SIR,—Having read " A Miner's Reply " to Mr. Anderson's
article, I am still unconvinced that there is any other solution to coal production other than hard work. Admittedly there are many discomforts in the mining of coal, and also a drop in the number of miners since 1938, but to compensate for this, I would remind Mr. Mitchell that the miners' lot has very much changed to the better since 1938, and, besides being almost the highest paid worker in the country, the miner has all the advantages of modern invention.
It is no wonder, to quote Mr. Mitchell, " that a labour force 70,000 fewer than in 1938 produced an output in 1951 and 1952 equal to the 1938 output." But what does this signify ? Only that apparently modernisation has only the effect of equalling a past record. There would be some excuse if the miner lived under Iron Curtain country conditions, as Mr. Mitchell seems to imply, but is this so ?
This country has recognised the hazards of mining and has done its best to mitigate them. It is now the miner's turn to do his best.— Yours faithfully,
A. G. TURNBULL
Pen-y-lan Road, Cardiff
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