MINISTER OF RAILWAYS ON THE POSITION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10240, 1 September 1909, Page 4

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS ON THE POSITION.

(Lyttelton Times' Correspondent.)

Wellington, August 31 Tlie Minister of Railways (tlie Hon. J. A. Millar) made some interesting remarks to a Lyttelton Times repiesentative tliis afternoon on the subject of tlie- discharge of 200 men from tlie Westport Coal Company's mine at Granity. Greek. "We have," lie said, "taken all tlie coal that the Westport Company has been able to give us, and on August 25tli there was a short delivery of ,4974 tons on orders given, as folows: —Bluff, 1100 tons ordered, received 224 tons; Dunedin, 2400 tons ordered, received 1429 tons; Lyttelton. 1200 tons ordered, received 707 tons; jTimn.ru,' 300 tons ordered, received none; Oamaru, 300 tons ordered, received none; Wellington, 3300 tons ordered, received 1266 tons. The total orders given since July totalled 8600 tons, out of, which tlie company has only delivered 3627 tons, leaving 49/4 tons still to be delivered. "The company has not asked orders," ' continued the Minister. "We are quite prepared to give it an order to-day for 5000 tons more than it owes us at present, but- it must be screened coal. We are not going to take inferior stuff, which merely adds considerably to the cost of working lines. I may add that the State Coal Mine has only delivered 47,257 tons out of a total order of 70,450 tons given by tlie Railway Department since April. The local demand for domestic screened coal is so great that they possibly supply the Department. We always have "been and are willing to take local coal that is suitable for railway purposes in preference to Newcastle, but when we cannot got suitable coal locally we are forced to get it elsewhere, and therefore we have to go to castle to make up the deficiency. From these two mines alone there is a short delivery of about 52,000 tons. Tlie Railway Department never allows its stocks to get lower than three months' supplies, so that in the event of a strike taking place in the coal mines, the Department will be able to run a full service, or at least a modified service for three or four months, and we are not going to draw ui)on our reserves simply to meet the requirements of the local companies. Our supplies must be maintained, and if we cannot get suitable local coal, it must come from Newcastle, whether there is a duty on it or not. We don't want Newcastle coal, and we won't take it while local coal is available, but the Department is not going to take any rubbish that is sent. If we studied tlie question of economy only in running the railways, I have no hesitation in saying that the use of Newcastle coal alone would be more profitable from the railway point of view; but we don't look at it from that point of view to the fullest extent, as we believe in nsing all the local C9al that is available and suitable for "6u'r purposes."