ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1920. THE COAL PROBLEM.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIV, Issue 85, 12 April 1920, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1920. THE COAL PROBLEM.

It will be remembered that at its last meeting, held some three weeks ago, the Blenheim Borough Council received communications' from a number of societies whose members are closely concerned with the prevailing economic vexations, urging it to assume the control and distribution of coal. We recall the matter in the hope that the Council will go into the. merits of the proposition in a careful and impartial manner and deal with it conclusively line way or the other. The requests it received from so main' various quarters represent a considerable body of public feeling and opinion, and the petitioners are entitled to have their proposal examined thoroughly and without prejudice. The Council referred the question to the Gas Committee, in opposition to the wishes of a number of Councillors who voted to entrust it to a special committee. Exactly what is the meaning of the remark made by one Councillor that "that, is the end of the coal question" we do not know, but it is to be hoped that the suggestion of predetermination is undeserved. For ourselves, wo have an open mind on the question,

with the. impressions that a municipal system would be quite practicable to establish and maintain— whether the business was confined to the selling of coal in small lots at the depot, or a retail delivery service was added—and that it would serve the public interest in a material degree. No extraordinary financial difficulties are involved, and the risk of loss hardly appears to enter into the case. Presumably there would be- adequate accommodation at the gasworks for storage ar<d handling of public stocks of coal, and no substantial expenditure, if any, would be required in this connection. The "costing" of the retail output should be simple enough, and is could be expected that the management would aim to make the price of coal to the consumers as cheap as possible rather than run the depot as a profit-making concern. Possessing as it- does a certain weight of influence, the municipality would, no doubt, have some special advantage in securing supplies of coal; and, from a business point of view, no slight) importance may be attached to the consideration that, however great the ouantity of coal received at the gasworks, there would be no wastage in the form of slack or ''dust." All is grist that goes to this mill. The finer tho coal the better the production of coke. As for the question whether anything is to be gained as regards the cost of distribution, it may be recalled that "the Board of Trade's report on. the coal industry recommended an improvement in the system of distribution by the abolition^, of over-,lappng in deliveries and the of depots. These various considerations we offer without advocating that the Council should forthwith iidopt the principle of municipalisation. We axe only anxious to see the question exhaustively treated. Jn any case, we do not think that the Council should do violence to private enterprise, as it would be doing if it set up in the coal business, without a very strong case for the protection of the public interest.