THE STATE COAL-MINE

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4303, 12 March 1901, Page 7

THE STATE COAL-MINE

ATEAVS OF-THE MERCHANTS. REASONS AGAINST THE PROPOSAL. Tin; Wellington tpal inerehants ridicule the suggestion- that Air St-ddon is going <o soil coal at. a cheaper rate than I hoyAlo. and at tho sinne time make the buf;inef,s pay. “It’s the most absurd thing 1 ever hoard of I .’’ said Air Samuel, Brown, .-.peaking to a representative of tho “‘New Zealand Times” yesterday with reference to the proposal for a Slate eoal-mine. “No State can. nm Hus thing as well or a-s cheaply as a private individual.” “ AVhy not?” “Simply because the private irdividnal is personally interested in his business, and takes good care that he gets the best, men for the work'. AV ith a -Stale concern, on the other hand, politic il and other consider;' l mu:; come in : and we see men kept in bidets who ere entirely unfit for them, merely hccanse political, influence; keeps Hum itere. >ie nee. Hie same sorC of thing in other depart mods, ami wo shall no Uouht ;-ee it. juH tho ' a.me hero. .this is wmere tho waste of money comes in. In a Slate business, the people vho are ning tho show c muot- have Urn same in-I-e rest in il I bat. the priviL- in/lividual in is, ami do not oa.re a rsp. 1 hey are merely eoucoruect to keep tlieif Inliets, •ml thy pni'lie. ivas to pay the piper. Nothing that the State has ever run,” repeated Mr Brown, “can bo . run as cheaply as hy the private individual.” “Then yon think ay coal-mine owned by tho State will cost more in working than one owned privately?” “Without question.” “ AVill tho State coal-mino cheapen tho cost.' to the. consumer?”

“AVcli, I think it will be dourer unless the State is going to run the thing at. a loss,” replied Air Brown. “Coal here,” 'ho went on, “is dearer than in any other city in New Zealand for the reason that not five persons in one hundred. can take a. full load —a, couple of tons. Their places’ are small, and from this and other causes they can take only small quantities at a time, Tho result is that enormous cartage, with its wear and tear, is thrown upon !!\c dealer. They have to send out horses and carts with small loads to the far end of Newtown. or the far end of Thorndon. Al! this means the' Tnonutiug-up of exnonso.”

Then Mr Brown, made a small calculation which .showed, roughly, that out of tho 32s per ton, they charged for coal, tho dealers have to pay 30s, a transaction which left them with oidy 2s to moot book-keeping, chargor, bad debts, and expenses of yvear and tear. ■ The coal, freight, included, cost 21s, then for cartage the exist was 2s Gel, for trimming 6cl, and bagging and weighing and other items made up a respectable total before it was sent out to the customer at all. Moreover, on every ton of coal nearly lowb is lost in s'ack, which represents a loss- to tho dealer. “It will show you hew much coaidoalcrs ate making,” Mr Brown; emphasised, “when I say that no dealer sell.-, coal alone, except perhaps the Westport Company. They all combine! grain and produce or some other line with their coal business. As a matter of fact, ' ’ e continued, “no coal company in New Zealand has.made three per cent interest on its money.” He instanced the case of the AVestport Coal Company, which only gob a dividend within tho last year or two.

