NEW ZEALAND COAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 4014, 17 February 1931, Page 74

NEW ZEALAND COAL.

WORK FOR MINERS. APPEAL TO GASWORKS MANAGERS. Speaking at the Gas Institute Conference on Thursday Mr A. H. Kimbell (Under-secretary, Mines Department) urged gas managers, city corporations, and other bodies to recognise the mining industry as an important industry in the Dominion, and, on behalf of all the coal m.nes pn the West Coast, he asked that, during the crisis the country was at present passing through, managers should consider very seriously before placing orders for Australian coal. The money now paid for Australian coal would be better kept in the Dominion for the benefit of our own coal miners. Mr K’.mbell gave instances of the time lost at some of the principal coal mines in the West Coast district, and mentioned one mine where the loss of wages was at the rate of £50.000 a year. Another mine was rationing the work among the miners owing to the slackening off in the demand foi’ its coal. The effect of importing coal was that harbour boards, county councils, and other bodies suffered serious loss *n revenue, besides causing distress among the miners and their families. Miners were not like other employees, for the reason that once they commenced work m a mine it was not the custom to dismiss them, the miners preferring to -share the work among themselves. Mr Kimbell emphasised the fact that some of the gas managers did not contract with the miners for regular supplies of coal, but occasionally. and without notice, substantially reduced their orders’, thus seriously disorganising the selling of the coal. If regidar orders over reasonable periods were placed, the coal owners would then know what they had to eater for, and arrangements tnigh* be made to cause the mines to work fuller time. Mr Kimbell went on to speak of the serious competition of electric ovens and water heaters. Coal owners and producers of gas felt this competition in a marked degree. It was estimated that it meant a reduced annua] output of about 129.000 tons of coal throughout the Dominion. He also touched on the increased use of fuel oil imported from overseas for heating buildings and for industrial purposes, thus replacing gas’ heating, electric heating, and coal beating. At present the number >f bituminous mines operating in the Buller and Grey districts was 45, which employed 2850 men. supporting 20.000 people. The annual production of the nines was 1.232.000 tons and upwards. Mr Kimbell strongly appealed to his audience to do all in their power to support the locallyproduced coal, thus keeping a very large sum of money in the Dominion, and giving help to lota 1 men and their famil’es 1 . A delegate from the north urged that the high railway tariff told forcibly against the use of coal from the Wet-t Coast Mr H. C. Ridley (Christchurch) asked Mr Kimbell if the Mines Department had ever interviewed the Government about its huge expenditure on the development of hydro-electricity up to date. He contended that the decrease in the production of coal brought about by gas managers not using New Zealand coal was not comparable with the results of the expend) ture by the Government on hydro-electric works. Not only had this expenditure reduced employment on the West Coast, but in many ways it had reduced the field or employment in New Zealand. Mr Ridley expressed the hope that, owing to concessions given to hydro-electric schemes, the gas industry would not be squeezed out of existence, or. at any rate, out of the field of investment. Mr J Lowe (Auckland) said he had always studied the use of a plant which would use 100 per cent, of New Zealand coal. At present his gasworks were using 85 per cent, of local coal. He did not think it would be advisable that gasworks should tie themselves to New Zealand coal. Tn the past there had been strikes in this land, and coal was not obtainable, and if gas managers’ took New Zealand coal only the Australian companies. if they had contracts elsewhere, would not be in favour of sending coal here when it was badly required. For that reason the gas industry should have the two strings to its bow. It had been the practice in Auckland for 23 years to take as much New Zealand coal as possible. The use of electric heaters had caused, to some extent, a decrease in the demand for coal. As for fuel oil. a duty should be paced upon it in order to reduce the amount of such oil coming into the country. In the past, he had formed one of deputations to the Government asking for a duty. They had given their reasons and they had set out the position on the West Coast, but nothing bad been done. It was gratifying, therefore, to think that in the future they would have the support of the Mines Department in this matter. Mr J. Scott referred to the irregular supplies of New Zealand coal In his works they used 99 per cent of Dominion coal, but whereas in December they had 300 tons, in January they had none. They had been as long as seven weeks without coal. This, he submitted, was a matter the department might look into Several speakers engaged in a discussion which took the form of a comparison of the respective merits’ of gas and electricity, and others deprecated the introduction of the one industry fighting the other. Mr S-jptt asked was it possible for the institute to send to the Government a protest against the increase in the railway tariff? Mr Kimbell, in reply, said he quite admitted that those engaged in the gas industry were engaged in running a very desirable industry, and he would be sorry to see it squeezed out. As to the irregular supplies, sometimes the Grey River bar was so rough it was not possible to get the coal out. Last year there was a period of five or six weeks when the bar was closed. Mr Kimbell paid a tribute to the Dunedin City Council, which, since the installation of the vertical retorts, was using 100 per cent. New Zealand coal, and said that mine owners wondered why other vertical retort owners could not do the same. Twelve of the mines were limited liability companies, and the other 33 were worked

by co-operative or other parties. The subscribed capital of the limited liability mines was £1,174,000. For the five months _during the Maitland coal strike only 2856 tons of Australian coal were used by six gasworks in New Zealand, but in the five months after the settlement of the trouble those six works imported 28,800 tons. That meant much loss of time to the West Coast mines. On the motion of Mr J. Lowe (Auckland), seconded by Mr N. C. Baildon (Carterton), the matter of railway rates was referred to the committee to draw up a letter of protest against the increased freight placed on coal for gasworks, and further to protest against the importation of fuel oil. duty free.