August 9, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

289

UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM.

SCHOOL OF MINING.

Professor: Sir JOHN CADMAN, K.C.M.G., D.Sc., F.G.S.

LEoonom“eMine1ra1togy“gaI1'i} J- L- JEFFERY, A.R.S.M.,M.Inst.M.M.

L Surveying :COal	a“a } w- HULSE, B.So.

in Mine Rescue } A. H. CLARK, B.So.

THE SESSION COMMENCES ON OCTOBER 1st, 1918.

he School of Mining meets the require-
merits of those who intend to become Practising and Consultative
Mining Engineers; Petroleum Technologists; Colliery Managers; Managers
of Metal Mines; Teachers of Mining; Mine Surveyors; Land and Estate
Agents ; Land Owners; Owners of Collieries ; and those generally interested
in Mines and Quarries.

The Degree Course includes instruction in Mathematics, Physics,
Chemistry, Geology and Mineralogy, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical
Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mining (Coal, Petroleum and Metal), and
Metallurgy, Assaying, and Petroleum Refining.

In connexion with the Mining Classes there will be frequent visits of
inspection to mines in the neighbourhood of Birmingham, and a SUMMER
MINING SCHOOL will also be held in the long vacation in some mining
district, either at home or abroad.

The Mining Courses are so arranged as to provide for—

Degree Course ............ 3 years.

Diploma Course ................... 3	years.

Occasional Mining Students ....... A	complete course in 1 year.

A complete Course of PETROLEUM MINING ENGINEERING is
given in the University. The course of study extends over three years, and
leads to the Degree of B.Sc.

Full particulars may be obtained from the SECRETARY of the
University.

The Cardiff Gas Light and Coke Com-
pany, Bute-terrace, Cardiff, offer for SALE one GAS PLANT
BLOWER, complete, comprising a Number 9 Sturtevant fan, coupled
direct with a Sturtevant (Chicago) .type turbine, approximately 30-h.p., and
combined with a strong base plate, ready for immediate re-erection, and in
good condition.

Can be seen by appointment. Will be loaded f.o.r. for purchaser.

Being replaced by a larger unit.

Wanted, 25 ten- or twelve-ton Coal

WAGONS, in one or more lots.—Particulars to MERCHANTS,
Box 7118, Colliery Guardian Office, 30 & 31, Furnival-street, Holborn,
London, E.C. 4.

FOR SALE.

Mavor & Coulson “ Pick-Quick ” Com-
pressed Air Longwall BAR COAL CUTTER, medium size, with
haulage, bars, and fender complete. In absolutely new condition, and
ready to start immediately.—Box 7123, Colliery Guardian Office, 30 & 31,
Furnival-street, Holborn, London, E.C. 4.

VOL. II. NOW PUBLISHED.

In Medium 8vo. Cloth. Pp. i.-xi. + 214. With 4 Plates and 79 Illustrations
in Text. 15s. net plus Postage.

BRIQUETTING,

By Prof. Q. FRANKE.

Translated by F. C. A. H. LANTSBERRY, M.Sc.

Head of the Birmingham Small Arms Company’s Laboratory; Carnegie
Research Scholar of the Iron and Steel Institute, &c.

Volume II. Briquetting’ and Ag-g-lomeration of Ores, Metallurgical
Products, Metal Swarf, and Similar Materials.

Contents.—Various Metallic. Briquetting Materials—Prepared Ores —
Roasted Ores—Metal Swarf—Metallurgical and Smelting Briquettes and
Agglomerates—Methods of Briquetting—Compression with Medium or
High Pressures—Description of Methods—Preparation of Briquetting
Material—Compression and Subsequent Treatment of Briquettes for
Smelting and Fusion—Agglomeration Plants.

Vol. I. In Med. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. i.-xxviii. + 631. 36s. net plus Postage.
BRIQUETTING OF COALS, BROWN COALS, AND OTHER FUELS.

Each Volume complete in itself and sold separately.

LONDON : CHAS. GRIFFIN & CO. LTD., Exeter St., Strand, W.C. 2.

J. W. BAIRD AND COMPANY,

PITWOOD IMPORTERS,

WEST HARTLEPOOL.

YEARLY CONTRACTS ENTERED IVTO WITH COLLIERIES.

OSBECK & COMPANY LIMITED,
PIT-TIMBER MERCHANTS,
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.

SUPPLY ALL KINDS OF COLLIERY TIMBER.

Telegrams—“ Osbecks, Newcastle-on-Tyne.”

*** For other Miscellaneous Advertisements see Last
Wkite Page,

TO OUR READERS.

The Government, by Order in Council, is issuing In-
structions prohibiting the return of all unsold papers and
periodicals. The effect of this will be that newsagents
will only stock the “ Colliery Guardian ” if actually
ordered by their customers, and to prevent disappoint-
ment our readers should either subscribe for the regular
supply of the journal direct, or place a definite order with
their newsagent.

