August 30, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

443

more or less temporarily owing to the cost of pumping
being too heavy for an individual undertaking to bear,
but which could be recovered by means of a central
drainage scheme. Secondly, cases in which areas of
coal are at present abandoned permanently, owing to
the large annual flow of surface water requiring to
be pumped. These cases are chiefly confined to such
districts as South Staffordshire and the Nailsea Basin
of Bristol.

The quantity of coal involved, and its situation rela-
tive to the surrounding manufacturing district, make
it desirable that this case should be investigated by a
committee of experts appointed by the proposed
Ministry of Mines and Minerals, especially as a con-
siderable amount of public money is involved in the
existing drainage scheme.

Loss through Top and Bottom Coal being left
Underground.

Loss through top and bottom coal being left under-
ground includes cases in which coal either in the roof
or floor of a seam, and which might be looked upon
as part of the seam being worked, is left in the mine,
and does not in general refer to seams separated b\,
say, more than 2 feet of strata from the main seam
of coal.

In considering all causes of loss which arise from
the practical working of coal, the physical conditions
vary so much that it is impossible to lay down any
rule for dealing with them which can be universally
applied. Each case must be considered in the light
of the particular circumstances applicable to it.

Improvement can only be brought about by the dis-
semination of knowledge amongst the local mine
managers of what is possible in the way of improve-
ment. Any proposal to compel a colliery worker to
alter his system of working would not in our view
be practicable, inasmuch as the best methods of work-
ing in the varying physical conditions which exist
can only be ascertained by practical experiment, often
at great cost.

Loss in Un worked Seams.

The evidence given before the Royal Commission on
Coal Supplies upon this question is very conflicting.
Witnesses from the same coalfield said that in some
instances better results were obtained by working a
lower seam and in others an upper seam first, and this
illustrates the fact, already referred to, that in all
cases which involve practical working the physical
conditions vary so much that no rule can be laid down
which can be universally applied. In most cases seams
which lie more than ten yards above or below a seam
which has been worked need not be permanently lost.
In the older collieries thin seams which were looked
upon as worthless fifteen to twenty years ago are being
successfully worked to-day, and we do not consider that
there is likely to be any large permanent loss of coal
under this head. Nevertheless the proposed Ministry
of Mines and Minerals ought to have power to decide
that any other order of working which is economically
practicable shall be adopted wherever it is satisfied
that the existing order of working is likely to result
in the permanent loss of coal, and it should make
arrangements to obtain the necessary information in
the different coalfields.

Coal Left for Support.

If the effect of establishing a legal right to support
outside the forty yards limit without paying compen-
sation should be that a large amount of coal will
be required to be left for support which would not
have been left unworked if the Railway Companies had
to pay compensation, then some amendment of the law
appears to be required. There is certainly some reason
to apprehend that the public interest will be preju-
diced. There are many cases in which the working
of the coal outside the prescribed limit would let down
the surface of the Railway Company’s land within the
prescribed area, and so entitle the Company to an
injunction, but would do trifling, if any, damage to
the railway, whereas working some of the coal within
the prescribed distance, or even under the railway,
would do so much damage that the company could
not allow it to be worked, and would have to pay
compensation for it. In all such cases the Railway
Company would in future have a strong inducement
to stop the working by injunction outside the forty
yards limit, because if it does so it will either escape
paying compensation altogether far the coal it really
requires for support within the prescribed distance,
or it will pay far less compensation than it would
otherwise have done. The principle is that the Rail-
way Company will be more careful and conservative
in requiring coal to be left for support if it has to
examine each case and pay compensation for all coal it
requires to be left unworked than if it can stop the
working outside the forty yards limit without com-
pensation whenever it can show that the surface of
any of its land will be let down if the working is con-
tinued. It is clear that the Legislature intended the
Railway Company to pay compensation for all coal
it required for support. It did not lay down a hard-
and-fast rule as to what the prescribed distance should
be, but left this to be decided in the case of each
special Act, and only specified forty yards as a distance
which at the time was considered ample to give pro-
tection in all but exceptional cases. But deeper mining
has gradually changed the situation, and meanwhile
neither mineral owners nor Railway Companies have
paid special attention to the question of the prescribed
distance when new Bills came before Parliament, be-
cause they were under the mistaken impression that
the code applied, for the purpose of compensation,
to minerals outside the limit. It would tend to the
conservation of coal, and in all the circumstances of
the case it does not appear that it would be unfair
to anyone that the law should be amended. It would
be convenient if the prescribed distance was made
to vary with the depth of the mining. The case would
be met if the prescribed distance to which all the
provisions of the code should apply were to be defined
as a distance from the railway (or other undertaking
concerned), or any of the works connected therewith,

equal to one-half the depth of the workings below the
surface level of the land at the place.

Underground Easements and Surface Way leaves.

