Chief of the Bureau of Mines may assign such Mine Inspector to also perform work or duties in any other county or counties, or inspection district or districts, nearest his own district, wherein additional help or assistance is needed. It is expressly declared, however, that the Chief of the Bureau of Mines and Mining shall not have the right to assign any Mine Inspector, elected under this act, to any other inspection district, outside of the inspection district wherein he shall have been elected, except only when said Mine Inspector shall not have enough work or duties to perform in his own inspection district as should properly and justly be performed under this act; and it shall be the right of said Mine Inspector, so assigned to duties in any inspection district or districts other than the one in which he shall have been elected, to petition the court to remedy any such assignment of duties contrary to the provisions of this act.

Section 7. Candidates for the office of Mine Inspector shall file with the county commissioners a certificate from the Mine Inspectors' Examining Board, as above set forth, before their names shall be allowed to go upon the ballot as provided by the county commissioners for the general election; and the name of no person shall be placed upon the official ballot except such as has filed the certificate as herein required; and no persons shall be qualified to act as such Mine Inspector unless such certificate has been previously filed with the county commissioners of his county; such certificate, when filed, shall continue good, without further examinations to be required for each time the holder of said certificate shall become a candidate for said office, and a copy of said certificate granted, under the seal of the County Commissioners, may be filed in any county of this Commonwealth with like effect.

Section 8. The person so elected must be a citizen of Pennsylvania, and shall have attained the age of thirty years. He must have a knowledge of the different systems of work in coal mines, and he must produce satisfactory evidence to the Mine Inspectors' Examining Board of having had at least five years' practical experience in anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania. He must have had experience in coal mines where noxious and explosive gases are evolved.

Before entering upon the duties of his office he shall take an oath or affirmation, before an officer properly qualified to administer the same, that he will perform his duties with fidelity and impartiality, which oath or affirmation shall be filed in the office of the prothonotary of the county. He shall provide himself with the most modern instruments and appliances for carrying out the intentions of this act.

Section 9. The salary of each of the said Inspectors shall be three thousand dollars per annum, which salary, together with the expenses incurred in carrying into effect the provisions of this act, shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of the Treasury of the Commonwealth, upon the warrant of the Auditor General.

Section 10. Each of the said Inspectors shall hold said office for a term of three years from the first Monday of January immediately succeeding his election to said office, and until his successor is duly elected and qualified.

Section 11. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Bureau of Mines. and Mining to direct one or more of the Inspectors who shall be elected under this act, and it shall be the duty of said Inspector to obey said orders of the said Chief of Bureau of Mines and Mining, to inspect such collieries as come under the act to which this act is an amendment in counties not mentioned in this amendment to said act, in such manner and at such times as is required by law, and the Inspectors inspecting said collieries shall make and include in his return a due report of said inspection.

Section 12. In case of death, resignation, removal from office, or other vacancies in the office of Mine Inspector before the expiration of said term of office, the judges of the court of common pleas of the county in which said vacancy occurs shall appoint a duly qualified person to fill said vacancy for the unexpired term. Said appointee to be one of the persons having filed with the county commissioners of said county a certificate from the Mine Inspectors' Examining Board, showing he passed a successful examination before the said Board, and is duly qualified as hereinbefore mentioned. Section 13. In case the Inspector becomes incapacitated to perform the duties of his office for a longer period than two weeks, it shall be the duty of the judges of the court of common pleas of the county from which said inspector was elected to deputize some competent person, recommended by the Mine Inspectors' Examining Board, to fill the office of Inspector until the said Inspector shall be able to fulfill the duties of his office, and the person so appointed shall be paid in the same manner as is provided for the Inspector of Mines.

Section 14. Each of the said inspectors shall reside in the district for which he is elected, and shall give his whole time and attention to the duties of his office. He shall examine all the collieries in his district at least once every three months, as often in addition thereto as the necessities of the case or the condition of the mines require. He shall see that every necessary precaution is taken to secure the safety of the workmen and that the provisions of this act are observed and obeyed; and he shall personally visit each working face, and see that the air-current is carried to the working faces and is of sufficient quantity of volume to thoroughly ventilate the places. He shall, every four months, make a report of the condition of each working face in each colliery, on a form to be furnished to the Inspectors by the Chief of the Bureau of Mines and Mining, designating the gangway in which the working is situated, and the breast number of said working, and their condition shall be designated by the words good, fair, or bad, as the circumstances may warrant; and the said report, or a duplicate, shall be placed in a weather and dust-proof case, with a glass front; said case to be furnished by the operator, and placed in a conspicuous place at each mine opening, shaft, slope or drift, so that the workmen have easy access thereto. He shall certify in said report that the employes are hoisted to the surface of the ground or given access thereto according to law; he shall attend every inquest held by the coroner or his deputy upon the bodies of persons killed in or about the collieries in his district; he shall visit the scene of the accident, for the purpose of making an examination into the particulars of the

same, wherever loss of life or serious personal injury occurs, as elsewhere herein provided for; and make an annual report of his proceedings to the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth, at the close of every year, enumerating all the accidents in and about the collieries in his district, marking in tabular form those accidents causing death or serious personal injury, the condition of the workings of said mines with regard to the safety of the workmen therein, and the ventilation thereof, and the results generally shall be fully set forth; and such other duties as now are or hereafter may be required by law.

Section 15. The nomination and election of said Mine Inspectors shall be under the general election laws of this Commonwealth.

Section 16. The Mine Inspector shall have the right, and it is hereby made his duty, to enter, inspect and examine any mine or colliery in the territory alloted to him, and the workings and machinery belonging thereto, at all reasonable times, either by day or by night, but not so as to obstruct or impede the working of the colliery; and shall have power to take one or more of his fellow inspectors into or around any mine or colliery in the territory alloted to him, for the purpose of consultation or examination.

