5. Legislation.

In many respects the law for regulating collieries in New Zealand (The Coal-mines Act, 189l is similar to that at present in force in Great Britain, but as the minerals are In almost every case Crown property, the subject of leases forms a not unimportant portion. The valuable coal-fields of Westport and Greymonth are under the control of the Harbour Boards established for these places, and although leases may be granted by the Minister of Mines, the application must first come before the local body interested, and (apparently to guard against a monopoly) any proposed amalgamation of leases may be vetoed by the Legislative Assembly.

The following are, shortly stated, the usual terms of lease. (1) Term not to exceed sixty-six years; (2) area not to exceed 2,000 acres, and dead rent to be not less than 1s. or more than 5s. per acre; (3) royalty to be not less than 3d. or more than 1s. per ton on all coal raised; (4) when the royalty exceeds the dead rent, the latter ceases; (5) no wayleave or surface rent is paid, but only such surface as is actually required shall be taken; (6) any person requiring "free access, egress, and regress" upon the land leased for the purpose of constructing any adit or tunnel, shall have power to do so, on obtaining the sanction of the Minister of Mines (on the recommendation of a Warden or Commissioner of Crown Lands), but coal-mining is not to be interfered with; (7) all timber required for mining purposes may be cut, but otherwise timber on leases is reserved to the Crown; (8) all minerals other than coal are excepted; (9) power is reserved to the Crown to resume possession on paying compensation; (10) in case of neglect on the part of lessees to work during three page 92 months, notice may be given to resume: if this be neglected for an additional three months, the lease may be determined, and "the Queen, the Governor, or the Minister may enter on the demised premises and take possession of all buildings and improvements thereon." The next clause, however, states that the lessee shall be allowed two mouths to remove plant, but not buildings. (11) If at any time "the lessee neglects or refuses to pump the water out of any underground working for three days after the inspector has given the lessee notice in writing to do so, the inspector may, if it shall appear that such neglect or refusal to pump the water is likely to be prejudieial to the safety of any adjoining mines, or to the prejudice of the Crown, as proprietor, enter upon the mine and take possession of the pumping machinery, and employ men to work such machinery for pumping out the said workings, at the cost of the lessee; and any costs so incurred shall be deemed a debt due to Her Majesty by the lessee." (12) The lessee is bound, if so required, when the mine is being worked, to supply the Government, or any private railways or any steamships with coal at current rates, each railway or vessel with not more than seven days' supply—strikes excepted.

Inspectors are to be appointed, every one of whom is to be the holder of a first-class certificate, and the clauses relating to the appointment of managers are similar to those in the British Act.

A board of examiners is appointed by the Government, and the examination fee is £1, which enables the candidate, in case of failure, to have a second try, within three months. The questions set by the examiners are reasonably easy (see Appendix A). There are two grades of certificates, three in fact, as in case of a mine employing six men or less, a "permit from the inspector" is required, Not only for managers are certificates requisite, but also for engine-drivers, who raise men either in a shaft or plane. Due provision is made for certificates of service in both cases. "Any person of good repute producing a certificate of competency from auy duly constituted and recognized authority outside the colony" can obtain a certificate either as manager or engine-driver.

No female and no boy (that is, under 13) shall be employed in or about any mine, and the next section enacts that "no boy or yonth (that is, under 18) shall be employed for more than forty-eight hours in any one week, exclusive of the time allowed for meals, or more than eight hours in any one day, except in cases of emergency. But no person shall be deemed guilty of an offence against this Act for a contravention of that part of this section relating to the time for which persons shall page 93 not be employed below-gronnd, if he prove before any two justices, not being interested in any mine in which such person or persons are employed, that thene were special circumstances to render such contravention necessary for the proper working of the mine; and that such contravention was not injurious to the workmen employed in the mine."

Section 29 enacts that no person under 18 is to have charge of an engine used for lowering or raising persons, but this is somewhat superfluous, as General Rule 21 forbids any person under 21 to have charge of any steam-engine or boiler used in the working of any mine.

