Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 16 October 1920

The Datum Ballot

Heavy Adverse Vote

The miners of Great Britain balloted on Monday and Tuesday on the offer of the coal owners to fix a datum line of output (242 million tons per annum), beyond which increases in wages to miners shall be payable.

The ballot returned, so far as they have been ascertained, so that the miners are strongly against the proposal, not full of the advice of the district leaders in voting against acceptance, rather than the advice of several of the national leaders (including Mr Smiley, Mr Herbert Smith, Mr Sam Robert and Mr Straker), who recommended acceptance of the time being.

The following is a record of some of the local voting

For/Against acceptance  

Hickleton Main  For 252  Against 748

Manvers Main   For 754  Against 1635

Goldthorpe       For 138  Against 238

Denaby Main    For 449 Against 634

Adverse votes were also reported from Cadeby Main

On Wednesday it was reported that the adverse vote throughout Yorkshire was 2-to-1 in South Wales it is something like 10 to one

The majority at Manvers Main against acceptance was 881. There were 20 spoilt papers and 27 blanks.

The majority at Denaby Main against acceptance was 185. There were 30 spoilt papers and 531 were not returned.

The public and the mines are getting very tired of the controversy, and there is plenty of evidence that the possibility of a strike is disliked by both side, but something like apathy settled upon the public, or beginning to take a fatalistic view