Light in Dark Places

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 490, 12 November 1948, Page 16

Light in Dark Places

| THE AUSTRALIAN COAL INDUSTRY. A. G. L. Shaw and G. R. Bruns... Melbourne University Press, HIS is a. most important book. The authors, an economist and an historian, offer a close analysis of the coalmining industry in Australia. New Zealanders will find it of great interest because many of our neighbour’s problems are ours too. The book examines the’ long-term world trends in the production and use of coal. The cons clusion is that the industry is a declining one. The authors cite impressive

figures as to research in fuel economies and in substitute fuels. They believe that the crest of the world demand for ‘coal is now past. But the importance of the industry is such that, even in decline, it cannot be left to its own devices or to fall into straits that inflict injury on the whole community. The problems examined

include increased production, the control of industrial unrest and the search for increased efficiency. The future of the industry is investigated in so far as it concerns Australia, but the- major conclusions apply equally elsewhere. The main topics cover production, industrial peace and the miner’s welfare. Production is clearly a matter of suitable coal seams, the means to work them, the necessary labour force and ready transport. The book considers all these, but the most revealing chapters are gn the miners themselves. Conditions are carefully examined and the authors are strictly fair to both the employer and the employed. Miners’ wages, a topic much debated in Press and Parliament, are interestingly examined and it is made clear that they contain an element of payment for the conditions of mining. Hours of labour receive much attention. Australian miners demanded a 30-hour week as long ago as 1939, but had to be satisfied with 40. As travelling time was included the work period at the face amounted to about 30 hours anyway. It is interesting to note that the miners in France have had a 38-hour week since 1938 and as early as 1930 Britain had a seven and a-half hour day of which fewer than six and a-quarter were spent at the face. In the U.S.A., in 1936, hours of work were fixed at a five-day week of 35 hours, of which fewer than 30 were spent in hewing coal. The dangers inherent in mining are not glossed over, but one could wish that the authors had made more of the root cause of them. The most important factor in increasing the miner’s safety

at his work is better lighting at the face. It is disappointing to find the authors have not dealt more fully with the recent advances in Britain in this vital matter. Y far the most interesting part of the. book to the general public will be that on industrial strife. The victim could hardly find it otherwise. The authors examine a variety of theories. The exclusiveness of miners, their "craft" feeling, "solidarity," narrow outlook and their consciousness of their key position. Nor do they forget that the contract system under which miners

work is a fruitful source of tinder for the industrial flames. "Good times" come in for careful analysis. But labour stability founded on an expanding market (when to ask is to have) soon evaporates as orders dwindle. Intermittent employment of choice is one thing; of necessity very much another. Then there is the miner’s psychological condi-

tion. The authors do not sufficiently note that most miners hate mining, They may not know it themselves, but it emerges clearly in any miner’s advice to his son to "steer clear of the pit." This may explain why strikes do not often concern wages as such; mostly they concern conditions. Sometimes, of course, they do not have anything at all to do with industrial matters. That is, in so far as any reason is discernible to the lay eye. Penalties are no remedy for this unrest, Penalties will not hew coal. This is one way of saying that in good times penalties cannot be enforce and in bad times they are unnecessary. The point is always how to get work in progress again. I agree with the authors that the only permanent remedy is a complete break with the past and education for a different future. A future in which there is guaranteed security for the miner and the consumer of coal, But is this possible within the present system as it exists in Australia? Our authors think not. They examine all proposed alternatives pnd reach no finality. This sense of mutual responsibility is not as fully developed in the book as one could hope. It is a long term matter and it must work both ways. Legislation can do something; education more. It is not so much a case of the miner and the community as the miner in the community. Some readers may, find this book heavy going. It makes no concessions to superficial skimming. Occasionally this weightiness degenerates into dullness as in the much too frequent and

lengthy quotations from official documents. A summary and a reference to the -original would suffice. Or better use could have been made of the copious footnotes. By contrast the graphs and diagrams are large and simple. The index is ample and complete. It will serve usefully to locate material in the manner of a book of reference, which will be its principal function. That it is also something more is a tribute to the insight of its authors whose industry, securely based on statistics and first-hand observation, has yet trans-

cended both.

J.D.

McD.