No person in charge of steam machinery shall work for more than eight consecutive hours, exclusive of the time used in raising or exhausting steam and of meal times, and of "any time in which such person is employed in ease of breakage or other emergency."

Section 31 provides for the usual registers of "boys employed in connexion with the mine," but as section 27 directly prohibits the employment of any boy "in any capacity," these registers will not be largely used, and the numerous references to this class of labour might well have been left out.

Section 32 contains the General Rules, which are prefaced by the "reasonably practicable" clause.

Genera] Rule 1 defines the "adequate amonnt of ventilation to be not less than 100 feet of pure air per minute for each man and youth, and horse, pony, donkey, or mute, which shall sweep undiminished along the airway through each working-place."

By General Rule 15 cage covers are defined as "constructed of iron not less than one quarter part of an inch thick, and shall be securely hung on hinges and fitted with sloping sides, so as to be readily lifted upwards by persons within the cage."

General Rule 20 requires ropes and chains to be tested "to carry twice the weight of the ordinary load" before being used, and also, where men are raised and lowered, a similar test is to be applied once in every three months.

Boilers have, according to General Rule 32, to be subjected to a hydraulic test once in every six months. It may lie mentioned that inspectors under "The Inspection of Machinery Act, 1882," make regular examinations of all steam-boilers, and grant a certificate, beyoud the pressure stated on which the boiler is not to be worked. A charge is made for this certificate, exceeding—(the writer speaks from memory)—very considerably the premium paid in England by boiler-insurance companies for examination and insurance.

In mines liable, "in the opinion of an inspector," to an inundation or inburst of water, such escape roads as may be prescribed by the Minister of Mines are to be constructed, and also provision for the safety of the men during the period of any inundation or inburst of water in such mine.

General Rule 41 contains the "two hours before commencing work" examination clause.

General Rule 44.—All safety-lamps are to be of a pattern approved by the inspector.

Special rules are not framed as in Great Britain, but are contained in an appendix to the Act. There is, however, power for framing any additional rules which may be advisable.

Section 44.—It is compulsory on the inspector to immediately investigate any complaint from a miner.

Section 45.—Every mine where there are underground workings—(N.B.—In 1891 there were ten mines on the list, all with underground workings, and furnishing a total output of 369 tons, or under 37 tons each per annum)—is required to keep a plan, which must lie made up every six months by a certificated manager, a duly-qualified mining engineer, or a surveyor authorized as such by the Surveyor-General, A copy to be sent to the inspector, who may, if he thinks fit, have a check-survey made, and if the original plan should prove to be incorrect the inspector can recover the cost of the check. Power is reserved for the cancellation or suspension of certificates.

Section 52 provides that "Any accident ocenrring in a mine shall bo prima facie evidence that such accident occurred through some negligence on the part of the owner."

Section 53 provides for compensation of employes injured through non-observance of the Act, and may best be given in Pxtenso:—" If any person employed in or about any mine suffer any injury in person, or be killed, owing to the non-observance in such mine of any of the provisions of this Act, such non-observance not being solely due to the negligence of the person so injured or killed, or owing in any way to the negligence of the owner of such mine, his agents or servants; the person so injared, or his personal representatives, or the personal representatives of the person so killed, may recover from the owner compensation by way of damages as for a tort committed by such owner; and the amount of such compen sation with the costs of recovering the same when determined, shall constitute a charge on the mine and mining plant, in or about which such person was so employed, and all charges arising under the provisions of this section shall, as between themselves, be paid rateably.

Such compensation may be recovered under the provisions of 'The Deaths by Accident Compensation Act, 1880,' or 'The Employers' Liability Act, 1882," which shall respectively be; applicable, according to the circumstances of each particular case; subject, however, that notice of injury having been sustained may be given under the last-mentioned Act at any time within three months from the occurrence of the accident causing the injury, instead of within six weeks as in the said Act mentioned.

Nothing in this section contained shall take away from any person any right to take proceedings in respect of a claim for compensation for injury or death by accident, which he may have under any other Act other than this, if he prefer to proceed under such Act, but in such case he shall forfeit any right he may have to take proceedings under this section.

