The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1919. PUBLIC TRUSTS FOR COAL MINES.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1919. PUBLIC TRUSTS FOR COAL MINES.

The vital importance of placing the coal-mining industry on such a basis as will put an end to the continual troubles arising between the miners and the owners, and the consequent dislocation of other industries dependent on coal, makes any scheme for remedying the existing unrest, particularly worthy of attention. Among recent contributions for solving the problem is one made by Professor Stanley Jevons, the, author of "The British Coal Trade," and formerly professor of at Cardiff (Wales). Starting with the assertion that the situation in the coal-mining industry is such as to demand some drastic treatment, and that a solution which is satisfactory to the miners must be evolved in the direction of abolishing private ownership, and eliminating the distribution of profits to private capitalists, he propounds a scheme to ensure for workers, from the lowest grade up to the managers, a fair distribution of the' profits, while it also gives the miners a voice in the management, though a minority voice, the important point being to eliminate private profits, all capital employed being paid at a fixed rate, and interest guaranteed by the industry at large—the workers receiving no share of the profits until that interest has been paid. In effect the proposals pratically constitute nationalisation, but there are some special features which remove the industry from Government control. In Britain, as in the Dominion, the coalfields are scattered, each field having a well defined area. As a preliminary, therefore, it is suggested that the organisation, which is in the form of a public trust, should be closely related to the coalfields, a separate trust being formed for each field, under Act of Parliament, with the power of issuing loan stock under defined conditions, at fixed rates of interest (probably six per cent.), but carrying no right to share in the profits. It is considered that the shareholders in the present private companies would merely exchange their stock, at the market value, for an equivalent in trust stock. Those who refuse would be bought out' in cash, or with Government stock, at a price slightly less ■ than the market valuation, thus avoiding any increase in Britain's public debt, while fair treatment would be received by the present shareholders in colliery companies. With regard to control by the trusts, it is suggested that a general board of management of the trust of each coalfield should be constituted of representatives in the following proportions: State officials or nominees (as representing the public) 25 per cent.; miners and other manual workers 40 per cent.; managers 15 per cent.: stockholders 10 per cent.; and large industrial users of coal 10 per cent. The number of members of the board would vary according to the size of the coalfield —probably from ten to twenty. The miners appoint their own representatives, while the others would have to be approved by the Government in the Ministry of Labor, for the purpose of realising a most important principle—namely, that all members of the board should be men who "would take a liberal view of the rights of the workers, and would have a proper sense of their duty to run the new trust so that

it should not only be a financial success in the interests of the State and the workers, but would also satisfy the aspirations of Labor. In large coalfields it might be found advisable to split up the control into working committees. There would also be advisory committees upon all special subjects, including mechanical improvements, housing, pithead baths, and other matters affecting the wellbeing of the workers, also committes for labor conditions, to be elected by each grade of worker, to formulate their own desires as to conditions of employment. In connection with the selling price of coal, a vitally important

principle is to so arrange the' organisation as to encourage economical methods of production that will benefit the workers, who will have a direct incentive thereto by participating in the profits. Cost statistics must obviously affect the selling price, and it is proposed that the actual sale price should be fixed by the Government from time to time according to circumstances which influence the rise or fall of prices. The scheme appears well devised to facilitate the smooth working of the industry, and it can be improved in the light of experience. Taken as a basis of the solution of a difficult problem, it merits close attention. It practically covers all the reasonable requirements of the Workers, and would ensure a fair price being charged to the consumers as well as a regular supply. Its successful operation predicates goodwill on the part of the workers. Have our miners that goodwill? They have yet to prove that they possess it. If the extremists who are misleading them were displaced, there would .be hope for the miners and the coal industry generally.