February 19, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

389

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refitting. Later in the debate the question was again
referred to orra motion by Sir Robert Price, several speakers
suggesting means by which an economy of tonnage might
be effected. Sir Joseph Walton, for example, urged that
the enormous portion of the mercantile marine which had
been commandeered was not being utilised on the best
business lines and with the greatest advantage. It was
the habit of coal owners, he said, in Northumberland and
Durham when they made contracts for coal in London to
cover themselves by entering into contracts with ship
owners. The normal rate was 3s. per ton. He knew cases
in which large contracts had been entered into for the
delivery of coal in London where freight had been entered
at 3s. per ton, and where every ship owned by a particular
shipowner who made the contracts was commandeered by
the Government at the commencement of the war. He
understood they were to receive from the War Office, or the
Admiralty or the Government, equal to 4s. per ton from the
Tyne to London, but on the other hand those coal owners
who had thus contracted with ship owners found that the
ship owners were utterly unable to give them a single ship
to convey coal under these contracts because their vessels
had all been commandeered by the Government. The
result of this commandeering of the suitable ships specially
designed for conveying coal was that the ship owners had
had to pay as high as 13s. 6d. per ton for outside boats, not
at all so well fitted and designed for the purpose as the
boats they were deprived of. Sir Joseph Walton further
said there was a curious anomaly which he could not under-
stand. He believed that the owners of the commandeered
ships were receiving equal to 4s. freight, as compared with
the pre-war price of 3s., and yet if anyone in the coal trade
wished to have the use of these interned ships to convey
coal to London he had to pay 11s. per ton. It hardly
appeared a fair and equable arrangement that the Govern-
ment should be getting Ils. per ton for all the interned
ships, whereas they were only paying the owners of the
coal-carrying steamers 4s. per ton. That meant that the
gas companies in London were paying at least 7s. per ton
more for coal than there was any necessity to pay, assuming
that the 4s. paid by the Government was a fair rate for
these cargo steamers.

On Wednesday, debate on the rise in prices, in connection
with which the Premier made a long statement in the
House last week, was resumed. One of the speakers from
the Labour side, Mr. W. C. Anderson, urged that the
enquiries made by the Government had been too abstract
and theoretical. He alleged that, whereas poor people in
London were paying about 2s. a hundredweight for coal, a
good deal of that coal was bought at pre-war rates. It was
placed in the London depot, all charges paid, at 16s. 7d. a
ton, and yet the cheapest rate at which it could be bought
.—buying at the ton—was 32s. There was room for
investigation there. The price of the poorer qualities of
coal had risen out of all proportion to the price of the good
qualities, so that while the cost of a ton of coal to the poor
had risen by 10s. a ton, that bought by the well-to-do
classes had risen only 4s. compared with the price last
winter. In the matter of freights also he complained that
the Government had concerned themselves merely with
abstract principles. If they compared the position of the
railways with that of the shipowners they would find that
since the war began, while the freight rate for a ton of coal
by rail was substantially the same now as when the war
began, by sea it had risen from 3s. and 3s. 6d. to something
like 13s. In one case the principle of control was exercised,
and in the other there was no control, and the prices
went up.

In his reply, the President of the Board of Trade pointed
out that there had not been the same huge proportionate
rise elsewhere as had taken place in London, and in the
'North Country household coal was being sold to private
purchasers at very little more than the price paid last
summer. In some parts of the Midlands there had been
very little increase, while in other parts, owing to local
reasons, the price had risen considerably. The reason why
the price in London had become so high was due in large
measure to the fact that railway-borne coal dominated the
..household market. The railway facilities had been
curtailed owing to Government requirements, but through
the efforts of the Railway Executive Committee during the
last three or four weeks, the import of coal into London by
railway had been restored to what it was in the corres-
ponding week of last year, and that, he hoped, would have
an immediate effect upon the price of coal in London.
Much coal was sold in London by the hundredweight, and
the Government were not prepared to allow the retail
supply problem to remain where it was. They were
probing deeper jinto it, and when they had been able to
bring their influence to bear where it was required to cut
down high prices they would not hesitate to act. Referring
to the rise in freights, Mr. Runciman said he would not
hesitate to embark on the State control of ships if he
thought it would be to our national advantage, but to
adopt these methods at present would only make things
ten times worse.

