The wholly abnormal condition of the coal industryunder State control
for war purposes has been illustrated in various ways. But no single fact given in evidence has impressed us more than the Admiralty's statement that it was forced by the Coal Con- troller last July to pay 4s. 6d. a ton more for its coal than the contract price, and that even then it was paying less than the control price. The Admiralty, being a thrifty and businesslike Department, had made its contracts at the right time, and the coal-owners were perfectly satisfied. But the Coal Controller, fearing, we suppose, that the disparity between the reasonable price paid by the Navy and the artificial price deduced from his inner consciousness was too great, compelled the Admiralty to waste a large sum of public money by paying more than it had bargained to pay. It was a perfect illustration of State control in all its foolish extravagance.
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