The difficulty of obtaining underground easements
and surface wayleaves upon reasonable terms is, in
the opinion of the Committee, a hindrance to the full
development of the coal mines in some districts, espe-
cially where property is much sub-divided either be-
tween the mineral owners themselves or between them
and the owners of the surface. The Committee agree
with the conclusion of the Royal Commission on
Mining Royalties that owners of mineral property
unreasonably debarred from obtaining access to the
nearest or most convenient public railway, canal, or
port on fair terms, or for obtaining underground ease-
ments on fair terms, ought not to be left without
remedy.

Intervening Properties and Want of Title.

It not infrequently happens that where small proper-
ties intervene so as to hinder or prevent the regular
working of coal in their vicinity the owners take
advantage of the situation of their property to extort
exorbitant terms for the right to work their coal.

There are other cases where considerable quantities
of coal (in one case amounting to two million tons) will
be permanently lost unless it is worked by the lessees
of the adjoining workings, but the difficulties of
obtaining a lease are at present practically in-
superable. Either the land belongs to a large number
of small proprietors in a town, or to joint owners who
cannot agree among themselves, or the owner cannot
be found, or refuses to treat, or asks prohibitive
terms, or is unable to make a title, and for one reason
or another the coal remains unworked. In all such
cases the person who is able to work the coal should
have the right to apply to the Ministry of Mines and
Minerals for a certificate that unless he works it the
coal will be permanently lost, and when after enquiry
such a certificate is granted, the Ministry of Mines
and Minerals should have power to settle the terms on
which the coal may be worked. If in such a case
the owner of the coal cannot be found, the rent and
royalties should be paid into Court. In the converse
case, where the only person who is able to work the
coal refuses to do so except upon unfair terms, the
Ministry of Mines and Minerals should have power
to settle the terms of a lease on the application of
the owner of the coal, and the terms so adjusted should
be binding upon the adjoining lessee.

Cost of Production.

The cost of production after the war will depend
to a large extent upon the wages ruling, but the cost
of materials may be expected to be relatively high for
some years.

The average output per person employed “ above and
below ground” in the United Kingdom for the nine
years from 1905 to 1913 is only 44 per cent, of the
average output for the same period in the United
States. As compared with Germany, the average
output per person employed “ above and below
ground” for the same period in the United Kingdom
is 6-6 per cent, higher, but whereas the output per
head in the United Kingdom has on the whole
been decreasing, the output in Germany has been
increasing.

Various reasons may be advanced to explain the
decrease, but none of them can be regarded as
adequate. The matter calls for the most complete
investigation on the part of employers and the repre-
sentatives of labour, as the future prosperity of the
industry itself and of the industrial position of the
country generally depends very largely upon a solution
of the problem being found. Where there is any un-
necessary restriction of output, this should be removed,
and if such restriction is in any degree due to a
feeling of insecurity on the part of the workmen, and
a belief that if they put forth a special effort to in-
crease production they will suffer a reduction in their
wages rates, a strong effort should be made to remove
any justification which may exist for such a belief.
Labour-saving appliances might with advantage be
used to a greater extent in connection with colliery
operations. The application of coal-cutting machinery
and face-conveyors should be as largely adopted as
possible.

Auxiliary underground haulages might with great
advantage be employed in many cases, and more regard
might be had to the benefits to be derived from having
the underground haulages brought up as close to the
working face as is practicable. It is believed that
the use of horses might be on a more restricted scale
if the haulage arrangements underground were more
carefully and adequately organised. Improvements
in these directions will be hastened by the raising
of the qualifications of managers, underground
deputies and oversmen, and efforts should be made
to raise the standard of qualification among those and
other underground officials and workmen as far as
possible.

Attention has been drawn to the increases in local
rates which have taken place in recent years. In
many districts these local assessments have become
serious.

If the fullest production at the lowest cost is to be
obtained, it is essential that disputes leading to
stoppage of work at the collieries should be prevented
as far as possible. Any serious stoppage of work
generally results in loss of trade, and also in an in-
crease in the cost of production at the mines affected,
for a considerable time after work has been resumed.
The effect upon the general cost of production may
not be material where the stoppage is limited to a
single mine, but when the industry is considered as
a whole, such stoppages over any year have an
important effect upon costs.

The Report is signed by Adam Nimmo (Vice-
Chairmari), W. C. Blackett, W. Forster Brown, John
Gemmell, J. S. Haldane, E. M. Hann, John Kemp,
R. A. S. Redmayne, C. E. Rhodes, Robt. Smillie, and
A. Strahan. Arnold D. McNair and Robert W.
Stanner, Joint Secretaries.

(To be continued.)

AFFORESTATION AND COAL MINING.

(Specially Contributed.)