W Siuu’dtan

AND

Journal of the Coal and Iron Trades.

Joint Editors—

J. V. ELSDEN, D.Sc. (Lond.), F.G.S.

HUBERT GREENWELL, F.S.S., Assoc.M.I.M.E.

{At present on Active Service).

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUSTS, 1918.

Supplies on the London market are at a very low
ebb, and the demand is as keen as ever. The depot
trade continues brisk.

The output in Northumberland and Durham is
improving after the holiday. Loading turns continue
to be well filled for weeks ahead, and neutrals
still find themselves badly handicapped. Best Blyth
steams remain at 70s. to 75s., and Tyne primes at
70s. It is difficult to meet the many bunker demands.
Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Midlands have the
same story to tell of urgent requirements and inade-
quate supplies.

The holiday in South Wales leaves the market in
a nominal sort of condition. Supplies of household
coal are greatly in arrear in Scotland, and the fuel
shortage is a serious factor at some of the furnaces.

In the Newcastle freight market the Scandinavian
demand has increased and the quotations have
advanced. Tonnage is lacking to meet the abundant
orders for non-limitation ports. The holiday has
aggravated the difficulty in South Wales, where
nominally rates are unchanged.

The Board of Trade announces a fuel economy
campaign, in which 400 engineers in the provinces
will assist the Government without pay. A rationing
scheme for all industrial undertakings will be intro-
duced shortly.

A special general meeting of the North of England
Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers will
be held in the Wood Memorial Hall, Newcastle,
to-morrow (Saturday), commencing at 2 p.m. A
paper on 11 Record of Gas Pressure from a Bore-
hole,” by Mr. 0. J. Fairbrother, will be submitted,
and Mr G. Raw’s paper on 11 Notes on the Overhead
Koepe Winding Plant at Plenmeller Colliery, Halt-
whistle,” will be open for discussion.

A four days’ conference of the Scottish Mine
Workers will commence in Edinburgh on August 14.

The Petroleum Production (1918) Bill has passed
its third reading in the House of Commons. The
Bill relates to searching and boring for petroleum.

The Select Committee appointed by the Govern-
ment regarding internal transport will consider,
among other matters, the co-ordination of rail, road
and canal traffic.

The Coal Controller informed the miners’ represen-
tatives this week that when the specified quota of
men had been obtained for the Army from the
various collieries no more men would be enlisted, and
the transfer to the mines of lower category miners
now in the Army would be facilitated.

The Income-Tax Bill and the Statutory Under-
takings (Temporary Increase of Charges) Bill have
received the Royal Assent.

The British Workers’ League has
The done much good in the promotion of
Common a healthy democratic attitude towards
Weal. social problems, and not the least in
importance is Mr. Victor Fisher’s
effort in the British Citizen to disseminate sound
doctrines on political and social philosophy. He was
fortunate in enlisting the help of Archdeacon
Cunningham, who has published in that paper a
series of lectures on “ The Common Weal,” now pub-
lished in book form by the Cambridge University
Press.* The chief recommendation of these lectures
rests upon the fact that the arguments put forward
are based upon history and experience rather than
upon theory. His survey of nationality and
sovereignty ranges from the rebellion of Wat Tyler
in 1381, to the recent Russian revolution. Hetraces
the progress and limitations of personal monarchy
and the rise in this country of Parliamentary govern-
ment. Such a review is particularly opportune at
the present time, and its careful study will amply
repay all serious students of political philosophy, to
whatever creed they may belong.

We make no excuse, therefore, for calling atten-
tion to this volume. Social reforms of many kinds
are being advocated far and wide, and the recent
enlargement of the franchise will bring many fresh
citizens to the ballot at the next General Election—
citizens who may perhaps have had little opportunity
for serious consideration of the policy upon which
they will be called upon to record their opinion.
There will be no lack of effort of plausible orators
to catch their vote, and Archdeacon Cunningham
appeals to the democratic citizen to base his policy
upon the simple standard of the common weal.

“Unless,” says the Archdeacon, “he is endea-
vouring, in the discharge of his political responsi-
bilities, whatever they may be, to think first and
foremost of the public good and to leave his private
interests in the background, he is unfit to be trusted
with the responsibilities of a citizen in a self-
governing nation.” This is sound advice at a time
when the tendency of political agitation is being
degraded into an appeal on behalf of particular
classes or interests, regardless of the common weal of
the nation, or rather the Empire, as a whole.

One of the first difficulties to be encountered is to
find a means of measuring the relative good and evil
of political changes in order to estimate their influence
upon the community. How is the average man to
judge in what way the common weal is best pro-
moted? This difficulty of finding a criterion has
long been recognised by political philosophers. It
does not help the voter to be told that the general
will is supreme, or that the view of the majority
must be right. The Archdeacon discusses this ques-
tion, quoting the views of Rousseau and other
philosophers upon the degree to which the State
may be regarded as representing the general will of
the people. But the real difficulty lies in the fact
that in most cases of conflicting opinions each party
may firmly believe that his own particular views are
for the common good. Hegel overcame the difficulty,
to some extent, by regarding the State as a kind of
moral personality through which God’s will is
realised. In Germany, therefore, it is highly probable
that the people believe that the present war is being
waged for the common weal.

