STORM CLOUDSOVER THE RHONDDA

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23287, 24 August 1945, Page 8

STORM CLOUDSOVER THE RHONDDA

Economic Danger Spot Welsh Collieries Vital British Problem LONDON. This is a story of the twin valleys of the Rhondda, which wind their wav amongst the slagscarred hills of Glamorgan. It is a story of grotesque contrasts, of how a flourishing people was once swept forward on the crest of an industrial boom, only to be plunged into a nightmare of bleak despair and misery. And the outlook after a second world war is still clouded and obscure. It was not until 1840 that the Rhondda yielded up the secrets of its mineral wealth, lot in that year man discovered that beneath the rolling green hills seam after seam of glistening black treasure lay there for the digging. Coal by the million tons—fuel to give the industrial revolution, then sweeping across Britain and Europe, a truly dynamic impetus.

There is perhaps no better index of industrial expansion than growth of population. A census held in the Rhondda during 1851 recorded a total of 951 people. By 1901 —exactly half a century later—this figure had increased to 113,735, and, after a fall during the Great War. reached its peak of 167,900 in 1923. The earlier years of the Rhondda's history, before the turning point of its fortunes in 1921, saw the surge forward of relentless economic forces. It was, in fact, the era of the “black Klondyke." From the farming districts bordering the Welsh valleys, and the English counties beyond the Severn, hordes of labourers trekked to the coalfields dazzled by the prospect of “cash in hand.” intent upon making their fortunes amidst the expanses of South Wales where the golden age had so suddenly appeared. But most eras of prosperity have their complementary periods of slump; It was the First World War which precipitated the collapse in South Wales—a collapse which was to earn for such valleys as Rhondda. Aberdare, and Ebbow Vale a reputation as black as anything recorded in the casebook of industrial failure. “ Valley of Shadow ” Between the two wars, the Rhondda became the valley of the shadow. Even chapels came under the auctioneer's hammer. Pubs were turned into dwelling houses. Bands of semistarved unemployed men and women roamed the valleys, singing the traditional Welsh songs—because singing was an anodyne which helped to deaden the mind against hunger and frustration which would have destroyed the character of a less resolute race. Il was not until 1934 that the Government was prevailed upon to make an investigation into conditions obtaining in the Rhondda and other similar distressed areas. The Special Areas Bill was the outcome, and on December 21, 1934, it received the Royal assent. How much benefit the Rhondda Valley derived from the new legislation may be understood when it is known that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Neville Chamberlain, considered that £2,000.000 was sufficient to salvage the wreckage, not only of the Rhondda, but of all South Wales, and equally depressed areas of Cumberland, Durham, Northumberland, and West Scotland.

Industrial transference was one of the Government's gravest admissions of failure. Instead of resolutely attempting to reorganise the economic life of an area which was potentially rich in natural resources, it removed thousands of men who might otherwise have been usefully and happily employed in developing the valley's own precious assets. Whilst the Rhondda and the rest of Wales were passing through this period of depression a conference of local authorities, chambers of trade and commerce, and various industrial organisations was convened at the City Hall in Cardiff. The result was the formation of the National Industrial Development Council of Wales and Monmouthshire. I't was ultimately decided that the Rhondda could no longer depend upon the production of coal as its sole means of economic support. Belatedly, realisation had dawned that the old order, founded upon the principle of getting as much coal as possible at the minimum cost in miners’ wages, was ended. The valleys cried out for new industries; elaborate plans for enticing them to settle in the Rhondda were evolved. And five years after the Council's inception the Treforest Trading Estate opened its doors. The Treforest Trading Estate is s private limited liability company under Government guarantee. Its original purpose, to solve the Rhondda’s unemployment problem by attracting and assisting prospective industrialists, could hardly be termed successful. Admittedly, factories did start production—of a kind. Artificial flower and cheap grade jewellery manufacture arc hardly industries calculated to attract an out-of-work mining population, even if the wages were there. As a direct consequence of the nature of this employment, employees at Treforest were predominantly women, who numbered 6616 against 5214 men absorbed since the new industries were first introduced to the district. War Averts Crisis Then came the war. Had not the guns started to fire on September 3. 1939, it would hardly have needed a prophet to foretell that a violent tidal-wave of crisis was due to sweep across the Rhondda and the rest of the country. But war came to the aid of the system, whose failure to adapt tself to change had all but brought about its own downfall. Many of the industries operating at Treforest had no place in the scheme of war production, and the Government requisitioned these factories. Now the war has come to an end, but the Rhondda outlook for the future is still misty. Already the war factories are reducing their staffs or closing down altogether, and the queues are forming up outside the Labour Exchanges. The British Legion of the district is dispensing distress payments on a disturbingly increasing' scale.

Colliery owners are becoming apprehensive, for they realise that the men returning from the war, who once knew only the grey depression of life in the valleys and the darkness of the pit, have had their horizon broadened. Their suspicion of the owners, the tradition of chronic unemployment. the working conditions —all these things are etched deeply on their memories. It has been estimated that the coal in the Rhondda could provide employment sufficient to maintain 50 per cent, of its population for an indefinite number of years. The other half must depend upon the introduction of new industries. The reconstruction of the Rhondda Valley is a national issue. Will the muddle, the industrial neglect, the broken homes and hopes rife in the valley before the war be repeated on a nation-wide scale? And what of the miners themselves? Will they, attracted by the greater amenities of factory life, leave the pits for healthier work above ground? When the miners of Rhondda witness 600 of their number disabled by silicosis and pneumoconiosis every six months it is small wonder that the youth of the district feels little urge to pursue a mining Yet coal for industry, coal for the home, and coal for export are vital to Britain's future. Experts sav that, given the will and the money, illness in the pits can b? reduced to a bare minimum. But so far this problem has not been tackled as seriously as it warrants. It is a national problem. Is nationalisation of the mines the answer?