The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1937. THREAT TO BRITISH RECOVERY

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 186, 4 May 1937, Page 8

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1937. THREAT TO BRITISH RECOVERY

Improved industrial activity in Great B’M" iph«d * -i serious set-back. A national coal strike foi May — lias uee called by a special delegate conference of the Mine , Work^‘ S l ..S 1 d (T a ' t tion The call affects over 800,000 colliery workers, mclud ng at least 631,000 employed underground. But the effects will felt over a much greater area. If the coal-mining industry isbt ought to a standstill many other inLPortant industries, particularly n steel works, will be more or less handicapped i no t ahoge to paralysed, at a time when almost every one of them is an appreciable recovery from the severe losses in the world depressioi. Coatotill is predominantly essential to British P ro S ie^ a] The decision to strike is reported as having been de: to_a i break down of negotiations on ,alleged victimisation .at th= Colliery and on the question of union recognition in the Notti A shire coalfield. No details of the disputes have been cabled from London but it is clear that the deadlock centres on points of pt incip.e, S a dXceand viewed impartially the reported would appear to be local, comparatively trivial and .scarcely justifyin & national cessation of coal production. As against that, how er ei. is obvious that the miners consider the trouble to be serious‘ ™g to warrant an entire stoppage of work in some 2300 working mines or pits throughout Great Britain. This drastic action was given as a direction to the federation by a national ballot, of the mmeis on April 20 last, the voting being 444,546 for a national strike in t event of negotiations failing, and 61,446 against. . . ~ In common with the other major coal-producing countries, the industry in Great Britain has its own special and peculiar featuies, involving much difficulty in adjustments under any system ot. reorganisafion. Several of these peculiarities including admitted defects, are receiving remedial attention, both by the State and. y the mine-owners. It cannot be said that the British authentic , political and industrial, are afraid to admit errors and obliquities in business methods, and to look squarely at the coal problem. The Government has agreed to deal with the old prableni royalties, a problem that has survived since the sixteenth centuiy when the courts vested British coal seams in the surface propnetois, involving a multiplicity of mine-owners, and the annual payment now of £5,000,000 as compensation tor the coal extracted. A tlibuna of three has been appointed to assess the compensation payable. 1 his follows a deadlock between the Government and the owners on the price to be paid. The tribunal will value the property on the basis of sale in the open market by a willing seller, and the owners wil be bound in advance to accept the award. The Government reserves the right not to complete the purchase, but has undertaken not to impose alternative terms by legislation without the agreement of the Mineral Owners’ Committee. . Ever since 1930, legislative, consultative and co-operative ettoits have been made and still are being carried on with a view to a better adjustment of the principal issues, these being control of output, with fixation of minimum price, central selling agencies, and amalgamation aiming at the elimination of the less efficient units. Improvement of methods and conditions may have been slow, but it has been admittedly steady. A great deal of l° st has keen retrieved. In 1913 British coal production totalled 287,000,000 tons, of which 98 million tons were exported. In 1934, despite fierce foreign competition and a wide use of oil fuel, the output was 226 500,000 tons, of which 57 million tons were exported, including bunkers. The big drop in the export trade may never be recovered, but a chance for some recovery will be thrown away if the miners answer the call for a national strike.