COST OF COAL

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 62, 14 March 1944, Page 6

COST OF COAL

MINISTER'S ANALYSIS

REPLY TO STATE MINERS

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, this day. Interviewed to-day regarding the published statement of the State Miners' Union, the Minister of Mines, Mr. Webb, said there was established ! machinery for the settlement of all claims by the miners, or for the correction of injustices, but in the present case the State miners had not availed themselves of the customary method of dealing with such matters and had actually adopted a go-slow policy before presenting their demands to the management. The statement published by the president and secretary of the union did not make any explanation as to why the constitutional and recognised procedure was not followed in this instance, and this was a fundamental and important omission. The statement that the tonnage rates at the Liverpool and Strongman mines were on the lowest scale was simply not correct, said the Minister. On the West Coast the tonnage rates at the Paparoa, Stockton and Millerton mines were lid and 3id less than at the Liverpool mine, and 7}d and 9id less than at the Strongman mine for pillar and solid workings, respectively.

In any case, said the Minister, these rates had no special significance. All mining men knew that the factors which had determined the rates for a particular colliery were the hardness and nature of the coal.

I Dealing with the question of transport, Mr. Webb said that, although the Liverpool mine was in a fairly i inaccessible place, there was a good | train service for the employees, and there were other mines in the Do- ! minion less fortunately situated. There was a good bus service to the Strongman mine, and the Department subsidised the cost of transport on a far more liberal scale than at any private mine. In addition, at Runanga and Dunollie, where the great majority of the men live, the Government had made financial provision for the best housing conditions and amenities which existed in any mining field in the country. Selling Prices Pegged Mr. Webb said that no increase in the price of tools and explosives purchased by the miners at the Liverpool and Strongman mines had been made since the outbreak of the war, and in this respect these two mines had been more fortunate than other collieries. The Minister pointed out that the selling prices of coal had been pegged by the Price Tribunal in accordance with the Government's policy, and the State coal mines did not sell their coal at the prices mentioned by the union.

The accounts of the State coal mines are public property, said the Minister. The figures were shown in considerable detail, and laid before Parliament after being passed by the Controller and AuditorGeneral as required by law. The union's statement that the miner received only 4d per cwt bag of coal was very misleading, said the Minister. The Department had always been prepared to place its information freely in the hands of the mine workers' organisation, and there was no secret as to the costs of handling coal from the time it was dug by the hewer until it reached the consumer's bin. Small Margin Shown Taking the case of one ton of Strongman coal and the costs involved in delivering it to consumers in, say, Christchurch, said the Minister, the colliery costs per ton were: Hewing rate and allowances, 6/4.9, truckers and other workers, 12/9.2, accident insurance 1/, rail and bus fares 6/4. mine stores and power charges 4/2.8, depreciation 4.4 d, relief fund and rescue levies Bd, head office and colliery salaries, postages and general expenses S.sd. The depot costs per ton are: Railage to Christchurch 20/5, wages, discharging, bagging, weighing and loading 4/6.1, make weight and loss in transit 2/5.3, salaries in Christchurch 1/11.7, general expenses, Christchurch 1/3, accident insurance l.ld, bad debts 1.4 d, depreciation 5.9 d. The grand total of costs, including several unspecified items, was £3 6/7.4 per ton. The average price received by the depot for one ton of Strongman coal sold in its normal proportions of screened and small was £3 5/7 per ton, to which must be added a subsidy of 3/ per ton, making the total realisation £3 S/7, or 2/ per ton in excess of the total cost. Apart from the fact that interest on the capital employed costs more than 2/ per ton, there were other markets to be supplied which did not return as satisfactory a price per ton as obtained in Christchurch.

As far as mechanisation was concerned, said the Minister, a few years ago the Government sent the super-intendent-of State mines to Australia to examine and report on the extent to which the State mines could develop the use of mechanical devices and his report clearly showed that the conditions in New Zealand mines were definitely adverse to any developments along the lines of certain mines in Australia. It was an easy matter to generalise on the subject of mechanisation, he said but it was another matter to advance a specific scheme and be able to support it by reasonable argument.