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228 The Leader and Sattirday Anahjst. [M...
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A MISTRANSLATION. rpHE, Emperor Napoleon...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Slaughter Ix Eollteries. ¦\"¥Tliatev...
this- lamentable accident will be rigorously investigated , especially as the mine isreported to have been unsafe for soine weeks before the catastrophe occurred / Pending the inquest , we offer no opinion up on this disaster , and shall rejoice if the owners of the mine should be proved blameless in the affair ; but wherever the fault may lie , there is the fact , that eighty or perhaps more men and boys have been the ghastly victims of a fiery slaughter ; that family after family have been suddenly plunged into grief and distress " ; and that in long rows of cottages , fathers , sons , and brothers no longer occupy their accustomed seats , but take their last rest in . hastily-prepared coffins amid the sobs and tears of relatives at once agonized and pauperised by the desperate blow .
, Prom a paper recently read before the Society of Arts by Mr . P . II . Holland , it appears that the colliers number about 220 , 000 , and that of this comparatively small band 1 , 000 a year are annually killed by accidents in their occupation ; and of course a muck larger number injured , and many maimed for life . During the past eight years the average slaughter in coal mines has been at the ' rate of 1 , 00-2 persons a year , or more than four per . cent , of the workmen employed ; The causes of death and lesser injuries are partly explosions
of dangerous gases ,. with which science is perfectly-, competent to deal , but chiefly falls of coal and of the roof , resulting from neglect of obvious precautions . Deaths from explosions amount only to one quarter of the total of the slain ; and , from Mr . KeVyon ' s evidence , quoted by Mr . HollaxiS , it appears that out of 1 , 090 deaths of this kind , only seven occurred with safety lamps , and no instance is known of an explosion occurring ¦ whe n a proper safety lamp was properly used . In Durham the greatest precautions * are used to prevent accidents from falling of coal or the roof of the mines ; and Mr . Hoixand computes that , if all mines were as well managed , one hundred and twentysix out of the three hundred and seventy annually killed by
theseaccidents might be saved . It is moreover probable that . one hundred and twenty-six would still represent a considerable proportion of preve ' ntible deaths . One-sixth , or one hundred and sixty-six a year , of the accidents producing deaths ^ of a miscellaneous ltattire , the chief of which are crushings in the galleries from coal-tubs or trains . These occur from the galleries being dangerously narrow , or from employing careless arid inadequately trained boys , on account of the cheapness of that class of labour . As an illustration of the carelessness of
employers , Mr . lloi / n . vxr ) cites the case of the explosion of the Cymniree Mine , by which pne hundred and forty-four lives were sacrificed , although " the Inspector had , over and over again , pointed out its hazardous state , and urged upon both owner and manager , and that repeatedly , the necessity for increasing ventilation , and the exclusive use of safety lamps , but failed to convince them that it was their interest and duty to take such precautions . They considered the Jnspeotor ' timid
and over anxious , and did not adopt these or any other precautions . Nay , it is even said in the neighbourhood that the men were actually threatened that if they would not go into the mine , which they knew was full of gas , they should never go in again .. This . could not be proved , for the men alleged to have been threatened were killed , and very probably no threats in words were used , but there is little doubt the men were made clearly to understand that if . they shrank from the risk they would lose their employment . "
' In practice , Lord Campbell ' s Act is rarely applicable to these cases , and when ' it might be resorted to , the colliers , or their widows , are not in a position to take the risks of an expensive litigation , nor to encounter the consequences of ' offending the capitalist class . Mr . Holland , quoting Mr . M'ACUOVoivru ' s report , tells us that , after the Qynnm ; ee explosion , a collier i > iio furnished evidence , was for many weeka excluded , from employment , although lie had been distinguished for courage and activity in rescuing others from danger . Mr . Mackwortii
adds—« ' Considerable expectation existed that the present Inspection Act would greatly- facilitate the claims of the widows and orphans of the mou killed , for compensation , whoncvor the death was caused by default or neglect on the part of the owner or mn-nnger . Many cases have since occurred which admitted of distinct proof , but in no case have tho surviving relations ventured to press for such a demand . for compensation as tho law allows them . The power and influonoo arrayed against any attempt of this kind renders it almost hopeless to expect that Lord Campbell ' s Act will ever bo of use to tho mining population . "
Tho lamentable position of tho colliers is strikingly shown . in tho following passage , also from Mr . Maokwoktii ' s report : — u A ooUior ' s mfp bqoomes a widow , on tho oyorngo , fourteen years , sooner thnn tho wife of an agricultural labourer , and she descends at onco from 35 s . ' per wook ( her husband ' s wngos ) to 8 s . ( kl . a wook—tho allowance of tho parish . " What ft feiuful