More powerful still is Dr. Cunningham’s criticism
of the validity of popular shibboleths. His views,
for example, on the economic policy of this country
previous to the war are worth noting. “The free
trade policy of the British Empire,” he says, “has
given the Germans opportunity for pursuing their
*The Common Weil, by Archdeacon Cunningham; Cam-
bridge University Press, price 2s. 6d. net.

policy of peaceful penetration and thus laying the
economic foundations for Teutonic dominance.”
Yet the majority of people in this country, prior to
1914, believed that this policy was for the common
weal.

The lesson to be learnt from such considerations is
that, however plausible a doctrine may seem, it is
not necessarily true. Every doctrine should be
tested, if possible, in the light of experience, the
only trustworthy guide. The arguments of Cobden,
for example, were plausible, but they were based,
upon assumptions which have never withstood the
test of experience. The thinking public, therefore,
now sees that it is possible for even the most
attractive and apparently consistent policy to be
misleading.

Amongst the most promising safeguards to ensure
a truly intelligent vote, education of course occupies
the first place. But it is essential that this educa-
tion should be rightly directed. One of its higher
objects should be to teach an enlightened patriotism.
“ The State,” says the author of these lectures,
“ ought to insist that the service of the community is
held up as the supreme object for which the
individual is to be trained: That the child must
learn to submit himself to discipline in order that he
may be better able to take his place in the life of the
community, not for his selfish interests, but in order
that he may give national service in the manner in
which he can do it best.”

There is no room for individual freedom to act
against the common weal. The popular' mind is
apt to confuse freedom for the individual to do as he
likes, with freedom from external authority. The
important question is whether the individual of his
own accord uses his liberty so as to promote the
common weal of the society in which he lives, or
whether he uses it solely in his own interest.

This is an excellent test of the limits of individual
liberty. It should be especially noted in its bearing
upon many of the labour problems of the present
time. It is not necessary to particularise, or to offer
concrete examples. But it may be said with confi-
dence that if all classes of society would endeavour
to act up to the standard of the common weal we
should be living in a better and freer world to-day.

Our esteemed contemporary, Gas,
Fuel has published a reasoned criticism

Rationing, of the recent scheme of coal
rationing, illustrating its difficulties
and suggesting an alternative. Without necessarily
endorsing the arguments, or vouching for the
accuracy of the figures, the subject is so important
that it would be wrong to withhold the conclusions
from the light of public examination. Let us, then,
in the first place, look at some of the facts upon
which these criticisms are based.

It goes without saying that an economy of some-
thing like 10 per cent, on the year’s output of coal
is necessary, for the simple reason that this amount
of coal will not be available for use. Mr. Helps
estimates the normal consumption of fuel for pur-
poses mainly domestic as follows:—Gas works,
17,000,000 tons; electric generating stations,
10,000,000 tons; and household purposes, 38,000,000
tons. The figures, of course, are approximate, and
there is no reason to question their general accuracy.
But it is not to be assumed that the Coal Controller
expects to save anything like 22,500,000 tons out of
the 65,000,000 tons thus apportioned. Upon the
best assumption he only anticipates a saving of about
9,000,000 tons from the household rationing scheme.
This amounts to nearly one-eighth of the total con-
sumption. Mr. Helps, in the article now before us, says
that in the new Order the object is stated to be to
save at least a quarter of the coal hitherto available
for domestic use; but this proportion is obtained by
placing the whole of the expected saving on house-
hold fuel alone, and making no allowance for
economies in gas or electricity. It is not very clear
whether this is the view of the Coal Controller or
not; but, as we understand the position, the object
is to distribute the saving over the whole consump-
tion of fuel for domestic heating and lighting,
whether in the form of coal, gas or electricity. The
distinction is important because the small consumer
is not expected to be in a position to contribute
appreciably to the anticipated economy, and if the
burden is to be borne by the larger houses alone, it
would require a much more drastic scheme of
rationing to effect the purpose. We fail to find
anything in the Order which will compel the larger
consumers, as a whole, to cut down their consump-
tion to anything like 50 or 60 per cent.; although
there may be isolated cases, where there has been
extravagance in the past, in which a saving to this
extent may be achieved.

With regard to the equivalent values of coal in
terms of gas and electricity, Mr. Helps very rightly
emphasises the importance of fixing fair conversion
values; because if the consumer is enabled to take
more fuel in the form of gas than the gas company
can get out of a ton of coal, he clearly increases his
coal ration to that extent, and by a liberal use of gas
it would thus be possible to defeat the whole object
of the scheme. On the other hand, if too small a
conversion value is fixed, it would drive the con-
sumer to use coal in place of gas. Thus, Mr. Helps