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Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 209, 2 September 1911, Page 4

The prediction uttered by Sir William Ramsay that gTeat Britain's coal measures would be •worked out within coitsideratrfy less than two centuries ia not trae of the "abf.ter dicta" of science that the -world at larse can afford to | pass carelessly by. For the eminent scientist who has expressed this opinion is one of the leading lights of the world in his own sphere of thought, and he warn? us That we must no; comfort o.rselves with any blind faith in the wtai:ity of discovening some new source of energy as a practicable substitute fot coal. He advocates jrreater economy i:i the use of coal and careful conservation of Kngland's natural resources as tinonly safe maans of mitigating the har.i ships that a failure in the supply would ,: certainly entail, end d-forring the houi i of its ultimate exhaustion. It is truf .th.it - v :r \V. Ramsay's statement is .i 'long way the most disconcerting estimatp vet put forwa-rd cs to the probai>3£ "life" of the British coalfields. Prolessor Hall in ISOO calculated that Ens , ■ land's coal snpply would last onf I thousand years at the then nu< of consumption. Ajrain. the Ttoyal Cot. ; mission on coal which sat from ISOB : IS7I computed the possible duration <> the supply ftt 1270 years, so long as th< f ratp of consumption did not seriously in crease. But within the past forty year, the nation ha* been using up its supplies with constantly speed: ant 1 though Sir W. Earn say's views ma; - sound unduly pessimistic, he has n< . doubt good mathematical an< i gcologiea reasons for all that ho has Baid. Am it is surely a reasonable inference tha' it is high time for England to do some 1 thing to conserve her supply of coal i Thifl i» the more necessary, became ii , one quality d coal—"beat Welsh steam ahc | ii-""" wi-asset of ahnnrt toes s tnnaMa value that she cannot poesihl; ' JTfjla"" once it baa disappeared

For naval purposes Welsh steam coal is nothing less than an indispensable | requisite, and the cjse is rendered worse j by the fact that England now exports I this invaluable commodity for the use ] of foreign navies. r< hioh at any moment i may be employed against :>er. Long j ago Professor Hawkins, the distinguished geologist, urged thi>.t a positive embargo] should be placed upon the export of | swam coal to ensure England's naval j supremacy, and in the light of Sir W. Ramsav's warning. the Imperial authori- | ties should surely be pre' r *ired to sacri- I fice their fiscal princip'es far enough to check the. absolute exhaustion of the coal measures at least for the benefit j of rivals or enemies.