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The Miners and Nationalisation, 1931–36

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Andrew J. Taylor
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For nearly one hundred years miners and nationalisation have been synonymous. The miners supported a nationalisation resolution at the 1892 Trades Union Congress, and in 1893 Keir Hardie presented a brief bill to the House of Commons. This abortive excercise was repeated in 1907 and 1913. The 1914–18 war marks the demise of that form of nationalisation which sought to place the mines under a Government Department. The pre-1914 industrial unrest and the experience of the war radicalised the miners' conception of nationalisation. The ideas of The Miners' Next Step, of the debates within the Miners' Federation of Great Britain after 1906 and of Guild Socialism permeated official MFGB thinking on nationalisation. By 1919 and the Sankey Commission the MFGB was committed to a model of nationalisation which placed considerable emphasis upon workers' control. This model had two aims: first, to emancipate the coal industry from the wasteful exploitation of the coal-owners; and second, to emancipate the miner as a worker from his bondage. The present paper seeks to answer the question: why was this model of nationalisation abandoned by the MFGB in favour of the technocratic model of nationalisation formulated by Herbert Morrison?

Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of Social History , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , August 1983 , pp. 176 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1983

References

1 Labour's Call to the People (1918). This and all subsequent manifesto quotes are from British General Election Manifestos 1900–1974, compiled and ed. by Craig, F. W. S. (London, 1975). The quote is from p. 32.Google Scholar

2 Tawney, R. H., The Nationalization of the British Coal Industry (London, 1919),Google Scholar a Labour Party pamphlet reprinted in The Radical Tradition, ed. by Hinden, R. (London, 1966).Google Scholar

3 Labour's Call to the People (1922), in: British General Election Manifestos, op. cit., p. 40.

4 Labour's Appeal to the Nation (1923), ibid., p. 49.

5 The 1924 manifesto, Labour's Appeal to the People. claimed the Liberals had prevented “The reorganisation of the whole Mining Industry […], on the lines of National Ownership, equitable treatment for all interests concerned, security both for the taxpayer and the consumer, wages under properly-arrived at National Agreements, and participation in administration, both national and local, by the various grades and sections of those engaged in the industry”. ibid., p. 62.

6 Quoted in Coates, D., The Labour Party and the Struggle for Socialism (Cambridge, 1975), p. 19.Google Scholar

7 Report of a Meeting between the MFGB Executive and the Officials of the Parliamentary Labour Party, 26 March 1929, in MFGB, Executive Committee minutes, 12 April. The minutes and proceedings of the MFGB were consulted in the archive of the National Union of Mineworkers (Yorkshire Area). This also contains Labour Party conference reports and the proceedings of the annual Trades Union Congress. The author would like to thank the Area Officials for granting access.

8 The party manifesto of 1929, Labour's Appeal to the Nation, emphasised the need for the immediate reorganisation of the industry. British General Election Manifestos, p. 83. See also Tomlinson, J., The Unequal Struggle? British Socialism and the Capitalist Enterprise (London, 1982), p. 70.Google Scholar

9 Howell, D., British Social Democracy (London, 1976), p. 65.Google Scholar

10 Labour Party National Executive Committee, Policy Committee minutes, 25 January 1932. Morrison was added to the Reorganisation of Industry Sub-Committee one month later, see ibid., 18 February. All references to Labour Party NEC and Sub-Committee proceedings are from the Archives of the British Labour Party series published by Harvester Publications.

11 Report of the 63rd Annual Trades Union Congress, 1931, pp. 433–39. For the general background to the debate see Ostergaard, G. N., “Labour and the Development of the Public Corporation”, in: The Manchester School, XXII (1954), pp. 192–226;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Dahl, R. A., “Workers' Control and the British Labour Party”, in: American Political Science Review, XLI (1947), pp. 875–900;Google Scholar and Shell, K. L., “Industrial Democracy and the British Labour Movement”, in: Political Science Quarterly, LXXII (1957), pp. 515–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12 Report of the 64th Annual Trades Union Congress, 1932, pp. 206–19.

