COAL MINING MATTERS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 23 May 1917, Page 5

COAL MINING MATTERS.

THE OWNERS' SIDE

BY TELEGRAPH —FKKSS ASSOCIATION. WELLINGTON, May 22. Mr Pryor, secretary of the Mine Owners' Association, says that if the mine owners could obtain a profit of Is per ton on all coal mined they would be perfectly satisfied with the* result. The mine owners are prepared to submit their facts for investigation by the Board of Trade. There has been no exploitation of the public; on the contrary, in many cases the increased cost of production has not been wholly passed on to the public. In a statement made at Auckland regarding tie price of coal, the owners say it is not correct to say that a general rise of 5s per ton in price was made when the 10 per cent, "war bonus, was granted to miners. In the case of some leading companies the wholesale price was increased from 2s 3d to 2s 6d only. In certain cases an increase of 6s per ton was made-, but of that sum 4s was paid out in additional freight, -which, in r particular cases was payable by .the companies, so that the companies concerned did not get the benefit of anything like the full amount of the increase. So far as can be ascertained one company only raised the price of coal by 8s a ton, and of this amount ■at least 4s per ton was to cover increased shipping freight and the balance to cover the increased cost of production and the loss occasioned by the "go-slow" policy. The owners state that the paid-up capital of the registered coalmining companies in New Zealand is approximately not less than £1,500,000 (the total capital invested in coal mining is probably nearer £2,000,000), and the dividends paid in 1914 amounted to £53,887, in 1915 to £53,200, and in 1916 to £51,175, a return for 1914 of 3.6 per cent., for 1915 of 3.5 per cent., .and for 1916 of 3.4 per cent. Very few of the dividend-paying companies paid dividends in each of the three years, and a large majority paid no dividend at all during that period, and in no case did any company pay a dividend exceeding 10 per cen^;.