Abstract
THE eighth report of the Select Committee on Hational Expenditure for the session 1942-43, dealing with fuel and power, cannot but arouse further misgiving in regard to the fuel situation in Great Britain. The Select Committee thinks it would be unwise to look forward to any increase in production in 1943. The substantial increase in output on which the Government counted in the White Paper on Coal last year is illusory, and the fact that in the event of a European front being formed it may well become necessary to export increased quantities of coal makes economy the more imperative. In recommending therefore that, in addition to all consumers being emphatically and regularly reminded of the need for stringent economy, and continued attempts to bring home to that small section of the miners guilty of avoidable absenteeism how much really depends on them, the Select Committee reiterates that coal is the very foundation of the total war effort. The general conclusions have a bearing of the highest importance upon the war activities of the nation, and are stated in terms which admit of no misunderstanding. The annual loss, due to normal wastage, of some 20,000 or more men, to which the labour force available in the industry is subject, is expected to be offset during the present year by the entry of 'optants' into the industry and by upgrading to the extent of some 4,000 men, leaving a net loss of about 16,000 men. The total number of men engaged in the industry will therefore inevitably be reduced during the next twelve months below the lowest level at which it has stood since August 1941. Moreover, no further relief can be expected from expedients such as the return of miners from the Home Forces, which have recently made good normal annual
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Coal as the Basis of the War Effort. Nature 151, 723 (1943). https://doi.org/10.1038/151723a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/151723a0