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    Untitled Article

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    Untitled Article

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    A MISTRANSLATION.

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    Untitled Article

    ¦ rpHB Emperor Napoleon concluded his late speech , by saying ' , - * - . " Plus xmjpays est riche ct prospere plus il contribue & la richesse et a la prospdritd cles autres . " The correspondent of the Whiles , who transmitted the . speech from Paris , accompanied it by a translation in which the word " pays" was rendered by the word " Stata . " In a leading- artiole of the same journal the same word was used , and the error clinched by saying- " the greater the- prosperity of a Stain , the more she contributes to the prosperity of other State * . " This mistranslation of a single word may appear a trifling- matter , but it is , as we hope to prove to

    our readers , worthy of attention and comment . The woi'tl " pays , " used by the Emperor , properly translated in other journals by the word country , signifies rather the inhabitants of it country than their government , while the word substituted for } t by the Times signifies the government of a country rather than the people ? The term " State" represents the taxingpower rtitlicr than the industrious power—the . power which prohibits , wastes , and destroys , rather than the power which creates ,, trades , and preserves . But it is the industrious power which iu one country creates the wealth that rewards , by exchange , the industry of another country , excitos enterprise , and extends arts

    in both . By mutual exchange one man or one nation contributes to the prosperity of another , but one " State , " by its legislation , its police , its municipal regulations , and its wars , does not —oithpr directly or by its example—necessarily contribute to the welfare of another . The Emperor does not protend , mor would it be borne by his people that ho should protend , to promote the prosperity of other countries by his regulations ; he only pretends to remove certain' restrictions from industry , or umIco some alterations in tho laws of Franco , and ho tolls the French that xn consequence they will be enabled to prosper by trading with other industrious people . It is perfectly clear , that by tho exertions ot the people , represented by tho word " jpay . u , " mid not by the

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    this lamentab le accident will be rigorously investigated , especially as the mine is reported to have been unsafe for some weeks before the , catastrophe . occurred . . Pending the inquest , we offer no opinion up on this disaster , and shall rejoice if the owners of the - mine should be proved blameless in the affair ; but wherever the fiutlt hiay lie , there is the fact , that eighty or perhaps more men and boys have , been the ghastly victims of a fiery slaughter ; that family after family have been suddenly plunged into , grief and distress ' ; find that in long rows of cottages , fathers , sons , and brothers no longer occupy their ivecustoined seats , but take their last rest in hastily-prepared coffins -amid the sobs and tears of relatives at once agonized and p au p erised by the desperate blow . From a paper recently read before the Society of Arts by Mr . P . H . " Holland , it appears that the colliers number about 220 , 000 , and that of this comparatively small band 1 , 000 . a year are annually killed , by accidents in their occupation ; and of course a much larger number injured , and many maimed for life . During- the past eight years the average slaughter in coal mines has been at the rate of 1 , 002 persons a year , or more than four per cent , of the workmen employed . The causes of death and lesser injuries are partly explosions of dangerous » -ases , with which science is perfectly competent to deal , but chiefly falls of coal and of the roof , resulting from neglect of obvious precautions . Deaths from explosions amount onfy to one quarter of the total of the slain ; and , from Mr . Kenyon ' s evidence , quoted by Mr . Holland , it appears that out of 1 , 099 deaths of this kind , only seven occurred with saf e ty lamps , and no instance is known of an . explosion occurring when a proper safety lamp was properly used . In Durham the greatest precautions ' are used to prevent accidents from fallingof coal or the roof of the mines ; and Mr . Hol £ ani > computes that , if all mines were as well managed , one hundred and twentysix out of the three hundred and seventy annually killed by these accidents might be saved . It is moreover probable that one hundred and twenty-six would still represent a considerable proportion , of preventirjle deaths . One-sixth , or one hundred and sixty-six a year , of the accidents producing deaths , are of a miscellaneous nature , the chief of which are crushings in the galleries from coal-tubs or trains . These occur from the galleries being dangerously narrow , or . from employing careless and inadequately trained boys , on account of the cheapness of that class of labour . As an illustration of the carelessness of employers , Mr . Holland cites the case of the explosion of the Cymmree Mine , by which one hundred and forty-four lives were sacrificed , although " the Inspector had , over and over again , pointed out its hazardous state , and urged upon both owner and . manager , arid that repeatedly , the necessity for increasing ventilation , and the exclusive use of safety lamps , but failed to convince them that it was their interest and duty to take such precautions . They considered the Inspector timid and over anxious , and did not adopt these or any other precautions , Nay , it is even said in the neighbourhood that the men were actually threatened that if they would not go into the mine , which they knew was full of gas , they should never go in again . This could not be proved , for the men alleged to have been threatened were killed , and very probably no threats in words were used , but there is little doubt the men were made clearly to understand that if they shrank from the risk they would lose their employment . " In practice , Lord Campbell ' s Act is mvely applicable to these cases , and when it might be resorted to , the colliers , or . their widows , are not in u position to take the risks of an expensive litigation , nor to encounter the consequences of offending the capitalist class . Mr . Holland , quoting Mr . Maokworth ' s report , tolls xi 3 that , after the Cymmree explosion , a collier who furnished evidence , was for many weeks excluded from employment , although he hadibeen distinguished for courage and activity in rescuing others from danger . Mr . Maokwouth adds—¦ " Considerable expectation existed that the present Inspection Act would greatly faoilitnto the claims of tlie willows and orphans of tho men kille ' d , for compensation , whenever the death was caused by default or neglect on tho part of the owner or mannger . Many cases have since occurred which admitted of distinct proof , but in no case have tho surviving relations ventured to press for such a demand for compensation as the law allows them . Tho power and influenco nrrnyed against any attempt of this kind renders it almost hopeless to expect that Lord Campbell's Act will pvor be of use to the mining population . " The lnmentablo position of the oolliors is strikingly shown in the following passage , also from Mr . MaoinvoitTU ' a renort : — " A collier ' s wife beoonios a widow , on tho average , fourteen years sooner than the wife of an agricultural labourer , and she descends at once from 25 s . per week ( her husband ' s wages ) to 3 s . Gd , a wcyk—tho nUowanoo of the parish , " What ft fearful

