DAY BY DAY

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14716, 5 August 1921, Page 1

DAY BY DAY

11, seems certain Hint, before very long the use nf slenm coal Tlio Passing in Hie British navy of will be about, as absolving Coal. li'tc as the use of sails. Jt fell recently to Commander Kyres-Monscll, in his (irsl speech in Hie Mouse of Commons in the capacity of Civil Cord of the Admiralty. lo make Ihe announcement, that Die present policy of |he Admirnlly is In build only oil-burning vessels. His prophecy that in a short time nothing

but oil fuel would be used by the fleet came doubtless as a shock to those who had not been following recent naval developments closely. Its conjunction, however, with the great coal strike may have tended to mitigate its severity. It is calculated that the Admiralty is actually paying less money for oil than for coal at" the present time. The Minister observed that there wore other advantages to be considered. Where they had to handle three tons of coal, only two tons of oil had to be handled, and in view of the amount of fuel that was required by the British navy the immense. amounl of labour, lime, and energy saved by Ihe use of oil must be readily realised. The technical arguments in favour of the change, which in Itself is another illustration of the perspicacity of vision of Lord fisher, would indeed seem to he overwhelming. Commander Kyres-Monsell expressed no anxiety when the point was raised over tlic question of the sufficiency of the world’s oil supply for the Admiralty’s purpose, while mentioning- that the question of accommodation for oil fuel abroad would he considered by the Imperial Conference. Coal has been for so long the foundation of Britain’s seapower that the load given by ttie Admiralty in abandoning it once and for all in favour of a fuel that has to be procured from external sources is not without a revolutionary aspect. The Daily Telegraph observes: "We are not oil producers to any great extent; as coal producers we were supreme before the war. The change from coal to oil may well raise fears, but the die has been cast. There will never again be the same demand for British coal, either In this country or abroad, as there was 10 years or so ago, the good old times when coal was still King.”