BLACK DIAMONDS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VI, Issue 1674, 26 June 1919, Page 9

BLACK DIAMONDS.

POINTS ABOUT COAL.

BOARD OF TRADE OPINIONS.

The following paragraphs are extracted from the Board of Trade's report on the coal industry of New

Zealand:— There should be an increase in the use of gas and electric heating, substituting an indirect for the direct demand for coal, and freeing more of the supply for industrial uses.

The presence of largo supplies of coal in Australia, readily available for importation at a reasonable price, has undoubtedly been one factor in preventing the appearance of monopoly in New Zealand coal-mining. It was interesting to the board to find that a very large proportion of the management posts in the industry (mine ami administrative) are filled by men who have risen to them through the ordinary grades of labour. The Board of Trade recommends that it be authorised, with the assistance of the Government Statistician, to carry out an investigation into the cost of living and the general social conditions of the mine workers of tlie Dominion.

The New Zealand coals are peculiarly friable, breaking easily at every handling. Some are so friable that they cannot be screened with profit. It is therefore necessary to reduce handling to a minimum, from the desire both to keep down cost and to preserve the quality of the coal. It would appear that of the average increase in the total mining cost of all the mines giving data, from and including 1013 to September, 1918, nearly 39 per cent, is duo to increased direct labour cost, and a little more than CO per cent, to increases in other costs than that of wage labour employed at the mines. Householders should notify their orders for coal some considerable time before delivery is required. This would facilitate the systematising of deliveries over different area blocks, making it easier to confine the several dealers to special areas, and thus would very appreciably affect the cost of delivery per ton. The proposed Dominion Coal Board, or, failing its institution, the Government, is recommended to encourage and financially assist experimental work which has in view the utilisation of that part of the coal supply which is at present largely wasted, particularly the slack or fine coal. Cost of carriage per ton on coal brought to Christchurch is as high as 18/9, or nearly 46 per cent, of the retail price of the particular coal in question, and by sea and rail £1 2/-, or nearly 40 per cent, of the retail price of the particular coal carried. Compared with Auckland and Dunedin, Christchurch is situated in respect of its mines, but the coal marketed there is generally of better quality. The Board of Trade, whilst recommending the institution of a Dominion Coal Board and unity of administration of the coal industry, is alive to the necessity of preserving as far as possible the principle of competition as a regulator of price. It would, therefore, view with disfavour any attempt to discourage the importation of foreign coals or to discriminate against their use. The board urges that there should be thorough prospecting of fields whose development promises profitable results in the near future. "We have in mind in particular," says the report, "the deposits of the Inangahua, Reefton and Waikato fields, as our examination of the districts and samples of coals obtained convinced us that there is a strong case ■for instituting a thorough and systematic, testing of these fields." It was asserted that at Rotowaro and Pukem'ro the coal output could be increased by 4000 tons per year if so much of the men's time .were not wasted by an inefficient train service between their homes and the mines. There appears to be need of improvement even in the railway line serving the State mines at Dunollie and Rewanui, in respect of suiting the convenience of the mine workers, as well as on the Blackball line.

I The further development of the harbours giving outlet to the West Coast mines is a matter of vital importance to the coal trade of the Dominion. Upon this depends not only the regularity of the supply of bituminous large coal iu the centres of the Dominion, but the possibility of a profitable export trade in the smaller coals of the districts and the cheapness of that part of the supply marketed here, for if a steady foreign market can be developed for the bunker coals, the other part of the output can be sold at a lower price. The high water-content of many of our coals unfits them for storing anywhere for any appreciable period except in the, mine itself. The best brown coal will not last even under cover from four to "six months without very considerable waste. Consequently, even when production is abundant, the stock of such coal in existence at a given date can never be a large proportion of the total amount required during the season. This quality of the coal, conjoined with the last-mentioned, makes the problem of storing coal at the mines or ports during waits' for shipping a very difficult one. It would seem from a survey of the facts available, staled by (lie ".Journal of the American Medical Association," that the occupation of coal-mining is neither relatively nor absolutely unhealthy as compared with other means of gaining a livelihood. It-has its special inconveniences and hardships, and is exposed to special dangers from 'accidents, but these can be, and are in New Zealand, reduced to small proportions by proper care, appliances and legal restrictions. There is no doubt, that in regard to health, the New Zealand coal-miner is in a superior position to that of a miner in any other country, and is at least as favourably placed as the great body of industrial workers in the Dominion. The efficiency of the coal worker in New Zealand, in the opinion of competent authorities compares favourably with that of similar workers iu the leading fields of other countries. A fairly large proportion of the miners are immigrants from the mining districts of England, Scotland, and Wales, many of them arriving after having worked for sonic: time in the mines of Canada, the United States, and New youth Wales \ witness of the widest experience and high authority was emphatic in .the expression of Jits opinion that tiie native-born and ' locally-trained New Zcalander makes the I best miner. On the other hand, the opinion of trades was just as emphatic thai the immigrant miner excels in thrift and punctual payment of debts. 1 f unscreened coal were more generally used for household purposes the coal bill would be smaller, if all household coal were sent unscreened from the mines there would be less breakage and lens waste of small coal, enabling it to be sold at a lower price. There is much room for improvement in the prevalent methods of sloking domestic, ranges and grates, which do not.utili.se to the full the heating qualities of slack and brown coals. Costly screened bituminous coal is used in .ranges and grates, and often largely wasted through un-

skilful stoking, where brown coals or a judicious mixture of brown and bituminous, with the use of slack and coke, would yield as good results with much less cost. Greater attention should be given to systematic instruction in domestic stoking at technical schools and cooking classes. The Board of Trade points out that the price of coal may change in common with the prices of other commodities in general, owing to changes in currency conditions, and independently of changes in the conditions of and demand for coal itself. "The subsequent trend of coal prices,'' it says, "will therefore depend in some degree upon the financial policy of the Government and banks and other financial houses. If money and credit continue to lie inflated beyond the available supply of goods and service, any tendency to a lower level of the price of coal will to that extent be counteracted by the effects of such inflation. On the other hand, a wise policy of lending for legitimate productive purposes and of encouraging saving for investment will tend to accelerate the effect of all other forces making for a fall in the price of coal.''