February 16, 1917.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

337



All the coal mines in the United Kingdom have
been taken over by the Government for the period
of the war. A new department of the Board of
Trade has been set up to control them, with Mr.
Guy Calthrop, general manager of the London and
North-Western Bail way, at the head, assisted by
Sir Bichard Bedmayne and an advisory committee.

Notices issued by the military authorities calling
up certain colliery workmen in the South Wales coal
field to the Colours have been cancelled. The cancel-
lation was confirmed by a representative meeting
of three colliery recruiting courts at Cardiff on
Saturday.

A meeting of the Association of Mining Electrical
Engineers (Midland branch) will be held in the
Midland Hotel, Mansfield, to-morrow (Saturday),
commencing at 3.30 p.m. Mr. P. J. Plevin’s paper
on “The Steam Turbine and its Industrial Applica-
tion” will be open for discussion.

An informal discussion on ‘ ‘ Fuel Economy ’ ’ will
be held at the meeting of the Institution of Electrical
Engineers (Birmingham section) on February 21.
Mr. J. Frith and Mr. J. D. Paton will contribute
introductory papers.

A paper on “ Compressed Air ” will be read by
Mr. B. V. Currie before the Monmouthshire Colliery
Officials’Association, at Newport, to-morrow evening.

The announcement has been made

State by the Board of Trade that a new
Control Of Department has been set up for the
Coal Mines.! purpose of taking over the control
of all the coal mines in the country.
This is the fulfilment of the scheme announced by
the Prime Minister some months ago as one of the
new war measures in contemplation. The control is
limited to the duration of the war, and the only
practical result will be that all the coal mines of the
country will be placed in the same position as those
of South Wales. This extension of control has been
foreshadowed ever since the threatening attitude in
South Wales forced the Government to take over the
charge of that area. At once a movement was set
on foot by the miners to make the control universal.
Whether this was partly owing to > a feeling of
isolation on the part of the South Wales miners
at being alone singled out for Government action,
it is not possible to say.	It seems, however,

to be more than probable that the step now
taken is but the fruition of the investigation
made by Lord Milner some months back into the
whole situation caused by the various committees
which had been set up to regulate the coal industry
in accordance with the requirements of the war. It
was then felt that there was need for some super-
vision and co-ordination of these'committees, which
were all working independently of one another and
often overlapping. There was also a clearly shown
need for more efficient organisation of the distribution
of coal. At the time when Lord Milner was at
work upon this question there were rumours that he
was elaborating a scheme of State control. Although
the time had not then arrived for going further
than a careful examination of the whole position, we
should imagine that, in fact, the outline of a scheme
was even then in process of being drafted.

It was a step that was to be expected, from
whatever side the question was examined. There
has already been a very large measure of control
which has seriously restricted the natural course of
supply and demand. No one seriously criticised
this state of things. It was clearly recognised that
the war has produced an extremely complicated
condition. As the successful conduct of the war is
the first consideration, colliery owners have cheerfully
submitted to the control of the different committees
and emergency Acts of Parliament. With prices
restricted, both for home consumption and exports to
our Allies, with the export trade to neutrals virtually
prohibited, and the trade in bunker coal subject to
all sorts of restrictions ; with endless troubles brought
about by the scarcity of tonnage produced by Govern-
ment requisitions ; with rail-borne traffic, under the
requirements for military transport, all thrown out
of gear; and with frequent interruptions at the pits
caused by accumulated stocks of coal at bank; with

all that freedom of movement of coal, upon which
the smooth working of the colliery is dependent,
curtailed by the distracting needs of the nation and
our Allies, there was certainly little more that was
left to be controlled. But the worst feature of
this control was the multiplicity of unco-ordinated
authority. There was no means of controlling the
controllers. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ?

This was the main object of Lord Milner’s investi-
gations when he was engaged with the supervision
of supply and distribution of coal. It is clear that
between them the various interests concerned were
in danger of serious entanglement, and the only
logical solution would seem to be the appointment
of a controller, as has now been accomplished. Mr.
Guy Calthrop, who has been selected for this
important post, will find that he has enough to test
even his great powers of organisation, and we are
glad to find that he will be assisted in his duties by
an advisory committee, consisting of persons selected
to represent both coal owners and coal miners.

This will be a guarantee against the danger of
causing confusion by the sudden adoption of
measures which might temporarily produce disorga-
nisation at an inconvenient time. There are some
methods, excellent in themselves, which take time to
become effective. We do not want to see anything
done that will only begin to produce its results when
the war is over.

