COAL INDUSTRY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 85, 11 April 1945, Page 6

COAL INDUSTRY

FUTURE POLICY ADDRESS BY CONTROLLER Although coal is one cf the most valuable products, Avasteful methods had been employed in mining it, said Mr. C. H. Benney, UnderSecretary for Mines and Dominion Coal Controller, in an address to a combined luncheon of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Junior Chamber of Commerce today. Coal conservation, he said, was the keynote of every Government policy in regard to mining. The speaker expressed the opinion that the ownership of coal underground must be vested in the State. If the coal underground was owned by the State, and the right of extracting it leased to private individuals then conditions relative to such extraction could be enforced. The output of coal in New Zealand Tiad increased by 20 per cent, said the speaker. The shortage of supply experienced to-day was due to the fact that in the past a considerable quantity of coal had been imported, and since the war these supplies had been cut off. Dealing with labour troubles in the mines, Mr. Benney said that progress could not be made in settling disputes by exercising patience. He stressed the necessity of leaders being elected by the men and appointed by the management who knew .the direction the industry was taking. The study of human psychology was one of the basic things in the handling of labour. f . In regard to the gas situation Mr. Bennev said that companies had largely brought trouble on themselves because of their insistence on the use of Newcastle coal. When deprived of this source of supply provision had to be made as quickly as possible in New Zealand to meet the demand. In spite of the increased production there were still not sufficient stocks to overcome the effect of temporary delays to shipping on the West Coast.