this respect, and in the peculiar conditions of its working, the coal-mining Industry occupies a unique and exceptional place in our national life, and there is no other industry with which it can be compared. * * * It may be argued that the defects in the present system could be removed by changes in the direction of unification falling short of State ownership.

* * *

But a great change in outlook has come over the workers in the coal fields, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to carry on the industry on the old accustomed lines. The relationship between the masters and workers in most of the coal fields in the United Kingdom is, unfortunately, of such a character that it seems impossible to better it under the present system of ownership. * There is fair reason to expect that the relationship between labor and the community will be an improvement upon the relationship between labor and capital in the coal fields.

* *

Half a century of education has produced in the workers in the coal fields far more than a desire for the material advantages of higher wages and shorter hours. They have now, in many cases and to an ever-increasing extent, a higher ambition of taking their due share and interest in the direction of the industry to the success of which they, too, are contributing. *

* *

I think that the danger to be apprehended from the certainty of the continuance of this strife in the coal-mining industry outweighs the danger arising from the problematical fear of the risk of the loss of incentive.

III. ADMINISTRATION OF MINES.

1. That State ownership should be exercised through a Department of Mines under a Minister responsible to Parliament.

2. That a national mining council be established to advise the minister upon all questions relating to the operation and management of the industry, this council to be made up of representatives of district councils hereinafter mentioned.

3. That a standing committee of 18 be elected by and from the members of the national council, six to represent the workers, six to represent consumers, and six to represent the technical and commercial sides of the industry; this committee to superintend the operations of the district councils.

4. That a district mining council be established in each of the proposed 14 mining districts, to be made up of a chairman and a vice chairman appointed by the minister, four members to be elected by the workers, and eight to be appointed by the national council (four to represent consumers, two to represent the technical side of the industry, and two to represent the commercial side of the industry) these councils to be responsible for matters of health, safety, production, and sale and distribution.

5. That a commercial committee be appointed by each District Council to control the acquisition of stores and the disposal of the output of coal within the district.

6. That a local mining council be established at each mine, to be made up of seven regular members, four to be elected by the workers, and three to be appointed by the district council-this council to advise on questions concerning the direction and safety of the mine.

7. That mine managers be appointed by the district councils, also under managers and commercial managers, all to be ex officio members of their respective district councils.

IV. LABOR.

1. That "the contracts of employment of workmen shall embody an undertaking to be framed by the district mining council to the effect that no workman will, in consequence of any dispute, join in giving

any notice to determine his contract, nor will he combine to cease work, unless and until the question in dispute has been before the local mining council and the district mining council and those councils have failed to settle the dispute.'

2. That "the workers at each mine shall be entitled to an output allowance to be ascertained in an approved manner and divided among them half yearly."

3. That provision be made by the district councils for "a fair and just wage for all workers in the industry " in fixing the price of coal at the mines.

4. That "no national alteration of wages shall be made without the consent both of the Minister of Mines and the standing committee."

*

5. That "the present civil service system * * shall not apply to servants attached to the mines department."

The three members of the Coal Industry Commission who represented the interests of labor and the three who represented the general public were in substantial agreement with the foregoing recommendations. They favored, however, a larger labor representation on the district and national councils; and they proposed that state ownership should be extended to coke and by-products plants. All were fearful of the recommendation as to the proposed labor contract; and the labor representatives were opposed to compensation for mining royalties.

The report of the three representatives of the mine owners, in which two representatives of independent industries joined, can be best summarized in the sentence: "We have carefully weighed the whole of the evidence and have come to the conclusion that the nationalization of the coal industry in any form would be detrimental to the development of the industry and to the economic life of the country." The attitude of the Government did not become known until August 18, when Mr. Lloyd George made an announcement in the House of Commons, from which the following excerpts are presented:

I. OWNERSHIP OF ROYALTIES.

The Government accepts the policy of State purchase of mineral rights in coal.

* * *

The Government has been deeply impressed by the evidence * * * with respect to the unsatisfactory social conditions under which the miners have been compelled to carry on their industry in some parts of the country. They hold that a reasonable standard of living should be secured to the miners and their families; that the deplorable housing conditions that prevail in some of the coal fields of the country should be remedied as rapidly as possible and that every effort should be made to improve the comfort and amenities of the miners and their families. * * *

If

We propose that a fund should be raised for that particular purpose. mining royalties continue we feel that they ought to contribute toward the wellbeing of those who work the mines and those who risk their lives in working them, and as the Government proposes to purchase mining royalties, they feel that the mineral wealth of the country ought not to shirk its responsibility for the welfare of the people upon whose work its utility depends. * * **

II. OWNERSHIP OF MINES; LABOR.

Mr. Justice Sankey * * * has a proposal for State purchase and State working of the mines. He based his recommendation solely on the expectation that it will produce greater harmony between employer and worker in the mines. * * In his report he recommends also a scheme to avert strikes. * It was not a scheme to deprive the miners of the right to strike. It

* *

*

is simply a scheme to provide that they shall not strike until there is inquiry by the various councils set up under the nationalizing scheme. The miners in their report are prepared to accept the nationalization proposal, but they can not accept the proposal to avert strikes.

