State v. Private Industry

In Britain last week a box score on nationalized v. denationalized industry was posted. Year-end reports showed that steel, denationalized by the Tories after they took power three years ago, was doing much better than the government-run coal mines and railroads. Steel output last year hit an alltime high of 18.5 million tons, 43% over the prewar rate, and production schedules released last week estimated production at about 19.5 million tons this year and 21 million by 1958.

Although Laborites could argue that Britain's prospering economy helped the rise, there was little doubt about the real reason for it: private capital. Held back when steel was nationalized, capital is once more flowing in to build new coke ovens, blast furnaces, rolling mills, etc. Now plans are under way to build one of the biggest strip mills in the world with a million-ton annual capacity at a cost of $280 million.

In contrast, the nationalized coal industry did badly. When the miners won a general wage increase a year ago, they agreed with the National Coal Board that a production increase of 2 1/2% (about 5,000,000 tons) was "a reasonable minimum aim." But when 1954 figures were published, the gain was a mere 270,000 tons. As a result, the Coal Board had to import 2,000,000 tons during the year; in the first nine months it suffered a $9,800,000 loss.

The real trouble was that miners, mindful of the "bad old days" when they went hungry for lack of work, were fearful that they might work themselves out of jobs if they dug too much coal. Said one observer: "They are their own bosses now, and intend to keep things the way they are."

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