    amount of blasted happiness and positive misery these figures proclaim ; and legislation is stimulated to enforce the righteous , demands of the -workmen against the capitalists by the certainty that not only would some compensation be afforded when accidents occurred , but that the very act of enforcing it would lead to improved methods of conducting- the business , and the greater part of the casualties be avoided altogether . Mr . Maokwoetip adds— - '' Considering the short lives of the colliers and the distress which follows their untimely death , it would be more equitable if compensation were awarded m every case by the owner of the mine to those relations who are dependant upon the labour of the collier . Such was-the system adopted on ' tbe ' railways in Prance ; and at An / in , the largest collieries in France , which employ seven thousand persons underground , the company have carried the practice into effect of their own accord . " In answer to the objection , that compelling- such a practice would be a bar to mining- enterprise , Mr . -MAciovOKTir shows that three farthings a ton upon the coals raised would suffice for a provision ; and Mr . Holland , who strongly recommends that no one should be allowed to work in a mine whose life was not insured by the owners , says : —" An increase of one penny per ton upon the cost of 6 r > , !) 00 , 000 tons anmially raised , Avould amount to nearly £ 2 SO , O 0 O a year ,.-or enough to purchase annuities worth two hundred pounds apiece for the families of the thousand men and boys annually killed , leaving- a large margin for expenses of management and extra risks . " Mr . Holland " expects that if this assurance were compulsory , thecoal owners would , be induced to manage their mines more carefully , in order to reduce the insurance premiums , ; which would , of course , vary with the reputation ' . of ' ' the mines , a nd also because they could not possibly charge the consumer with more than . the average cost of the insurance process . It may be said that many accident 3 occur from the curelessness of the men , and that employers ought not to be liable for their neglect ; but in practice it will be found that men are careful in proportion to the good management of the enterpr ise in which they work ; and there is no compulsion upon * the masters to emp loy careless men , if they do not like the risk suchconduct entails . ¦ The miners have a strong claim to the aid of the . Government ,., and it is advisable that it should be afforded in suck a manner . , as will impose the fewest restrictions upon the methods of working the mines , and that it should be given in a way likely to induce carefulness , and throw as heavy a burden as possible upon those owners who do not choose to adopt adequate precautions . The insurance method may be the best , and we should be glad to see a scheme thoroughly digested by which the men might be protected , and the profits divided among those employers who , during a certain term of years , occasioned no expense to the fund .

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    22 $ The Leader mid Saturday Analyst . [ MA ] RCH l ° > 186 Ov

    A Mistranslation.

    A MISTRANSLATION .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1860, page 228, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2337/page/8/