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© ~ CHAPTER XII. 
The figures must be accepted with some reserve as the returns 
submitted by the mineowners are not subjected to an official check at the 
source, and their accuracy depends entirely on the proper determination 
of the aggregate daily attendance during the month for which they 
are prepared. This is not always an easy matter, as payment is made 
by the tub and in some cases the worker receives assistance from 
members of his family and also from others who share in the joint earn- 
ings. Payment in all coal mines for coal cutters and other underground 
workers is by the tub. The average rate per tub of coal raised in 
the leading ecoalfields is about seven annas, but in most cases this in- 
cludes the payment for the loader who fills the coal into tubs. The 
average number of tubs raised by a worker in a day is between two 
and three. The average monthly earnings of the worker cannot, how- 
ever, be calculated from the average daily earnings as shown in the 
statement given, for attendance is extremely irregular. At our request 
the Government of Bihar and Orissa have prepared a series of family 
budgets from the Jharia field. These and the evidence that we collected 
suggest that the average monthly earnings of a coal cutter are in the 
neighbourhood of Rs. 10 to Rs. 15. This has some support in the 
evidence given regarding the average attendance of the miner. The 
other mines of importance are the lead and tin mines in Burma, the 
salt mines in the Punjab, the manganese mines in the Central Provinces 
and the mica and iron mines in Bihar and Orissa, As will appear from 
the statement which we have reproduced, the average daily earnings 
are appreciably higher in Burma than in any other part of India. The 
original statement contains a foot-note to the effect that in the Punjab 
salt mines the earnings recorded are below the average level, as the 
output of salt is severely restricted in the month of December without 
reducing the labour force. The fact that a system of gang payment is 
in force makes it difficult to give reliable figures of individual earnings, 
Further information furnished to us by the Chief Inspector of Mines 
indicates that, in the numerous stone quarries, the daily wage varies 
from 5 annas to 8 annas for men and 4 annas to 5 annas for women. 
Earnings of Dock Lahourers. : 
Reference has already been made to the casual nature of employ- 
ment in docks and the payment of wages through foremen, maistries, 
tindals, or mukkadams. The daily earnings are highest in Rangoon. As 
a result of the recent strike, the daily rate was raised from Rs. 1-8-0 to 
Rs. 1-12-0, but this increase was accompanied by a reduction in employ- 
ment among Indian dock labourers who, till then, were exclusively 
employed in loading and unloading ships. Most of them now: find it 
impossible to secure employment for more than half the number of 
days in the month. We deal elsewhere with this and other features 
of the employment of Indian labour in Rangoon. In Bombay the 
daily wages of a dock labourer are said to vary from As. 14 to 
Rs. 1-8-0, while in Karachi we were informed by a firm of stevedores 
that the rate was Rs. 1-2-0 for men and As, 13 for women. Have the