ABSTRACT
Mechanized coal production cannot succeed unless men are available in sufficient numbers to work the machines with skill and diligence. Over the last quarter of a century the numbers of mineworkers have steadily declined, and the drift of men away from the coal industry has become a trend most difficult to check. In the year 1920 there were 1,226,900 workers employed above and below ground in coal production; by the end of 1946 this number had shrunk to less than 700,000. Unfortunately it was the younger and more active men whom the industry could not attract or retain. In 1931 only 34 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203730928/4a0a24cc-697b-4304-b6d8-69360b9010cd/content/1by2.tif"/> per cent of those employed were over 40 years of age, but by 1945 the over-40s had increased to 43 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203730928/4a0a24cc-697b-4304-b6d8-69360b9010cd/content/1by2.tif"/> per cent of the total, and the industry was forced to rely to an increas¬ing extent upon men who had passed their prime in physical energy.
