COAL INDUSTRY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 16 June 1932, Page 8

COAL INDUSTRY

WORKING CONDITIONS AND COSTS PO'iSIBILTIES SOU OIL PRODUCTION “The outlook for the coal industry in New Zealand lias seemed very black, and investigations have been made to find out the practicability of helping it, among other things, by seeing whether it would be practicable in the Dominion to use coal lor the manufacture of fuel oil,” stated Dr. E. Marsden, Secretary to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, when referring to a report on the industry prepared by ■Messrs J. A. G. Bayne, I'. \V. J. Belton, and W. Donovan at the request of the Prime Minister (the Right Hon. G. W. Forbes). Dr. Marsden said that it had been shown that 40,000,000 gallons of oil could be produced from 1,250,000 tons of coal, at a cost of £7,000,000, providing employment for 5000 men. The question was whether, in endeavouring to do this, the oil could be marketed at a competitive price to make such a scheme feasible. The report, which comes under the scope of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, advocates lower sea freights, as it is considered that the industry cannot afford the present rates, as weil as a material reduction ill the price of household coal to the consumer, in order to retain the present market. The need for a reduction of mining costs is also stressed, it being maintained that the increase here is due, not tcv increased rates of wages, but to alterations in the working conditions of miners, which have been of little benefit to the workers. 1

COAL TAR AND BENZOLE The recommendations arc as follows: (1) There is no doubt that gas-works tar can be so treated as to produce a tar complying with British Engineering Standards” Association specification. When roads are being treated in New Zealand at the cost of grants from the Main Highways funds it should be a condition of the grant that the tar used should be local tar, if it is available and complies with the specifications. (2) The ‘ manufacture of motor benzole at gasworks should be encouraged by granting it either whole or partial exemption from excise duty. Such benzole is totally exempt from duty in Great Britain, France, and Germany

(3) It seems likely that the amount of imported coal necessary for gasworks could be reduced by better use of blended local coals. An endeavour should be made to get gasworks now using imported coal to experiment with blends of local coals in order to see to what extent it would be practicable to use the latter in place of imported coal. (4) There seems good reason to think that in localities such as Southland a briquette of good calorific value could be manufactured from a mixture of brown-coal slack and bitminous-coal slack at a - cost which would enable it to compete successfully with screened bituminous or imported coal. The mat- ■ ter should be investigated as soon as j possible. • I PRICE TO CONSUMER (5) To retain the present coal market and permit of any expansion in the future it is imperative that the cost of coal to the consumer should be materially reduced. Many of the coal companies are now working at a loss. Mining costs must be brought down to enable some companies to carry on and the grave danger is that the companies will be compelled, in order to exist, to take action "which will be bitterly opposed by the miners’ unions and lead to more unemployment and suffering among the workmen. Co-operative mining has been widely advocated as a means of reducing mining costs and it is probable that an effort

will be made to work more mines under this system. But co-operative mining is neither the best solution nor a permanent solution of the present difficulty. Considerably better results could be obtained by co-operation between .the coal companies and the miners, based on a frank recognition of j tho facts of the industry on both sides. NEED FOR CONCERTED ACTION At no previous l.itne m the history ot coal mining in the Dominion lias there been such urgent need for a joint sustained effort by companies and workmen, an effort whose only objects should be to reduce the cast of mining to such panics to carry on and to secure to the workmen a reasonable standard of living and regular employment. A large part of the increase in the cost of mining since 1914 is not the result of increased rates of wages, but of alterations in the working conditions, which have been of little material benefit to the workers, but which have added greatly to the cost of production. It should be possible for both parties in the industry to get together, examine the working conditions on their merits and get rid of any conditions of working which are found to increase unnecessarily or unjustifiably the cost of mining. Such a revision of working conditions would be of very great advantage at the present time to the industry and to those employed in it. It promises better results than anything else, and would forestall the demand for a further reduction in wages. TRANSPORTATION COSTS (6) A large part of the cost of coal to the consumer is made up of freight charges. Sea freights from the West Coast are, roughly, double what they were in 1914. The coal indutry cannot afford these high rates at the present time and every effort should be made to get them reduced. (7) The existing mines are capable of producing more coal than can_ be sold. The opening up of new mines should he discouraged and leases under [lie Coal Mines Act should not be granted to new companies at the present time .