Notices of accidents and the provisions of coroners' inquests are as usual, but as distances are so great the Minister of Mines may authorize some person to act for the inspector. The writer remembers a case when a police-constable, who acted in this capacity, reported that the evidence "disclosed no blame to the Mines Department." Where practicable one-half the jurors are to be minera.

Section 60 enables the Governor, on behalf of Her Majesty, to contract with the owner or lessee of any coal-mine either in native, private, or page 96 Crown lands for the acquisition of such mine, "Provided that resumption and acquisition under this and the preceding section shall not be complete nor take effect until a resolution of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives shall have been passed sanctioning the same, Any land so resumed or acquired may be worked by the Minister on behalf of Her Majesty, unless the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives dull by resolution otherwise determine."

Section 61 deals with the question of access to and wayleave through lands required, and is of great interest as bearing on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Mining Royalties, whose report has recently been published, "Where, for the purpose of working any mine, it is required to carry any work on, or over, or under any private land, or to take any such land, or any part thereof, for mining works in connexion with such mine, the Governor, on the application and at the proper cost and charges of the owner of the said mine, may take such land, or any part thereof, under "The Public Worka Act, 1882,' as for a public work within the meaning of such Act. All provisions of the said Act shall apply accordingly for the purpose, but the effect of the Proclamation taking the land shall be to vest such land in the applicant instead of in Her Majesty, and all proceedings after the aforesaid Proclamation in respect of compensation and otherwise in respect of complying with the said Act shall be had against the applicant, who shall be deemed to be the respondent, and shall be liable in respect of such taking in the same manner and to the same extent as Her Majesty or the Minister for Public Works would be in respect of taking land for a Government work under the said Act."

Section 63. (Encroachment.) This section authorizes the Minister of Mines, on affidavit of any person claiming to be legally or equitably interested in any mine, to authorize the inspector, together with a "mining surveyor or experienced miner," to enter and survey, but the complainant is first to deposit a sum not exceeding £100 as security.

Section 65 deals with the flooding of adjoining mines, and enables any owner of a mine, who shall have left a barrier not less than 33 yards thick along his entire rise boundary, to recover from his neighbour, who may wilfully or negligently allow any water to overflow or percolate, a proportionate amount of the cost of pumping such water.

Section 68 requires the usual annual returns and also "any other information connected with the mine the Minister may from time to time require," and it authorizes the Minister to publish the result of such returns.

Section 69 is perhaps the most remarkable provision in the Act. It is a direct and heavy tax on a particular industry, and goes beyond the contract entered into between the Crown and the lessees, opening up a question of the gravest importance. As an attempt to relieve distress it is no doubt admirable, but, as was expressed by a lending mining man in New Zealand in a recent letter to the writer, "The principle of such a fund I do not object to, but I think it should be subscribed to by all parties concerned, starting with the lessor and ending with the men."

Its provisions are, shortly stated, as follows:—The owner of every coalmine shall contribute one halfpenny per ton on the output of bituminous mines and one farthing per ton on any lignite sold during the preceding three months, and shall pay this into the Post Office Savings Bank to the credit of a fund to be called the "Sick and Accident Fund" in connexion with the miners' association of the district. In case of there being no miners' association the money is to be paid to the credit of a fund known as "The Coal Miners' Relief Fund." These moneys are to be operated upon "only by the persons appointed in that behalf by the miners' association of the district, in accordance with regulations to be from time to time made by the Governor," and where no such association exists the Minister of Mines and the Public Trustee are to act. The inspectors of mines are empowered to examine colliery accounts in order to see if the owners pay up regularly, and the penalty for not doing so (which goes to the credit of the fund) is two pounds For every pound or fraction of a pound not paid. There is one redeeming feature. In case of damages for injury, the amount to which a workman may be entitled from the accident fund is to be taken into account.

The final section in the Act provides that no contract for the supply of coal shall be binding in case of a strike.