5i54' REPORTS ON THE STATE OP SCIENCE. — 1920. 



Statistics in 1918. At present cards in the shape of card slips are issued, to be 

 filled up annually, and these ask for the total production, which is defined to 

 ' include all marketable coal, excluding only refuse from washeries and slack 

 coal wasted.' It distinguishes between the coal loaded at the mine for ship- 

 ment, coal used locally, colliery consumption, and coal used for making coke 

 at the mine. It will be seen that these instructions are fairly clear and definite. 



In France the production includes the whole of the drawings, deducting only 

 the worthless waste, i.e., pickings and washery refuse. 



In Belgium the same practice is followed, the production including colliery 

 consumption and coal given or sold to employees, but definitely excluding 

 pickings and waehery waste. 



It will be seen that all these producing countries are aiming at one definite 

 meaning for the word 'production,' and in this respect there is at any rate 

 uniformity of intention. Unfortunately the execution of the object leaves much 

 to be desired. The Canadian practice of monthly returns has much in its favour ; 

 it no doubt throws a certain amount of additional work both upon individual 

 collieries and upon the department collecting statistics, but, on the other hand, 

 it enables half-yearly and quarterly statements to be issued very shortly after 

 the conclusion of the respective periods, and in the same way annual statements 

 can be produced much more rapidly than would be the case if the whole of the 

 returns began to come in after the end of the year. It is quite desirable that 

 the returns should show definitely the total weight of drawings, the weight of 

 dirt picked and washed out, the weight given or sold to employees, the colliery 

 consumption, and the coal used for making coke. Again, there would not 

 be a great deal of labour involved in keeping these figures, and the information 

 would be of the greatest value. 



Number of Employees. — In this country the only information aeked for is a 

 return ' of persons ordinarily employed ' ; the returns specify that it must include 

 all the persons employed on the mine premises, such as officials, storekeepers, 

 clerks, etc., those employed on the pit sidings, on private branch railways and 

 tramways, and in washeries adjacent to and belonging to the mine. Furthermore, 

 the number employed underground must be kept separate from those employed 

 above-ground, and there is also a separation according to age and sex. There is, 

 however, no information as to what is meant by ' the number of persons 

 ordinarily employed.' although this is evidentlv the crux of the whole matter. 

 The consequence is that extremely variable methods are made use of. Some pits 

 merely give the number of men entered on the pay sheet for the particular 

 day in the year on which the return is made out ; others take two or three days 

 which they consider normal and average these. Some return the number of 

 employees on the books of the company, others the number on the time roll ; 

 with the prevailing amount of absenteeism, the former number will exceed the 

 latter by about 25 per cent., but there is no instruction as to which of the two 

 is the figure intended to be given. Some of the more painstaking collieries 

 average the number of men employed daily, but this is apparently exceptional. 

 It is evident that a more definite and svstematic method would have to be 

 adopted before it is possible to attach anything like a precise meaning to returns 

 of numbers employed in this country. 



In Canada, apparently, monthly returns are made, and these are averaged 

 for the year. The Canadian intention is to ' show the actual amount of labour 

 in terms of days worked, rather than the actual number of individual men that 

 may have been engaged,' and this is obviou.sly the correct way of dealing with 

 the subject. The returns ask for a classification under eight different heads 

 and separate them into underground and above-ground workers ; it may be 

 noted that in Canada the number of men employed at the coke ovens and 

 briquetting plants in connection with collieries is included in the mine employees, 

 whilst according to the wording of the English return these should be excluded 

 in this country, although there is no warranty for saying that the instructions 

 for making the latter returns are in all cases strictly complied with. Further- 

 more, in Canada there is an interesting table showing the time lost through 

 absenteeism, meaning thereby the fault of the men and through a series of other 

 reasons which may be classified as the fault of the mine or of the industry. 

 It would be a distinc| advantage if such returns weye available for thig 

 country. 



