Mr. Straker proposed that a Mining Council, appointed as to
half the members by the Government and as to the other half by the Miners' Federation, should manage the cool industry. There would be District Committees and Pit Committees, on all of which the Federation would nominate half the members. Mr. Straker, when asked what the position of the colliery manager would be, replied that he would have advisory powers. The local Union Secretary would presumably be the real manager. The miners' wages, said Mr. Straker, must never go down. If a pit were losing money—and we imagine that moat pits Would under such conditions be worked at a loss—the deficit must be made up from the profits of the previous year or from those of the coming year. Harold Skimpole with his superb disregard of sordid finance would have rejoiced in Mr. Straker as a kindred spirit. It seems almost unkind to add that Mr. Dickinson, the Coal Controller's accountant, estimates the deficit that would arise if the miners' demands for shorter hours and higher wages were granted at D40,000,000 year. The miners want the whole profits of the industry and a State subsidy of £40,000,000 to begin with. In addition, the State—that is to say, the ordinary taxpayers, most of whom are working men who are lees well paid than the miners—is to shoulder all the risks of running the industry with the help of Miners' Committees.
