We may pass over the speech of Sir Philip Cunliffe-
Lister, who moved the Unionist motion of rejection, because it was insignificant compared with that of Sir Herbert Samuel. Sir Herbert's chief line of attack was that the Bill contained no provision for the com- pulsory amalgamation which was essential. We may remark here that legislation which embodied all the re-organization necessary would take a long time— 'perhaps two or three years—as the Samuel Commission acknowledged. The real question, therefore, is what the present Bill is worth as a first step. Not to take this step may be to take no step at all. Sir Herbert nevertheless did not hesitate to call the Bill a measure for the irrationalization, instead of for the Rationalization, of the industry. What could be madder, he asked, than to penalize a pit which produced a ton more than its quota.
