COAL : ANOTHER VIEW
Sm,—I am not a miner, I have never been down a mine, and further it would require an armed escort to get me down. If the popula- tion of England were to depend on my effort there would be no coal, nor do I consider it some other's duty to provide mine. When, therefore, so much is spoken and written of absentees I ask, what moral compulsion is there for any man to work five or six days when his family can be supported on the labour of four ? What commandment does he break who works no more than is necessary ? A man certainly has a duty to his employers, but if he is only paid by the day or shift I cannot see that his duty extends beyond honest work during that time. There may be here, as Gerard Hopkins says, " No delicacy of duty," but surely miners cannot be expected to have the delicate conscience of a Jansenist. It is, of course, ridiculous that the Coal Board should pay superior rates on Saturdays and Sundays without considering whether such days are actual overtime; it is an encouragement to the indelicate- conscienced.—Yours faithfully, T. B. ROWAN.
13 Blakey Street, Burnley, Lancs.
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