SMALL COAL SUPPLIES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 368, 9 March 1932, Page 7

SMALL COAL SUPPLIES.

Why State Department had to Refuse Request. (Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, March 9. The Minister of Mines (Hon C. E. Macmillan) was asked in the House yesterday after-

j noon whether he j was aware that Mr i iR. English, manI * ager of Coal Dis- & tillation and By- | \ products Co., had | stated that the |||tg State Coal Mines Department refused to negotiate with his company for the supply of small coal on the c- ground that the Department could

dispose of all its small coal. The Minister was asked to explain why possible orders had been refused when the Liverpool mine only averaged two and a half days’ work per week, and was still working short time. The Minister of Mines replied that the Department did not refuse to negotiate on the ground mentioned in the question. It had informed the company last October that all the small coal at present available was being sold to customers who had been purchasing from the Department for years, and there was no surplus of small coal from the Liverpool Mine. Members would understand that to secure a certain supply of small coal it was necessary to find a market for the screened poal, and this was the difficulty, but if the demand increased and more small coal was available, the Department would be pleased to get into touch with the Distillation Company.