13 ibid., p. 210.

14 ibid.

15 ibid., p. 390.

16 ibid., pp. 394–96.

17 Donoughue, B. and Jones, G. W., Herbert Morrison. Portrait of a Politician (London, 1973), p. 141.Google Scholar

18 Lord Morrison of Lambeth, Herbert Morrison, An Autobiography (London 1960), p. 119.

19 Labour Party, Reorganisation of Industry Sub-Committee minutes, 3 March 1932.

20 Labour Party, National Executive Committee minutes, 23 March: Policy Committee minutes, 21 April.

21 Reorganisation of Industry Sub-Committee minutes, 28 April.

22 ibid., 12 May and 6 June; Policy Committee minutes, 16 June. For the text of the report see Policy, No 66 (June).

23 NEC minutes, 22 06 and 7 09: Policy Committee minutes, 21 07 and 7 09.Google Scholar

24 Labour Party, Report of the 32nd Annual Conference, 1932, pp. 212–14.

25 ibid., pp. 214–16.

26 For Morrison's response see Lord Morrison of Lambeth, Herbert Morrison, op. cit., pp. 119–22; Donoughue, and Jones, , Herbert Morrison, op. cit., pp. 144–45.Google Scholar For Bevin and the TGWU see Bullock, A., The Life and Times of Ernest Bevin. I: Trade Union Leader, 1881–1940 (London, 1960), pp. 510, 514.Google Scholar

27 Howell, , British Social Democracy, op. cit., p. 67.Google Scholar

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29 Morrison, H., Socialisation and Transport (London, 1933), pp. 210–12, 225–28.Google Scholar

30 ibid., pp. 233–36.

31 ibid., pp. 236–39.

32 Policy Committee minutes, 20 October 1932.

33 NEC minutes, 26 October.

34 Reorganisation of Industry Sub-Committee minutes, 26 October; NEC minutes, 26 November. It is interesting to note that during this period a number of constituency parties expressed support for the conference and Congress refusal to accept public ownership until the question of workers' control had been explored fully. See Finance and General Purposes Committee minutes, 15 December; NEC and Parliamentary Labour Party Executive, Joint Meeting, 21 December.

35 Policy Committee and Reorganisation of Industry Sub-Committee, Joint Meeting, 9 February 1933.

36 TUC Economic Committee and Policy Committee, Joint Meeting, 20 February.

37 NEC minutes, 22 February.

38 TUC Economic Committee and Policy Committee, Joint Meeting, 8 March.

39 Draft Report, ibid.

40 ibid.

41 NEC minutes, 22 March. See Appendix for the draft report.

42 Report of the 65th Annual Trades Union Congress, 1933, p. 84.

43 ibid., p. 210.

44 ibid., p. 370.

45 ibid., p. 377.

46 ibid., p. 378.

47 ibid.

48 Labour Party, Report of the 33rd Annual Conference, 1933, p. 14.

49 ibid., p. 204.

50 ibid., pp. 205–07.

51 ibid. p. 208.

52 ibid., pp. 208–09.

53 Donoughue, and Jones, , Herbert Morrison, pp. 184–87;Google Scholar Howell, , British Social Democracy, p. 68; NEC minutes, 25 October (Appendix).Google Scholar

54 Report of the 66th Annual Trades Union Congress, 1934, pp. 204–05.

55 ibid., p. 371.

56 ibid., p. 373.

57 Labour Party, Report of the 34th Annual Conference, 1934, pp. 183–84.

58 NEC minutes, 24 October 1934; Policy Committee minutes, 6 November.

59 TUC General Council and NEC, Joint Meeting, 15 January 1935; and Policy, No 273 (January).

60 Report of the 32nd Annual Conference, p. 264.

61 ibid., p. 265.

62 MFGB, Executive Committee minutes, 11 May 1933. In December 1932 Arthur Jenkins and Ebby Edwards were co-opted on to the Reorganisation of Industry Sub-Committee. See Reorganisation of Industry Sub-Committee minutes, 16 December. I have found no subsequent reference to either attending any committee meeting, and the coal industry seems not to have been specifically considered by the party between 1932 and 1935.

