The Evening Star THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1927. THE GOAL INDUSTRY.

Evening Star, Issue 19614, 21 July 1927, Page 6

The Evening Star THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1927. THE GOAL INDUSTRY.

Simultaneously with the ceremony at Westport over the first delivery of coal from the Cascade mine,, in the Buller Gorge, there comes the announcement of an increase in the price of coal from' the best known of the mines in the Westport district. The matter has had attention drawn to it in Parliament by ilr Fraser, who expressed apprehension of an all-round increase to the consumer. Figures would not seem to justify any increase in the price of non-bitmninous coal at any rate. There has been no rise in wages, and the output of this class of coal, according to the latest figures available, shows an increase. On tho other hand, the bituminous coal output in 1920, at 1 044,726 tons (nine-tenths of which comes from the West Coast), showed' a decrease of 40,273 tons on the previous year’s figures. Mr Fraser stated that there has been no rise in cost of production of coal; but, though nominally there has beqn no rise in wages, the cost of production on the )Vest Coast has been increased by the frequency of stop-work meetings, while there has been an increase in other charges, such, for example, as those payable to harbor boards. Nevcrtholess, when the price of coal in New Zealand is compared with its price in other parts of the world, the conviction is forced on one that the consumer hero pays dearly for his fuel. In a severe winter such as the present one. and with the breadwinners of many families in casual work or with no work, the expcnsivcncss of fuel takes on a more serious aspect than it might otherwise do. It is an admitted fact that there is an ‘ over-production of coal throughout the world, and prices elsewhere are reflecting it. In the House of Commons u week ago, when Labor critics drew attention to the lowness of wages and increasing unemployment in the British coal industry, Mr Lane Fox replied that its main cause was overproduction. One ,of the recent monthly letters of the Guaranty Trust of New York stated concerning coal mining in the United States: “The ability of the industry to realise satisfactory levels of wages and profits must await the diversion ol a large amount of the laboi and capital now employed in coal mining to other lines of effort. Such a readjustment would be a costly process, and it is not likely to be effected voluntarily as long as the country s coal mines remain in as many different hands as they are at present. Jf it were possible to obtain concerted action a drastic wcoding-ont of the less efficient units would probably he preferable in the long run to the enoimous waste entailed by periodic suspensions of mining ” The position appears to he that the prolonged stoppage of the British coal mines emphasised the latent resources of the Continental coal-producing countries in a remarkable fashion. Although European countries made use of American coal to some extent, the deficiency caused by the cessation of British exports was largely made good by the coal-producing countries of Europe themselves. Nevertheless, the efforts of British exporters to win hack the Continental coal markets temporarily lost through the coal strike have been successful, despite there being no decline in the Continental output from the figure it reached during the'British stoppage. That success, however, has only been achieved by a cutting of prices, which has involved substantial reductions in miners’ earnings. During April of this year the average value of British coal exported fell 'to 18s Gd per ton, 3s 5d less than it was at the beginning of the year. This reduction has provoked foreign Governments to adopt protective measures to preserve the development of their own coal resources, and now countries such as France and Spain are erecting hostile barriers, such as Customs duties, embargoes, and discriminating railway rates, against British importations of coal.

It is therefore not surprising to learn that the labor situation on the British coalfields is extremely delicate. At present the wages ot the miners are protected by the minimum rates, but short time .affects their earning capacity. Mr Frank Hodges, ex-general secretary’ of the Miners’ Federation, puts the position in a nutshell by stating that “many coal mining districts are experiencing substantial reductions in wages, and owners have experienced the complete vanishing .of their profits.” Tit this country the reverse holds. Wa. ges arc stabilised, on a relatively high level, and the prices obtainable for coal in New Zealand, when contrasted with an t.o.b. price of under 18s per ton at British ports, should indicate that New Zealand mine owners’ profits ought to ho on a scale that would provoke the envy of their British confreres. The contrast is really one between a sheltered and an unsheltered industry. Part of the shelter the industry enjoys in Now Zealand is doubtless duo to remoteness in a geographical sense and ocean freight charges in these waters. Bub if under existing world conditions in tho coal industry attention is specifically invited to our markets by an increase in prices while prices elsewhere arc falling, the result may be a closer investigation both from within and without as to the exact reality of the shelter which coal mining in New Zealand apparently enjoys. Within New Zealand the farmer, for example, has been detecting injustice in the reactions on his own, for tho most part, unsheltered industry arising from the shelter enjoyed by other local industries.