The contest between amenities and necessities is presented in a
peculiarly dramatic form in the matter of the mining operations at Wentworth-Woodhouse in Yorkshire. It is perfectly intelligible that the owner, Earl Fitzwilliam, should exert every effort to prevent, and failing that to minimise, the devastation of his parklands, and he is getting much support front the local population generally and the local miners in particular. The basic fact is that there is believed—indeed, it is more than mere belief—to be a million tons of excellent coal under Wentworth-Woodhouse, and in present con- ditions it is impossible that it should be left unworked. But how it should be worked is another question. The open-cast method does temporarily the maximum of surface damage, though with proper care restoration can be effected surprisingly quickly. But if the Yorkshire miners' president is right in maintaining that the coal could be produced much sooner by sinking one shaft and pro- ceeding on the " room-and-pillar " system (i.e., leaving pillars of coal to support the roof), then obviously that method ought on every ground to be. adopted. But one way or the other, the coal must be got. There can be no question about that.
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