INJUSTICE TO BEVIN BOYS
Sta,—There is, these days, much public concern over the retention of German prisoners of war in this country, and the undesirability of employing forced labour is usually expressed when this matter is dis- cussed. Most people do agree that such labour should be dispensed with and the P.o.W.s repatriated. To men employed in coal mining under the Bevin Scheme there is bitter irony in this. Is not there a mis- direction of public sentiment which is stirred to protest against injustice to P.o.W.s and yet condones the forcible employment of our own nationals for an indefinite period in the pits?
The facts are that the " Bevin Boys " are allotted Army demobilisation group numbers—the slowest demobilisation of all, and about to be slowed still further. They, however, unlike the Army, are not given reinstate- ment guarantee regarding their former employment. I myself, after more than three years' service in the pits and in my thirty-third year, can hope, but only hope, to be released in June, 1947. There are thousands of younger men in worse plight. Nothing is heard of educational or rehabilitation schemes for them, though I believe they do exist but only on paper.
The Bevin scheme is the most cynical, ruthless encroachment yet made on human liberties in this country, and is nothing less than an attempt to force men into coal-mining for life against their will. The public would do well to press for its abandonment now and ensure that it is unsuccessful in this aim. Otherwise, a most dangerous precedent will
have been created.—Yours faithfully, W. B. MCALLISTER. 5 Grampian Street, Sandyhills, Glasgow, E.2
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