May 24, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1053

The freight market is strong, but no uncontrolled
tonnage is obtainable. Loading turns at Newcastle
are full until the end of next week. Rates in Cardiff
are unchanged.

The export of coal, coke and manufactured fuel in
April showed an increase of 72,132 tons compared
with April 1917, and a decrease of 414,010 tons
compared with April 1916.

A new scheme of rationing coal for industrial and
domestic use is expected in a few days. Priority is
to be given to firms engaged on Government work.

A special conference of the Miners’ Federation will
be held in London on June 5 for the purpose of
considering an application for a further general
advance in miners’ wages.

The agenda of to-day’s ‘meeting of the South
Wales Institute of Engineers includes the following
papers for discussion: — “ The Rheolaveur,” by Dr.
W.Galloway; “ Some Notes on Gas-Firing Boilers,”
by M,r. T. M Hunter; and “The Consideration of
Items of Practical Importance in connection with
Mining Electrical Engineering,” by Mr. C. Jones.

The coal production of the United States, according
to recent advices, is still in a rather confused state,
owing to car shortage and labour difficulties.

Reports from the various coal areas state that the
loss of output has been considerably increased owing
to miners going beyond the specified holidays.

On Wednesday last Sir Albert
The Work Stanley reviewed the work of the
Of the Board Board of Trade, for which an oppor-
Of Trade, tunity offered itself in connection
with the vote in Committee on the
question of supply. Dealing first with the question
of imports, he stated that, roughly speaking, this
country is now receiving only about one-half of the
imports prior to the war, which, he maintained, was
a testimony to the marvellous resources of the
country and a valuable object lesson for the future
in case we should ever be tempted to drift
again into a condition of dependence upon foreign
sources for so large a part of our needs. . Adjusting
values to pre-war prices, the position shows that
there has been a decrease of 40 per cent, in
imports and 30 per cent, in exports, as com-
pared with the figures for 1913. The change
which has taken place is not in values only, but in
the character of our trade, arising mainly from the
diversion of shipping and its concentration upon
the most advantageous routes. There have also been
great changes in the character of our industrial
activities, more than one-half of which is now
devoted to Government work. Notwithstanding the
large reduction in labour and the extensive dilution
that has taken place, Sir Albert maintained that the
aggregate output of industry* in this fourth year of
the war is very little less than before. Turning next
to details, the President of the Board of Trade
referred to the railways, and showed that the bargain
made with the railway companies will result in a loss
to the State. This he attributes in part to the fact
that all the economies • which might have been
expected to result from a system of unified control
have not been secured. After the war, he foresees
difficulties arising from higher wage rates and labour
shortage, and an advisory panel has been established
to consider the situation that will arise; but he is
not yet in a position to give any indication of future
policy, although a hint was thrown out that a more
unified system of control than before the war may be
desirable in the interest of traders.

Dealing with another controversial matter, viz.,
the consumption of coal, gas and electricity, Sir
Albert referred to the system of coal rations put in
force last winter for the London area. There were
three reasons for this step. In the first place,
transport difficulties made it impossible to carry into
London all the coal that was necessary. Secondly,
the withdrawal of men from the pits caused a reduc-
tion in output; and thirdly, there was an increased
demand for coal for our Allies and for certain
neutral countries. Sir Albert took credit on
behalf of his Department for the success of the
rationing system, and foreshadowed further plans for
rationing coal consumption, not in London only, but
throughout Great Britain, during next winter. Steps
are to be taken to reduce still further the consumption
of coal both for domestic and industrial purposes.
Until more is known of the details of the proposed
scheme it is not possible to consider its effects. The
rationing system for domestic coal established for
London last winter was on a liberal scale, and no
hardship ensued. The scale might possibly be
reduced without inflicting any serious inconvenience
provided that the winter is not severe; but English
climate cannot be foretold with any approach to
accuracy, and a system of rationing based upon last
winter’s experience may prove inadequate.

