THE PRICE OF COAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9874, 14 October 1899, Page 3

THE PRICE OF COAL.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE.

MIDDLEMEN'S PROFITS.

(By Telegraph.— Special to llekald.) WELLINGTON, October 14.

The report of the Coal Committee, which held eleven sittings anel examined fifteen witnesses, sUlcs thai although the Into stage of the &cssion at which the enquiry was commenced prevented the subject being gone into as exhausting as would otherwise have been the case, sufficient information has been obtained to enable the Committee to state the causes which conduco to the high rates of coal within the colony and to indicate how the same may.iii their opinion, be materially reduced. The evidence clearly establishes the fact that the prices obtaining are by no means due to the hewing rates or that the miner's wages are. excessive. The hewing rate at Denniston, foil instance, averages 2s per ton, and the actual cost at the pit's mouth there is about 7s per ton, vhieh with rail and other charges brings the price to from 10s 3d to 11s per ton at Westport. It is also clear that the shareholders in the West Coast Companies receive no doubt remuneration for Hie risk undertaken. The evidence does not establish the cxibtenco of any arrangement between the Westport Coal Companies and the Union S.S. Company by which the latter secures preferential treatment in the matter of obtaining cargoes of coal. Nevertheless the existing law seems defective, as it applies only to coal owners and lessees being bound for actual steaming purposes , not to those requiring coal for cargo. The evidence, shows that the haulage rates are high compared with those obtaining in New South Wales, and that matter is one of importance to the more distant mines from ports of shipment. The system of loading vessels (at Westport in particular) by running the coal down shoots is shown, to bo responsible for breakage, involving a loss of up to an additional cost of three shillings per ton. As to seafaring boats it is pointed out as significant that while the rates charged from Westport and GreymouUi to Wellington and Lyttelton are 5s 3d and 6s 3d per ton respectively, the rates from the same ports to Nelson range from 83 to 10s, to Picton 10s, and Foxton 119. An agrcment, or at any rate an understanding appeals to exist between the Union Company and certain other companies, the effect .of which is that while the former does not compete in the carriage of coal to Nelson, Poxton. and Wanganui and several minor ports, the latter carry little if any coal to the larger ports. Thero is nothing to show that the freight to the large ports could not be reduced, and tho Committee affirms that the rates charged to Nelson and the smaller ports are. far too high. Existing conditions do not allow competition to operate. The actual cost per ton, including Is wharfage when tho coal reaches Wellington, is about Is 3d. Tho coal is then disposed of to dealers and others at £1 2s 6d, which apparently leaves a profit of 5s 3d per ton. The following charges aro then added by the dealers : — Cartage to yards Is, screening and trimming Is, bagging 6d, managerial expenses 2s 6d, loss through screening 2s, delivery 2s 6d; total 9s 6d. This, added to tho cost at the ship's side, brings the total cost up to £1 12s, the dealers charging Jsl 149 per ton. It is only reasonable to presume that there is a profit on each of tho processes entered, and that tho repeated handlings to which the coal is subjected entails considerable loss and adds materially to tho price. AH the witnesses stated that supplying the coal to tho consumers direct from the ship's side without screening would considerably reduce the cost, and that tho saving effected would more than compensate from any possible deterioration in uualitr

It, is a matter for cxti'cme regret, says tlio loport, that ilioso who, in consequence of tho defects of the present system of distribution, pay the highest prices for coal, arc* the poorer people of tho community, since those who are better off can pay for larger quantities and therefore- obtain better terms. Although the market, price of coal in Wellington, and this no doubt illustrates the position in the other largo centres, is given at £1 14s per ton, the evidence shows that tho poor pay something like £2 per ton, and it is worth wliilo remarking that even if poverty did not preclude their purchasing larger quantities the small space within which many of the poorer classes live in Wellington, at any rate, affords no room for storage, and it is therefore not possible for them to take any but small parcels at a time. The Committee also directs attention to the fact that while the coal supplied in larger quantities is subject to tho weighbridge test, such is not tho case in connection with that supplied in smaller quantities, and wliilo not wishing to impute dishonesty to coal dealers as a class, it cannot help noting that under the present system of distribution the smaUer.that is to say tho poorer, consumer has no safeguard against possible deficiency. It is alleged that not infrequently inferior coal is sold as first class at maximum prices or mixed with the better coal, causing waste and loss to tho consumer. The recommendations of the Committee, I havo already wired.