BRITISH LABOR TODAY

...Nationalisation ot Electricity IN comparison, nationalisation of rlectrlcity will be child's play...

...For almost nine months these demands were filtered through the official machinery, and emerged in the form of a tew very minor concessions...

...value of the property will be annexed by the Government In the form of a charge at the time he purchased the land...

...Much dissatisfaction was voiced in the case of cpal...

...A Joint Industrial Council was quickly formed for the industry, and the strikers returned to tlwir Jobs with the (officially denied) assurance that they would grt what they wanted...

...At the same time that the military was called in, the Government and union leaders tried desperately to seek a solution...

...When the Council couldn't reach an agreements the Minister of Labor appointed a Special Court of Inquiry which, with amazing promptitude, coneeded to the strikers the major portion sf their demands...

...The complicated negotiating machinery, with recommendations shunted from the Road Haulages Central Wages Board to the eleven area boards, to the interested parties, to the Minister of Labor, and then back to start all over again, was by-passed...

...In other words, if a speculator buys a plot of farmland which, because of its location, is suitable for a housing project or a factory, and if he should then be expropriated by the planning commission, he...

...expropriation and "workers' control" can be inaugurated with the hope of capturing the national imagination and of spurring on the workers to greater...

...Finally, with London facing a crippling food shortage, tjie Government had to call in the troops to take over where the strikers had left off...

...If the Government bus learned any lesions from this unpleasant incident, it p keeping) this fact a Cabinet secret...

...Liberals and Labor people will br especially interested in seeing the composition of the electricity boards...

...The Government was caught completely off balance...

...Although the law state* that no landowner is entitled "by right" to compensation for the loss of development value of his land, a fund of ?1.200,000000 is to be set up by the Exchequer to assuage "hardship rases...

...This would undoubtedly produce a temporary spurt (as was evidenced in the coal mints the week following nationalization...

...Some industries, like coal and foundry-work, have to be made more attractive to new labor, even at the expense of others...

...Any project that smells of piecework, a bonus system, or speed-up is unequivocally rejected...

...If he should actually go ahead and build houses or factories, the increase...

...Workers in other industries are now liable to conclude that only "direct action" pays uff, and If a significant number of thtnt should decide to put this belief Into I fleet, Labor'a days in power will In nun beted, The union leaders do not km n In be »*sre of the gulf tha« sep a rat»i tin ni th<< rank-and-file, and rrfiird 'outlaw" strikes with baleful stupefaction...

...The joint production committees increased the power of the shop stewards and shop stewards' committees, and the Communists have gained a tight hold in both these spheres...

...Tee Need lor Increased Productivity •JI.NCE the needed manpower isn't being, made available, the only other possible solution lies in a radical increase in productivity...

...3) A radical policy o...

...The facts it sets forth—which have been known all along, but whose full seriousness has been underestimated—nullify all hopes of restoring the prewar standards of living within the next two or three years...

...efforts...

...If the export target is to be met, 500,000 more workers must be ' •brought into the export trades...

...Permission will lie needed in the future for the development of all land sites, so as to assure their concordance with the plans of the local planning authority...

...The Town and Country Planning Bill lHE Town and Country Planning Bill, or, as it is more popularly labeled, "The Green and Pleasant Land Bill," is one of the most far-reaching measures in all of British history...

...Per.jiaps, to an Olympian observer unconcerned with human welfare, the present proolems *cf the Labor Government would provide the same sort of savano amusement...

...The possibilities, then, are not very numerous and all present difficulties of their own...

...For ten years the work of valuation went on, but after the First World War the bill was repealed and the records destroyed...

...They have various alternative proposals, all of which get the shareholders n great deal more money—and leave the Treasury with a gooil deal less...

...That they have a point there, no one can deny...

...Both the Government and the Trades Union Congress oppose the idea of a national wages program, preferring to leave these matters to be worked out within the industry by the parties concerned...

...One Conservative join, nal has complained publicly that the compensation terms of the Electricity Bill are grossly unfair, since many companies understate the value of their assets and canning power in their annual report In order to avoid taxation...

...There is no evidence that the Road Haulages Act of 19.10 will be amended, sr that a speedier system ol arbitration WU take Its place...

...The bleakness of the economic situation is revealed by the Government's White Paper of January 20...

...There will be 150 of thesa local authorities, instead of the 1,441 at present, and these must prepare plans to be submitted to the Ministry within the next three years...

...Rural electrification, too, can only be brought about by* sharing the burden of charges nationally...

...open man-hole or seats itself upon ah unnoticed tack...

...Thert is no uniform current, which means that moving to a new district may entail the purchase of transformers or a complete new set of electrical and heating equipment...

...One doesi't have to be callous to say that in the transport strike the Government only suffered the consequences of its ineradicable lethargy...

...As a reaction^) an intense and prolonged war effort,''ithis is quite understandable, but it- cannot be allowed to continue...

...According tp-ii recent Political and Economicjpfanning Report, there is lowered ^productivity in such industries as,c6al, cotton yarn, and building aS/^ompared with 1938...

...While everyone was eagerly studying the Town and Country Thinning Bill, along c>.me the truck drivers' strike and the White Paper on the nation's economic situation, like a blast of cold water...

