The Dominion THURSDAY, JULY 17, 1919. COAL SHORTAGE AND THE REMEDY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 251, 17 July 1919, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, JULY 17, 1919. COAL SHORTAGE AND THE REMEDY

y The problem of coal supply which has reached such an acute stage in this country is clearly set out in a statement by the Hon. A. M. Myers, to which space is given in our news columns to-day. .As Minister in Charge of Coal Distribution, Mr. Myers reviews exhaustively the operations of his,' Department from the period at which it was established, in 1917, to the present date, and from his survey it is evident that creditable enterprise has been shown in obtaining the greatest possible volume of supplies, and distributing them to the best advantage. As to the immediate future, also, the Minister holds out a certain amount of hope. He mentions that, if proscnt anticipations are realised, approximately 145,000 tons of coal will be made available during the next six weeks (from the .Dominion mines and by importation), and that of this total it should be possible to allot some 60,000 tons for railway services. Prior to the drastic cut which is now in operation the railways were consuming five thousand tons of coal per week, so that unless the supplies now in sight arc held up it ought to be possible in the near future at least to greatly modify the extremely severe restrictions now imposed on railway transport. Under such conditions as obtained just befpre the cut was made sixty thousand tons of coal of the right kind would keep the railways supplied for nearly three months. The prospect of an early increase in the present volume of coal supplies is very welcome, but although this prospect is rinsed the fact is in no way altered that on the whole and from year to year the volume of_ supplies is declining rapidly in spite of the fact that increased quantities are urgently needed for purposes of industry, transport, and household use. At the same time the existing shortage cannot by any means be attributed solely to the extraordinary conditions created by the war, and more recently by the influenza epidemic. The war and the epidemic of course had a serious effect in reducing supplies, but there were other contributing causes. Amongst these must be numbered in-, dustrial trouble in this country and in Australia, and it would be rather optimistic to assume that this factor will henceforth be eliminated. Then again the difficulty of maintaining an adequate labour force in the Dominion collieries lias been, if anything, accentuated by the terhostilities. Mr. Myers observes in the course of his .survey that the shortage of miners became more acute early this year "owing to a large number of men who hadtaken up mirpug temporarily during the war period taking up occupations in other directions." Th" war most seriously affected local coal supplies by giving rise to a shortage of shipping winch heavily reduced the inflow of importations. There is little prospect, however, of

the shipping situation improving for some time to come to such an extent as woulu facilitate the importation of coal. It is quite evident that there is no easy or ready means of improving upon the present low and inadequate level of coal_ supplies. The total supplies obtained last year were less by about 750,000 tons than in 1914, and the reduction in volume, as compared with that year, amounted to considerably more than twenty-live per cent. The larger part of the reduction was due to a falling-off in the output from the Dominion mines—particularly in the output of hard coal which is needed by the railways and by a number of essential industries—but it would have been considerably greater than it is if the Government had not taken extraordinary measures, and paid very high prices and freight charges in order to obtain as much coal as possible from abroad. Fo l ' instance, 375. (id. per ton is now being paid in freight on Newcastle coal carried in oversea ships, though not long ago the Union Company was transporting Newcastle coal to this country at a freight rate of 16s. 3d. per ton. Exorbitant as it is the freight of 375. 6d. was only agreed to by the London Tonnage Committee after the New Zealand Government had protested vigorously against the still heavier charge of 455. per ton. In this connection the Minister mentions also a big increase in the price of the American coal which is now being imported in considerable quantities.

While due credit must be given to the Coal Distribution Department for what it has done to limit the shortage, it is manifest that the problem of coal supply demands broader treatment at the hands of the Government than the Department by_ its constitution is enabled to give it. The most efficient regulation of supplies under the limits set for the Department probably will not avert a considerable diminution in the quantity of coal made available from all sources year, by year, and a continuing increase in its price. It therefore becomes an exceedingly urgent national question to sock out all possible means of remedying this state of affairs. The problem is essentially one for expert consideration, but it is obvious that two leading aims must be pursued. Everything possible must be don? to secure an increased output of coal from the mines of the Dominion, and at the same time the utmost energy must be directed to opening up alternative sources of power supply, and so restricting the present dependence on coal. Whatever difficulties it may present the problem of reorganising the local coal-mining industry on such lines as will make for increased output must in tho public interest be purposefully attacked. With the excellent report compiled by the Board of Trade in hand, and with a certain amount of guidance also from recent developments in Great Britain and other countries, the Government ought to be able in the near future to formulate such a policy as the case demands. As regards an alternative source of power-sup-ply the enterprising development of the sources of hydio-electric energy with which the Dominion is richly endowed is obviously by far 'the most important and promising possibility in sight. Water-power development, offering in all respects a splendid return for enterprise and for judicious outlay, would make some forms of transport.and a great,range of industrial and other services cntirclyindeDcndent of coal. In a report laid before Parliament last session, Me. Evan Parhy stated the hydroelectric scheme planned for the North Island would lead to a saving of 1,000,000 tons of coal annually, that is to say, to almost half the total amount of coal this country obtained from all sources last year, and more than a third of the amount of coal it consumed in 1914. Granted an energetic development of the Dominion's water-power, the developing scarcity and constantly rising price of coal would soon ' become much less serious factors than they are to-day. The electrification of some of the railway sections which make the heaviest c&Us on coal supplies would in itself be a great gain. There may be detail measures, such as the'more extended use of wood as fuel—it might even be used on some sections of railway where light loading is the rule and speed is not important—and substitution in some cases of oil fuel for coal, but the grand rcmedv for the serious and growing disabilities imposed on the Dominion ny the rcarcity and high price of coal is to be found undoubtedly in harnessing the vast sources from which water-power is now running to waste.