AGY-4953 | Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Coal Mining Industry and the Coal Trade in the State of New South Wales

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On 15 April 1919, James Lang Campbell was appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Coal Mining Industry and the Coal Trade in the State of New South Wales.(1) The Inquiry was to investigate the following:

1. what coal mines are at present or have been at any time since the first day of January 1914, worked in NSW
2. who are, or have been, at any time since the 1 January 1914, the corporations or persons or combinations or groups of corporations or persons owning, or have any interest in coal mines or any direct or indirect control over coal mines including their management, output, or the sale or disposal of their products
3. coal mine output since the 1 January 1914
4. average cost of production of coal per ton at the pit’s mouth
5. at what price per ton was the output of the coal mines from time-to-time since the 1 January 1914 sold, whether at the pit’s mouth, free on board or on rail, or including cost, insurance, freight and exchange or otherwise
6. how and by whom were the sales of the said output of the coal mines made and what commissions, charges, rebates, payments or advantages were made or allowed in respect of sales and by whom and to whom or in whose favour were the same made or allowed
7. what sales or other transactions took place in respect of output or such part thereof as you may determine from the time the coal reached the pit’s mouth until the sale thereof to the actual consumer. What prices were paid and what commissions, charges, rebates, expenses or payments were made or allowed in respect of all such sales or other dealings or in respect of such particular sales or dealings as you may determine
8. what profits or losses were made upon the production and sale of the said output and by whom were such profits or losses made
9. what capital was employed in the various mines in the production and sale of the said output and by whom was the same employed
10. from 1 January 1914 what wages or remuneration were paid or received by the miners and other workmen engaged in and about the said coal mines, distinguishing (i) the rates of wages or remuneration, (ii) the average earnings per man per day worked of the various classes of workmen, and (iii) the average annual earnings per man of the various classes of workmen
11. whether any and if so what alteration is desirable in the housing and working hours and conditions of miners or other workmen engaged in and about coal mines or in the sanitation of coal mines, and what effect any proposed alteration would have (i) upon the output of coal, (ii) the cost of production, and (iii) the rate of wages or remuneration
12. whether any, and if so, what changes in the industry are desirable in the public interest.(2)

The Commissioner was to report within three months, however, the time was insufficient so the Commission was extended initially to the 14 October 1919 and again to the 14 November 1919.(3) The Commission’s first Report was submitted on 7 November 1919 and covered the first ten questions of J.L. Campbell’s commission as numbered above.(4)

The Commission did not sit again until 9 February 1920 to investigate the remaining two questions shown above. There were sixteen public sittings in which the Northern, Southern and Western Associations of Colliery owners were represented.(5) 

Unfortunately, the Commission’s many conclusions are not summarised in the Second and Final Report but are littered throughout the Reports. For example, on page six of the Report the Commissioner states “In my opinion there is no satisfactory reason for introducing any fundamental change in the present system of ownership and general control of collieries in the State. It is established, however, that there is serious need of improvement in the methods of colliery control, in the relations between employers and employees, and in the general organisation of the industry.”(6) On page nine of the Report, the Commissioner concludes that much of the trouble afflicting the coal industry would disappear if adequate dispute resolution mechanisms were established.(7)

The Commission’s Second and Final Report was submitted on 31 July 1920.(8) There were some administrative matters of the Commission, such as the return of company balance sheets (exhibits) that continued beyond the date of the Commission’s Second and Final Report.(9)

ENDNOTES

1. Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Coal Mining Industry and the Coal Trade in the State of New South Wales, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1919, vol.3, p211.

2. ibid., p212.

3. Letters Patent dated 9 July 1919 extending the Commission to 14 October and Letters Patent dated 13 October 1919 extending the Commission to 14 November 1919 in Second and Final Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Coal Mining Industry and the Coal Trade in the State of New South Wales, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1920, vol.3, pp33-34.

4. Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Coal Mining Industry and the Coal Trade in the State of New South Wales, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1919, vol.3, p212.

5.Second and Final Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Coal Mining Industry and the Coal Trade in the State of New South Wales, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1920, vol.3, p5.

6. ibid., p10.

7. ibid., p13.

8. ibid., p20.

9. Miscellaneous correspondence of the Commission 1919-1921, State Records reference number NRS 1523 (4/7519.2).