He shall also have the right, and it is hereby made his duty, to make inquiry into the condition of such mine or colliery workings, machinery, ventilation, drainage, method of lighting or using lights, and into all matters and things connected with or relating to, as well as to make suggestions providing for the health and safety of persons employed in or about the same, and especially to make inquiry whether the provisions of this act have been complied with. The owner, operator or superintendent of such mine or colliery is hereby required to furnish the means necessary for such entry, inspection, examination, inquiry, and exit.

The Inspector shall make a record of the visit, noting the time and material circumstances of the inspection.

Section 17. No person who shall act or practice as a land agent, or as a manager or agent of any coal mine or colliery, who is pecuniarily interested in operating any coal mine or colliery, shall at the same time hold the office of Mine Inspector under this act.

Section 18. Whenever a petition signed by fifty or more reputable coal miners or by fifteen or more reputable coal operators, or more, or both, setting forth that any Inspector of mines neglect his duties, or is incompetent, or is guilty of malfeasance in office, it shall be the duty of the court of common pleas from which said Inspector was elected to issue a citation, in the name of the Commonwealth, to the said inspector to appear, at not less than five days' notice, on a day fixed, before said court; and the court shall then proceed to inquire into and investigate the allegations of the petitioners. If the court finds that the said Inspector is neglectful of his duties. or is incompetent to perform the duties of his office, for any cause that existed previous to his election or that has arisen since his election, or that he is guilty of malfeasance in office, the court shall declare the said Inspector removed from office, and proceed to fill the vacancy. The cost of said investigation shall be borne by the removed Inspector; but if the allegations in the petition are not sustained, the cost shall be paid by the Treasurer of this Common

wealth, on warrant of the Auditor General; or, by the petitioners, in case the court finds that there was no probable ground for said charge.

Section 19. The maps and plans of the mines and the records thereof, together with all the papers relating thereto, shall be kept by the inspector, properly arranged, and preserved in a convenient place in the territory to which the inspector has been alloted, and shall be transferred by him, with any other property of the Commonwealth that may be in his possession, to his successor in office.

Section 20. Wherever in this act the words "Bureau of Mines" or "Chief of the Bureau of Mines and Mining" is used, or similar words designating the Bureau or Chief of such Bureau, now having` under its direction the Mine Inspectors of this Commonwealth, it shall be understood that, if the direction of the Mine Inspectors of this Commonwealth, or the enforcement of the laws relating to coal mining in this Commonwealth, shall be transferred by law to another department or bureau, in that case the name of the new Bureau or Department and the official title of the head or chief of said bureau or department, shall be submitted.

Section 21. This act shall go into effect from the first day of January, Anno Domini one thousand nine hundred and four (1904). Section 22. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
Executive Department,
Harrisburg, May 7, 1903.

I file herewith in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, with my objections, House bill No. 204, entitled "An act amending article two of an act, entitled 'An act to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith,' approved the eighth day of June, Anno Domini nineteen hundred and one."

The purpose of this bill is to provide a system for the selection of inspectors of coal mines. Among other duties of the inspectors, they are directed "to make inquiry into the condition of such mine or colliery workings, machinery, ventilation, drainage, method of lighting or using lights and into all matters and things connected with or relating to as well as to make suggestions providing for the health and safety of persons employed in or about the same." It thus appears that the mine inspectors are charged with serious and important responsibilities and are expected to be men possessed not only of good judgment but of extensive technical information. These inspectors are to be elected by the people. The people are not given the opportunity to exercise their own judgment as to the qualifications, but they are compelled to select the mine inspectors from among those who hold certificates from the mine inspectors' examining board. This board consists of five qualified voters of each election district, "two of whom shall be reputable mining engineers and three of whom shall be duly qualified miners,”

and the board is also to be elected by the people at a general election. It will, therefore, be seen that the success of the system depends upon the mine inspectors' examining board and that this board is so constituted that the majority of it shall be "duly qualified miners." It becomes important, therefore, to inquire what is a duly qualified miner? Under the act of May 9, 1889, Pamphlet Laws, 142, all persons who were actually engaged as miners at the time of its passage were entitled to registration without examination upon producing proof that they were then employed in an anthracite mine in this Commonwealth. The only necessary qualification then for the majority of the board of examiners is that they are miners who worked in an anthracite mine in 1889. What assurance is there that they possess the qualifications and the information which would enable them to properly determine the requirements necessary for a performance of the important duties imposed upon the mine inspectors. Their selection is to be made by the people at an election. The majority of the people, however, have no technical knowledge of mines and are engaged in other pursuits. The selection would be likely to be made upon other considerations than those of the technical capacity of the miners. They would in all probability be determined by association, by political relations and by all those influences which affect the ordinary voter. To state the proposition is enough in itself to show that this would not be likely to result in securing competent mine inspectors. No one would think of determining the selection of a physician or an engineer to run a railroad train, or the occupant of any other station requiring technical information by a popular vote at an election. In fact the selection of mine inspectors would seem properly to belong to the Executive Department of the gov ernment.

Under section five, the examining board is also very must restricted. It is there provided that this board at the examination of those seeking to become mine inspectors are not to make general inquiries covering the broad scope of the duties of the inspectors, but are to ask "only such questions as a good practical miner should be able to answer." A man may be a good practical miner and yet be entirely incapable of deciding the important questions which must be submitted to the mine inspectors. He may know little about machinery, ventilation, drainage, the method of lighting and matters which relate to the health and safety of those employed.

For these reasons, the bill is not approved.

SAML. W. PENNYPACKER.

No. 59.
AN ACT

Making an appropriation to the Passavant Hospital, at Pittsburg.

Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That the sum of ten thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be and the same is