CONTROLLER’S APPEAL TO THE MINERS OF BRITAIN

COMMANDER’S MESSAGES

FROM OUR MINING CORRESPONDENT. SOUTHPORT, TUESDAY NIGHT.

“The Grand Fleet is directly affected by the action at the miners, for without a regular supply of coal the Fleet would be unmobilised. There is but one thought which permeates the Fleet – the intense desire to come to grips with a foe who knows neither chivalry nor humanity – and we long for the opportunity of doing our active part of ridding the world for ever of the evil ideals of Germany. We have waited long and patiently, and appreciate the dull monotony of long hours and hard work in coal mines, but we feel sure the miners will readily respond to the further calls upon their patriotism, and that they will do their utmost to hasten the victory of the great cause.

“DAVID BEATTY.” “The question of an adequate supply of coal for all our needs is indeed almost a vital one for the Allied cause at the present time.

“DOUGLAS HAIG.” “Coal is the key of victory. Miners of Britain, help me. On, the miners of Great Britain, and let not a moment he lost to hasten the hour of peace.

“MARSHAL FOCH.” Sir Guy Calthrop, the Coal Controller, read the above messages to the special conference of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain, held in the Prince of W ales Hotel, Southport, this evening. Mr. Robert Smillie (President) was in the chair, and delegates were present from every mining district in Great Britain. In the course of his address to the Federation, the Coal Controller said the shortage was due to the withdrawal of 75,000 Grade 1 miners from the coal mines, the German success in March and April, which rendered unworkable a considerable portion of the coalfield district in the Pas de Calais, and to the ever-increasing demand of the Americans for coal to be used by their Expeditionary Force in France, coming upon a shortage of something like 36,000,000 tons. By the rationing of householders’ coal and gas and electricity throughout the country they hoped to save 8,000,000 or 9,000,000 tons on the year. This left a balance of about 27,000,000 tons of coal to be found. This deficit could only be met by rationing coal to those industries which were not directly concerned upon war work, but which, nevertheless, were important, not only for what they produced, but for the number of people they employed. The economies and privations of our Allies in the matter of coal far exceeded anything he was asking the people of this country to submit to, either as householders or consumers of industrial coal. In Italy last winter there were only eight cities which had any public lighting at all, so acute was the shortage. Italy had not more than sufficient coal for the working of her railways and the industries connected with the preparation of war materials, and did not provide anything for domestic use. Another fact the miners had to bear in mind was that every day the American troops were pouring into France, and this meant increased demands for shipping and all the things coal was required to do. This demand was constantly increasing. Then they were exporting considerable quantities of coal to neutrals, because it was a thing with which they could barter. They bartered coal for ships, iron ore, foodstuffs. The ships they got were largely employed in bringing food to this country and carrying coal to our Allies. They had secured something like 800,000 tons of neutral shipping by this process of bargaining, and this had helped them enormously to beat the submarine campaign.

PRECARIOUS SITUATION

Owing to the short output of coal for some time they had not carried out their obligations either to our Allies or to the neutrals. He quite realised that the taking of 75,000 Grade F men for the Army, and the influenza epidemic, had seriously affected the output. The output for July was the worst for any month since the war started, bring only 15,736,000 tons, or a decrease of nearly 3.300,000 tons. April, May. and June were bad enough, but July had made the situation precarious. This brought him to the duty of the miners to provide more coal.

He was particularly anxious that the miners should realise that they were combatants in the struggle, for coal lay at the root of nearly every munition of war. He had been criticised because from the rationing scheme he had excluded miners, but he realised that, while members of one household worked on a day shift, another worked at night. Clothes had to be dried and fires kept going night and day. At the same time, he trusted that miners, too, would not use an ounce more coal than necessary, especially as every economy thus effected helped the country, not the coalowners.

The financial arrangements between the Government and the owners were such that, with certain exceptions, collieries were guaranteed only their pre-war standard of profits. The proposal was that the campaign for increasing the output of coal should be left with the districts. That was why he took the opportunity of meeting the representatives of all the districts find urging them to make this campaign a real one. He wanted them to see it was an organised campaign and continuous over the whole of the winter months. He wanted them to tell the men that an extra ton of coal now was worth more than an extra ton three months hence, because in the longer day transit was more easy than in the shorter days of late autumn and winter. It had been said that one of the reasons why the men would not work was that they did not like to pay income-tax. If that was a reason why output was restricted at the present time, he asked them to apply the words of the executive’s manifesto referring to profiteering by coalowners. This ought not to be taken as a reason at the present time for the coal miners not doing their utmost to maintain the output of coal. He did not believe the miners, when they fully knew the situation, would fail to put forward the utmost effort and diligence at their work to do all they could to meet the country’s wants. None of them wanted to lose the war. He urged them to be careful not to run any risks in that respect. He went further, and said, without hesitation. that the honour of their federation was at stake. The Government conceded the demands made by their executive on the distinct pledge, given without any reservation, that no effort would be spared by the miners to increase the output and meet the nation’s vital needs at a moment of great danger. It was their duty to sec that the pledge was made good, and he put it to them that they could not get away from this obligation.