Ociober 23, 1914.

THE OoLLlERt GUARDIAN.

871

output, or to cheapen production by labour saving
devices. At many collieries it had been the custom—
a mistaken one, he thought—to work out the best paying
seams first and leave the thinner and more inferior
seams to take their chance, a custom not by any means
confined to that coalfield.

The difficulty of obtaining a sufficient supply of
efficient holers where the working face was far removed
from the pit bottom was increasing, and with a lessened
output per man employed, and the possibility of a still
greater shortage of labour, the only remedy appeared to
be a more extended use of labour saving devices in the
shape of coal cutters and underground conveyors. Where
there was sufficient installation of power for such
auxiliary machinery, there would the colliery be in the
best position to take advantage of these means. The
annual reports of H.M. inspectors of mines showed a
remarkable increase in some districts of coal cut by
machinery. The reports showed that where the per-
centage was highest, there also in nearly every case the
average output per man employed underground was
largest- It also appeared that, as regards the extend-
ing use of underground conveyors, whereas in some dis-
tricts the increased use of them was annually making
great progress, in the Midland and Southern Division
only two were stated to be at work. Great improve-
ments in simplicity of construction were being made in
these directions. He knew that several managers in
that district were considering seriously the necessity
for immediate action, and that some were evolving
improvements of their own to meet local requirements
and any special difficulties of floor and roof. He hoped
that before long some of their members would give their
experiences as fully as possible, for perhaps there was
no subject of more practical importance than this at the
present time.

A great deal of work had been done recently with the
view of solving the many difficulties connected with the
dust problem and gob-fire prevention. This subject did
not concern them in that coalfield so much as in those
where “ dry and dusty ” conditions prevailed, or where
large volumes of gas were encountered; but in a less
degree it did. It was rather remarkable that while
experiments had been in progress at Altofts Colliery,
with the view of proving the danger of and of providing
a remedy for the dust problem, in quite a different direc-
tion researches of a most interesting character have been
quietly pursued to establish the different degrees of
inflammability contained in the dust of various seams of
coal. These researches proved beyond all possibility of
contradiction the reason why the dust of a particular
seam of coal or portion of it was found to be much
more dangerous and inflammable than the dust of some
other seam of coal. He referred to the remarkable
series of microscopical investigation carried out persis-
tently and painstakingly by Mr. James Lomax.

In conclusion, Mr. Cockin impressed upon the mem-
bers of the institute the desirability of increasing the
membership and of raising its standard. In the first
year of its existence the institute enrolled 228 members,
xyhereas to-day they could only muster 158.

In the discussion that followed, Prof. Cadman said
that he wished to convey to Mr. Cockin the apprecia-
tion by the members of his interesting address. If
one were permitted to criticise a presidential address,
the criticism he would make would be that Mr. Cockin
had not occupied sufficient time. It would not be
entirely out of knowledge of the members that a portrait
of Mr. Johnson, the property of the institute, adorned
the library of the mining department of the University
at Edgbaston, and that the portrait looked down upon
the books which were the property of the institute, and
formed their library. The grandson of the late Mr.
Johnson presented to the university a splendid collec-
tion of safety lamps, and this was also to be found in
the museum of the mining department. He wished to
propose a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Cockin for
his interesting address.

Mr. Hugh Johnstone said that he had very great
pleasure indeed in seconding the vote of thanks which
Prof. Cadman had proposed. He would like to empha-
sise, and emphasise very strongly, the truth that the
success of such an institution as theirs was dependent
a great deal upon, its president and perhaps to a greater
extent upon its secretary, but depended most of all
upon the vital interest taken in the proceedings by the
members themselves. If the members turned their
backs upon the meetings, if they refrained from taking
part in the discussions, and contented themselves with
taking part in the discussions which were so regularly
held after they got outside—discussions which did not
appear in the institute’s Transactions—then such an
institution was doomed, and rightly doomed, to extinc-
tion. He had been a member of four different institutes
in the country, and he found that the same difficulty had
cropped up in every one of them. * All sorts of excuses
were made, a common one being that every possible
subject had been thrashed out, so that there was nothing
more to be said about it. Now, as a matter of fact, the
great charm of their profession as mining engineers was
the constantly varying conditions under which the same
kind of work had to be done. Such matters should be
taken up and dealt with by some of the younger members
and also by some of their older members who had invalu-
able experience to bring to bear upon them. It was of
the utmost importance that this experience should be
put on record before it passed altogether out of reach.

The President, acknowledging the vote of thanks,
said that it was not an easy thing to write a presidential
address. Indeed, unless one had some speciality upon
which one could speak, it was a very difficult thing
indeed. But although he did feel a great deal of diffi-
dence when it was suggested to him that he should

become vice-president and afterwards president of that
institute, he took the position believing that they would
support him during his term of office, and would do all
they could to make the meetings interesting and instruc-
tive. From a personal point of view, it was a pleasure
to him to act as president, because, having been born
in Birmingham, and being an old Edwardian, it was
specially interesting to him to be connected with an
institution which had been so long and so honourably
associated with his native city.

