BRITAIN'S COAL PROBLEM

Chronicle (Levin), 29 August 1946, Page 5

BRITAIN'S COAL PROBLEM

FOUR WAYS OF MEETING THE SHORTAGE Received Wednesdav. lldiO p.m. LOXDOX, August 28. Sim-e the announcement of the Government campaign for the conversion of rail locomotives from coal to oil, oil shares have featured in the stock niarkets, states the Australian Associated Press special eorrespoudent. The conversion underlines the gravity of the industrial coal sliortage. .Mr. fcjhinwelt liopes to avoid a coal delieit by Jirstly iru-reasing open etit production by . tons; -.secondly^ by . savittg * .'5,0(J(yi(JU tons thj'ougli the industrial use of fuel oi'l iiCplace of coal; thirdly. by saving 1,()U0,0U') tons by improved consumption at gasworks; fourthly, by saving l,.H)(),l)(tO tons through improved distributiou. Industrial and economie opinion seems to be that .Mr. Shinwell is unduly optimislic and a severn winter would mean sujtjilies grossly inadequate to meet the domestic and industrial demand. The sliortage of coal for domestic purposes would cntail a seri ous hardship especially for the poor. The exhaustion of industry's coal stocks would eause the politically daugerous lengthening of uueinployment queues. Britain can ill alford the expenditure of foreign exchange for the purchase of imported fuel oil to save coal. Altogetlier coal threateus to be Britain 's biggest economie headache in the iuimediate postwar period.