August 30, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

441

COAL CONSERVATION COMMITTEE.

FINAL REPORT.*

(Continued from p. 388.)

APPENDIX III.

Report of the Mining Sub-Committee.

Under peace conditions the Government Depart-
ments primarily concerned with Mines and Minerals
are—(a) The Home Office, which administers the legis-
lation affecting mines and quarries and in particular
is charged with the duty of the inspection of mines
and quarries by a staff of inspectors, and also super-
vises the examination of candidates for mining cer-
tificates through the agency of the Board for Mining
Examinations; (b) The Board of Trade, which is
primarily connected with Mines and Minerals on the
economic side; (c) The Board of Education, which is
responsible for the Geological Survey and Museum of
Practical Geology; (d) Woods, Forests and Land
Revenues, which exercises the Crown Rights in respect
of mines in the Forest of Dean; (e) The Admiralty
is closely connected with coal by virtue of the large
purchases made for the Navy, and of its special asso-
ciation with the Admiralty List of Collieries in South
Wales; (/) The Duchy of Lancaster is concerned with
the rights of the Crown in respect of coal mines in
the Duchy; "(g) The Duchy of Cornwall is concerned
with the Rights of the Duchy in the matter of mines.

Under war conditions up to 1st March, 1917, the
number and diversity of the functions of the State
in the matter of Mines and Minerals generally showed
a great increase : —

(a)	The Mines Department of the Home Office
during the war up to that date also dealt with the
following matters: (1) All questions relating to the
enlistment of miners and the setting up of a Central
Colliery Recruiting Court and of District Courts; (2)
advising the Ministry of Munitions upon priority in
the supply of mining machinery, and assisting the
Ministry of Munitions in respect of other questions
relating to the supply of iron ore and other metal-
liferous minerals; (3) advising the Treasury on appli-
cation for issues of capital made in respect of mining
undertakings in the United Kingdom.

(b)	The Coal Mining Organisation Committee was
appointed by the Home Secretary in February, 1915,
to enquire into the conditions prevailing in the Coal-
mining Industry with a view to promoting such
organization of work and such co-operation between
employers and workmen as having regard to the large
numbers of miners who were enlisting for naval and
military service would secure the necessary production
of coal during the war, but the pressure of events led
it beyond the strict scope of its reference.

(c)	The Board of Trade was largely concerned with
securing adequate supplies of coal for important con-
sumers such as public utility undertakings, power-
stations, coke-ovens, &c.; also in the passing and
administration of the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act;
and in negotiations with coal merchants upon the
retail price of household coal.

(d)	The Coal Exports Committee was appointed by
the President of the Board of Trade in April, 1915, for
the purpose of considering and advising upon all
questions relating to the exportation of coal and coke
from the United Kingdom to destinations other than
British Possessions and Protectorates.

(e)	The Central Coal and Coke Distribution Com-
mittee was appointed by the Board of Trade in
January, 1916, for the purpose of advising upon the
distribution of coal and coke throughout the country,
suggesting methods of economy, and supervising the
working of the District Committees which were set
up throughout the country in the different coal fields,
whose duty it was to render assistance to important
home consumers, such as public utility undertakings
and munition works, who were finding difficulty7 in
obtaining the necessary supplies of coal, and to allo-
cate such demands amongst different collieries.

(/) For some months prior to December, 1916, Lord
Milner, as Supervisor of the Supply and Distribution
of Coal, was Chairman of an informal Committee con-
sisting of himself and the Chairman of the Committees
(b), (d), and (e).

(g)	The Ministry of Munitions was also intimately
interested in the'coal supplies of a large number of
establishments controlled by the Ministry.

(h)	The War Trade Department had a Coal Division
which, upon the recommendations of the Coal Exports
Committee, issued licences for the export of coal.

(i)	The Pit Timber Joint Committee was appointed
in the spring of 1916, consisting of representatives
of the Coal Mining Organization Committee, the Board
of Agriculture, the Home-grown Timber Committee,
and the Board of Trade.

Under war conditions since 1st March, 1917.

On the 22nd February, 1917, Mr. Guy Calthrop was
appointed Controller of Coal Mines with power under
the Defence of the Realm Act to give directions “ as to
the management and user of coal mines ” which passed
into the possession of the Board of Trade, as to South
Wales and Monmouthshire on the 1st December, 1916,
and as to the rest of the country on the 1st March,
1917, for an indefinite period. He has gradually
absorbed the functions of the following departments
and Committees : (a) Home Office, so far as regards
organisation of the industry under war conditions and
arrangements for recruiting of miners (except the
supervision of the Colliery Recruiting Courts); (b)
Board of Trade, including the Central Coal and Coke
Distribution Committee; (c) Coal Mining Organiza-
tion Committee; while the powers of the District Coal
and Coke Supplies Committees have been enlarged.
The Coal Exports Committee (in close touch with the
Controller of Coal Mines) and the War Trade Depart-
ment continue to exercise the same powers. The Pit
Timber Joint Committee is merged in the department
of the Controller of Timber Supplies, while its

* Published by H.M. Stationery Office, London, [Cd.
9084], price Is. net.