For the rest, we do not anticipate that the step
now taken will make much visible change in the coal
industry, beyond simplifying and smoothing existing
difficulties in distribution. The pits have been
doing their utmost to increase output; and it will be
difficult for the new Controller to help much in that
direction beyond maintaining regular working con-
ditions, both by the reduction of absenteeism and by
keeping the colliery sidings busy with the removal
of coal as fast as it is produced. It is understood
that arrangements are contemplated, upon a basis
similar to that adopted in the case of railways, to
guarantee to colliery owners their pre-war profits.
This plan of remuneration would, however, be more
satisfactory for those collieries which had already
reached their maximum development than for those
which were only just arriving at a profit-earning
stage when the war began. It would be extremely
hard upon the latter to be forced to sacrifice any part
of their long deferred earnings, and it is satisfactory
to see it stated that the Controller proposes to consult
the Mining Association of Great Britain before
coming to a decision. In any case it is to be hoped
that the pre-war basis will not be too rigorously
enforced in all cases, and that adjustments will be
made where necessary to meet special conditions.

Many persons are just now asking
Essential the question, What are essential
Industries, industries ? The answer has an
important bearing upon Mr. Neville
Chamberlain’s call for volunteers under his man-
power scheme. There are probably many thousands
of men who are not only anxious that their services
should be put to the best advantage, but are also
indispensable in their present occupation. They are
on the horns of a dilemma, and the majority of them
will probably adopt the line of least resistance,
which, in this case, is to remain as they are. The
justification for such a course will depend largely
upon the nature of the business concerned, and the
view that is taken as to its national importance,
and it is just here that the country is looking for
some guidance from official quarters. The only
light that has been thrown upon this difficult problem
is the Official List of Certified Occupations. This
list has been drawn up by the Government Depart-
ment, in consultation with the Army Council, and the
various industries named in this list are thereby
stamped as being of national importance. These
occupations, however, are not all of equal value, and
a measure of their relative utility from the national
standpoint is afforded by the degree of exemption
from military service that has been fixed in each
case. This list, however, scarcely affords a proper
answer to the question whether an industry is
essential or not. The Certified Occupation List,
which from time to time has been revised and narrowed

in its scope, is based more upon military principles
than upon the ground of national economics. It is
controlled by the exigencies of the war rather than
by the industrial needs of. the nation. The
keynote which pervades it from beginning to end is
munitions. Any industry which directly or indirectly
helps in the output of munitions of war is ipso facto
a certified occupation. Thus we find that it embraces
not only the industries concerned in the production
or manufacture of materials, but also such subjects
as food, agriculture and the public utilities, upon
which the efficiency of all manual and other workers
must depend. There is in the List of Certified
Occupations only one single example of. an
industry which does not obviously fall within the
above-mentioned categories, and that example is the
Press, which, in so far as the daily papers are con-
cerned, is a certified occupation, and, therefore, of
national importance.

But the Government itself does not appear to
claim that this list -is comprehensive. For example,
in its recommendations to tribunals, it implies that
there are many others ; and, perhaps, with some
sense of humour, it mentions particularly the case of
professional accountants, who being engaged in
work of great national importance in connection with
taxation, should, therefore, receive special considera-
tion from tribunals. This recommendation suggests
a further criterion for the determination of the
national importance of any industry, viz., how much
’ does it contribute to the national revenue, and thus
help it to provide the sinews of war, without which
even munitions cannot be supplied. We do not
think, therefore, that Mr. Neville Chamberlain has
in view, in his voluntary man-power scheme, the
crippling of industry by the wholesale transference
of labour from the workshop or the office, where it is
productively employed, to the farm or other sphere
of activity where its efficiency would be compara-
tively small. We take it that he contemplates rather
a re-assortment, or re-distribution of labour, in
order that every man can be used with the best
effect. From the point of view of personal conscience,
therefore, the question that each individual should
put to himself would be whether he could be more
usefully employed elsewhere than in his present
occupation. Of this there should surely be no better
judge than himself; and, notwithstanding the pro-
bability that there may be some who believe they
could run the war better than Mr. Lloyd George or
Sir Douglas Haig, we think the question can safely
be left to each individual judgment to decide as to
whether a man is capable or not of doing better
work for his country than that upon which he is now
engaged.

Beturning to the exceptional status of the Press,
referred to above, we should like to take this oppor-
tunity of saying that we think its limitation to the
daily Press is too narrow. Although we cannot express
an unbiassed view of the place taken by a technical
journal, or trade paper, in the national economy, we
think it is, at any rate, not inferior to that of the
daily Press. In connection with this matter Mr.
Bawlinson, last February, asked the President oe
the Board oe Trade in the House of Commons
whether he would give instructions to the Paper
Commission to give serious consideration to the
special requirements of those weekly trade, technical
and professional publications which are so necessary
for the maintenance of our export trade and industrial
efficiency. Mr. Bunoiman, however, did not think
that any discrimination could be made. Shortly
afterwards the case for the weekly trade and technical
journals was embodied in a statement which was
laid before the Paper . Commission. It was
shown that these papers are absolute necessities
for the industries they represent; and, judging
by experience of their uses for conveying
information, and also their educational value, this
view can scarcely be considered to be exaggerated.
Technical papers are bought and read, not to kill
time, but for the purpose of enlarging knowledge
and experience. Who will deny that the worker
who tries to increase his information by a weekly
study of his particular trade journal is not improving
his capacity and adding to his efficiency ? It would
be possible to prove this point by countless examples,