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The South Wales Daily Post

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SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1893.

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SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1893. THE EIGHT HOURS' BILL. Yesterday the Premier and Home Secretary received two deputations on the Eight Hours' question, one from the Miners' Federation of Great Britain in favour of a legalised eight liour?/ "bill for miners, the other from South Wales in favour of local option in the matter, though agreeing with the principle. As Mr, Gladstone well remarked in his reply to the first deputation, some of the preliminary difficulties in the way of the application of an Eight Hours' Bill have been already suif- mounfced. It is now generally admitted that eight tours' work is as much as can be expected from a miner, working under unhealthy con- difctoaat and often with an Insufficient amount of fresh air. And, in the next place, the old ■avoraioai to interfering with adult labour no longer applies to the peculiar case of those who work in mines. We are glad indeed to Tecogpoise., on all sides, a growing tendency to discus the miners' question from a practical and common-sense point of view. Time was 'whan Radicals were excessively jealous of state influence. "The Manchester School of politicians" carried this jealousy to an extreme. Such a reaction had set in against protectionist ,ideM and theories, that the Manchester Schvol" became fanatical in their belief in "free and unrestrained competition." Political economists teach that, granted a perfectly free system of competition, the law of supply and demand will effectually regulate the relations of employer and employed, and that any interference with that law-especially on the part of the State-would be fraught with disaster to trade and industry, and would impoverish the community. So far did the Manchester School carry this doctrine that they even opposed the passing of the Factory Acts, which endeavoured-and successfully endeavoured—to place some restrictions on child labour in our factories. The mistake into which the old Manchester School fell was to believe that what is right in theory is always right in practice. There is no doubt that perfect and free and un- restrained competition would, perhaps, be the best solution to many of our industrial and social problems. But, unfortunately, it is impossible to get that perfect competition. A working man, on the brink of starvation, without the means to transfer his services from one place to another until lie has found the "dearest market," is in no position to compete success- fully with an employer, who is independent of his labour and can afford to wait. In brief, the theory that a working man can buy in the fcheapest and sell in the dearest market is all l-very well in theory, but it has been found an impossible thing to do in practice. Radicals have now become alive ,to this, and they are therefore determined to protect the weak against the strong, even by legislation if necessary. Before 1885 working men might well be excused for looking with 1 euspicion on the interference of Parliament in industrial matters. The two Houses of Parlia- insnt were mainly composed of employers, and the Lower House was elected, not by working men, but by others. Since 1885, however, since -the enfranchisement of the labourer, a great change has come over the character of the representation at Westminster. Working- man have seats there; and those who are in intimate touch and sympathy with vryrking men. The efforts of our legislators are not therefore liable to the same suspicion as of old, and in the industrial and social leoigiiition of the future we will recognise the whole community deliberating, through its ,,7 o representatives, concerning the evils that affect its welfare. Two restrictions, however, should be placed on all such legislation. In the first place, it should be shown that the remedies cannot be obtained in any other way than by legis- lation, and in the second place it should be evident that the whole-or practically the whole-class that would be affected by certain legislative acts, are unanimous in their demand for them. It remains to be proved whether those conditions have been fulfilled in the case of the Eight Hours'Bill. The miners of Northumberland have, by the action of their own Trades' Union, obtained better terms from the em- ployers than the Miners' Federation yesterday demanded. The representative of the Scotch miners, on the other hand-who was also one of Mr. Gladstone's constituents-stated that it would be hopeless for the Scotch miners to expect a restriction of the number of working hours except by legislation. In the second places the miners of Northumberland, Cumber- land, and some parts of South Wales are opposed to the general legalisation of an eight hours' working day. In South Wales we all, to a very great extent, depend on the export of coal, and if the volume of our export is decreased, there will necessarily ensue a proportionate decrease in our commercial pros- perity. It is, therefore, with hesitation that many of our shrewdest miners—like Mr. David Morgan — approach the question of State interference with the hours of labbur. Mr. Gladstone, we believe, pointed out the only safe course at present. Until we have practical unanimity among the miners themselves, and until we have more reliable data to go upon, we are of opinion that the only safe course is to grant Local Option to the miners, and the extent of each district should be commensurate with the extent of the separate Miners' Unions. Such a measure would give to the miners of Midlothian an opportunity to secure for themselves the benefits of an Eight Hours' Bill, and it would give us in South Wales a chance to modify the rule to suit our local requirements and peculiarities. -=

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