STATE COAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 59, 7 September 1905, Page 6

STATE COAL.

DEPOTS IN WELLINGTON.^ A SCEPTICAL MEMBER. The Government was asked by Mt. Hogg yesterday when the long-pro-mised depot for the sale of State-mined coal is to be opened in Wellington, and ...he was informed- by the Minister for .Mines that several sections in Wellington are under offer, and it is hoped that the negotiations thai are now proceeding •will soon be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. 1 ; Referring 'to the. question, Mr. Herd■inan said they had a statement from 4lie -local manager that 'he could not get coal to supply the 'local demands, but the fact appeared to be that at .the Seddonville mine men were only working a few days a week. Apparently something was radically wrong in connection witli the- management of this .Department, and lie put in' a protest against the policy of secrecy which was being followed in this connection. Why, he asked, was not the evidence taken at the enquiry into the- mines laid on the table? Was it that tbe report was of an unsatisfactory nature, and that the •Minister was afraid to put it before 4ho House? Mr. Herdman urged that the ovklence should be put before members to enable them to criticise the Department. ; The Minister for Mines said that the report of the State coal mines when it was presented to Parliament would show that the profit on the year's working liad been £11,000, in spito of the fact tJiat there had been a loss on the Seddonville mine. There was, he urged, no instance in which a company that was not trammelled with the difficulties encompasaing a Minister in charge of a State Department had been able to produce such results. Mr. Hogg, always sceptical on this subject, s usked "what was the meaning of the word "soon" in the Minister's reply ua to the depot. "We have been asking for that .depot for years," he said ; and he wanted to know whether the Government was really sincere in its negotiations on the subject. His impression was that if the Government could only get the session over the House would hear nothing about the depot until about this time next year. The public, he went on to say, was not so far able to get any benefit from the State coalmine. The people who got the advantage were the retailers, the middlemen — they wero making the profit. He 'reminded the Premier that in a little while ho would have to meet tho consumer " faoe to face," and answer questions on the subject from the public platform. Mossrß. Prpßton and Co., of 110, Lamb-lon-quay, notify having purchased tho wino and spirit business bo long conducted by Maginnity and Co. Tho business will, in ■ futuro bo carried on by Preston and' Co. at their present premises. Mtiginnily's Blend Whisky and all other leading brands aro kept by tho firm. Messrs. East and East wish to draw attention to their now list of Hutl properties advertised for sale. _ Tho Yercx, Barker and Findlay Co. aro making a special robato' of 10 per cent, on' nil purchases of offico funiituro and requiBitos, owing to large shipments to arrive. Messrs. A. Patcrson and Sona, gouts' tailom, 19a, Ingostra-strool, advertiso new summer suiting! to hand. Particular! elsewhere.