THE COAL COMMISSION.
[To THE EDITOR or TIM " SPECTATOR.") SIE,—The Coal Commission is frankly a political manceuv re. The economic theories, dialectics, and other fireworks which have been let off are really quite irrelevant. The broad facts are (1) That the pre-war condition of the coal industry was as imperfect as other human organizations (2) That State control during the war depreciated the efficiency of the in- dustry, and as usual worsened the relations between employers and employed. (3) That Mr. Smillie and his friends demand State control not only for coal, hut for land and all forme of private property. (4) That the nation is clamouring to be delivered from the politician's and the bureaucrat's power to interfere with industry, and to he allowed to manage its own business. (5) That the consumer, who is numerically nine times more important than the miner, and who is vitally interested in the eupply of coal, is not represented on the Commission—presumably because a political manoeuvre does not pretend to be an impartial inquiry. (6) That Mr. Lloyd George is in favour of nationalization. When the public grasps these facts the Coal Commission and Mr. Smillie'e arrogant and loudly expressed intentions will recede into their proper per.
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