THE FUTURE OF MINING IN CHINA/'

By Kimio Nishizawa.

China abounds in mines, but most of them have not
yet been even surveyed, and no reliable information
exists as to the quantity and quality of their deposits.
However, as far as I have examined them myself, I
have found not a few of which it may be proved that
they possess stupendous ore veins well in keeping with
the vastness of the continental mountains and plains.
Especially is this noticeable of coal, iron, antimony, and
lime, which are found in enormous quantities. The
country is also rich in other minerals and mine pro-
ducts. Generally speaking, however, it is not yet
opened up, and the natives have peculiar superstitions
against operating mines, which not infrequently lead to
disturbances. By far the vast majority of them believe
that digging into the earth would anger the gods of
heaven and earth, who would bring calamities on the
local inhabitants. Consequently, surveying and draw-
ing maps generally invite popular anger. Especially
where mines are found in places where they bury their
dead they consider it a great insult to their ancestors,
and as serious an offence to the gods to have the locality
trampled under foot and pried into by foreigners. There
are many instances in which foreigners have lost their
lives in such circumstances. For the last 10 years,
however, the number of Chinese young men coming
home after being educated abroad in different branches
of science has greatly increased, and it is evident that
the new knowledge they have brought back with them
is rapidly awakening the people from their long sleep,
and dispelling their superstitions. In consequence,
mining has come to be appreciated as a profitable indus-
try, and there is quite a rush now for treasures under-
ground among people with small capital. As for those
who work mines on large scales with large capital and
according to up-to-date methods, their number is few
and far between, owing, it may be said, to inexperience
that breeds fears of failure, as well as to the general
lack of funds, which in its turn impedes the develop-
ment of co-operative spirit. There can be no doubt,
therefore, that when time ripens for pooling of capital
with means for ensuring the safety of joint enterprises,
and with the advancement of scientific knowledge,
China will suddenly emerge as a great mining country.

Along with the mining industry there will come a
rapid progress in railway business. The two are like
the wheels of a carriage : no mining industry can attain
any degree of development without the help of railways.
When a network of railways is laid in China, the mining
industry will also attain great prosperity. The Powers’
railway concession policy will superinduce a great
awakening in all lines of industry in China; but the
greatest fruit of all will be the development of mining
operations; for be it noted that Central China possesses
a great waterway in the form of the Yangtze-kiang,
which is navigable by large vessels, and it is in that
region that China has seen comparative progress in
mining work, which is still being carried on very
actively. Thus the rise or fall of mining industry must
needs depend on communication facilities.

Of the railway and mining loans in China, not a few
have of late become subjects of public attention. To
name two, we have the American loan for the Shensi
oilfield, and also the Japanese loan in connection with
the Hang-Ye-Ping mines. They have both attracted a
good deal of international attention, occasioning num-
berless comments and criticisms in newspapers and
magazines. A feature of the Shensi oil concession is
that a Chino-American partnership is to operate all the
oilfields throughout China. As for the Hang-Ye-Ping
contract, it is only a slight affair by the side of the
American oil concession, and it is almost out of place
to talk of the two under one and the same category.
The amount which the Yokohama Specie Bank of Japan
has loaned to the Hang-Ye-Ping Company is only
15,000,000 yen,f of which 6,000,000 yen is to be put to
the service of paying back the company’s debts bearing
high interest, while the remaining 9,000,000 yen is to
go to the funds for expanding its business.

The Hang-Ye-Ping Company conducts three lines of
business, namely, the Tayeh iron mine, Hanyang iron
foundry, and Pinghsiang coal mine. During the last 16
years the company’s business has become inseparably
interwoven in many ways with Japanese interests, and
the loan last contracted was really concluded in 1910,
while its terms cover no special concession. The
arrangement merely provides a way whereby certain
iron works of the two countries may co-operate, each
filling the wants of the other. The Tayeh iron mine,
the Hanyang iron works, and the Pinghsiang colliery are
all concerns conducted by the Chinese. The only
interest Japan has in them is that she gets supplies of
pig iron or ores from them, for which she advances some
funds. The prices that Japan pays for pig iron and ores
are all fixed from time to time in accordance with
market quotations in London. The rate of interest she
charges on the loan is the lowest in the Far East. For
instance, the actual cost per ton of Tayeh iron ore,
including the digging expense at the mine, the freight-
age over the Tayeh Railway, the expense of loading on

* From the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts.

t The yen = 2s. 0|d. It contains 100 sen.

