MINES NATIONALISATION

Grey River Argus, 1 February 1946, Page 8

MINES NATIONALISATION

British labour govt. Crux of Programme [From Herbert Tracey of the British Trade Union Congress]. LCNDON, January 1. The long-awaited EHI for the nationalisation of the British coal industry was laid before 1 arliament before Christmas. Discussion of this measure is Parliament's most important New Year task. Its passage through Parliament is. likely to be fiercely contested. It carries to a crucial point Labour’s plan for the transformation of the coal and power industries into a unified public service. William Lawther, President of the National Union of Mineworkers, describes the- measure as realising what mineworkers have been urging for over half a century. It is certain that this Bill will be keenly scrutinised by industrialists, economists and statesmen in all the advanced countries of the world. It illustrates what socialisation of an industry means as British Labour understands the process. Old-iash-ioned notions of socialism are falsified by it. It is an up-to-the-minute example of the principle of public enterprise, administered as a public service, not by civil service bureaucrats, or by a Government Department, but by a technically competent Board of Control. PRINCIPLE OF COMPENSATION. The Bill is of high political significance, too, because it embodies the principle- of compensation for the private interests whose assets in the mining industry arc- acquired for the nation. There is no trace of confiscation. There is the new and farreaching provision that the amount of compensation to be paid to the mineowners will be determined by an arbitration tribunal, on slated principles of valuation. Equally important is the provision made in the Bill for the direct association of consumers’ interests with the conduct of the industry as a public enterprise, both domestic coal consumers and industrial consumers are to have separate councils who will consider all questions relating to the sale or supply of coal within their respective spheres, present their conclusions to the responsible Minister, and consider any matters the Minister may refer to them for examination and report. The Bill at first sight looks complicated. There are 58 clauses, and three schedules. .But it is essentially a simple plan to which it gives effect. It proposes to transfer to a ninemember National Coal Board the powers of production and disposal hitherto in possession of the mineowners. (Coal itself is already public property. Private ownership of minerals beneath the soil of Britain ■was extinguished when the nation acquired the rights of royalty owners at a cost of £66] millions in 1935). The complications with which this measure deals arise out of the complex structure of the industry itself. There are more than 3,000 separate coal mines in production to-day, varying greatly in size and value. Nearly one-half are small, employing less than 100 men each. There is an intermediate group, about one-third of the total, which employ between 100 and 500 men. There are larger units comprising mines in which a thousand or more workers are employed. Among these are a few very powerful combines, with ramifications extending to a multiplicity of by-pro-duct industries, and in the sales organisation of the industry. Altogether there are about 1,400 colliery proprietors, most of them of course corporate bodies, some few being family concerns. Co-operative Societies, too, participate in the ownership of collieries and ancillary undertakings through the Co-operative Wholesale Society.

MERIT OF SIMPLICITY. The problem with which this measure deals is thus a difficult one. But the method it applies has the merit of simplicity. It transfers to this nine-member Board all the interests in the production and distribution of coal which the Government, acting through the responsible Minister considers it necessary to acquire from private interests, without option; other assets which are to be transferred at the option of the Board ■when it considers this necessary, or of the owners if they so desire and the Minister agrees; other assets which may be transferred at the option of the Board or owners after arbitration, if there is any objection to such transfer; and certain other assets of technical significance. The Board will have as its primary duty the task of working and getting the coal in Britain, of securing the efficient development of the industry, and of making supplies of coal available in such quantities at such prices as -the Board deems best calculated to further the public interest. This ntional Board will consist ol a’ chairman and eight other members appointed by the Minister, who will have the - statutory responsibility of choosing them “from amongst persons appearing to him to be qualified as having had experience of, and having shown capacity in, industrial, commercial or financial matters, applied science, administration, or the organisation of workers.” The last phrase opens the door to trade unionists who have come to the forefront as leaders of organised workers, not exclusively mineworkers. The inclusion of representatives of applied science, and those who have studied industrial administration is also significant. Their appointment will be to a full-time job. The Bill invests the Minister with a general power of direction over the industry. It authorises him to give directions of a general character as to the exercise and performance by the Board of their function -in regard to matters which appear to him as Minister to affect the national interest. The Board must give effect to any such directions. Its programmes of reorganisation or development which involve a substantial outlay of capital mtlst also be settled on lines approved by the Minister. Il must report to him fully, and give him all the information he requires with regard to the property and activities of the Board. WELFARE AND SAFETY RESEARCH. The two cdnsumqrs’ councils are alsd to be appointed by the Minister, mid lie will provide them with all the

clerical and staff assistance they need to do their job. The Bill makes specific provision also for the development of miners’ welfare, and of safety research. Compensation and pensions to workers employed in 'the industry at the time of transfer are likewise provided for; and there is, as indicated, an elaborate method of deciding what the nation must pay to own the mines. mean good living conditions and workfor people everywhere.