Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [‎177v] (354/442)

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Coal Mines
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[ LORDS ] (Northumberland) Bill.
the employers—have failed, and because
I believe that unless Parliament, and parti
cularly this House, which is filled by men
who are still in an independent position,
takes some cognisance of these matters,
we shall accentuate the bitter feeling
aroused by circumstances of this kind.
Unless we abandon the policy of turning
our backs on these things, then, my Lords,
I believe that the industrial disputes about
which we hear so much nowadays are
bound to be very much aggravated. I shall
be anxious to hear what noble Lords who
do not agree with me have to say about
this Bill. I believe in the case of these
miners. If I can get any noble Lord to
tell with me I shall take the Bill to a
Division, but if no noble Lord will tell
with me then I suppose I shall be, not for
the first time in my life and perhaps not
for the last, in a minority of one. I beg
to move.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 2 a . -
(Lord Willoughby de Broke.)
Lord JOICEY had given notice, on the
Motion for the Second Reading, to move
that the Bill be read a second time this
day six months. The noble Lord said :
My Lords, I feel sure that your Lordships
will agree with me when I say that I find
no fault whatever in the presentation of the
case for this Bill by the noble Lord. But
I am somewhat surprised that the Bill has
been brought forward in your Lordships’
House. It seems to me an extraordinary
thing that a large industry, employing over
1,000,000 men and having the largest
Labour representation in the House of
Commons, should not have found some
one to bring forward the measure in the
other House. The only impression I can
get from the fact that the Bill is presented
in your Lordships’ House by the noble
Lord is that it has very little support
among the mining community of the
country ; because we know perfectly well
that the miners, when they feel strongly
on any particular subject, have the power
and the ability to present their case them
selves in a remarkable way.
I listened to the noble Lord’s speech
with great care, and I confess I did not
hear any arguments which in my judgment
ought to justify support of this measure.
He seemed rather surprised that I should
have attributed his action in having
brought forward this Bill in your Lord-
ships House to the desire to get votes.
Lord Willoughby de Broke.
I made that statement at a moment of
great haste when I was busy with other
things, but the reason I said it was that
I could see no other ground for his action.
Knowing so much of the case myself, I
could not see any other reason which should
induce a noble Lord to bring forward such
a measure in this House. Throughout my
public life I have held that Parliament is
a very unsuitable place in which to bring
forward measures of this description. I have
always thought that whenever Parliament
I meddles with the great industries of the
country—unless it is in the interests of
health and safety, for which purpose it is
perfectly justified in passing measures—
it always muddles ; and certainly no case
has been made out that this Bill will improve
i either the health or the safety of workers
in mines. I cannot understand, therefore,
why Parliament should be asked to deal
with this question, particularly for a county
like Northumberland.
Northumberland and Durham are
counties where the best feeling exists
between employers and workmen. Unions
were formed there before they were
formed in any other part of the country,
and negotiations necessary to carry on the
industry there have been discussed over
and over again across the table by repre
sentatives of both sides. We have our
special committees, containing six work
men’s representatives and six representa
tives of the employers, presided over by an
impartial chairman, Mr. Shortt, the
Member for Newcastle-on-Tyne. All cases
■ which do not affect the whole county are
brought before these committees and dealt
with by them, the result being that a
great deal of ill-feeling and a number
of strikes are prevented. Then, again,
when Acts of Parliament are passed like
the Compensation Act, committees are
formed and the same sort of conciliation
goes on ; the result being that, instead
of appeals to the Courts to settle differences,
not one case in a hundred has to go to the
Courts, and whenever there is such a case
it is always to settle the law or a principle.
I should not like to utter one word which
would interfere with the good feeling that
has always existed in the North of England,
but I am bound to say that it-has always
been the recognised principle there that
the colliery proprietors should decide the
system of work to be adopted so long as it
does not differ fundamentally from what
is customary in the district. And I am