The Coal Industry Part II of the Government's Coal Bill
may be open to criticism on points of detail and procedure, but in its main purpose, the reorganisation of the coal industry, it is not. And there is little or no reason to believe that this purpose will be achieved if it is left to the industry itself. The Mining Association of Great Britain, which represents the industry, has now addressed to the chairmen, directors and shareholders of industrial companies a circular asking them to protest against this section of the measure, through their Members of Parliament, their local political organisations and the Press. It will be interesting to know what response the circular will arouse outside the mining industry. The Association objects, it seems, to the growth of bureaucratic control and interference in industry. It should be remem- bered that the coal industry has lacked neither time, oppor- tunity nor encouragement to set its own house in order, and that the compulsory amalgamations which may be enforced under the Bill are merely unavoidable alternatives to amalgamations which have not been carried out volun- tarily. The Mining Association's hostility to such proposals is not surprising, but to others they have come to seem inevitable if national interests are not to suffer.
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