Sir A. Markham, after complaining that the figure put
into the mouth of the Prime Minister that the average rise
in the price of coal was 15 per cent, was very far from being
correct and declaring that the rise was 70 and in some cases
■ 100 per cent., said that if the Government refused to move,
the price would continue to go up indefinitely. He had
J been forced to the conclusion that it was absolutely essential
• that the Government should regulate the price of coal on
the market. They should by proclamation provide that
no colliery owner should sell coal in any quantity at a price
exceeding Is. or 2s. a ton above that ruling in the 12 months
preceding the war. He did not think the increased cost of
production was more than Is. per ton, but where it could
' be shown that the cost to the colliery owner had increased
. by a larger sum the Government should then provide that
the increased cost might form part of the selling price.
He would deal with the coal merchant in the same manner
as regards the cost of distribution. At the outbreak of
the war he offered to supply the Government with 10,000
tons of coal at 10s. per ton for sale to the poor. Though
very little advantage was taken of the offer, the quantity
having been reduced by the Government to 3,000 tons a
week, the coal was being sold through local distress
committees in London as low as Is. 2d. per cwt. north and
, Is. 3d. per cwt. south of the Thames. His object was to
keep prices down in London, and it would have been
realised, he believed, had the Government taken the coal
on a larger scale. After the debate had been continued
for some time an interesting announcement was made by

Sir H. Verney, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of
Agriculture, who said the Government proposed immediately
to hold an enquiry into the causes of the rise in the cost
of coal sold retail for domestic purposes, and any useful
suggestions that might result from the enquiry would be
carried into effect.

A report has been presented to the Westminster City
Council by the Contracts Committee stating that a letter
had been received from Messrs. J. H. Beattie and Company
Limited, dated February 3, with reference to their contract
for the supply of best Derby bright household cobbles at
18s. 6d. per ton, stating that the contract was subject to
the Coal Exchange strike clause, that owing to the war,
circumstances had arisen which could be taken as preventing
delivery of this contract coal. They pointed out they were
not getting 50 per cent, of the coal which they had bought
from the collieries, but that they wished to do everything pos-
sible to carry out their obligations even although not legally
obliged. They therefore asked the Council to make them
a small increase of 4s. per ton while these abnormal
circumstances lasted, to enable them to some extent to
minimise their loss. They suggested that the increase
should apply to coal delivered on and from January 1, and
in the meanwhile they would continue delivering until the
matter is placed before the Council. The Council, on the
recommendation of the committee, recently allowed another
coal contractor 2s. 6d. per ton extra on coal supplied after
January 1 last, and the committee think that a similar
allowance might be made in the present case.

At Tuesday's meeting of the London County Council,
Mr. Jesson asked what increases in the coal contracts were
allowed contractors in view of the war. He also put a long
question, pointing out that the colliers who risked their
lives to obtain the coal were paid Is. 3d. per ton for what
was retailed to the poorest at the rate of over 40s. per ton,
therefore he wished to know if representations could be
made to the General Purposes Committee with the view of
joint action with other public authorities, in demanding
that the Government should deal with enemies in this
country who were taking advantage of the present situation
to extract increased profits out of the poorest people.
Mr. Hunt replied that Is. to 2s. a ton had been allowed to
certain contractors to cover war risks on seaborne coal, and
larger allowances were under consideration. He would
submit Mr. Jesson's long question to the Stores and
Contracts Committee for consideration.

