Finally, the Report recommends the establishment of; pit committees, of
a system- of family allowances, of profit-sharing schemes, of pithead baths, and the custom. of annual holidays with pay " when prosperity returns.", The interlocking of the coal industry with other industries, of which the Commissioners emphasize the importance, assumes, of course, the full and constant application of scientific -.discovery to the use of coal for the production of heat, power and light. It is suggested that a National Fuel and Power Committee should be created to advise in these matters. The remarks on the dreadful waste caused by soot and smoke in large towns are admirable. The introduction of the " family allowance " principle is as interesting as it is unexpected. In France the principle has been spreading fast in private firms. Here Labour has always insisted on a flat rate, as though there were nothing to learn from the black-coated classes who, in effect, though not in name, do benefit from the system of paying a man more or less in accordance with his length of service, age and private responsibilities.
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