5.) All coal to be cavilled for every three months—bords and headings. All men who are competent to be included in the cavil, and in any case where a man has finished his place in any section of the mine, and has to remove to another section through scarcity of places, he shall have the first place that is ready in the section which he left. (6.) 6 in. sets of timber in bords not to be paid for by the company. (7.) Trucking to be by contract or shift-work at option of the company. (8.) Water to be removed from the working-places by the company. (9.) Men taken from the face to be paid 10s. 6d. per day clear of cost. (10.) The company to deduct check-weigh money from the wages of each miner if authorised by such miner so to do, under the provisions of section 19, subsection (7), of "The Truck Act, 1891." (11.) All unclaimed boxes to go to the check-weigh fund. (12.) Working-hours to be the same as heretofore. (13.) The company to provide tamping, and place it conveniently for truckers to take it to the face. (14.) That as regards hewing coal and trucking and tipping, so long as there are sufficient capable men at Granity Creek out of work the company shall employ those either by contract or day-labour, provided that they are willing to contract or work at reasonable rates, before the company calls for tenders from outsiders or employs outsiders. (15.) That the turn of trucks throughout the mine be regulated as evenly as possible. The provisions of this agreement to continue in force for one year from this date. For the Westport Coal Company (Limited) Industrial Union of Employers— Adam Jamieson, Agent. Thomas Bbown. Alfeed P. Lindop. For the Granity Creek Coal-miners' Industrial Union of Workers— William Davidson, Chairman. Witness-—C. A. Barton, Clerk of Awards. Dunedin. Tailoring Dispute. —The union disagreed with the recommendations of the Conciliation Board in October, and the case came before the Arbitration Court. Both sides agreed re overtime; and the employers agreed to the minimum wage of £2 10s., but based it on a forty-eight-hours week instead of on forty-four hours. The chief points in dispute were those fixing proportions of apprentices after the first one, proportion of females to males, and that in reference to the number of hours per week. The union asked for the following conditions of labour : — (1.) That the number of apprentices be limited to one to four pieceworkers or fraction of the first four; all apprentices to be indentured after a three-months trial, and to serve for five years. (2.) That not more than one daywage man be allowed to each shop ; the day-wage man to have charge of the apprentices, and have no other permanent assistance. (3.) Members of the society to have the pre-emptive right of employment. The minimum wage