COAL COMMISSIONERS REPORT.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 7 August 1901, Page 4

COAL COMMISSIONERS REPORT.

FuU Details.

fPBJI PBE33 ASSOCIATION)

Wellington, August 6,

The report of the Eoyal Commission on the coal mines of Now Zealand was laid ath • -ib o f ha House m-day. Che commissioners state that they bei ,-ve that the investigation has been prolet! ve of immediate good in enabling wners and men to better understand the natters about which they differed, and that good feeling has been promoted .hereby.

Dealing with the management and inspection of the Westpoit-Cardiff Coy up to the time of the outbreak of fire in the mine on January 28th, 1900, the commissioners state that in their opinion no mine should be left unwatched in the way the Westport-Cardiff mine was left, and should another case arise where the lessees from the Crownof a coal mine fail to keep an efficient staff the Crown should at once intervene and take the necessary measures to prevent an accident from lire or accumulations of gas or damp. *Va to toe steps taken by the occupiers of the mine to suppress or extinguish the fire on its discovery, the commissioners arc of the opinion that the Westport Cardiff Company did the best they could under the circumstances in engaging Mr Dixon, mine manager of the Granity Creek mines, and that he did all he considered advisable or reasonably safe to do under the circumstances, and that it may now appear that possibly an, attempt might have been made to save the haulage road by stopping all the boards leading from the fire thereto, no censure can reasonably be pissed upon him for having decided not to take this course. There was no ground for passing-, any censure upon the Inspector of Mines at Westport in regard to the steps he, took to Jluppress the fire. There was no proof, the commissioners state, of any foul play as regards the dam, and the evidence as to finding the dynamite plug under the bed log of the dam was inconclusive of any attempt to wreck the dam.

After dealing with the mines visited the Commissioners made the following general recommendations: — We recommend the appointment of a chief inspecton of coal mines for the colony, who should be a man of high qualification, possessing experience, both in New Zealand and Britain, or America.

Bach district inspector should furnish to the chief inspector a monthly report, showing the work done during the previous month and the condition of each mine inspected. ; .

In any case of difficulty between the inspector and the mine’s owners, chief inspector should personally visit the mine, and special powers should be given the chief inspector to act promptly and effectively in order to remedy what may be amiss. Under the present system inspectors report annually to the Minister of Mines and this had been led to matters being allowed to stand over, which ought to have been dealt with at once. The districts placed under each inspector are in our opinion too large, and tnere are too many gold and coal mines in each district for the existing staff to deal satisfactorily with.

We recommend the resumption of the Garveys formerly made of the coal-bearing areas. The present surveys and estimates should be corrected by information •inoe obtained from the actual working, and the lands hitherto unsurveyed, bur which are believed to contain coal, should be carefully and thoroughly surveyed. The theory that many outcrops on an area justify an estimate based upon the idea that the seams run continuously through the area on which the outcrops appear should be officially tested, and if approved fallacious, as wo believe it to-be, should be abandoned. Immediate efforts should bo made to ascertain where the coal bearing areas are or# situated on Crown lands, and such lands should not be sold. It is true that under certain conditions freehold lands may be resumed for coal mining purposes but the compensation to be paid to the owner generally prevents such resumption.

We recommend to the consideration of your Excellency’s advisers the sound policy of reserving to the state the coal are is not now alienated or worked. The establishment of a coal mine and worked by the Stale has been much presed upon us by many witnesses, but it i» a question involving so many political considerations that we feel it is infinitely beyond our functions and is only to be dealt with and decided by Parliament, but in the meantime the acquisition by individuals of areas which may be required by the people generally should be prevented. We were much pressed to recommend a differential rate on the various classes of coal carried. It was urged that slack and nuts should be carried at a less rate than round coal. We regret that we are unable to make any recommendation thereon. It is a matter really outside the scope of our Commission, and is one relating to railway administration. We are aware that the experiment of charging lesser rates for lower classes of coal was made and was found not to work satisfactorily. We commend the subject to the serious consideration of the authorities. Much evieence was offered to us which we felt unable as well as unwilling to reject on the subject of the cost of coal to the consumer as compared with the cost of production. The case of the Westport Oompanp’s coal, which is produced at 7s 10d a ton in the railway trucks at Waimgaroa and is retailed at in Wellington at . £llss a ton net, is a striking example of the cost of distribution, Mokou coal produced at the the mine at Os 6d is sold in New Plymouth retail at JEll4s per ton.