THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1929 "A BANKRUPT INHERITANCE."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20710, 7 May 1929, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1929 "A BANKRUPT INHERITANCE."

The statement, reported in our cable news as having been made by Mr Ramsay MacDonald, that the new Government in Great Britain, whatever its composition may be, will enter upon an inheritance more bankrupt than any previous Government has faced, must be regarded as: one of those extravagant utterances to which even responsible public men are liable to commit themselves in the heat of political controversy. Mr MacDonald seems to take it for granted that the Conservatives will be defeated at the general election at the end of this month. It may be so, for the existence of the-evil of unemployment in a pronounced , degree and the professions o£. the Labour and Liberal Parties that they have each devised a formula by means of which the evil may be overcome are factors that may have a profound influence upon the voting. The “great problem,” as Mr MacDonald describes it, of “reconditioning the .country” is one, however, that is being attacked by the industrial leaders of the country, who are more likely than any Government to be able to solve it. - Apparently, moreover, they have been meeting with an encouraging measure of success. Trade is now, the Prime Minister says, more prosperous than at any time since the war. The main British industries may have been slower than those in France and Germany to adopt the modern principles of rationalisation, but a reduction in the costs of both production . and distribution has been effected in several instances throuch

an amalgamation of interests with the prospect of enlarging the scope of the industries. One of the most recent examples is provided in , the establishment of the Lancashire Textile Corporation, which makes possible the bulb purchase of raw material, the bulb disposal of waste, aud the scientific marketing of all products. Under this amalgamation the manufacture of special fabrics is being assigned to particular mills, and a system of marketing goods is being adopted that will free the industry from the charges incidental to the employment of middlemen. The outlook for the coal industry seems to be distinctly more hopeful. The increasing use of internal combustion and oil-fired engines has reduced the demand for coal, but the introduction of pulverised coal will be. attended by economies in the use of coal-fired engines. Pulverised coal possesses the advantage that it is moved from point to point almost as easily as oil, and, as it has little ash, it has nearly as good combustion as oil, and is as easily regulated. But there is an even stronger reason for believing that a new chapter is opening in the history of the British coal trade. It has long been the opinion of _ scientists that the coal of Great Britain, which is unrivalled in quality, if economically won and scientifically used, would give the cheapest power on earth. It was asserted by Messrs Gray and Turner in their boob, “ Eclipse or Empire,” written in 1916, that the present wastage of by-pro-ducts of coal was greater than the annual value of the world’s output of gold. “ The day is at hand,” they wrote, “ when no coal as mined will be burned openly. The power needed for manufacture and ■ light will be generated at the pit’s mouth, and will thread its way through millions of copper arteries to the heart of the manufacturing cities. At the pit’s mouth it will be purged of its byproducts. At the pit’s mouth tars, and oils, and spirit, together with the by-products of pitch, and gas, and sulphates will be separated by the winnowing fan of the scientist.” This thorough and systematic method of treating British coal is now to be actually realised commercially. The first plant at a pit’s head in Britain is now being erected in South Yorkshire for the treatment of coal by the low temperature process. It is expected that the plant will be • able to treat 1500 tons of raw coal per week. This will produce 1050 tons of smokeless fuel, 28,000 gallons of oil, 3000 gallons of motor spirit, 6,500,000 feet of rich coal gas, and a quantity of ammoniaeal liquor. It is obvious that there must be a great saving in haulage when such a heavy material as coal is treated at the pit head. The adoption of this method of treating coal should greatly increase the total value of the mineral and create a score of accessory developments involving the employment of many more men. As a result of the extension of this method to other mines, it may be hoped that the Empire will eventually own its own oil and motor spirit supply. .