COAL - Clpdigital.org

,58 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
MINORS' EMPLOYMENT CERTIFI­
CATES IN ANTHRACITE COLLIERIES.
The amendments to the law regulating the employment
of children in and around anthracite
collieries, in the last legislature, are causing con­
siderable anxiety to the operatois of collieries in
the anthracite regions. The law will go into
effect on the 15th inst.. and so drastic are the
provisions of the act that many operators express
the belief that it will be impossible to operate all
the collieries if they are literally carried out. The
situation is demanding considerable attention in
all parts of the bard coal fields and it furnishes
one of the best instances of legislation brought
about by men who were not conversant with the
facts of the industry so that they may intelli­
gently legislate in the matter.
The law when it comes into effect will be as
follows: "Prohibiting the employment of any
minor child of any age in or about * * * anthracite
collieries unless the person employing said
minor child shall first obtain and file the employment
certificate as provided liy this act."
Each minor by the provision of the act must pass
an examination in the following branches: "Reading,
spelling, writing, English grammar and geography,
and the fundamental operations of arithmetic
to and including fractions." The certifi­
cates are to be issued by the "common school rsuperintendents
or their duly authorized deputies"
who shall ask for po?itive proof as to the age of
the minor, measure bis height, observe the color
of his hair, and put down his complexion. This
certificate is to be kept by the employer on file
and a duplicate must be kept by the superintendent
or deputy who issued it. The superintendents,
in order that they may carry out the provisions
of the law, are authorized to administer
oaths the same as do notaries public. If any
operator is found violating this law. he can be
prosecuted in the "court of common pleas of the
county wherein said violation occurred," and if
found guilty a fine of $10 will be imposed for each
day said minor child or children were employed.
The superintendent is not to charge a fee for the
certificate and there is no provision made in the
bill to compensate him for this extra work imposed
upon him.
It will be immediately seen that such a law. if
rigidly enforced, may well strike consternation
into tbe ranks of operators. There are about
12,000 boys employed in the breakers of the an­
thracite collieries and another army of about the
same number employed underground performing
the work of drivers, runners, door boys, etc.
Among these 25,000 minors are many foreign-born
lads who came to the country with their parents,
and Icing in their fourteenth year, began their
industrial life in the breakers or the mines. The
English they know is what they have learned in
the mines and they have not had the privileges
requisite to qualify them in the reading and writing
of our language. Many other boys in this
group are native born, but they have been reared
in colonies made up of foreigners as far removed
from the spirit of our American institutions as
they were in the homes of fatherland. These boys
were sent to work at an early age and the short
period of their school life was not sufficient to
qualify them in the studies laid down in this law.
There are also in the mines many sons of nativeborn
parents whose education has been woefully
neglected. Schools conducted in mining patches
often do not amount to much. The parents become
conscious that it is useless to send the child
there and the child as soon as it enters its teens
is dissatisfied and wants to go to work. It is
safe to say that not 50 per cent, of the children
of mining villages, when they leave school, are
qualified to pass a successful examination in the
studies specified in the new law. If this law is
enforced on the 13th inst. it is safe to predict that
fully 15.000 minors will be forced out of employ­
ment in and around the mines. That is, the majority
of the breaker boys and door boys, as well
as many of the drivers and runners, will be taken
out of the industry. This would mean a necessary
readjustment of the labor supply running our
collieries and when such a readjustment is made
several mines will be obliged to shut down for the
want of an adequate supply of hands to run them.
PRESIDENT JOHN H. JONES OF THE PITTS­
BURGH-BUFFALO CO. DISCUSSES "OLD
KING COAL" BEFORE PENNSYLVANIA
STATE EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION.
President John H. Jones of the Pittsburgh-Buffalo
Co.. addressed the Pennsylvania State Editorial
Association on the occasion of its banquet in
Pittsburgh the night of September 27. on "Old
King Coal." After gracefully lauding the power
of the press, Mr. Jones said in part:
We have six distinct coal fields, or areas, in
the United States: The Western coal field, or
Western interior area, is the largest area of coal
lands in the United States, containing 98,000
square miles. The Central coal field comprises
Illinois, Indiana and Western Kentucky and covers
an area of 47,000 square miles. The Michigan
coal field contains an area of 6,700 square miles.
The Rhode Island coal field contains 500 square
miles. The Alaskan coal field has not yet been
definitely defined and is a comparatively small
area. The coal field that we are particularly interested
in tnis evening is the Appalachian or
Alleghany area. • It commences in Northeastern