COAL QUESTION.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16515, 10 June 1919, Page 6

COAL QUESTION.

r . , S r CABINET CONSIDERATION. PROSPECT OF REDUCTION OF ]" SERVICES. 3 (SPECIAL TO "THE PRESS.") WELLINGTON, June 9. Tho big report by the Board of Trade j lon coid production and distribution is - ! still withheld from publication. It ap- -! pears that Mr Massey and Sir Joscpli " j Ward were asked for their opinions as 1 i to whether the report ought to be pub- , I lisheu, and when Cabinet mot to-day, . j the reply from Mr Massey had not been received. For ttiis reason decision on > the question has been postponed. 1 This question ot pub.icatkm may " provo to be an important one. The re- ' port does not uoal with. the urgent 5 : problems oi the piesent crisis, but it ' | Goes make proposu.s lor the iuiuie, and 1 | it is tue O|>uiiou oi u.e iraniers Oi tne ' report that lr ttieso poiuy pioposals are adopted, our coal uitueu.i.ius will bo ieicioaea jn, say, two years. It is i even possible l.iiat tue Uovoiniueiit will I in t.ie ead docide not to make the i proposals pubae uiilil somu decision has » boon eo.ue to as to whether they are tc : be accepted or rejected. i Tue present coal crisis was also con- ' sidered at length by Cabinet to-day, 1 but no decisions ol importance wero :>nade. It is considered tnat Mr Myers I has all tho powers that can be given . to him already, and that overruling that can bo done to k6ep up supplies and to distribute the coal fairiy is being [ done. The Government will not order tho reduction of railway services so long as this can be avoided. When it becomes impossible to maintain the serI vices with such coal as is available, itwill be for the Department to inform tho Government. The samo is true of other public services. The Minister can give no guarantee that the supplies will bo sufficient, and if they fail, tho local bodies concerned will have to reduce services. As some indication of the seriousness of the plight of Wellington, the Government has taken steps to procure supplies of firowood for domestic use. A STATE MINE IN THE WAIKATO. (press association telegram.) WELLINGTON. Jiine 9. Tho Government has decided to purchase a State mine in the Waikato coalfield. The Minister of Mines stated that he was having a report made by the Department's engineer. Before operations could be commenced, a railway would be necessary, and it would be impossible to take coal from the pit for 18 months or two years. ' CITY COUNCIL'S ACTION. The present coal position formed tho subject of a discussion at the City Council last night, when the following resolution, ivas moved by Cr. Armstrong: "That a special committee of five be set up (1) to investigate and consider fully the coal situation; (2) to consider tiie advisability or otnerwise of importing coal diroct from tue unions, eiuier by charuirmg or purchasing snips for the purpose; (3; to consiucr ana report renaming tiie estauiißliing of ft municipal ooal depot, and tiie retailing of coai for household purposes, or any other scheme wnereby tne people can be assured an adequate supply of coal at a reasonable price." Mr Armstrong expressed tne opinion that the working of tne State mines depended on whim of the Union titeam bhip Company, which received in a yoar sufficient freight to purchase three collieries and all tne boats now carrying coal from tho State mines. Tne rubbishy American coai now selling at £4 was being bought by the merchants al the slup's side at 555. Mr Armstrong said that if coal oould be bought, as it was, at the port for 31s, and merchants charged another 30s for bringing it from Lyttelton to Christchurch. tiien it was time the if "little game was stopped. Cr. Langley, in seconding the motion, said that it was time that a stop was put to the selling at £3 10s per ton of lignite obtained at 295. Cr. Nicholls agreed that something urgent would have to bo done in regard to coal. He thought that proper housing for the miners might relieve the situation,'for it was tho lack of labour that was the difficulty. Personally, ho did not think that the marchants were making any great amount of profit. Cr. said that in 1918 only ten coal companies paid dividends, and the dividend on all the capital investod in coal in New Zealand was 4 per cent. The whole troublo at present was that the miners were not working as they should and could. Cr. Jamieson sounded a note of warning, in view of the coming election, to tho members of Parliament, who wore not doing thoir duty. After some further discussion, Cr. Armstrong, in his reply, stated that the question was one not of shortage of labour, but of shortage of ships. The motion was carried, and tho Mayor, with Crs. Sullivan, Nicholls, Armstrong, and Herbert were appointed the committee referred to in the motion.

A PREMATURE MOTION. PROPOSED MUNICIPAL COALFIELD. Recently two gentlemen waited upon : the Mayor (Dr. Thacker) and placed before him a proposition for the City i Council to secure a mine on the West Coast. .Apparently the Westport Bor- i ough Council jumped to the conclusion that the Christchurch Citv Council had i decided to embark upon the coal bnsi- i ness, for it passed a motion, "noting | with pleasure a proposal of the Christ church City Council to take an active part in supplying coal to the masses," and offering to support and co-operate with them and give all assistance within its power to enable them to carry the project to a successful issue, and extending a hearty invitation to "Dr. Thacker and his councillors to visit this district and learn of the many largo/areas of excellent coal lying dormant awaiting the investment of capiWhen the motion was read to the Citv Council it was upon Cr. Flesher's motion, rcreived without further dis- t ciTssion, except for the jocular sugges- 4 unn that councillors might visit the held if they paid their own expenses. i < o

NATIONALISATION OF MINES. ? At tne mooting of the Canterbury Irades and Labour Council on Satur- I' day ni£ht, tho problem of the coal " shortage was with porno 0 warmth. Air.ong the resolutions na<vsed n , was tho following: 'That this Council * calls u*>on the Government to nation- P 3 ! j G u cc;l I-n)'nes of this Dnminion. and that tho minors be given an eqnit- ° abie proportion of representation in the ° control of tho mines.'' d A resolution was also parsed: ® tho Ccnncl place on rer-ord it.s dissntir,Faction with t'-o C al Sunplv Committor : for Christehurch, as srle-ted by the Government, and that we demand that o-n of our representatives be placed on the committea to represent consumers." r(