63 MFGB, Report of the Executive Committee, 1933, p. 26.

64 ibid., pp. 26–27.

65 My emphasis.

66 Edwards, to Citrine, , 22 12 1932,Google Scholar reproduced ibid., pp. 27–28. The joint policy is set out in Coal and Commonsense (London, 1926). See also Royal Commission on the Coal Industry, 1925, Vol. I: Report [Cmd 2600], pp. 63–73, for a discussion of these proposals.

67 Edwards, to Citrine, , loc. cit., p. 27.Google Scholar

68 ibid., p. 28.

69 MFGB, Annual Conference, 1934, pp. 72–73.

70 ibid.

71 Report of the 66th Annual Trades Union Congress, pp. 381–85.

72 TUC General Council and NEC, Joint Meeting, 15 January 1935.

73 MFGB, Annual Conference, 1935, p. 6.

74 ibid., pp. 110–11.

75 ibid., p. 113.

76 Report of the 67th Annual Trades Union Congress, 1935, p. 209.

77 Labour Party, Report of the 35th Annual Conference, 1935, p. 18.

78 MFGB, Executive Committee minutes, 15 May 1936.

79 ibid., 20 May.

80 Report of the 68th Annual Trades Union Congress, 1936, p. 210.

81 ibid., p. 212.

82 ibid., p. 419.

83 ibid., p. 422.

84 ibid.

85 The joint policy on the coal industry was published under the title Coal: The Labour Plan (London, 1936). See also Labour Party, Report of the 36th Annual Conference, 1936, p. 43. A bill for the nationalisation of mines and minerals (the first since 1924) was presented to Parliament in February 1937. It was defeated by 182 votes to 125. See The Times, 13 February 1937.

86 MFGB, Executive Committee minutes, 14 April 1938.

87 MFGB, Annual Conference, 1938, p. 43.

88 ibid., pp. 48–49.

89 ibid., p. 51.

90 MFGB, Executive Committee minutes, 12 April 1939. The NCL was created in 1934. It was formerly the National Joint Council established in 1922 and it became important after 1931 as a means of promoting harmony between the TUC and Labour Party policy processes.

91 ibid., 23 July. There was an uncontroversial nationalisation debate at the 1939 MFGB conference, see Annual Conference, 1939, pp. 183–86.

92 MFGB, Executive Committee minutes, 14 September.

93 MFGB, Executive Committee minutes, 8 August and 11 September 1941 (Report of the Reorganisation Sub-Committee).

94 ibid., 17 October.

95 ibid., 20 November.

96 ibid., 19 December, and 20 November for the “Edwards Memorandum.”

97 ibid., 8 January 1942. In Appendix I, DS Circular 46/41 of 30 December 1941, Edwards asks all MFGB districts for information on “How does private ownership of the mining industry in your district retard the production of coal as part of the war effort? How would public ownership improve coal production […]?” Appendix II gives Bevin's speech of 4 December 1941, and Appendix III gives the memorandum by Morgan Phillips, the Secretary of the NCL, on mines nationalisation.

98 ibid.

99 MFGB, Executive Committee minutes, 12 March.

100 Coal [Cmd 6363] (1942).

101 TUC, Interim Report on Post-War Reconstruction (London, 1944), paragraphs 82–84, 90–104.

102 Chester, N., The Nationalisation of British Industry 1945–51 (London, 1975), p. 469,Google Scholar and Arnot, R. P., The Miners: One Union, One Industry (London, 1979), pp. 175–79.Google Scholar

103 Tomlinson, , The Unequal Struggle?, op. cit., p. 70.Google Scholar

104 Donoughue, and Jones, , Herbert Morrison, pp. 355–56.Google Scholar Although critical of Morrison, Emmanuel Shinwell valued his advice when, as Minister of Fuel and Power, he found there was no ready-made plan for the nationalisation of the coal industry. Shinwell, E., Conflict Without Malice (London, 1955), pp. 172–73.Google Scholar