amount of blasted happiness and positive misery these figures proclaim ; and legislation is stimulated to enforce the . righteous demands of the workmen against the capitalists by the certainty that not 01 % -would some compensation be afforded when accidents occurred , but that the very act of enforcing it would lead to improved methods of conducting the business , and the greater part of the casualties W avoided altogether . Mr . Mac kwortie adds— " Considering- the short lives of the colliers and the distress which follows their untimely death , it would be more equitable if compensation were- awarded in ¦ every case
by the owner of the mine to those relations who are dependant upon the labour of the collier . Such was the system adopted on the railways in Trance ; and at Anzin , the largest collieries in France , which employ seven thousand persons underground , the company have carried the practice into effect of their own accord . In answer to the objection , that . compelling such a practice would be a bar to . mining ¦ enterprise ,- Mr . Macmcwoktii shows that three farthings , a ton upon the coals raised would suffice for a provision ; and Mr . 11 oll . vxd , who ; strongly recommends that no one sliould be allowed to work in a mine -whose
life was hot insured by the owners , says : — " An increase of one penny per ton upon * the cost of 0 ( 5 , 900 , 000 tons annually raised , would amount to nearly j £ 3 S 0 , 00 O a year , or enough to purchase annuities worth two hundred pounds apiece : for the * families of the thousand men and boys annually killed , leaving a large margin for expenses of management and extra risks . " Mr . Holland expects that if this assurance were compulsory , the coal owners would be induced to manage their mines-more carefully , in order to reduce the insurance -premiums , whicli would , of course , vary with the reputation of the mines , and also because they could not possibly charge the consumer with more than
the average cost-ofthe insurance process . It may be said that many accidents occur from the carelessness of the men , and that employers ought not to be liable for their neglect ; but in practice it will be found that men are carefuOn proportion to the good management of the enterprise in which they work ; and there is no compulsion upon the masters to-employ-careless men ,, if they do not-like the risk such conduct entails .
The , miners have a strong claim / to the aid of the Government , and it is advisable . that it should be afforded in such a manner as will impose the fewest restrictions upon--the . " methods ¦ of working the mines ,- and that it sliould be given in a way likely to induce carefulness , and throw as heavy a burden as possible * upon those owners Who do not choose to adopt adequate precautions . The insurance method may be the best , and we should be glad to see a scheme , thoroughly digested' by which the men might be protected , and the profits divided among those employers who , ' ( luring a certain , term of years , occasioned no expense to thefund . ¦' ¦ ¦ '
228 The Leader And Sattirday Anahjst. [M...
228 The Leader and Sattirday Anahjst . [ March 10 , 18 . 60 .
A Mistranslation. Rphe, Emperor Napoleon...
A MISTRANSLATION . rpHE , Emperor Napoleon concluded his late speech by saying , - * - " Plus un / wy * est riche ct prospore plus il contribiie a la richessc ct a la prospdritc des autres . " The correspondent ^ the TiM-cfi , who transmitted the . speech from 'Paris , accompanied it by ' ft translation iu which the word " j ) ay # " was rendered by theVord "State . " In a leading article ; of the same journal the same word was used , and the error clinched by saying " the greater the prosperity of n Stale , the moro she contributed to tho prosperity of other SMcs . " Tin ' s misimnslntion of a single word may appear a trifling matter , but it is , as we hope to prove to our . readers , worthy of attention and comment .
The word " pays , " used by the Emperor , properly translated in other journals by the word country , signifies rather tho inhabitants of a country than their government , while the word substituted for it by the Tunes signifies the government of n country rather than the people . The term " State" represents the taxingpower rather than tho industrious power- —the power which prohibits , wastes , anddestroys , rather than the power whicli creates , trades , and preserves . But it is the industrious- power which in one country creates the wealth that rewards , by exchange , the industry of another country , excites enterprise , and extends arts in both . By mutual exchange one man or one nation contributes to tho prosperity of another , but one " State , " hy its legislation , its polico , its municipal regulations , and its wars , does not —either directly or by its example- —necessarily contribute to tho welfare of anotlver . The Emperor does not pretend , nor would
it be borno by his people that ho should protend ,, to promote the prosperity of oth 6 r countries by his regulations ; ho only protends to remove cortnin restrictions from industry , or ronleo some alterations in the laws of Franco , and ho toljta the Freuoli that in consequence they will be enabled to prosper by trading with othor industrious people . It is perfectly clour , that by tho exertions of tho people , roprbaontod by tho word " jpaya " - «» d llot 1 ) V tuo
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1860, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10031860/page/8/
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