The Dominion TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1915. BRITAIN'S COAL SUPPLY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2500, 29 June 1915, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1915. BRITAIN'S COAL SUPPLY

The maintenance of an adequate supply of coal for the Allied Navies and the factories engaged in work connected with the war is a matter of such absolutely vital importance that industrial disputes cannot be permitted to interfere with it. The British Government will undoubtedly be compelled.to take action if the South Wales miners and their employers cannot comc to a satisfactory understanding. Mn. Rungu.man has made it quite clear that there must bo no stoppage, and that an immediate, agreement is imperative. If the needs of the Allied Navies and the _ naval dockyards and the ammunition factories cannot be regularly supplied without compulsion, then some form of compulsion will have to be resorted to. The President of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain has appealed to the Government to trust the miner and rely on his sense of duty. Both the miner and his employer now have a fine opportunity of showing their patriotism and their sense of duty in a practical manner. Anything in the nature of strike or lockout at the present moment might prove disastrous, and work must go on while the matters in dispute are under consideration'. Recent cablegrams indicate that the workers of Great Britain have been more deeply impressed of late with the necessity of straining every nerve to provide the troops with ammunition. The whole country is realising the tremendous part which is being played in this,war by guns and ammunition. The demand is unlimited, and coal is needed for the manufacture of munitions as well as for the use of warships'. Generals, politicians, labour leaders and business men have all appealed to employers and men to do their utmost to prevent the loss of valuable lives and the postponement of ultimate victory owing to lack of guns and shells. _ Next to those actually in the fighting line, victory depends upon the skill and energy of tho coal miners and munition workers.

The war is having a very farrcaching effect on the whole coal trade of Britain and not merely the steam coal area of South. Wales which is immediately affected by the present dispute. The Government announced that the export of coal and coke to all destinations abroad, other than British possessions and protectorates and allied countries, should be prohibited by Order-in-Council. What such a step means may bo gathered from the fact that of the 280,000,000 tons of coal annually produced in the United Kingdom no fewer than 100,000,000 are exported. A correspondent _of the London Mornimj Post estimates that the f.o.b. value of the total export trade of coal, coke, and fuel is approximately £.70,000,000, while its real value from the point of view of international trade—that is, its c.i.f. value—may be reasonably estimated at anything between £130,000,000 and £140,000,000. In March last over 2,500,000 tons were exported to markets to which, subject to exemptions under a system of special licenses, shipments are now to be prohibited. The prohibition is a very drastic step; but in war time, when a nation is fighting for its existence, a Government may be compelled to do things _ which may cause hardship to sections of the community. The Imperial Government has not- only to consider the maintenance of a supply of coal adequate to the needs of Britain and her Allies, 'but also to prevent British coal from reaching enemy countries. It is well to have the assurance of the President of the Miners' Federation that "any shortage of shells will not arise from any shortage of coal," but the Government must have something more definite and tangible to go upon. The mere possibility of a shortage of fuel supplies for the navies or the munition factories shows that the output should be organised in a more systematic _ manner. It is stated that a national meeting of masters and men is to be held to consider the position, and that a cooperative _ scheme is to be discussed. If no satisfactory settlement can be arrived at on a voluntary basis the Government will be compelled to take such action as may be necessary to safeguard the interests of the Empire to which all lesser interests must be subordinated whether in Great Britain or the Overseas Dominions.