With regard to industrial coal the framing of a
rationing scheme is still more difficult. As Sir
Albert Stanley stated, establishments engaged
upon Government work must have priority, and he
proposes to set up a Priority Committee to secure
this result. Obviously, it is necessary before all
things to secure the proper distribution of the coal
that is produced. That there will be a diminished

output seems to be certain, and, therefore, consump-
tion must be reduced accordingly. It is possible
that the necessary adjustment may be effected
without serious results, but some better plan must
be forthcoming than that adopted in March, when
the consumption of gas and electricity in the London
area was restricted in a way which penalised more
particularly the careful consumer, and offered a
premium on extravagance. The effect of this scheme,
in so far as the consumption of gas and electricity
has been reduced, must inevitably be to cause more
coal to be burnt than would otherwise have been the
case. Householders in general do not wilfully waste
such expensive commodities as coal, gas, or elec-
tricity. The use of gas in preference to raw coal for
heating purposes is in itself an economy not only in
fuel value but in the labour of distribution. To divert
consumers from the use of gas to burning raw coal
seems to be fundamentally unsound. Yet this must
be the result of restricting gas consumption. Sir
Albert promises that in his new system of coal
rationing provision will be made for the use of gas
and electricity up to a certain point; and he proposes
to make it impossible for consumers in future to
substitute one form of fuel for another to their own
advantage. We shall wait with some interest for
further details of his scheme.

Closely connected with the coal question is the
supply of by-products, both for munitions and
commercial uses. Amongst the latter the dye
industry is particularly important as being one of our
key or pivotal industries, which before the war was
largely controlled by Germany. It is satisfactory to
find that steps are being taken to secure the position
of British dye-stuffs for the future. Not only is
ample assistance to be given to this industry by
means of loans of money for buildings and plant,
and grants for research; but, what is still more essen-
tial, the importation of foreign dye-stuffs is to be
controlled by a system of licences for a period of not
less than ten years after the war. The licensing
authority will be composed of an equal number of
representatives of dye makers and dye users, under
an independent chairman to be appointed by the
Board of Trade. It is impossible to overlook the
great importance of the future of the British dye
industry with respect to the output and value of coal
tar products. At the present time the demand for
explosives to some extent handicaps the development
of the manufacture of dyes by restricting the supply
of dye materials. That, however, is a passing phase,
and it is satisfactory to know that the Government
is alive to the conditions under which alone a great
dye industry can be permanently established in this
country.

Other points touched upon by the President of
the Board of Trade were mostly only indirectly
related to the coal' industry, and need no further
comment.

At the present time, when the
Mineral political map of the world is under-
Enterprise going changes that cannot yet be
in China. accurately foretold, there is more
than ordinary interest in miperal
developments even in the remoter regions of the
earth. Mr. W. F. Collins, therefore, has chosen an
appropriate time for the publication of his work on
“Mineral Enterprise in China.”* This country,
although believed to be rich in mineral wealth, is
seriously backward in mining development. As the
author states, her foreign and internal trade have
more to gain from the exploitation of minerals
than from industrial progress in any other direction.
Mr. Collins has taken pains to trace what little is
known of Chinese mining history. The Chinese
emperors, we are told, have always consistently
discouraged mining, except so far as was necessary
to provide currency. Coal, salt, and to some extent
iron, are perhaps partial exceptions to this rule. The
production of iron and salt has been a national
monopoly since earliest times, but iron was often
scarcer than bronze, and quantities of silver were
produced, apparently from the cupellation of lead,
long before iron was made in any quantity. The
early iron castings are believed to have been
exceedingly rich in phosphorus, and this has been
attributed to the high phosphorus content of Shansi
coals, which have been used since the second
century b.c. The art of smelting iron with coal was
certainly known in China at an early date, but
attempts to develop an iron industry have always
been systematically discouraged.

Until Richthofen described the mineral resources
of Shantung in 1887, but little was known of the
value of the coal mines in that province. It was
largely in consequence of his investigations that the
Kiaochao Convention was secured ten years later by
Germany, The history of this arrangement is a
typical example of German methods of peaceful
penetration. In 1899, the Shantung Eisenbahn
Gesellschaft was formed in Berlin, with headquarters
in Tsingtao, and a capital of 54,000,000 marks. It
held exclusive rights for five years to search for
minerals within a zone of ten miles on either side of
the line of railway, and to acquire claims in respect
of them. In the event of any mines being already
worked by the Chinese, the Convention allowed the

* London: William Heinemann, 1918. Price 21s. net.

