How far will the lessees to whom the National Mining Board will grant
leases to work the coal be the same persons and companies as the present
lessees? In this matter it is desirable to maintain the maximum amount
of flexibility and variety. I do not think we have yet discovered the
ideal unit, the ideal organisation for the development of our principal
national asset. So much do our coalfields differ in geological
formation, in tradition, in the subdivision and classification of
labour, in outlet for trade, that it is unlikely that any single unit or
organisation will be the ideal one for every coalfield. So we must
resist any attempt, especially an early attempt, at stereotyping or
standardising the type of lessee. By trial and error we shall learn
much.
All the following types of lessee seem likely, sooner or later, to
demand the attention of the National Mining Board. (I shall not touch on
the question of distribution, inland and export. That is another and
quite separate question):--
(i) _The Present Lessees._--I see no reason to doubt that in the vast
majority of cases the present lessees would be prepared to continue to
operate their mines, paying royalties to the State instead of to the
present royalty-owner. Where the unit is sufficiently large and the
management efficient, the National Mining Board would probably grant a
fresh lease, incorporating such conditions as to unification, joint
control, and publicity as they might consider necessary. If the present
lessees do not want the lease, there are others who will.
(ii) _Larger Groups._--In a great many cases, however, the Board would
decline to grant separate leases in respect of each of a number of small
collieries, and would indicate that they were only prepared to receive
applications for leases by groups of persons or companies prepared to
amalgamate themselves into a corporation representing an output of x
tons _per annum_. This figure would vary in each coalfield. In South
Staffordshire, in particular, divided ownership has had most prejudicial
effects in the matter of pumping.
(iii) _District Coal Boards._--Sir Arthur Duckham's scheme of statutory
companies known as District Coal Boards requires consideration. Without
necessarily adopting his districts or his uniformity of type throughout
the country, there are many areas where it might be found that voluntary
amalgamation was impracticable, and that the desired result could only
be attained by an Act of Parliament providing for the compulsory
amalgamation of persons and companies working a specified area and the
issue of shares in the new corporation in exchange for the previous
holdings.
(iv) _Public Authorities._--I should very much like to see, sooner or
later, in some area, a lessee in the form of an organisation which,
though not national--not the State--should be at any rate
public--something on the lines of the Port of London Authority.
It may well be that in one or more of our coalfields a public authority
of this type, though with larger labour representation upon it and with
a large measure of joint control from top to bottom, would be a
suitable lessee of the minerals in that area. The important point is
that public management need not mean bureaucratic State-management with
the disadvantages popularly associated with it.
(v) I have mentioned several types of possible lessees, but it will be
noticed that there is nothing in these suggestions which would prevent
the National Mining Board from making the experiment of working a few
mines themselves.
To sum up. There _is_ a problem of the Mines. No sensible person should
be deceived by the quiescence of the last twelve abnormal months.
Without using extravagant language, the coal-mining industry is a
volcano liable at any moment to erupt and involve the whole community in
loss and suffering. Therefore, as a body of citizens, we are under a
duty to seek a solution which can be effected between the occurrence of
the recurring crises. As a body of Liberal citizens we shall naturally
seek a Liberal solution, and the foregoing suggestions (for which no
originality is claimed) are inspired by the Liberal point of view. They
apply to the industrial sphere principles which have been tried and
proved in the political sphere, both in the central and the local
government. Apart from State acquisition of the minerals, about which
there can surely be no question, these suggestions merely develop
tendencies and organisations already existing within the industry. They
involve no leap in the dark, such as has been attributed by some to
nationalisation of the whole industry, and they provide for great
flexibility and experimentation. The fact that the official spokesmen of
neither miners nor colliery-owners may like them need not deter us. They
have had numerous opportunities of settling the problem amongst
themselves, but the "die-hards" in both camps have always prevented it.
It is time that the general public outside the industry took the matter
in hand and propounded a solution likely to be acceptable to the vast
body of sensible and central feeling within the industry.