COAL AND POWER SUPPLIES

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 125, 20 February 1941, Page 6

COAL AND POWER SUPPLIES

The figures relating to coal output, published in these columns on Tuesday, were endorsed by the Minister of Mines, but he was able to provide some particulars of the output for 1940, which hat! not previously been issued. They show, as was expected, that the northern mining district had made a substantial contribution to the increased quantity of coal mined, but in view of the. very heavy demand, especially from the electric power boards and local bodies opcr-‘ ating auxiliary stations, the position is far from being satisfactory. Production has been increasing during the past four years, but the average output from 1936 to 1939 inclusive was well below that fot the years 1926-29. The animal totals are as follows:—-

The average for 1926-29 was 2,395,000 tons, but in 1936-39 only 2,245,500 tons. If production today were on the level of the former period, with an annual output about 150,000 tons higher, the estimated needs of the northern power boards would be met. There is a means available to the Minister for increasing the output of coal, and that is the elimination of stoppages at the mines In the first nine months of 1940. the last period for which official figures are available, there were 13 disputes at the mines involving 2749 workers and the loss of 10.698 working days, d'hat must have reduced the production substantially. During the. last few days there have been reports of two stoppages. On the West Coast a railway regulation limited the number of cars on the train that takes men to the Liverpool State mine. 1 here had been a slip, but the men were willing to walk over it. 1 lie Railways Department offered to run a train conveying half of the men and a second train 90 minute* later. The State Miners’ Union decided that it should be all oi none,”'with the result that a full day’s work was lost. I here seems to have been a lack of co-operation somewhere. Then there was a day lost at a Waikato mine, the trackers contending that the company should pay their bus fares to the mines. These interruptions must adversely affect the total output, and if the Minister, oi the Coal Council, can bring about an avoidance of these stoppages over trifling disputes something effective will have been done to ensure that the coal that is so urgently required will be available.

Toils. Tons. .... 2 240.1H1O 1936 2.140,000 ... 19°7 . 2 3G7.00O 1937 2.278,000 1928 2,437.000 1938 2.222,000 1<P9 2 536,001 i 1939 2,342,000 9,580,000 8,9.82,000