working to be continued, but Chinese mine owners
were excluded from'adopting modern methods, such
as would enable them to compete against the Ger-
mans, unless they used German machinery and worked
under German experts. Further restrictions were
imposed subsequently, and the work of prospecting
began. The Wei-hsien coal field was explored
and gave disappointing results, owing to the broken
nature of the beds and the occurrence of igneous
intrusions. Baron R.chthofen had spoken highly
of the Poshan coal field. The Chinese had worked
mines at Tzu-chuan in this area for many years
without much success; but when the Germans
started mining at Hungshan, in 1904, they found a
good steam coal, high in ash, but almost smokeless,
and this was commonly used by German warships
in the East as a substitute for Cardiff coal. Some of
the coals produce a good hard coke, and the output
from three shafts in 1913 was 414.000 tons. The
workings were subsequently stopped on account of
the war. Not far from this coal field are the
iron ore deposits of T’ieh Shan, which supply ore
for the Ching-ling-chen iron works. An examination
of this deposit by the Germans led to a project to
erect two 150-ton blast furnaces at Tsang Kou,
which the war prevented from being completed.
The prospecting work carried out by the Germans,
however, on the whole proved that the alleged
richness of this part of China in other kinds
of mineral wealth had been exaggerated—a conclu-
sion reached also by a British company which
endeavoured to exploit the gold deposits of Wei-
hai-wei.

The most important coal deposit in Shantung is
said to be that of Tsaichuang, worked by the Chung
Hsing Coal Company, started in 1880. German
capital was introduced into this concern in 1898, and
German firms subsequently supplied modern electrical
machinery to this company. The German share-
holders were bought out in 1908, and the Chinese
company has since extended its works, operating
eight shafts, and producing in 1916 about 250,000
tons of coal, the greater part of which is used for
coking.

Since the capture of Tsingtao by the English and
Japanese forces in 1914, Japan has assumed control
of the former German concessions, and immediately
sent out a party of mining men, including the
assistant manager of the Fushun Colliery, to examine
the coal mines, which were found to have been
dismantled and in parts flooded before capitulation
by the Germans. Steps have since been taken to
refit the collieries, and by an agreement with China,
the work of developing the coal mines in this area
has been secured by Japan. The history of the
Shantung mines by no means exhausts the record
of coal mining in China. The Kaiping district of
Chihli, in North China, contains valuable coal
deposits, worked by native methods from the time of
the Ming dynasty in the 15th century. By far the
most important coal-bearing area, however, is that
of Shansi, which Richthofen described in 1870 as
likely to exceed in extent the coal-bearing lands of
Pennsylvania. He reported the existence of the finest
anthracite, easily and cheaply ' worked, and well
situated for transport by rail or water. The important
concessions obtained in this area by the Pekin Syndi-
cate have passed through many vicissitudes, which
Mr. Collins duly records. The mines operated, at
Chiaotso, in Honan, have met with many misfortunes,
including irruption of water from the Yellow River
and a serious outbreak of ankylostomiasis. Notwith-
standing these and other difficulties, an output of
500,000 tons of coal was got in 1915. The history
of this enterprise affords an example of the peculiar
difficulties attending mining enteiprise in China.
It is not possible to describe them here in detail, but
the particulars afforded in this volume amply illus-
trate their nature. That a great future is to be
anticipated for mining in that country appears to be
warranted ; but, in Mr. Collins’s opinion, a rapid
development can only be secured by the establish-
ment of such conditions as will allow native projects
to flourish, and, at the same time, permit a liberal
introduction of foreign capital. The Chinese have
hitherto looked with suspicion upon foreign control
in any form. Great advances have been made under
the Chinese mining legislation of 1914; but even
under this law not niore than 50 per cent, of foreign
shares are permitted to be held in any company.
Amongst suggested reforms, Mr. Collins favours
the creation of a ministry of mines, independent of
other Government departments, and a revision of
existing legislation with the object of attracting
foreign capital.

Italy’s Coal Production Expanding.—In 1917 the coal
production of Italy was probably 15,000 to 20,000 tons
of coal and 2,000,000 tons of lignite. Some of the lignite
is of the pitch type, and may be used as a gas coal, its
quality being similar to that of Scotch “ splint.” This
particular lignite comes from RiboIla in the Commune of
Roccastrada, in the Province of Grosseto, Tuscany. The
mines generate gas.

Warning of American Shortage.—Mr. F. B. Noyes, who
is directing the conservation campaign of the Fuel Ad-
minstration, stated in an address before the Purchasing
Agents’ Association in New York that from the present
outlook the coal supply of manufacturers whose output
is not of the first importance in carrying out the nation’s
war programme, or is not absolutely essential to the public
at large, will have to be seriously curtailed.