...Nor are the unions as eager as one might think...

...Some threefifths of the Industry is already publicly owned, and the case for national integration is a sound one...

...The number of these committees has declined in the past year...

...Unionists complain that over half of the rank-and-file officials are owners' representatives...

...Negotiations were begun U«t May...

...Minister Isaacs refused to consider their applications, quipping (hat if be tried to look at both the Poles and the Italians at the same time, he would become cross-eyed...

...and the economic situntniri is such that traditional trade-union prerogatives will have to go by the board, at least for a while...

...That should give some indication of how deeply the Tories feel about it...

...It is certain that the battle over Land Planning will be the fiercest and most unremitting since Labor came to power, striking as it docs at the economic roots of Conservatism and at its ideological core...

...Where are they to come from...

...On the screen, the same pathetie"* comic theme was used successfully by Charlie Chapin and Harold Lloyd...

...The main fight will be over compensation, which will be at the stock market value of the shares, as in the Treasury Hill...

...In 1900, Lloyd George proposed to assess the worth of all land as a preliminary to a 20 percent tax on increases in value...

...To date, Labor has not been aide t<i cope with them...

...iHERE are flashes of genuine humor on the political scene that lighten the strain somewhat...

...The key to the problem is the shortage of manpower...

...The driver^' demands were moderate and in line with prevailing labor Standards: modification of the cumulative work week (in which overtime commenced only aftir 48 hours of work, or after 10 hours on any one day), a 44-hour week without loss in pay, and an increase in the number of annual holidays...

...would be comptnsated only for th- value of the farmland...

...Henceforth when private owners are compensated for the loss of their land tinder a local planning scheme, they will receive only the "existing use" value of the land...

...Many liberals oppose it too, suspicious of an entering wedge of totalitarianism...

...The present pattern of small urban areas served by a municipal supply while the outlying rural districts are served by private companies is absurd and unworkable...

...But, while respecting the reluctance of a Labor Government to undertake such a dangerous policy, it is impossible to believe that its scruples can endure...

...Not from the Indigeneous population, which will lose .'100,000 more workers in 1947 by the raising ol the school-leaving age...

...Why Shlnwell should have1 permitted this la puzzling, unless there were just not enough able men In Labor's ranks—a discouraging thought...

...and the union leaders were howled out of the union halls...

...other members of the Government appealed to the drivers' sense of loyalty and asked them not to embarrass the Government at this time...

...The trade union hierarchy is naturally wary ot permitting them to extend their influence...

...Trotskyists and Anarchists tried to fan the flame with irresponsible, inflammatory leaflets, but their efforts were neither necessary nor appreciated...

...The ministers were ignored...

...To date, more success has been had with management, •which is stricken with the fear of nationalization than with the obdurate unions...

...Is it to be wondered that the men became "browned off," and walked out on their own...

...While land itself is not nationalized, the development values of private property are, thereby removing one of the largest obstacles in the path of of social planning...

...Lord Hyndlcy, who heads the Coal Hoard, is a former coal owner and director of the Bank of Kngland...

...But the goods still aren't being, produced...

...After all," the trade unionists argue, "how can we lie sine that Labor will remuin in power and that there won't be a return to free enterprise...

...Neither the tradeunion leadership nor the Government felt any sense of urgency...

...No jo>,ner does His Majesty's Socialist Government announce some elaborate scheme of reform and betterment, than it stun-hies in'.o ar...

...There are three main steps the Government could undertake to increase production in the absence of the needed number of workers: (1) It can bring pressure upon both unions and management to abolish restrictive practices...

...Blacklegs" john STRACHEV, Minister of Food, made it as clear as he could that the troops were not there to break the strike, and, despite mutterings of "blacklegs," most workers realized that the Government had no alternative and that, if emergency measures were not taken, a . storm of anti-labor (and anti-Labor) sentiment would have swept the country...

...Yet the trade unions continue to stymie the use of Polish labor for fear of overpopulating their industries— a fear which has absolutely no foundation in fact...

...Strangely enough, the Conservatives have no faith in the stock market us an accurate barometer...

...All in all, with the main financial impediment removed from the shoulders of the planners, and with the surety that value created by the planners' work will accrue to the nation and not to a few individuals, the way is clear for building a "Green and Pleasant Land...

...Recently, numbers of Italians who had worked on hi liish farms aa prisoners df war applied for permission to leturn to their old jobs...

...The land speculator in Britain is a breed fared with extinction...

...Most observers, thinking of the 33,00') I arm workers netded this year, didn't think that the jcike was to very funny...

...it) Joint production committees can be employed as they were during the war...

...And the Daily Worker hss discovered why the Government permit* tourists to flock to Swiss ski resorts...

...It Is to build up a reserve of specially trained troop* fur a coming war with Russia...

...Minister of Labor, George Isaacs, waxed indignant at this "unconstitutional" strike...

...Many employers thought the whole idea an impertinence to begin with and are glad to be able to run things their own way...

...But the administrative and political consequences of such an action would be so immensely complicated and trying as to make any temporary gains worthless...

...the union leaders assured the men that the situation was well in hand, and wouldn't they please be calm and return ,to work...

...Undejx these circumstances, why should we surrender rights anil privileges obtained after decades of struggle...