STATE COAL MINE.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 22 August 1901, Page 2

STATE COAL MINE.

The Hon. the Premier, in delivering his Financial Statement, dealt with State owned coal mines as follows : The time has arrived when the colony should supply itself with coal. The output at present does not adequately meet requirements. Private enterprise is not ,meeting the general and increased demand. The annual con sumption of coal for the several branches of the public services amounts to about 115,000 tons. The railways alone require 100,000 tons per year ; of this, 6,500 tons are hard or bituminous coal It is estimated that the bituminous coal should be obtained at 5s to 7s 6d per ton less than we are paying at the present time. For coal delivered for one of the Government steamers at Greymouth we are asked 17s, and it is well known that the same coal can be actually, and with profit, put on board at 10s. ihe inadequate supply and the increasing demand have brought about an undesirable situation. There is a combination of the coal-dealers, and the mine-owners are working in unison with them, the result being that abnormally high prices are charged to the consumers. The effect of opening a State mine will ameliorate, if it does not remove, this evil in the course of time, and should the necessity, therefore, arise we could, in addition to supplying our own State demands, extend the output so as to enable coal to be supplied to householders at reasonable rates Another valid reason for the State stepping in is the necessity that exists for having a reserve of coal, at least at the four centres, to meet contingencies that might arise. At the present time the arrival of extra steamers and vessels requiring coal interferes with the ordinary demand, and a coal famine ensues. We have had several in the last year or two ; and that there should be a coal famine in a country like New Zealand, which is teeming with coal, points to a serious defect, the remedy for which is the opening of a State coal mine. The House will this session be asked to pass the necessary legislation, to grant the authority,-and provide the means for working a State coal mine.