District Committees are merged in the eight District
Pitwood Committees appointed by the Controller of
Coal Mines.

Whether any of the powers of the Controller of
Coal Mines will survive the war and the ensuing period
of reconstruction cannot now be determined, but,
however this may be, the argument for unifying the
functions of the State in respect of the coal mining
industry will still demand consideration.

Proposed Ministry of Mines and Minerals.

It is now proposed that, subject to the exceptions
mentioned below, all the functions vested in various
Government Departments before the war in the matter
of the coal mining industry should, either at once or
after the war as may be determined, be transferred
to and administered by a separate Ministry of Mines
and Minerals presided over by a Minister with a seat
in Parliament. Any developments of these functions
determined by legislation in the future, whether as
the result of recommendations of the Coal Conservation
Committee or not, should also be administered by this
Ministry.

The principal exception to the transfer recommended
by the Committee is the Geological Survey, which
should be transferred from the Board of Education
to the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research. The results of its work would
then form part of the growing body of knowledge .and
information which it is the special function of that
Department to create, co-ordinate, and place at the
disposal of all other Departments.

The powers of the Admiralty with regard to coal
would no doubt remain unaffected.

With regard to. the Commissioners of Woods and
Forests, the Duchy of Lancaster, and the Duchy of
Cornwall, the Committee have not at present before
them the materials required to enable them to express
an opinion as to whether any of their functions in
the matter of coal mines ought to be transferred to
the Ministry of Mines and Minerals or not. The mines
with which they are concerned are, when let to tenants,
subject to general legislation, and to that extent would
automatically come under the-administrative authority
of the Ministry of Mines and Minerals, but in so far
as the Commissioners of Woods and Forests and the
authorities of the Duchies are only exercising the
rights which are common to all owners of mines, their
functions ought not to be disturbed.

The Minister of Mines and Minerals should, in the
opinion of the Committee, be assisted by an Advisory
Board consisting of representatives of the mining
industry (including the workmen), together with men
eminent in branches of science connected with the
industry, and the claims of the principal classes of
consumers to representation. will require careful con-
sideration.

Among other functions it is proposed that the new
Ministry should undertake the following work: —

Mining Education.—At present the Mines Depart-
ment of the Home Office confines itself to supervising
the examination of candidates for mining certificates,
but otherwise does not attempt to prescribe the
curriculum of the education of such persons. Having
regard to the increasing complexity of mining opera-
tions, and the increasing need for scientific knowledge
both for the sake of safety and for other reasons, it
seems desirable that there should be co-operation be-
tween the Ministry of Mines and Minerals and the
Board of Education with a view to making provision
in the schools for some elementary training of a scien-
tific nature which would assist lads in their prepara-
tion for mining work and in connection with their
future occupation in the mines.

Moreover, it is recommended that the State should
establish some system in the mining industry of
scholarships and bursaries, whereby it may be possible
for any lad employed in a mine, whether coal or
metalliferous, showing ability, to have the opportunity
of a first-class mining education fitting him to occupy
any position in the industry. Full use should be made
of any universities, colleges and technical schools
which may be prepared to adapt their curricula to
meet the needs of mining education.

It should also be noted that the recommendation of
the Royal Commission on Metalliferous Mines and
Quarries, which reported shortly before the outbreak of
war, will, if adopted, render necessary the certification
of managers in those mines and quarries, so that their
examination and education would also be brought
within the purview of the new Ministry upon whose
Advisory Board such mines and quarries would
naturally be represented.

Research.—The new Minstry and its Advisory Board
would have important relations with the Department
of Scientific and Industrial Research. It is under-
stood that the plans of that Department, so far as
they are concerned with coal, fall into two main
divisions, one of which is more closely connected with
the sphere of work of a Ministry of )VIines and
Minerals than the other. On the one hand, the De-
partment is dealing with the whole question of fuel—
its most effective preparation and most economical use
—through the recently established Fuel Research
Board, which will carry on the whole of this work at
the cost of the State, though no doubt it will be
assisted in many directions by all the industries
interested in fuel. On the other hand, the Depart-
ment hopes to deal with problems connected with the
mining of coal by delegating them to a Research Asso-
ciation established by the coal mining industry, which
is intended to be national in character though it may
actually work through local branches or centres. The
Research Association of the coal mining industry and
its local branches will be aided . by grants from the
Department, and will have to satisfy the Department
that their plans for research are suitable. It is con-
templated that the Research Association of the
industry will carry out investigations not only into
the problems connected with coal mining and the more
effective winning of coal, but also into problems
affecting the general health and welfare of the
workers. In the event of a new Ministry being set

up of the kind now suggested, its Advisory Board
would doubtless be in close touch with the Depart-
ment of Scientific and Industrial Research, and would
have ample opportunity of calling the attention of the
Department to problems, whether of production or of
welfare, which seemed to require investigation. Some
of these might well be of a nature which the Depart-
ment would pass on to the Research Association of
the coal mining industry, whilst others might be of
such public importance as to justify their being con-
ducted, as the present research into Mines Rescue
Apparatus is conducted, at the cost of the State.