“Mr Seddon talks about cheaper coal,’’ said he, “but if tho Government wants to cheapen coal it should cheapen the cost of. haulage on the) railways. The Cardiff' Conipiariy' had to pay 3s 2d per ton for a run of twenty-six miles on the railway; it coulcl have got a run i f the same distance in Newcastle for lock And that railway used by the Cardiff Company paid thirteen per cent. Tho Minister, for Railways was asked to reduce the cost of haulage, but declined 1 to do so, and I say that the Government is responsible for‘the wiping-ont of that company, Tor it ■ was ’ this charge that killed it. Mr Seddon tells its that the company was mismanaged. All that I can say is that it sold £90,000 worth cf coal and did riot make £2O worth of bad debts; and if that .is not good manage mont 1 do not know what is. It was its misfortune that, it _ met’ faults in tho ground, but there is no'guarantee "that even tho State may not have such faults to contend with too, unless it purchases a mine already in full work. “No,’’ ho repeated, “I think the business will cost the State practically more than it docs ,the individual, and that there will be a loss unless the State, or the public, pays for it. And if that bo so, you m ,ight as < well apply the same principle to groceries.” • “AYhat are the rings of which the Freinier speaks?”, “There is no such thing., The -only...association wd haYeisi the Coal-dealers’ ..Association, an.d that is really .the banding together of the dealers for. the purpose of discovering who are the ‘bad marks/ For instance,; a stranger'erders a ton cf coal to bo paid for on delivery. Ido not know the man, and I ring you up—assuming that, you aro a dealer also —‘Do you know So-and-so ?’ Perhaps you will know him;:“'-H.fypti.do not, I ring up the next man/slri'd/if:he replies ‘Oh! yes; he’s a bad mark,’ I know what to do. The best proof of the-fact that there is no ring is shown .by-the, fact .that .during. the time of great scarcity last winter,_ when it wax impossible to get coal, and. when CHristrihrirdh.’; dealers' were selling, at 50s ’wc never.'once raised the P'ricp. hers! That Tiidlcales' that there is no; ring, to , keep up; prices. ’ In ;fac,t,; the: Coai-dsaler3( . Association-/ meats- ■ ; very : seldom, and; as I say. is mainly ’employ-! cd against ‘bad marks.’ In that, way/ it is really for, .tbp protection of. tlu-

nail meii rather.: than the large dc.il-

With regard to the reported 'increase in pricey. AM - Broun ■ explained, so far ivs the. Is 3d fob. slack was coiicrmod. that the slack' Co,sfc’Che dealers . Is; ad. Ho pointed out that the incidental expenses, such as, cartage, etc.,' wore ns high as for good-coal. With reference to firewood,: ■ the : price ; charged to: the dealers by those who, supplied the wood from tho country had been raised some time, ago, aa, owing to the drain upon the country oF fightiiig men for tho war, it. was found; difficult to ge,t- wood-cut-ters. ■' t ■ ■■ ■■ The question.) of-freight was touched upon. Air Brown explained: that the freight chargecFby ’tho Unioii', Company is not unduly High. Thp C.dst Horn Newcastle to .Sydney is os 6d, and the distance is only sixty miles. - MR BROWN’S VIEWS ENDORSER.

Mr Thompson, of Thompson Brothers' was present at the interview, and in reply to tho “Times” representative, endorsed tho views of Air Brown. He entirely agreed with what ho had said as to the incidental charges and the low margin of profit left to the dealers, and added that in the time of the; scarcity of coal, the dealers were carrying on at a loss. , They had then a largo accumulation of back orders which they had to meet as best they could, sending one hundredweight hero ami another there, in the hope that things would improve. Ho declared that the dealers work at a. loss during tho summer; it is in the winter, of course, that the trade is at its best.

‘Tf tho customers,” added Air Thomp-

toy, “would fake the e.oai from the ship’s s:do os it fame there, they would get it cheaper. But they will not do th.it. They must have it screened.” OPINIONS OF OTHER MiSRCHANTS

Air Ga.squoine aiso laid stress on this point. The coal could, he said, bo snp- * [Tied cheaper from the ship’s side, lie * produced figures showing tiic cost of 1 cartage from the -Trip to the yard, ' screening, bagging and delivery in carts to the bouses, and these item-, with the ’ loss through slack and nil allowance for .- weal- and tear and office expenses, left ’ a profit at the finish of Gd for the dealer. | IT the coal were taken from the ship’s " t side, a.s unscreened, it could lie sup- ’’ plied for at least 3s or 4s per ton less, ICo also emphasised the point that the extt nsivo eartage of small amounts to customers involved considerable expense. .. With regard to the point raised by , Mr Hodden that as he was able to get, eea! for the railways at from IP, to 2S, i■ ■: omr.iii !o bo able, to get seat at a . lower p-ice than at - pro.seat for hom-..-i hold ,n*i |• > < more than one inerelnci' ! - explained that there was a wide ,lif- ■ !'•. revei- between Hie two kinds ol co d. Tim l for the railways was nn-ereened ; there wrro no wharfage eha.yos noon it, and ike supplies ran into thousands of tons ;> year. “The Goierrmieii! may stark coal iidncy” one merchant smiimed up, “but v. ill it make them pay?”