30 to 75 pounds a month. “South hice Miners Face Grim Conditions Every year about 800 fatal accidents occur in South African mines. Of the 700,000 persons employed in gold, coal and diamond mining, 540,000 are Africans. By comparison, the annual death toll in British coal mines rarely exceeds 300, with a total labour force of 635,000. .In 1960, the South African figure rose to 1,400 because of the worst disaster in mining history — the Coalbrook disaster of Jan. 21 of that year when 437 miners lost their lives, six 0 mining companies the African miner 15 as ¢ “4 in death as in life; the widow of an African miner killed at Coalbroo 180 pounds, while the white miner's widow draws a pension of from them white men. To the will get a lump sum of lt was only last year that fines were imposed on the company and some officials, juries suffered. fines so negligible that they bear no relation to the in- Reproduced here are extracts from "Death in South African Mines” by Dr. H. Simons (detained during the South African State of Emergency in 1960) writing in the British journal “African South.” Coalbrook was the biggest ’ disaster in the history of South African mining. Never before have so many men been killed in one fall of rock. We do not know the full significance of what happen- ed on January 21, 1960. Not all the facts have been dis- closed, and the case is still open. What we do have are the combined ‘findings of the stat- utory board of inquiry and inquest published on July 1960. The main conclusions *in summary form are: The whole of the north- eastern sector of the under- ground workings in the No. 2 seam of the Coalbrook North Colleries subsided on January 21, 1960. None of the bodies of the 437 persons killed has been recovered. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 Public’ cost of political donations to parties which consumers might not wish to support with either votes or money. But did the vociferous sup- porters of “individual rights” take this into account while drafting the present restric- _ tive labour legislation? Of course not, nor is there rea- son to believe they ever in- tend to. To concern them- selves with this aspect of “democracy” would expose the means by which political parties thrive at the generous expense of unknowing con- sumers. For that reason the argu- ment for “individual rights” cannot be taken seriously. And why should it be when the pedlars of platitudes see fit to treat the public with contempt when a sizeable minority questions the size and source of donations to parties other than the NDP? Until this matter is public- ly scrutinized and legislation is passed that will regulate the financing of ALL political parties, the current law can only be regarded as a decid- edly undemocratic farce. LOOK FOR THIS TAG It is your guarantee of the finest leather work gloves made for your job — see them at your focal dealers. JOHN WATSON LTD. 127 2nd Ave. East, Vanc., B.C. The subsidence resulted in methane gas being liberated into the underground work- ings. The cause of death was multiple injuries due to crushing by the fall-of ground and/or anoxia (deficiency of oxygen) due to the presence of a large percentage of methane gas or coal dust. The subsidence of sectors of the No. 2 seam working oc- curred between 7:26 p.m. and 7:32 p.m. on January 21, 1960, and followed on the collapse of portions of the so-called old section 10 of the mine that had taken place on De- cember 19, 1959, and at 4:45 p.m. on January 21, 1960. The subsidence of the mine was due to negligence and wrongful act and omission of the present consulting en- gineers, the general mana- gers, and the assistant mana- gers and other managers em- ployed at this colliery from 1950 to January 21, 1960, per- sonally and through their servant and agents. One other fact of impor- tance must be noted. On March 7, 1960, the Inspector of Mines decided to close the IWA SAFETY CONFERENCE DELEGATES meeting in Woodworkers’ House, June 8g, in Vancouver. HUTA SS to Canada. illegal profit was made. SNA SAFETY REGULATIONS RECAST mine as a safety measure. When the company appealed, however, the Administration at a higher level reversed the decision. The mine is now functioning subject to many safeguards which had appar- ently not been adopted be- foye the catastrophe. ‘We can only conclude that the defects which were com- mented on 50 years ago have net yet been eliminated from South Afvica’s mining system. Fines Don't Sugar Interests During the questioning of the government by New — Democratic M.P.’s of why the price of sugar should be — so high, the fact was disclosed that several years ago — three Canadian sugar refining companies bought 80,000 tons of raw sugar from Batista Cuba and then conspired with Batista to prevent the entry of Cuban refined sugar This ensured a nice profit, for there was then less competition to keep the price to the Canadian consumer down. In March, 1963, these three Canadian companies were fined under the Combines Investigation Act a total of $75,000 — less than a dollar a ton or less than one- twentieth of a cent for very pound of sugar on which an Bother UU Under continued pressure from -organized labor, the Ontario Conservative govern- ‘ment thas recast its safety regulations for tunnel, con- struction workers. Action came almost two years after a Royal Commis- sion on Industrial Safety had provided stinging indictment of prevailing practices and more than three years after a GLASSCO FINAL REPORT Final report of the Glassco Commission which probed civil service inefficiency and waste, will echo the first volume in urging that de- partment ministers get more authority to hire, fire, trans- fer, and promote. Civil servants have critic- ized the notion of taking the authority away from the in- dependent and non - political Civil Service Commission. Metro Toronto tunnel tragedy claimed the lives of five workers. The new regulations, made under the Department of Labor Act, tighten super- vision on all tunnel projects, specify improvements in equipment and reduce the maximum hours that a per- son may work at a given air pressure. : (SWING TO PREMIUM FLAVOR ¢ Premium beer brewed from choice ingredients, skillfully blended and aged for flavor ¢ | @LAGERY This advertisement is not published or displayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the Government of British Columbia K