PRODUCTION DRIVE

Evening Star, Issue 25926, 18 October 1946, Page 7

PRODUCTION DRIVE

BRITAIN’S NEW CAMPAIGN EVERY EFFORT TO AID ECONOMIC RECOVERY PEOPLE STILL SUFFERING FROM WAR WEARINESS LONDON, October 17. A publicity campaign for a production drive in Britain is to be launched shortly. People throughout the country are to _be asked to make every effort to aid economic recovery, and Mr Herbert Morrison is expected to produce a new slogan—one to succeed his “Go to it ” of the war. The campaign haS the full support of Cabinet, and there is reason to believe that Government leaders will watch for its results with a tinge of anxiety. For some time now the charge has been heard that the British workman is not making the same effort as he did during and before the war. Production a man hour is declared to be declining. - How far this assertion is correct is difficult to assess, and reports are conflicting. But it is generally admitted that the nation has not yet shaken off its post-war apathy, one Hull professor describing it as a “ creeping paralysis.” Opinions as to the extent this feeling of apathy has affected the country, and the reasons for it, vary considerably. Looking at the broad picture of Britain during the period since the war ended, the scene is not one to cause alarm or despondency.

Britain regained the volume of her pre-war trade, demobilisation has been effected with far fewer complications than at one time was anticipated, and, while there has not been the same abundance of goods as in America, Britain has begun her march forward towards post-war prosperity with Jar less industrial strife than has been apparent on the other side of the Atlantic. The people, however, are far from being in a settled mood. There is no doubt that war-weari-ness has not yet disappeared, and the continuing shortage of food, clothing, and everyday necessities has aggravated this mood to the point of restlessness. The general state of international affairs also tends to act as an irritant, and one expression of the reaction it produces is a widespread desire to emigrate to the dominions. . THE COAL MINERS. Those who declare that there is a slackening in the will to work in Britain have the habit of singling out the coal miners, since coal production is at present the weakest link in industry. The Government’s _ decision to nationalise the mines and improve the lot of the miner has met with little response from the miners. Absenteeism, it is claimed, has not been reduced, but increased, and direct results include the threat of a coal shortage, and the decision of the Ministry of Supply to cut deliveries of steel to motor manufacturers. While various other factors enter into the reasons for the scarcity of steel, insufficient deliveries of coal to the steel works are largely responsible for the restriction of output in certain •areas. The intentions of the Ministry have alarmed the motor manufacturers, who see their export figures for 1947 being directly affected. To counter this criticism of the miner, however, certain facts are available. They include the figures of the European .Coal Organisation, which show that,' in spite of all difficulties, the British output of one metric ton of coal a man-shift during July was higher than in any other European country except Poland. The Kent collieries, for instance, passed their output targets last week by a comfortable margin. Other allegations are made that workers in factories are not working as hard as previously. But it was recently pointed out by Mr V. Collins, M.P., that probably 40 per cent, of workers are in new jobs or surroundings and conditions that they have not experienced for six years. After a period of adjustment, he says, they are mostly turning out better work and more of it. Mr Collins maintains that the assumption that output a man-hour is declining, particularly among young workers, proves on investigation to be completely false in many factories where careful thought has been given to many factors affecting production.

SOCIALIST PROPAGANDA BLAMED.

One of the arguments used to support the theory of slacking was heard-, at the recent Conservative Party conference at Blackpool. It was alleged that the workers were no longer putting their backs into their jobs because Socialist propaganda undermined their willingness to do a full week’s work. It was suggested that Labour leaders, by preaching the doctrine that private employers and employees were irreconcilably opposed were to blame for under-production. Mr Eden declared: “ The feeling has been sedulously fostered for years past by Left Wing propaganda that increased effort brings no comparable reward to the worker and is responsible for many of the difficulties- that are facing us in industrial relations today.” The myth, he added, must be dispelled. Some think that the tendency towards increased class consciousness which has become apparent since the Labour Government went into power is also a factor influencing production, while the general drive of trade unions to increase their power and dislike of pay-as-you-earn taxation is also held to be partly responsible. Whatever the extent of the slacking, and whatever the reasons, there is no doubt that Labour leaders are disturbed by the general position. They appreciate only too well the eventual outcome of a slackening of effort on the part of the working population under a Socialist regime pledged to improve their standard of living. It could be a lever for removing them from power. Hence, the careful attention given to the drive for higher production. Many believe .that more than a production drive is required for the nation to shake off its present mood, and that it will disappear only as the war recedes further into the background and general conditions improve. The high cost of living, the lack of consumer goods, the difficulties of housing and obtaining the amenities of life are probably the greatest of the factors responsible for the present mood. They are linked with reaction caused by dis- . appointment that peace has not / brought a more immediate improvement in general conditions and the realisation that such improvement is not automatic.