The Coal Bill Division of opinion on the Government's Coal
Bill does not correspond with party divisions ; and the Committee stage of the Bill has given rise to some interesting discussions. Last week Mr. Shinwell, for the Labour Party, congratulated Captain Crookshank, Minister for Mines, on his " excellent speech " resisting a Conservative amendment designed to deprive the Coal Commission of the potentially valuable powers, conferred by the Bill, to take measures to improve the efficiency of the coal industry. A Labour amendment proposed to reduce the price of royalty rights from £66,000,000 to ,C44,000,000, on the ground that during the next four and a half years owners would continue to receive royalties, in addition to the sum, assessed at 15 years' purchase, awarded to them. Such a proposal would destroy" the very basis of the Bill and allow the royalty owners, not unwillingly per- haps, to withdraw their acceptance of the results of the arbi- tration procedure. Lastly, the Labour Party appeared in the unusual role of defending private property, by demanding that the Coal Commission should have powers to compensate those whose property should suffer damage, by subsidence or in other ways, owing to mining operations beneath the surface. The Bill will go through practically unaltered, but the discussion is being unduly protracted. * * * *
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