POWER AND TRANSPORT

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 95, 16 January 1926, Page 7

POWER AND TRANSPORT

CREATION OF NATIONAL SYSTEM

PLANS FOR REORGANISATION OF BRITISH MINING

PREPARED BY LABOUR COMMITTEE

Plans for the reorganisation of the British mining industry and the creation of a national power and transport system prepared by a joint committee representing the Labour movement, have been submitted to the Coal Commission.

London, January 14

Far-reaching plans for the reorganisation of development of the British

mining industry and the creation of a national power and transport system, prepared by a joint committee representing the whole of the labour movemtipt, have been submitted to the Coal Commission. The scheme involves the nationalisation of minerals and collieries, and the transformation of the industry from a coal-extracting to a coalutilismg industry, manufacturing electricity on a large scale and dealing with numerous by-products. It involves also the formation of a power and transport commission representing all the interests, including the workers’ and consumers’, to co-ordin-ate efforts throughout the country. The proposals, which are completely detailed, include the expropriation of the present owners by means of stock issued to each vendor in an amount based on the present market price of his holdings, while capital expenditure is provided by a special coal development loan redeemable at a fixed date. —Reuter. ECONOMIST EXPLAINS PROPOSALS INDUSTRY MUST PAY ITS WAY London, January 14. Professor R. H. Tawney, a. leading Labour economist, who explained the miners’ proposals to the Coal Commission, said that he considered the. export of coal at present not effectively organised, exposing the industry, to less favourable conditions than if it were one single export system. Questioned regarding the proposals foi; the regulation of wages, Professor Tawney did not suggest any system of compulsory arbitration. The miners suggested that there should be bargaining between representatives of the producers and consumers. If they disagreed it would go to an independent tribunal. He said that the State would have a monopoly of the Home trade under nationalisation. He agreed that if the industry was under nationalisation it bad to pay its way without subsidy. Three alternatives must be contemplated, namelv, reduction of wages, lengthening of hours, and the contraction .of the industry. He said that the miners maintained the right to withhold their labour under nationalisation. Cross-examined, he said that the proposals in the memoranda had not been submitted to a ballot of miners.—Reuter.