of a century. The first Committee of Inquiry set up in
1916 to consider the position of the iron and steel industry
after the War urged the necessity for a complete reorgansation
 of the industry from the point of obtaining its
raw materials to the sale and distribution of its finished
products.

The Balfour Committee on Industry and Trade, while
less definite so far as specific recommendations were concerned,
 and while recognising the financial aspect of the
problem in an insecure home market, clearly indicated by
zomparisons with other countries the lines of future development.


The reporti of the Committee set up by the present
Government has not had official publication, but sufficient
s known through unofficial sources to make it clear that
the unanimous conclusion was that national organisation
 of the entire industry upon a regional basis, in combination
 with financial adjustments, were regarded as a
fundamental condition of sound and progressive development.


Organisation of the industry on a national footing, and
for national purposes, was effected during the War by the
State, but it is one thing to organise for war purposes
and quite another to organise with the objective of developing
 peaceful trade and. commerce. While the need is
no Jess imperative the recognition of a common interest
to secure the objective is lacking.

It is true there have been certain crude attempts at
what has been termed ‘rationalisation,’ but without any
evidence of a proper conception of its meaning or of the
objective to be attained. There have been amalgamations
of financial interests without, in most cases, the necessary
financial adjustments. Labour has been rationalised, but
not financial commitments.

The result has so far been to increase unemployment
and to’ accentuate problems of national.importance. We
recognise that in the process of adjusting an unorganised
ndustry, displacement of labour must occur, but this
would be taken into account and, as far as possible, provided
 for in any conscious planning of the industry with
the national interests in view. A grave defect of the present
 haphazard methods is that no regard appears to be
paid to the waste arising from labour displacement, for
which private enterprise, as such, is not concerned to make
provision. Yet it is surely of some importance that in
any well-conceived scheme of industrial reconstruction
and development the skill, experience and general morale
of the labour power of an industry should be as far as
possible kept intact.

In view of the much greater productivity of labour employed
 in relation to modern technique and machinery,
(13)