* * *

*

Since then we have had the Yorkshire strike. * * The Yorkshire strike was a direct strike against the Government. * * * Where is the promotion of harmony if you have State control and State ownership so long as that is the case? * * * I do not see the harmony that is to come under State control. *

III. ADMINISTRATION OF MINES.

We have accepted the principle of unification and reorganization. We think, and I think that the mine owners realize, that there is a very great deal of waste due to the fact that you have got a large number of different enterprises running in the same area under different managements-waste of power, waste of management, and waste in distribution. There is undoubtedly a case made out for giving the miners a greater interest and voice in the working conditions which affect the industry, and accordingly we make the recommendation:

That in view of the fact that the lives of the miners depend upon the way in which the mines are worked, means should be devised for securing their cooperation in shaping the general condition of the industry without interfering with the executive control of the individual mines.

Now I come to the recommendation with regard to unification:

That the industry should be so organized as to reduce to a minimum the expenses of management and the working charges, and with this end in view the country should be divided into convenient areas in each of which an amalgamation of neighboring mines should be undertaken within a limited periodsay, two years-and that the workers in and about the mines should have directors representing them in each area group to which they belong. Here is a condition put in for the protection of the consumer:

To prevent inflation of capital, overcapitalization, the scheme of amalgamation should be subject to the approval of the Government and must conform to any conditions laid down by the Government for the protection of the general body of coal consumers.

The Government has prepared a scheme on the above lines and will submit it to Parliament. * * *

The worker will have two methods of making his influence directly felt. First of all is the scheme for giving him representation on committees which will have a voice in settling the conditions under which the work is done-not the management (you could not run a pit by a committee) but the conditions under which the work is done; and in the second place he would have direct representation by the nomination of a certain number of directors in the area group which will be directing the control of the mines in the various areas.

As thus presented the Government scheme has much in common with the proposals made in a minority report by Sir Arthur Duckham, one of the representatives of independent industries upon the Coal Industry Commission, the chief difference being in the absence from the latter of the proposal for à royalty fund for social betterment.

Organized labor is not disposed to accept the Government's proposals. The miners' delegates, in conference at London on September 3, adopted a resolution condemning the scheme as impracticable; and the Trades Union Congress at Glasgow on September 10, by a vote of 4,478,000 to 77,000, favored the nationalization of the mines along the lines suggested in Justice Sankey's report. The resolution adds: "In the event of the Government still refusing, a special congress shall be convened to decide what form of action shall be taken to compel the Government to accept."

OIL.

During the war the urgent demand for fuel revived interest in the question as to whether oil in commercial quantities is to be found be

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low the surface of the United Kingdom. To prevent dissipation of effort it was provided, under authority of the Petroleum (Production) Act, 1918, that prospecting for petroleum could be carried on only under licenses issued by the Board of Trade or Minister of Munitions.

One well, at Hardstaft, is now flowing at the rate of several hundred barrels per day and there are other borings that have good prospects.

The Government has not announced its policy with reference to subsurface property in oil-that is, whether it shall be public or private and whether royalties shall be paid-and, pending a decision in the matter, additional licenses are being withheld. As might be expected, labor interests are advocating nationalization, while the landed interests have been disposed to press their claims for a royalty system. However, the Government has announced that no oil royalties are to be paid, although it has yet to declare its attitude as to the ownership of the oil that has been produced.

ELECTRIC POWER.

Vested interests have vigorously opposed the Government's plan embodied in the Electricity (Supply) Bill, and this opposition has been strengthened because of the fear that nationalization would eventually follow the centralization of electric-power stations in 16 great areas and operation thereof under Government control and with the aid of public funds. For evidence of this hostility one has only to turn to the reports of public-service company meetings that have been published since the introduction of the bill.

TRANSPORTATION.

The same interests are also opposed to the nationalization of the railways, a matter upon which decision has been deferred by Parlia ment, despite certain statements made by Government leaders before the general election of 1918. A step in that direction has been taken, however, in the passing of the Ministry of Transport Act, 1919, which has two main objects. The first of these is to coordinate the whole of the powers of existing Government departments in relation to railways; "light" railways; tramways; canals, waterways, and inland navigation; roads, bridges, and ferries; and harbors, docks, and piers-and, so far as practicable, to bring them under the new ministry. The second is to make the Minister responsible for the formulation of a transportation policy within the space of two years, and to this end the Government control instituted during the war is to be continued for that period.

As originally introduced the bill provided that the Minister might be authorized by Order in Council at any time to purchase railway and other undertakings. It also provided that the control of electric power supply should be placed under the Minister, but this was eliminated on account of the delay of the Electricity (Supply) Bill in its progress through the stages of parliamentary procedure.

SUMMARY.

The movement for nationalization is thus seen to be concerned with three interrelated public services-fuel supply, electric power supply, and transportation. The interrelation is obvious. Electric

power plants and railways consume large quantities of coal; the railways alone consume more than 15,000,000 tons a year. Railways are large users of electric power, and the electrification of additional lines is a part of the program of development. The list of such relationships could be easily extended.

In the matter of coal the Government's policy has been announced; in the matter of the railways the Government is said to have an open mind; in the matter of electric power supply action has yet to be taken. The labor interest demands nationalization and democratic control, and the Government is disposed to go further toward meeting these demands than is the present Parliament. But the present Parliament will eventually pass from the scene, and the issue will continue to be agitated until the mind of the country is made up. Just now there is no evidence that public opinion is on one side or the other.

Nothing has been said here as to nationalization of the land. This has been openly advocated by radical labor leaders, notably at the recent sessions of the Coal Industry Commission. The land problem in Great Britain is fundamental, but there is already evidence that better conditions are in sight. Many large estates are being put upon the market; land-holding as a matter of social distinction. is losing its appeal, as a result of heavier taxes and increased maintenance expense; and the tendency is toward the breaking up of the old land monopoly.