TIMBER (CHARGES) (NO. 3) ORDER. (Hansard, 29 April 1941)

§ The Secretary for Mines (Mr. David Grenfell)
I beg to move. That the Timber (Charges) (No. 3) Order, 1941, dated 28th March, 1941, made by the Treasury under Section 2 of the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939, a copy of which was presented to this House on 22nd April, be approved. The House will remember that, as a consequence of the war and of the need for importing timber for pit purposes from foreign sources, the House passed the Timber (Charges) (No. 2) Order, which required owners of coal mines, in all districts except South Wales, to make a flat rate contribution of 4d. a ton, to meet the difference in cost between imported pit wood and home-grown pit wood. The scheme has been operated in the manner laid down by the Order, there has been no difficulty, and we have collected the money due from each individual owner. But it has been recognised that the Order is not technically perfect and that there may be a hitch in the collection, because the Order applies to the disposals from "any" mine. Those familiar with the mining industry will, know that mines which are worked separately frequently belong to the same company. There is no difficulty in ascertaining the disposals from a mine which deals with the whole of its output on a common plan, but marry colliery companies think it convenient to pass their small coal for treatment through joint washeries, where it is quite impossible for the buyer to distinguish the origin of his coal or for the seller to distinguish exactly which mine the coal was obtained from before being brought to the washery. Because of the mixing of the coal in these joint washeries, it has been deemed necessary to substitute for the 407 words "coal mine" in the original Order the words: coal mine or, in cases where more than one coal mine in a district is in the same ownership, of each group of all such coal mines. Each group then becomes responsible for its quota of that which is passed through the processes I have mentioned. That is the only difference that the Order makes. There is a broadening-out of the liability over a group of mines in the same ownership, because it is quite impossible-to separate and distinguish the coal from any particular mine when it is treated in this way. The Order is very simple, and the words are self-explanatory.

§ Mr. T. Smith (Normanton)
I have no desire to oppose the Order, because I believe it is absolutely necessary. The technical difficulty which the Minister has referred to is one which has interested the industry. But this gives me the opportunity to ask a question about pit timber. Has every provision been made to see that we get the maximum amount of imported pit wood? The accident rate in the mines has, unfortunately, been increasing, and, while I am not alleging that that is altogether due to the use of home-grown pit timber, it is a fact that certain colliery owners and managers have been complaining that the kind of pit timber at their disposal has been practically useless for supporting the roofs at the coal face. Is my hon. Friend doing what he can to ensure that there is as much imported timber as possible? He knows that imported timber is much stronger than the average home-grown timber. I would like my hon. Friend to tell the House what he has in mind about that.

§ Mr. Grenfell
With your permission, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, I can assure the House that there is' a satisfactory amount of imported timber being stocked, and that there is no likelihood of any deficiency in supply. But, as time goes on, it appears certain that we shall be compelled to rely more and more upon home-grown timber. We are fortunate in having far more suitable timber than we expected. The Forestry Commission haw been at work 408 on this problem for many years. Fine forests have come into being, with young trees suitable for pit wood, and we are assured of a substantial supply of pit wood from that source. At the same time, there is no likelihood in the immediate future of any scarcity of the more mature foreign timber. We know that for certain purposes well-seasoned timber is better than unseasoned timber. I can assure my hon. Friend that the industry will not be encouraged to consume the imported timber all at once. The timber will be so mixed that every district will have its fair quota of imported timber, while, at the same time, it takes increasing quantities of home-grown timber.

§ Mr. Lawson (Chester-le-Street)
As my hon. Friend knows, there is a good deal of timber of the softer kinds now being cut in this country. Can he see to it that there will be no temptation, because of the proximity of some of this timber to certain pits, to use it in preference to the imported timber? Will he also see that the timber arrangements are such that it will not be necessary to use this timber, rather than the imported wood?

§ Mr. Grenfell
My Department has taken special measures, and I shall announce very shortly conditions under which it will be impossible to exploit the near supplies of wood. We shall see that the imported timber is used in proportion, in all districts, with the exception of South Wales, where special circumstances exist which are outside this scheme. A proportionate supply of imported timber will be maintained in all other districts.