[G. G. TOWNSEND.

I.—4b.

6

7 What hours do the miners work on Saturday ?—They start during the week at. 8 o'clock and work till 4, and the other shift from 4 to midnight. 8. What proportion of men have you at work as coal-cutters as compared with those who are no t?—I should say about 40 to 45 per cent, are coal-cutters. 9. And from"so to 55 per cent, are on day-wages?— Yes. 10. Do you work two shifts in your mine?—We are at present working two shifts. Thomas Shailer Weston examined. (No. 5.) 1 The Chairman.'] What are you, Mr Weston? —A solicitor practising in Wellington, and I am local director of the Talisman Gold-mining Company lam not acquainted with the practical working of the mine, and do not pretend to offer any opinion on the matter, but I have a letter here written by Mr Charles Rhodes to Mr. William Pryor on behalf of the Waihi, Grand Junction, Talisman, New Zealand Crown Mines, Waihi Reefs Consolidated, and Komata Reefs Companies, and they are practically all the big mines in the Ohinemuri district. The letter sets out at length the reasons why they think this Half-holiday Bill would be prejudicial not only to the companies, but to the men employed in those mines. This was forwarded to Mr Stansfield, our manager, and he in a letter to myself strongly supported the reasons given in this letter, and stated that the Saturday Half-holiday Bill would seriously affect the working of many mines where more than one shift was employed. With the permission of the Committee I would like to read the letter: "Auckland New Zealand, 2nd August, 1910.—William Pryor, Esq., Secretary, New Zealand Employers' Federation, Wellington.—Dear Sir,—(Half-holiday for Miners Bill.)—The principal mining companies of Ohinemuri, comprising Waihi Company, Grand Junction, Talisman, New Zealand Crown Mines, Waihi Reefs Consolidated, and Komata Reefs Companies, wish to make a strong protest against the proposed Bill providing for a half-holiday becoming law Their grounds of objection are: 1 That not on© word of demand by the miners has been heard in Ohinemuri for any such holiday 2. That to all intents and purposes there is already freedom on Saturday afternoons for two-thirds of the miners and all the labourers after 1 p.m. 3. That under the system of shifts it is easy for any man wishing to be off on a special Saturday afternoon to arrange it with his mates by merely exchanging shifts. 4. That compliance with the proposed Act would mean that no work at all would be done from noon on Saturday till 1 a.m. on Monday morning, men thereby losing half a day shift and all an afternoon shift once a week. The reason for this is that, though in the Waihi mines there are few wages-men underground, the men on the surface both at Waihi and elsewhere are all on wages, being engaged as winding engineers, stokers, bracemen, filling-in men, tallymen, smiths, pumpmen, and are absolutely necessary to enable the miners to even go underground, and still more so to work there. It would not pay to give these men overtime, so that all work would have to stop This would involve a serious loss both to men and their employers. At the Waihi Company's mine alone it would mean the crushing of 3,500 tons less per month, which would mean the discharge of 10 per cent, of the company's miners owing to less quantity of ore required. Ten per cent, of the Waihi Company's miners represents at least fifty men from underground, and it would affect probably about twenty-five more on the surface, a pretty serious reduction of seventyfive men from one mine alone, and proportionately the same from all the others. 5. That the batteries cannot stop and start at a moment's notice. To cease at 12 noon means that stamps must stop at 10 a.m., so that the ore-pulp and solutions in circulation in the plants can be got rid of Similarly, before restarting the stamps the machinery and pumps have to be again got into runningorder to receive the pulp from the stamps. It would certainly be senseless, after having stopped the mills for Saturday afternoons, to start them again, say, by 6 or 6.30 p.m., only again to stop them three hours and a half later preparatory to shutting down for Sunday It is certain that any such proposal would result in serious loss, and, as employees are already prone to complain about their small incomes, it would mean that their earning-hours would be still further reduced and their wages correspondingly curtailed. 6. If in a mine troubled with water the half-holiday had to be observed, it would mean, particularly during periods of drainage of a new level, that water would rise so much that men would lose about two days per week in order to gam a halfholiday they have not asked for; and it is certain that it is the exception that any mine can pay increased expenses on to-day's rates and long continue to exist. The representatives of the abovenamed companies are unanimous in their opinion that the Bill is against the best interests of the whole community, and hope that members will resist it to the utmost.—Yours faithfully, Chas. Rhodes " I need scarcely point out that, taking the 'Ohinemuri field, with the exception of the Waihi and the Talisman, there is not a single company which has paid any dividends outside a few pence. Take the Crown Mine: It only paid 3d., and has not paid a cent for twenty years, and other mines have not paid a dividend for years. The Waihi Grand Junction has been at work nearly ten years and has not paid a dividend. These are the indorsements of practical men. With regard to Mr Stansfield, manager of the Talisman Mine, I have visited the mine and spoken to the men, and they say he is a most considerate man, and his opinion is that, seeing that the Talisman Mine works three shifts, this Half-holiday Bill is not desired by the miners. 2 Mr E H Taylor ] Be the arrangement of the hours, would that make any difference, because the unions have been discussing this Bill? As to the shifts, it might possibly be just as agreeable to the men if the midnight shift could go on on Friday night to 4 o'clock on Saturday morning, the day shift at 4 till 8, and the afternoon shift from Bto noon. That would mean that all the shifts would knock off at noon on Saturday?—lt would mean that the mine would stop at noon. The stamps would stop at 10 o'clock. 3. That implies that all the men would enjoy the Saturday afternoon off ?—Yes. 4. Now there is always a shift on?— Yes; but the men on that shift, if they wanted to, could exchange their work with other men.