THE ROYALTY OWNERS AND MINERS' WAGES [To the Editor of
the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,— III a postscript to his last letter " I. L. P." alluded to the lack of alacrity with which the miner hews his ton— or 17 cwt.—of coal per shift, knowing that his energy is in part serving to enrich the royalty owner. Mining royalties may or may not be defensible as a form of property, but what surely is indefeasible is that " I. L. P." and the miners' leaders should present to their followers a picture which entirely distorts the facts. First they lead the men to believe that Gd. or 60. on every ton that they get goes into the pocket of the royalty owner, whereas in the case of the big royalty owners (the only ones who matter) at least half this sum goes not to them but to the Treasury.
Secondly, if royalties were expropriated, the miner is led to expect that he would be better off by 6d. on each ton which he hews. - Here again the leaders must know the 6d. would not be added to the wage of the " hewer " or " getter," but must be shared among all the many grades of men employed at a pit. I presume even the surface workers will expect their share. Let us take a pit with an annual output :If half a million tons. The Gd. royalty will produce some- thing over 5,000 shillings a week for distribution among the employees. Those who have more knowledge than myself of the number of men employed at such a pit will be able to say how many pence will come to the pocket of each man and lad. At all events, it will be something very much less than 6d. per shift. And what if the State still claims its yearly share of over 13,000,000 ? In view of the loss to revenue through the wiping out of the very heavy Estate Duties now paid by the royalty owner on succession to his property, the Chancellor of the Exchequer would hardly be satisfied with less. If so, the weekly addition of, say, s. will prove in fact to be one of Gd. Finally, if the State should decide to buy out the royalty owner, it is unlikely that the whole financial burden will be placed on the shoulders of the taxpayer. The mining industry will be expected to bear its share, and in view of the proportion now allotted to labour in that industry, the men can hardly expect to go scot free. It seems obvious that the abolition of the royalty will do nothing to improve the miner's lot. Has not '' I. L. P." courage to tell him the truth ?—I am, Sir, &c., EAST KENT.
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