THE COAL REPORT.

Taihape Daily Times, 28 June 1919, Page 3

THE COAL REPORT.

| rnenrncs AND I’ROPOSA'LS-. CHILF POINTS IN BRIEF, FORM. Hereunder is a brief outline of the chief points Of t.lle.l'epol't:—— Authorities estimate the quantity of [coal availzable to be 1,100,000,000 | tons. - .l.)l‘()fL'SSol‘ Pzirk is of opinion our icoal will be e:~;hausted in about 130 years from now. J Of the large coal Companies, only three have lleadquart.Cl‘s outside New Zealand. The etfieieriey of the New Zoalana coal \\‘Ol'l{Cl‘S Compares f-nvonrably with the miners in other lands,_ \Vork done elsexvhere by inachinery is still done by hand in this country. The average cost of mining coal has increased. Tc perceirtage which labour cost, is of the total cost. has increased considerably. The direct cost. of labour increased by 3.1 per cc-nt——from‘ about 5/11 to 7/9 per ton. Of the aver:lge. increase in the total mining‘-cost of all mines giving data from -and including 1913 to September, 191.8, nearly 39 per cent. is due to inereasetl labour-cost, and a. little more tlian ($0 per cent. to increases in other costs than thiat: of wa.ge—lahonr employed at the mines. 1 “Analysis of’ the costs of dealing in coal," says the Board, “suggests that the dealers have not increased tlle price of house coal beyond the level suffi—-cic-nt. to reimburse them’ for the increased cost. of their businesses and their own living. and in View of the ehzu-::mter of the dcinancl for coal they could have cleared the stocks at much l2i_gller prices. “'0 feel justified in expressing the opinion that the increased costs operating from the side of sun» ply-l1~:1ve been alone sufiicient to account for the ul: 7‘ ." :'7,~=e that has aetnall_\i tJ.l{(‘l‘l place in the consumer-‘S price. . . ’l‘ranspol't. Costs are heavy. The Cost of delivery from yard to consumer is higher in VVellington tlr-an in any other large centres. i During the war period the mining

companies have not iincreased theirgains relatively to their cost, The increase in the freight 1-;-:1-»~;: “may be regarded as moderate w}. viewed in the light of ithe ncreased cog; of rendering the service, and of tin ‘tremendous increase in the world Lie-« mand for tonnage, the great shorlng. , of shipping, and the enornrous I‘e'»'erx.s~ trth=a.t' could have -been obtained Jay [using the ships beyond the New Zealland trade. ’ 5 Except in the case of those dealers E who are engaged in the retail tl‘:lde o‘Fa large scale, the diiference between ‘the cost of coal to dealers and the price received by them a.fl'ol'ds but :‘. mere living to those engaged in it. The "profits of the retail dealers cannot be assessed as exactly as those of the mining companies, because of the : mixed nature of the business conducted ;by them, but the balance of evidence ‘does not suggest that they are not “fair and reasonable” as the industry :is organised at the present time. I There has been an increase in «the rates paid to miners of at least 17; ‘per cent between the outbreak of the ‘war and September-October 1918, and 25 per cent. after the latter date. The increases granted at the same time to all other workers, those on day-wages ‘at the mine, whether underground or on the surface. were 10 per cent in eacl:-. Case. making :1. total increase of at least 30 per cent in their rates of PU’-

I The cost of equipment which miners {themselves provide has increased. ; In many of the mining settlement-s I the housing is generally of a rough and ' temporary "nature. _ There‘ are the added evils of lack of draiiiage, lack of sanitation, and means of bathing. At Burn_ett’s Face and Denriston (near We-stpert) the lionsljing conditions are generallv deplorioble. Generally there ha's been little thought for the health, convenience, ior comfort ofvthe workers who are -: called upon to live on the sites marked iout. The hopelessness of tlie attempt Ito make comfortable homes under the [conditions provided tends to create calilousncss and an ‘u.tte.r disregard I for the amenities of life, and to accept anoe of conditions of housing similar [to those found in the Old \Vorld only 2 as the result of extreme poverty. There iisuconsiderable discontent with the lconditions which exist, and there is tan earnest desire on all sides to have ithcm bettered. i The increase in the actual earnings lot‘ those mine workers who are on day !wages have been slightly lower than ~the increases in expenditure on living. }ln the cases of miners the increases in their actual earnings were Sufficient ito compensate for the increased exzpenditure on living till the latter part iof the period ending with the institultion of the inquiry (Septeliibel',l9lß), iwlien the increases to average actual learnings were overtaken by the con§ts.l.]l.lC<fl. rise in expenditure; and since: «the. increases in actual earnings were; lunevenly distributed over the various ‘fields, there have been many miners‘ ‘as well -as day men, whose rates of ‘expenditure on living at the old stand-' ard has 'increased in greater‘ proportion than their actual earnings. ' 'l‘lle coal mining industr_y of New: Zealand eamrot be said to have ex—i plolted the public during the period oi’; the war. l i Unless Certain llli;p:‘.'O‘\‘K‘lll(‘lll'S .'are‘ made particularly in the organisation‘ of this industry. the price of coal will continue to rise, probably rapidly. 'l“~~ l-‘rem-'7 favour Statel pl:rc_ha.~te and direct m:lii:igenleilt ofl the mines. State ownership “would not foster the highest degree «of enterprise.” The Board urges the immediate institution of a Dominion Coal Board‘! for _developm;ent and conservation. The Coal Board should consist of! represen_tatives of the existing coal-‘ mining Companies, the employees of these companies ilnd the Crown. At most, there should be five smembcrs. ’.l‘he Board should be empowered to| take over the e.\:ist'ing companies with] their assets and liabilities at valuation, and to issue stock to the exist.ing Sllfll‘CllOlLlClVS in e.\'change~ for the‘ shares held by them at the average marliet value of such shares for the period of the three years immediately preceding such e.\'chan‘ge. To secure the general application ct’ the advantages that result t'rom large-scale distriliuting bilsinesses, the abolition of overlapping in deliveries the concentration of depots, and the ownership by the mines of the means of transport to the main distributing Centres. the Coal Board should be empowered to undertake the business ‘of distributing coal, including its c-ar—-riavge by sea. a I