BRITISH COAL STRIKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19383, 19 July 1926, Page 7

BRITISH COAL STRIKE.

GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS. EFFECT ON PRODUCTION. INCREASING DIFFICULTIES. BY WALTER T. LAYTON. (Editor of The I* Icor.omist.) LONDON. Juno 17. On the surface the coal deadlock seems no nearer solution than when it be.;an seven weeks agj. Clearly the miners' resistance cannot last indefinitely. While there is as yet little sign of general distress in the mining districts, the men aro naturally very concerned at seeing their savings disappearing. In one or two cases, where the owners have offered to engage the men on the old terms, the pits have been reopened and in some Midland Counties out-crop coal is being worked ana sold by some of the men. Such cases, however, do not touch more than the fringe of the problem. Certain of the leaders have shown a willingness to depart from the rigid attitude of the federation, but even in the districts where the economic condition would permit a return to work at practically the old wages, these suggestions for compromise have been turned down bv the locat organisations. It is universally recognised that the time will

come when the miners must retreat from their present position. But the course of the dispute is developing along lines remarkably parallel to that of 1921, which lasted exactly three months.

The Commission's Report. The Government has done its best to make it possible for the miners to modify their attitude, Mr. Bftldivin lias reiterated his willingness to carry ont in full the Coal Commission's report and, in particular, has made it clear that the omission in his statement of January 4 of any reference to the Stale purchase of mineral rights or the giving to local authorities of the right to undertake the retail sale of coal, did not imply that he proposed to abandon these two features in the report, but only omitted them as not being matters wh' would immediately be dealt with by legislation. This statement is significant in view of the tendency of the owners to throw over the Royal Cornmission's report as being unsound and to demand a general return to the eight hours day. In this week's debate Mr. Baldwin has gone some way to meet this point of view, for he now proposes to authorise as a temporary measure an extension of the Seven IL/.irs Act. In his statement to the House, Mr. Baldwin took up the point of view that it is better to endeavour to maintain the standard of living in the mining districts by allowing the men to work longer, than to have substantially reduced wages. But he did not really meet the argument of the commission that the restoration of the eight hours day would add some 30 or 40 million tons to the potential output of coal in a market which is already overstocked and therefore depress prices. In the present state of the market, it is recognised by those best qualifled to judge that an increase in the working day would mean greater unemployment in the mining districts than we shall have itv any case to deal with. At the samo lime, in view of the great differences in the natural conditions of the coal pits in many of the older districts, more elasticity in regard to hours would undoubtedly to some extent relievo die difficult problem of transferring labour. Mr. Baldwin's suggestion is permissive only, that is to say, the change must be made by agreement, and if it is adopted in , a limited number of cases only, it may bo a wise movement. Increase in TJnemploymentt

In the meantime the stoppage is producing its inevitable economic result l ?. How far production is actually restricted it is difficult to say with certainty, but on the whole the paralysis has, up to the present, been less serious than might have been expected. Unemployment, according to the last returns, amounts to 1,609,000, compared with 2,330,000 at a corresponding date in the stoppage of 1921. But the 1921 crisis occurred just when trade was rapidly moving downhill after the boom of 1920. Even before the closing of the mines unemployment was more severe than in April of this year. Apart from the miners themselves, the stoppage appears to have swelled the roll of the unemployed by some 600,000 workpeople, and t'he figures are to-day no worse than after the second week of the general strike. Indeed, a casual observer would not find outside the mining and iron and steel districts any very obvious signs indicating that anything unusual was occurring in the economic life of the country. A reasonably good train service is being maintained, suburban railway and tram services arc good, and the transport of goods to and from the country is taking place fairly smoothly. The fact is that the great development of motor transport hag made the country less vulnerable to the effects of a .coal strike than it used to be. In a number of cases, power plants on the seaboard arc getting coal from abroad and in a number of cases factories are carrying on with the use of oil fuel. The trade returns for May show a drop of about £2O millions in exports and a similar drop in imports, but this can be fully accounted for by the effect of the general strike together with the closing of the coal and steel industries. The trade returns for June will probably show a marked recovery. Though the disorganisation is not as complete as might have been feared, the difficulties of industij are growing. The cotton trade is considering a proposal to work alternate weeks, there is a growing amount of short time in the industrial districts and many factories will soon be faced with the necessity of definitely closing down. At best, therefore, we shall have a lot of leeway to make up when the strike is over. To do this it is imperative that our industries should have cheap fuel and power. It is almost universally recognised that however long the stoppage may last, the coal industry at the end must start on an economic basis and that there must be an end of any idea that it can be maintained at the expense of the taxes.