THE COAL SHORTAGE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3089, 21 May 1917, Page 6

THE COAL SHORTAGE

PINCH FELT IN THE CITY SUPPLIES DWINDLING The shortage of coal iu Wellington is stated to bo inoro serious than the public realises. The pinch is being felt attcady iu many quarters, and although the municipality and tho larger consumers of coal among the business h'rms have not yet felt definite embarrassment, they are said to bo faced by tho fact that stocks are dwindling and that there is slight prospect of securing substantial supplies of coal in the near future. Tho outlook is being regarded with a great deal of anxiety. The recommendations made by the City Engineer for the curtailment of the lighting and tramway services are due to the prospect of a continued shortage. Tho unrest among the miners has been the chief cause of the trouble. A heavy demand for coal for Imperial purposes has been a contributing factor, but tho supplies required for services connected with the war would have been available without cutting into local supplies if the miners had maintained tho output at a. reasonable level. What the miners actually did was to institute the "go-slow" policy, which had the effect of depleting stocks before the actual stoppage of work at the mines. ■

The position has been studied closely by a committee appointed recently by the Government. The facts and figures placed before that committee have not been made public, but it is understood that they reveal a position of considerable difficulty, involving an immediate call for economy in tho consumption of coal in order Mint essential services may be maintained during the next few months.

The retail coal yards in and around Wellington have very little coal in hand at the present time. They are receiving small consignments at intervals, but the demand exceeds the supply. The merchants in many instances have to decline to sell coal to other than their regular customers, and some of them have many unfilled orders in hand.