MINERS IN HOLLAND
SIR,—I should like to add a note to Mr. D. B. Marshall's recent comment on the Dutch State Coal Mines. Many of us in the B.L.A. have, through force of circumstances, been guests in the homes of workers in the State MMes of Holland. All of us who have had this experience were much impressed by the standard of housing, furniture, &c., among these mining folk who extended to us such warm hospitality. We learned that their pleasant and comfortable houses are owned by the State Mines and rented to the employees at what seemed to our ears extremely low rentals. Your correspondent quotes relative wage rates in Holland and Britain, but I think a mere money wage comparison means little. Without doubt the Dutch miner lived at a standard of domestic comfort far superior to that enjoyed by British miners in most of our coalfields.
I was privileged to visit one State mine and the works associated with it, And discussed the whole matter with responsible officials on the spot. Two points impressed me and both, I think, hold lessons for us in Britain. Great emphasis was placed on the maximum integration of mining with gas and electricity production and the manufacture of the widest range of incidental chemical products. The mines as coal pro- ducing agents alone would probably not profitably be able to retail coal at the relatively low prices customary in Holland, but the State mines, as a highly integrated group of industries, operate profitably over the whole range of their operations. Then it was stimulating to see the keenness and thoroughness with which research work is being under- taken for post-war reconstruction of these industries. Such research is not merely confined to scientific enquiry and experiment in engineering, chemistry, &c., but extends to the study of financial and economic ques- tions such as the development of cost-accounting as applied to the whole integrated network of industries based on the State mines.
I was informed that the Dutch mines under private ownership do not substantially differ from the State mines, either as regards efficiency or the treatment of labour. Perhaps private business may profit from that healthy competition of which it is so fond, even when one competitor is
the State itself.—I am, yours, &c., DOUGLAS R. DAVIDSON. B.L.A.
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