Regulations as to Safety and Health.—The new
Ministry would naturally undertake the duty at
present performed by the Home Office of framing
regulations for safety and health at the mines. There
might, however, be certain aspects of these questions
which more immediately concerned a Department of
Public Health, and in that case co-operation between
the two Departments would be necessary.

Local Mining Problems.—It would also be the duty
of the new Minstry to set up and supervise the local
or other machinery required for the purpose of dealing
with the working of barriers, the drainage of water-
logged areas, and various other mining problems which
specially require local knowledge.

Mineral Resources of the Empire.—The Committee
are aware that it is proposed to set up an Imperial
Mineral Resources Bureau for collecting information
from the appropriate Departments of the Governments
concerned, and from other quarters, regarding the
mineral resources and metal requirements of the
Empire, and for other purposes, and they fully recog-
nise the importance of the objects in view. They think
it will be necessary to consider carefully the relations
which ought to be established between such an
Imperial Bureau, the Ministry of Mines and Minerals,
the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research and other Government Depart-
ments in order to ensure full communication and
interchange of information with the Self-Governing
Dominions, India, and the Colonies, and to promote
co-operation with them in the extension and develop-
ment of knowledge with regard to the mineral re-
sources and metal requirements of the Empire. At
the same time they are convinced that the Minister
of Mines and Minerals must retain in his own hands
the full administrative control of his Department and
be directly responsible to Parliament for the exercise
and performance of all powers and duties conferred
upon him with regard to the mineral resources of the
United Kingdom. Corresponding Departments in the
Dominions will no doubt rightly claim a similar
freedom and responsibility.

The Committee are aware that proposals may come
under consideration which if carried out may in some
particulars modify the transfer of services which by
this Report it is proposed to make to the Ministry
of Mines and Minerals. For example, if a Ministry
of Public Health were to be set up, it might claim
the control and services of Inspectors of Mines so far
as functions within its own competence were con-
cerned. The consideration of the points which may
thus arise is outside the matters referred to the Coal
Conservation Committee, and nothing in this Report
is intended to prejudice the decision of them.

The Report is signed by Adam Nimmo (Vice-Chair-
man), W. C. Blackett, W. Forster Brown, John
Gemmell, J. S. Haldane, E. M. Hann, John Kemp,
R. A. S. Redmayne, C. E. Rhodes, Robt. Smillie,
and A. Strahan. Arnold D. McNair and Robert W.
Stanners, Joint Secretaries.

Reservations.

1.	Messrs. A. Nimmo, W. Forster Brown, and C. E.
Rhodes, whilst recognising that the establishment of
a Ministry of Mines and Minerals would co-ordinate
the various functions of the State exercised in respect
of the mining industry and would lead to unity of
purpose and administration in all matters affecting
that industry in which it was acknowledged that the
State should intervene, feel, however, that there are
dangers not only to the mining industry, but to the
industries of the country generally, which may tend
to develop as the result of the establishment of such
a Ministry. Political pressure would undoubtedly be
brought to bear upon the Ministry, through Parlia-
ment, to extend the functions of the State to control
over the commercial and industrial sides of the Mining
Industry. They are of opinion that such control would
be prejudicial not only to the mining industry, but
to the nation as a whole. The inevitable result of
such control would be to increase the cost of produc-
tion, thereby limiting our foreign markets, and ulti-
mately reducing the available amount of employment.
In addition to this, individual incentive would be
withdrawn, upon which, in their belief, the efficiency
and permanent success of the industry must very
largely depend. They consider it necessary, there-
fore, that they should, in signing the Report, express
the view that they are opposed to any State control
over the mining industry in respect of its commercial
and industrial interests.

2.	Mr. R. Smillie thinks that, whatever views the
mine-owners of the country may hold on the question
of a Minister of Mines, there cannot be any doubts
on the question as to what the position of the mine-
workers is on this matter. For years the matter has
been discussed at conferences of the organised mine-
workers, and resolutions have been passed again and
again, with absolute unanimity, calling upon the
Government to set up a Ministry of Mines, which
would take over and co-ordinate all the functions
connected with mining, metalliferous as well as coal.
The mine-workers, however, do not stop here. They
want a Ministry of Mines, but they want more than
this. They want the State to have the ownership and
full control of the mines, not only on the productive
side, but on the commercial side also.

The needs of the nation caused by the war have
made it necessary for the State to take over the
control of the coal mines of the country so far as the
production and distribution of coal is concerned,