[To THE EDITOR OF THE " Gnomon."] Sts,—Owing to the
railway strike your issue of September 27th has only just reached me. The name of Mr. J. H. Thomas, M.P., is given considerable prominence therein, and I am reminded that this gentleman, in seconding the drastically worded reso- lution on the nationalization of the coal-mining industry, submitted to the Trade Union Congress at Glasgow recently, is reported as saying :- " So far as the 6s. per ton on coal was concerned, he had never in all his knowledge of politics and public life known a scandal equivalent to that decision. Could there be any greater condemnation than that of the man responsible going before the Royal Commission and admitting that 6s. had been put on without any figures of any kind being considered P "
Seeing that the 6s. per ton was not imposed until long after the Coal Commission had concluded its labours, I wrote to Mr. Thomas—both personally and through the Press—drawing his attention to his serious] misstatement, but have neither received nor seen any acknowledgment of error. My immediate point is this: If Mr. Thomas is so ill-informed and, apparently, SO disinclined to rectify his gross mistake in respect of the nationalization of one industry, is he to be recommended as one of the chief advocates of the State ownership of another business ? Surely any " cause " is best served by the avoidance of misrepresentation, whether committed intentionally or
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