The Star. TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1919. THE COUNCIL’S COAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12687, 8 July 1919, Page 4

The Star. TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1919. THE COUNCIL’S COAL.

Tlie City Council’s discussion on the coal question last evening was a most interesting one. The public has a peculiar interest in the matter, being hit on all sides by the effects of the present shortage. It is prepared to look with a very sympathetic eye on any practical efforts to relievle the situation. 'Hie Mayor’s venture, we believe, has the hearty support of the citizens generally. His 'Worship at least followed a strong line of action, and he had succeeded in bringing to Christchurch, by special arrangement, a consignment of 230 tons of coal- This is an achievement on which the, Mayor and his committee are to be congratulated. If-the coal is of reasonably good quality, and can be retailed at from 5s to 5s 6d a bag, the experiment will have been amply justified, and the committee will be fully supported in continuing its arrangements. The members of the council, and the public also, are entitled to the fullest information regarding the'" deal- All sorts of rumours are current, and a candid exposition of the facts should he given at the earliest moment. It is a convenient ■circumstance that a meeting of the council is to be held on Monday next, when the committee which has been acting -is to present its report. It is to he hoped that the committee will give some attention to the statements made by Mr Armstrong,- and report fully on the accuracy or otherwise of his allegations. If the city has to pay 20s a ton more for coal than any coal dealer in Christchurch, and can still sell cheaper than the coal dealers, the why and the -wherefore should be explained in the plainest terms. Quite recently we published an article which showed that the consumers were being exploited £y some coal dealers. The highest prices were being charged for very indifferent quality coal, and these prices had no excuse except the general necessity to have coal at any price. The general , supervision of coal shipments has been under the charge of a local coal committee, but the scope of its w r ork is necessarily limited. All it can do is to arrange for an equitable distribution of the available supplies to coal dealers, who in turn pass it on to the consumer. The committee cannot possibly oversee all the transactions betiveen the dealer and the retailer, but it could have performed a very valuable service if it had publicly announced a price list, for the proteotion of consumers. By maintaining} silence on this point the committee left the public generally at the mercy of the retailers, some of whom did not scruple to take advantage of the situation. It is the irritation thus engendered, and the feeling that the best service was not being secured, that hps caused sudi widespread satisfaction with -the Mayor’s coal coup.

One of the most important industrial developments in England in the war period has been the progress of the coal-tar chemical industry. In a little book recently issued interesting particulars are given of what has been to again establish British domination in the manufacture of dyes. Levinstein, Ltd., of Manchester, claim to be the founders of the aniline dye industry' in the United Kingdom, having begun operations in the sixties, but, owing to lack of support, the trade was-gradually captured by the Germans, who, when the war broke out, had practically a monopoly of dye stuffs. Now, however, the trade has made such a rapid recovery that henceforth Great Britain will he independent of Continental supplies. The Imperial Government and the people m the United Kingdom in the early days of the war awoke to the importance of the dye industry. It was realised that the manufacture of dyes was an . industry of war importance a “ key ” industry—and almost a German monopoly.

’ Gradually the difficulties of 'the output of khaki and blue for British and Allies were surmounted, and then attention was given to, dye stuffs for other 1 trades, so that by the middle of 1915 all danger, of disaster through an absolute shortage of colours was removed.. Thereafter it was possible still x further to develop the British dye industry, and attention was immediately given to that most important and widely used coal tar' colour, indigo. In pre-war days the Germans had established at Port Ellesmere an indigo factory, and this was finally placed at the disposal of Levinstein, Ltd.> who, within three months of its acquisition, had the plant put in repair, had the processes leading up to indigo manufacture worked out in the laboratory, and the first batch of their product placed on the market. Since then the demand for indigo for the United Kingdom and for export has been met by the Port Ellesmere factory. The aniline dye industry was originally founded in Great Britain, and pirated by German chemists, assisted by the German Government. How well they carried out their work will be understood when it is realised that the capital of the combined German dye and chemical firms approaches fifty millions, while that in Great Britain barely reaches five millions.

The By-laws and Finance Committee reported to the City Council last evening that it had decided to issue instructions that the by-law requiring a red reflector to be fixed at the rear of motor-cycles and bicycles was to be enforced.