transport vessels, and interest on the capital, does not
exceed 90 sen. Yet the Japanese Government is paying
3 yen gold per ton for the same, thus allowing the com-
pany a profit margin of 2 yen or more per ton. More-
over, Japan had at one time to pay 4 yen 20 sen per ton
for the transportation of the ores from Tayeh to Moji.
If one adds to this the export duty and the landing
charges, the price that Japan pays per ton is not very
different from that of iron ore ruling at Bilbao, which.is
25s. per ton. Compared with England, Japan’s iron
foundry business is still in an infant stage, and even if
she pays less for her ores than England does, she cannot
produce pig iron at a less cost than England. The iron
mine and colliery which the Hang-Ye-Ping Company
owns are exceedingly rich in deposits, so much so that
they may be worked for several hundred years, and the
200,000 to 300,000 tons that Japan buys from them
would in no way interfere with the foundry business in
China. On the contrary, the company derives consider-
able profit from the sale of ores to Japan, and the
arrangement is fully in consonance with the spirit of
community of interest that exists between the two Far
Eastern countries.

The American oil concession is altogether of a different
character. The Chino-American partners are to have
the sole control over the entire oilfields throughout
China, and the other Powers are to be denied equality of
opportunity in the industry. Worse still, they are con-
fronted by a menace to encroach upon their established
sphere of influence, and thus the concession is not a
localised question like the Hang-Ye-Ping affair.

Hunan, Hupeh, Kiangsi, Shensi, and Shansi provinces
have recently sent up their delegates to Peking to
demand the rescission of the American and Japanese loan
contracts in question. They fought strongly for the
“ recovery of interests ”; but somehow they have now
dropped their opposition to the oil concession, and the
Hang-Ye-Ping question alone remains to be discussed.
But even to the latter it would appear that opposition
is dying out. For the truth is that the Yokohama Specie
Bank loan goes to cover the expenses of constructing a
new smelting furnace, and when the latter is completed
pig iron from it will first be sold to meet the
domestic needs of China, and if there should be any
supply left over, it may go to foreign buyers, including
Japan. Japan in no way intends to monopolise the
output.

Mining Regulations of China.

The Chinese Government promulgated on March 11
its mining regulations, consisting of 111 articles, and
on March 31 the rules for the operation of the mining
regulations, comprising 85 clauses. The two sets of
laws are in the main based on the similar laws of Japan,
except that the Chinese would appear to be far stricter
than their Japanese models in regard to the mining dis-
trict and the main products taxes.

Any foreigner may engage in the mining industry in
China jointly with Chinese people. This is provided
for in article 4 of the new regulations. At the same
time, however, it is expressly stated that the foreigner’s
share of capital must not exceed one-half of the total.
But one may doubt the efficiency of the provision; for
in the event of a foreigner being openly permitted to
engage in the industry jointly with the Chinese, it is
quite possible that the shares held by the latter may in
reality represent also foreign capital.

The new regulations classify the mine products into
three heads, namely, minerals, coals, and other ores.
But neither salt nor petroleum oil is included in the
classification, the reason being probably that they are
monopolised by the Government, and the people are not
allowed to manufacture or bore for them.

The regulations have fixed 1 chang (about 12 English
feet) as a unit for measuring the surface area of mining
districts, 60 square chang making 1 mo, and 540 mo
1 square li. Each coal district is to be in size not less
than 270 mo and not more than 10 square li. Other
mining districts are to be not less than 50 mo and not
more than 5 square li each. These limitations are too
small, being at variance with what obtain in noted
mines in China, and will have to be alteied. The
Chinese Government intend in the future to inteifere
freely with regard to employing miners and mine
coolies. The regulations limit working hours for
women and young boys, and contain provisions for cases
of death and illness. These features merit commenda-
tion ; but conditions are different -in China from those
in advanced countries, and it is problematical whether
these provisions will be observed in practice.

The mining taxation is divided into mining district
taxes and mine produce taxes. The mining district tax
is fixed at 30 sen per mo a year for the first group ores,
and 15 sen per mo a year for the second group minerals.
The mine produce tax is fixed at fifteen-thousandths of
the gross value of first group ores, such value being the
average market price at the place of production; ten-
thousandths similarly for second group ores; and no
charge for third group products. It goes without saying
that the mining districts have to bear ordinary land tax
over and above those already mentioned. If applied to
mines in operation, these taxes will at once increase
their burden a dozen times or more, and many mine
owners may become bankrupt, or at least have to sus-
pend their work for a time on the taxes becoming
operative. The rates of taxation are so heavy that
their like is found in no other country. The collieries
and iron mines are comparatively in an advanced state
in China. As their outputs belong to group 1, they
will suffer heavily when the regulations come into fdrce.
It is highly problematical whether their owners will
readily acquiesce. On the contrary, it is probable that
the law will provoke much opposition, and furnish a
cause for the people to become alienated from the
Government. In these circumstances, the Chinese
Government should amend the regulations by taking into
consideration the rates of mining taxes in other
countries. Otherwise it will prove futile to endeavour