A largely attended conference, called on the initiative
of the War Emergency Workers’ National Committee, took
place in London on Saturday, when a strong resolution was
passed expressing disappointment at the refusal of the
Government to take effective measures to deal with the
alarming rise in the cost of food and fuel. The motion
appealed to the House of Commons to force the Govern-
ment to take immediate steps to relieve the situation by
fixing maximum prices for fuel and for shipping freights,
and also by commandeering coal supplies for distribution
through municipal or co-operative coal agencies. A further
resolution was carried that the Parliamentary Committee
of the Trades Union Congress, the General Federation of
Trade Unions, and the Labour Party be asked to arrange
for a national conference to consider what action should be
taken to compel the Government to regulate the prices of
food and fuel. The following resolution, moved on behalf
of the Borough of Poplar Trades Council, was carried;—
“ That failing the Government intervening and taking over
the control of supplies and fixing the price of food, fuel,
and other necessaries of the workers at the same level as
was in force on August 5 last, the trade unions and the
Labour movement generally declare the truce at an end,
and immediately demand an increase of 2d. per hour on the
present rate of wages.”—Several meetings of trade union
representatives were held on Saturday at Newcastle, Liver-
pool, Birmingham, and other centres to consider the same
questions.

Presiding at the ordinary general meeting of the Great
Northern Railway Company last week, Lord Allerton stated
that the appointment of the traffic receipts between the
companies by the Clearing House had been temporarily
discontinued. In effect there was a universal pooling
amongst the controlled companies of the whole of their net
traffic receipts, which were then divided in proportions
based on the figures of 1913. Regarding delays, he could
say with knowledge that delay had not arisen with the
railway companies, or through any circumstances over
which they had any control. They had been inundated
with certain kinds of traffic at the London end, where they
had handled more wagons than had ever been handled in
the previous history of the company. They had tried, so
far as possible, to give preference to food and fuel. He
thought they had now mastered the main difficulties, and
that the docks at the Port of London were getting more
completely under control. Coal contracts for the present
year had already been made, but prices had been put up.

In the House of Commons on Wednesday, in reply to Mr.
Duncan Millar, Mr. Runciman said he was informed by the
Railway Executive Committee that arrangements had been
.made enabling assistance to be given by companies having
a surplus of wagons to those experiencing a shortage. It
had also been arranged that wagons belonging to one com-
pany which had been worked on to the line of another
might be loaded back locally in the home direction, instead
of being returned empty, and the question of extending
this practice to wagons in docks is under, consideration.
The question of private wagons was much more difficult,
owing to their different shapes, sizes and conditions, but he
was informed by the Railway Executive Committee that no
relief would be obtained by pooling private wagons as well
as company wagons. Mr. William Thorne asked whether the
right hon. gentleman would enquire into the statement,
which was now common property, that about three miles of
railway trucks near Brentford were loaded with coal, and
’ that the merchants refused to move them because they were
waiting for a rise in prices. Mr. Runciman said he had no
knowledge of that. He knew there were some sidings
which were occupied by coal, kept there for naval purposes,
and which must of necessity be kept there.

In regard to the scheme for the assistance of traders who
have debts owing them in enemy countries, which is being
worked by the Foreign Trade Debts Committee appointed
by the Government, so far the loans applied for amount
only to <£892,447. Of this amount coal exporters have
applied for £4,821, and engineers and engineers' merchants
for <£28,847. Steel manufacturers’ applications amount to
£1,146.

A meeting of the'Commercial Committee of the House of
Commons was held last week, Sir John Randles, M.P.,
presiding. Consideration was given to steps to be taken to
annul or maintain contracts made between merchants and
traders of this country and merchants and traders in enemy
countries. The view generally expressed was in favour of a
court being set up for the purpose, and a motion to this
effect was unanimously agreed to. A report was received
from Mr. Donald Maclean, M.P., chairman of the executive,
relating to the working of the Government scheme of
advancing money to traders on unrealisable book debts in
belligerent countries. Mr. Maclean, in presenting the
report, said the amount of applications received for
advances was £892,447. The total amount of the debt which
had been hypothecated to the Committee was £1,914,000.
—As a result of the annual meeting of the Employers'
Parliamentary Association, held in Manchester recently, at
at which Sir William Ramsay delivered a remarkable
address on German industrial methods, meetings have been
held of the largest users of dyes in the north of England.
Resolutions were passed (1) strongly urging manufac-
turers, users of dyestuffs, merchants engaged in the textile
trade, banks and others directly or indirectly interested, to
give the scheme promulgated by the Users’ Committee
their whole-hearted support; and (2) suggesting that the
Government would do well to organise, immediately, the
present chemical talent in the country with a view to
chemical research being undertaken for and on behalf of
all manufacturers interested; and that the services of
these experts should be available for all desirous of availing
themselves thereof. In replying to a vote of thanks, Sir
Charles Macara, who presided, said the building of works
would take time, but the steps he advocated could be
adopted at once.

