THE COAL INDUSTRY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20317, 27 January 1928, Page 8

THE COAL INDUSTRY.

A cable message a few days ago contained information respecting a demonstration in England of a process of coal carbonisation, the adoption of which is expected to result in the collieries securing a profit of several shillings a ton. The industry at Home is in such a position that the invention of a method, by which the coal products that are actually wasted under the present system of treatment can be profitably utilised, will be of peculiar value. The schemes which have been introduced for the purpose of giving fresh economic strength to the industry have not proved satisfactory. Complaints concerning the prevalence ol unemployment among miners and concerning the wages that are paid to those who are in employment continue to be loudly expressed and to provide the cause for the proclamation of such fanciful remedies as nationalisation oi the mines and State ownership. What seems to be required is a re-organisa-tion of the industry, and the most important form of re-organisation would be one under which the waste that is associated with the present system of treatment would be avoided. A method under which the natural qualities of the fuel should be exploited would serve a double purpose. It would enhance the value of the product of the mines and thus restore prosperity to the industry, and at the same time it. would reduce the measure of the dependence of Great Britain on the importations of foreign oil. Coal is seriously in competition with oil. In , the past quarter of a century, it has been pointed out, the consumption of oil for fuel purposes has steadily increased, while the proportion of the industries in Great Britain by which coal is used has remained constant. Despite the existence of unemployment on a large scale at Home, there are more men engaged in the industries of the country than there were in 1913. From this it is evident that coal is not holding its own in competition with oil. In order that the coal industry may meet the competition to which it is exposed, it is necessary that it shall be subjected to such a scientific re-organisation as will ensure that no part of the product shall be wasted. The cable message, to which we have referred, stated that it was claimed that, under the Dvorkovitz a valuable yield of motor spirit, lamp oil, lubricating oil, paraffin wax, phenol, pitch, ammonia, and sulphur was obtainable from bituminous coal. Lubricating oils are essential to the running of ships, railways, motor cars, and every industrial engine, great and small. At the present day, 98 per cent, of the lubricating oils that are used in Great Britain are imported from foreign sources. It has been estimated that there is, at any time, barely a month's supply of these oils in the Mother Country. It is easy to see, therefore, that the introduction of a commercially practicable system of exploitation of the products of coal would be immensely valuable to Great Britain. Not only would it bring back prosperity to the coal industry itself, but it would contribute in marked degree to a general revival of trade.