ABSTRACT
As indicated on page 100, one of the main objects of the 1930 Act was to enforce amalgamations of existing coal-producing undertakings so as to reduce the number of operative units in the industry, increase efficiency, and eliminate wasteful competition. The formation of combines for large-scale production with low operating costs has been a feature of almost every industry in the post-war period. Not all of them have been successful, for in the little boom which followed on the end of the war the craze for amalgamations reached its zenith; many of them became unwieldy, and in the financial crashes which ensued millions of capital was irretrievably lost, a very large portion of it by humble folk who had invested their life savings in industry. Others have been quite successful. All, however, have been voluntary amalgamations, entered into willingly by those engaged in the industry concerned, and in the mining industry the most successful and most profitable have been those of moderate size, undertakings producing under one million tons per annum.