With reference to the recent conference between the
Engineering Employers’ Federation and the Engineering
Trade Union to secure greater output required by the
Admiralty and War Office, the executive council of the
Amalgamated Society of Engineers have issued a statement
to their members setting forth the proposals and sugges-
tions of the unions to overcome the shortage in various
classes of workpeople. They are as follow:—(a) Firms
not engaged in manufacture of war goods to be given such
work; (b) firms at present working short time to transfer
their workmen to firms engaged on Government work ; (c)
joint representations to be made to the Government to pay
subsistence allowance to men working in places a distance
from their homes; (d) that the Government draft skilled
engineers from Australasia, Canada, and South Africa;
(e) in view of the fact that 10,000 skilled engineers have
recently enlisted, thus reducing the supply of skilled
labour, the Government should withdraw from military
duties all those available for industrial purposes. The
men's representatives consider that if the foregoing sugges-
tions were adopted a sufficient supply of skilled labour
would be at the service of the nation to cope with the
national situation without encroaching upon the hard-won
trade rights of operative engineers.

An interesting development in the shipping trade is
being commenced which will somewhat seriously affect
ports on the north-east coast during the war. Several
Norwegian and other Scandinavian companies who are
finding a greatly-increasing trade, especially with America,
have hit upon the plan of bunkering their vessels at their
own ports. This will save several days which voyaging to
north-east coast ports would involve, and the vessels will
then proceed direct by the north coast of Scotland route.
They will also be enabled to have a quick despatch by
bunkering and discharging at the same time.

Two persons connected with a well-known firm of iron
exporters in Glasgow appeared in Chambers, before Sheriff
Lyell, in Glasgow on Saturday, in connection with a charge
of trading with the enemy. In each case bail was fixed at
£2,000. Two of the partners of the same firm were charged
recently with a similar offence, and in their case also bail
was fixed at £2,000 each.

An excellent illustration of the interdependence of indus-
tries is afforded by the manner in which the shortage of
coal supplies is hitting the laundries. Owing to the laundry
managers being unable to obtain the coal to run their
machinery, many laundries, states Mr. J. J. Stark, secretary
of the National Federation of Laundry Associations, will
probably have to close down. Even when fuel has reached
the depots, a further difficulty arises in the distribution
owing to shortage of men and horses. To-day many laun-
dries are fetching the coal they require direct from the
depots with their own vehicles and labour.

___________________

COAL SHIPPED FROM PORTS IN ENGLAND,
SCOTLAND AND WALES

During January 1915 Compared with the Corresponding
Month of 1914.

The following figures, extracted from the monthly
coal tables issued by the Commissioners of H.M. Customs
and Excise, show the quantity of coal shipped during
January from each group of ports:—

Cargo.

Jan. 1914.
Tons.

Bristol Channel ports ......... 2,538,836 ..
...........

North-western ports .............. 50,586	..

North-eastern ports ........... 1,856,291 ..

...........

Humber ports ................. 599,377 ..

Other east coast ports .........	36,064 ..

Other English ports ................... 5	..

Ports on east coast of Scotland 538,734 ..

Ports on west coast of Scotland 174,877 ..

5,794,770 ... 3,612,963

Total .............

Bunker.

Bristol Channel ports .........

North-western ports...........

N or th -eastern ports ...............

Humber ports ......................

Other east coast ports __...__..

Other English ports______.........

Ports on east coast of Scotland...

Ports on west coast of Scotland...

Irish ports______..................	_______

Jan. 1915.
Tons.

1,697,777
44,018

1,016,102
357,857

5,603
IQ
216,242
245,354

Tons.

424,426
310,439
189,641
137,072
114,699
25,668
46,204
122,613

6,319

Jan. 1914. Jan. 1915.

Tons.

426,214 ..

330,913 ..

301,715 ..

255,225 ..

125,582 ..

87,195 ..

'107,451 ..

95,955 ..

762 ..

Total __................. 1,731,012	... 1,377,081