Coal Combines
It was made clear by Sir Ernest Cowers, Chairman of the Coal Mines Reorganization Commission, in his address at Cardiff last week, that the coalowners will have to enter into amalgamations, whether voluntarily or under compulsion. The output must be reduced because the pits can turn out more coal than is now needed. Price-cutting must cease, as it is ruinous to everyone. And, thirdly, the British coal industry must be organized as a whole if it is to make firm agreements with the industry in Germany, Poland, or elsewhere. The Commission has certainly shown patience in waiting for the coalowners to combine in their own way in the several districts. Years passed before it gave notice to Fife and Cannock Chase that schemes of amalgamation must be prepared. But it is evidently resolved to wait no longer. The South Wales pits are already controlled by a, few large concerns, and there is apparently no desire on the part of the Commissioners to insist on the formation of combines that would be unwieldy. It will still remain necessary to check the competition between. districts that has been very active in recent years.
* * * *
Previous page
