R. Nelson Boyd Coal Pits and Pitmen

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The study of a subject so special as the legislation affecting the coal mines of the country might, at first sight, appear wanting in interest. But it involves inquiry into the past and present condition of a large number of workers, and into the manner of prosecuting a most important, as well as dangerous, trade.<br><br>The number of persons directly employed at collieries is about half a million, and the number dependent on the associated industries is very much larger. Few authors have written either on the condition of the great mass of the employed, be they denominated operatives, artizans, labourers, miners, or workingmen; while the Acts passed from time to time for their benefit or protection have attracted but little general attention.<br><br>It may seem strange to apply the term protection to measures affecting workpeople. But it must be remembered that in the struggle for commercial success, especially in cases where capital was limited or insufficient, employers have been frequently led to act without due regard to the hardships or even sufferings of the employed.<br><br>The lowering of the social status of the masses through neglect and oppressive labour, threatened a national danger, to avert which required legislative interference. The difficulty which the legislature had before it, was to find the happy medium, so as to afford the necessary protection to the employed without imposing unjust or prohibitive restrictions on the owners of capital and employers of labour.