On Monday Mr. Graham, President of the Board Of Trade,
made his proposals for " a tariff holiday " and for an international treatment of the coal trade. The British delegation subsequently took the very important step of proposing an International Coal Conference. In this connexion let us mention the speeches made in England on Tuesday by the Prime Minister and Mt. Lansbury. The Prime Minister said that he wished the coalowners were wiser. They ought to have national agreements. Why were they boggling at them ? Why did they refuse full recognition of the Miners' Federation ? The Government did not desire that legislation should affect them badly. The • Government wanted to help the coal industry. If only there was a changed spirit in the industry itself legislation would be far more beneficial than it otherwise could be. Mr. Lansbury said on Tuesday :— " I am quite certain that if mineowners would organize a National Public Utility Company and ask Parliament to grant them a monopoly under public supervision, with limited profits, the present House of Commons would be quite willing to back such an enterprise in the same manner as it has agreed to assist the railway compames."
This proposal, practicable or not, coming from Mr. Lansbury of all people, is surely an interesting symptom of the mood of the Government. Nationalization is not mentioned even in the case of the first industry which was to be nationalized.
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