Some year# before the war various European forestry
experts foretold a world’s shortage of timber supplies
within the next 25 years, and brought forward statistics
to prove their case. Since then the war has come, and
enormous supplies of timber have been consumed for
actual use in warfare, in addition to which vast stretches
of forest land in South-west Russia, thousands of square
miles in extent, were destroyed in the great struggles
between the contending armies of Germany and Russia
during the first two years of the war. This big excess
of wastage of timber supply will considerably affect the
accuracy of the pre-war forecasts, so that the predicted
world shortage must begin much sooner than was
anticipated. The outlook for the future is, indeed, very
grave, and should demand immediate action from the
State, so as to counteract the menace which over-
shadows the industrial future of the nation.

In view of the recently issued “ Final Report of the
Sub-Committee on Forestry” by the Reconstruction
Committee, which deals thoroughly with the question
of afforestation in this country, it is to be hoped that
the Government will act on the suggestions therein, and
so bring about a new era of the afforestation of this
country, and thus make amends for past apathy and
neglect.

With regard to the methods introduced to stimulate
afforestation by private enterprise in Great Britain as
compared with other European countries, particularly
France and Germany, it is very evident that in our case
the State is largely to blame for the neglect, as, instead
of fostering the industry, it has ignored the fact that
the industry is of urgent national importance, and has
heaped on it discouragements with increased rates and
taxes, so that in some cases the total burden of taxation
on woodlands exceeds 20s. in the £. Consequently, it
is really not surprising that the British Isles, with
climate and other conditions better suited than in any
other country in Europe for sylviculture, should now be
the poorest wooded country but one, its percentage of
wooded area to total area being in 1914 only 4 per cent.,
whilst that of Germany was nearly 26 per cent., and
that of France 18*2 pei’ cent. Even little Belgium with
its big industrial population and network of railways,
had a percentage of 17'7; and the only country lower
than the British Isles was Portugal, with 3’5 per cent.

To make sylviculture sufficiently popular to be taken
up by private enterprise it is necessary to place it on a
sound business basis, with some guarantee of a return
for the money put into it. Owing to the long period of
time that must elapse before any return can be looked
for, it should, owing to its national importance, receive
special treatment from the Government in respect of
Imperial and local charges, etc. Given such encourage-
ment, however, together with scientific management and
organisation, there is no reason why a considerable
return should not be made on the outlay.

Another form of discouragement is the excessive and
in most cases prohibitive railway rates, which absorb
profits if the destination is any distance from the place
of production. To quote an example from the above-
mentioned report:—“ Attempts were made before the
war to open a regular trade in pit props between the
South Wales collieries and the pine woods in the neigh-
bourhood of Bagshot, in Hampshire. Pitwood imported
from France was then selling at about 25s. per ton at
the mines, and the railway rate quoted was 15s. per ton.
This left a margin of 10s. per ton to cover the value of
the timber, the cost of felling, preparation, haulage to
rail and supervision. The margin was absorbed as to
7s. per ton by the last four items, leaving 3s. per ton
to represent the value of the standing timber, which
had taken from 30 to 50 years to grow. Under these
circumstances the attempt was abandoned.”

From the above statement, which is by no means an
isolated example, it is obvious that the nearer the
grown timber is to its market, the lower will be the
cost of transport, and therefore the greater the profit
to the producer.

Taking a survey of the different coal-producing
centres in the country which require such enormous
quantities of imported timber as pit-props, we find that,
in nearly every case, there are big stretches of adjacent
waste land suitable for growing pit-prop timber.

Scotland has, near its coal fields, extensive moorlands
which, if systematically planted, could supply all the
pit-wood required. The North Eastern coal fields of
Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire, all have big
stretches of moorlands, extending down the Pennine
Range to the Peak District in Derbyshire, considerable
portions of which could be planted.

Lancashire is equally well off, whilst the South Wales
coal field, besides having hundreds of square miles of
moorland wastes, extending away from its northern
outcrop into Carmarthen, Brecon and Radnorshire,
large portions of which could be used for growing pit
wood, has some of the finest timber growing land,
within the confines of the coal field itself, at present
unproductive and lying fallow.

This coal field lends itself particularly, as an example
of afforestation in conjunction with coal mining.

The coal measures of this coal field are divided into
two main series; namely, the upper coal measures,
composed largely of beds of sandstone called Pennant
grit, and the lower coal measures, composed largely
of beds of shale and containing the valuable thick
seams of steam coal. Below these again is the Mill-
stone grit, followed by Limestone.

The Pennant grit is a hard grey rock, several
thousands of feet in thickness, and extends practically
over the whole coal field. It acts as a protective cap to
the softer measures below, forming a plateau more or
less flat on the top and varying from 1,000 to 2,000 feet
above sea level.

Through this mass of Pennant rock, the various
streams of the coal field, aided by glacial action in the ice
age, have cut their way down, forming deep, valleys
with fairly steep sides.

All these valleys run in a southerly direction and
were at one time densely clothed with indigenous