N.S.W. COAL INDUSTRY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15970, 12 November 1919, Page 5

N.S.W. COAL INDUSTRY.

REPORT OF- COMMISSIONER,

Australian and N.Z., Gable Association. Received November 12, 10.30 a.m. SYDNEY, November 12.

TJie report of the Eoyal Commission who inquired into the conditions of the coalmining industry recommends the need, in the interests both of the State and the public, of more economical methods of working and distribution to prevent the present serious waste. Dealing with the habit of the miners in absenting themselves from mines, thereby interfering with the output, the Commission says; Had the miners worked with the same honesty and consistency in 1918 as in 1914, their average daily earnings should have shown an increase corresponding to the increase in the tonnage rate,_ but that it is only about half what it should have been. This is fairly conclusive proof that the miners are not working up to normal capacity. They are receiving a rate of pay which, even with reduced working time, enabled them to make sufficient without unduly taxing their energies, Itegarding profiteering, the Commissioners found evidence that the public were charged prices beyond the measure of initial increases in the cost of production, while there is strong reason to believe that retail dealers charge first-class coal prices for an inferior article. ,