THE COAL INDUSTRY

Southland Times, Issue 21090, 23 May 1930, Page 2

THE COAL INDUSTRY

FUTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. NEED OF NEW METHODS. “During the last few years coal prospectuses have been filled with inaccuracies almost amounting to misrepresentations, and the pub'lic has been invited to invest money in an industry which is already suffering from over-production,” said Mr C. M. Richwhite, in the course of an address to the Rotary Club at Auckland on “The New Zealand Coal Industry—Past, Present and Future,” says the N.Z. Herald. Mr Richwhite said there was at present no shortage of coal in New Zealand. There were millions of tons of coal in the Waikato alone waiting to be produced as soon as a suitable market was found. In order to place the industry on a good footing there would have to be a co-oper-ative system of marketing or of pooling sales. Four of the five principal collieries in the Waikato had worked for only three and a-half days a week during the last four or five years, and during the past two months their work-time had been reduced to about two days a week. Owing to the rivalry of oil and electricity as fuel and motive power the coal industry was rapidly reaching the stage when the payment of dividends would become impossible. The present total output of the Waikato jnines was only two-thirds of that in 1920. The outlook for the future was not at present bright, but the speaker said he saw hope for the industry if proper methods were employed. As the industry had reached the stage of over-production, price-cut-ting and trade war were likely to ensue if an amalgamation of some sort was not brought about. Several new schemes for the commercial utilization of coal were in existence in other parts of the world, and some were in the experimental stage. These comprised carbonization, pulverization and liquefaction. The difficulty attaching to the adoption of these schemes in New Zealand was that of capital, but there was no doubt that if they could be introduced they would provide a great stimulus to the industry. Something definite would have to be done, as the loss to the Waikato mines through the closing down of the King’s wharf station amounted to 2300 tons a week.

Touching upon the course of the industry in other countries, Mr Richwhite said the position in England had been rendered acute by the fact that the cost of production of coal now exceeded the price which could be obtained for it upon the market. Even the proposed cures of nationalization of the industry, and the State purchase of royalties could not now be effective. In New South Wales the principal collieries had been idle for a period of 12 months. In that State the industry gave direct employment to 25,000 men and was responsible for an annual output of 11,000,000 tons. During the past 10 years the price of coal at Newcastle had doubled, the bulk of the increases being due to the higher cost of living. Efficient management had been rendered impossible owing to the strikes and other causes, and in 10 years 2928 strikes had involved a loss of £6,392,000.