BRITISH COAL MINES

Evening Star, Issue 20363, 20 December 1929, Page 9

BRITISH COAL MINES

THE GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS BILL BEFORE COMMONS ,(British Official Wireless.) Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. RUGBY, December 18. The President of the Board of Trade (Mr William Graham) moved the second reading of the Coal Mines Bill in the House of Commons, in which the members’ benches and the special galleries were crowded. Mr Graham s speech, which lasted for an hour and a-half and was delivered without a single note _to aid his memory, _is warmly praised by the Opposition papers, not only for its conciliatory tone and frankness, but as an outstanding parliamentary achievement displaying a most intimate knowledge of an intricate question. The Bill deals with marketing schemes, reduction of the working day, and the setting up of a National Industrial Board. A Central Marketing Council is proposed to control a score of district marketing schemes, allocating the quota of output to each district, and the district bodies in ‘ their turn are to allocate the output of the separate pits. The Board of Trade will control the marketing schemes, and a central body, consisting wholly of coal owners, will have powers to impose levies for the cost of, the schemes and to enforce them with penalties. Tho Central Council may also collect from the district boards levies to promote the export of coal and the sale of coal in special home markets. The Bill reduces the working day to seven and a-half hours as_ from next April, and establishes a National Board to deal with wages on tho lines of the Railway Wages Board. * The newspapers state that the speech was in particular addressed to the Liberals in tho hope of securing their support for tho measure. The Liberal spokesman (Sir Herbert Samuel), who as chairman of the Coal Commission of four years ago is a recognised authority on , the subject, adversely criticised the details of the Labour scheme, which, he said, was wholly contrary to the commission’s report. He emphasised the need for power to compel colliery amalgamations in place of the proposal to establish a commission to study tho question of amalgamations, He concluded by addressing a series of specific questions on the Bill, which were answered later by the Minister of Mines (Mr Ben Turner). They are being considered by the Liberal leaders to-day. The newspapers anticipate that the Liberals will not oppose tho second reading, which will be put to the vote to-morrow. LIBERAL PARTY’S ULTIMATUM. LONDON, December 18A meeting of the Liberal Party decided to vote against the second reading of the Coal Bill to-morrow unless the Government gives a satisfactory assurance on the points which Sir Herbert Samuel raised.