Already there have been many large amalgamations. (i) Many fortunately
situated small pits making a good profit will be found, but on the whole
small collieries are economically unsound. In many cases at present the
units are too small, having regard to the class of work being done, to
the cost of up-to-date machinery and upkeep and to the variableness of
the trade. Broadly I believe it to be true that the larger collieries
are as a general rule more efficient than the smaller ones. (ii) In
respect of co-operation in pumping, larger units would frequently make
for efficiency and reduced cost; Sir Richard Redmayne, speaking of South
Staffordshire before the Sankey Commission, said that we had already
lost a large part of that coalfield through disagreement between
neighbouring owners as to pumping. (iii) The advantages of larger units
in facilitating the advantageous buying of timber, ponies, rails,
machinery and the vast amount of other materials required in a colliery
will be obvious to most business men.

I do not propose to chop up the coalfields into mathematical sections
and compulsorily unify the collieries in those sections. I am merely
laying down the broad principle that to get the best out of our national
asset the National Mining Board must bring about through its power of
granting leases the formation of larger working units than at present
usually exist. The geological and other conditions in the different
coalfields vary enormously, and these form a very relevant factor in
deciding upon the ideal unit of size. It is conceivable that in certain
districts all the colliery-owners in the district, with the aid of the
National Mining Board, would form a statutory company on the lines of
the District Coal Board, described in the Report made by Sir Arthur
Duckham as a member of the Sankey Commission. One advantage accruing
from unification (to which recent events have given more prominence) is
that it mitigates the tendency for the wages of the district to be just