17 DECEMBER 1927, Page 3

The scheme for regulating the coal-mining industry in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire

and Derbyshire has been circulated. The main object is voluntarily to subsidize the export trade. It is believed that if the export trade can be recovered, the mines supplying coal at home will benefit. For the rest, there is to be a regulation of output. While we admit that selling schemes are a valuable part of any reconstruction, we regard the regulation of output as a doctrine of despair. The chief line of` advance, we believe, is the concentra- tion of mines by trustification, which would greatly reduce overhead charges and simplify control. If the numerous experiments now being tried for the con- version of crude coal into other forms of fuel, including oil, are successful, more coal than ever will be needed.

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