November 22, 1918. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1087 THE LONDON COAL TRADE. Thursday, November 21. A good deal of the business on the London Coal Market was suspended -last week, but on Monday the Exchange settled down to something approaching normal conditions. In the seaborne market it was announced that the convoy system has been dispensed with, and boats are more easily obtainable; 23 vessels were reported as arriving in the Thames for Monday’s market and nine for Wednesday. All, however, were loaded with contract cargoes. Prices are unchanged, and the demand is far in excess of the sup- plies. House coal supplies have to a certain extent improved, but all qualities of manufacturing coals are very scarce. The main anxiety at the present moment arises from the lack of stocks at all the various wharves and depots. London, as viewed from the merchant’s point of view, has never been so short of supplies for the winter consumption,'but householders generally have a fair stock. So far no relaxation is to be found in the demand for export coal, more particularly for France and Italy, and it is feared the demand may be increased rather than diminished. The enormous calls also for railway and gas companies have to be first considered, and although there is a great probability that munition works may pos- sibly soon lessen their pressure for supplies, yet the allow- ance for ordinary lighting and the household fuel require- ments are still under strict supervision, and require continuous economy. The release of so many miners from, the Forces is a source of great satisfaction, but it is felt on all sides that a considerable time must elapse before any great improvement can take place in the output or bring about anything like a normal state of affairs on the coal market. Already the Controller* has issued a strong protest against the private consumer using so much light. The darkened streets have had a considerable in- crease of light through the paint being removed from the street lamps, but all illuminations, outside lighting and shop window lighting have been again prohibited. The Household Fuel and Lighting Order is still in force. The circular issued points out that unless the public main- tains careful and economical habits there can only be hardship in the later months of the winter, when possibly the need for coal will be greater. Some of the Midland towns are in great straits for want of coal, and in the South and West of England the position is most serious. The maximum weekly tonnage for the metropolitan area has been strenuously maintained; but even here the short- age is very apparent, necessitating a considerable reduc- tion in the supply elsewhere. Collieries complain that they are receiving so many orders and instructions from different departments that it is impossible to comply with all the requirements entirely independent of the mass of orders from the ordinary merchant. The winter and summer rations have been emphasised by the issue of a table enabling householders to calculate approximately how much fuel per day these rations would work out. Gas companies are very short of coal, and are expe- riencing great difficulty in obtaining their necessary tonnage. Gas coke has been selling very freely until recently, but now all further orders are refused. Railway companies are very pressing for an increased quantity, and strong efforts are being made to build up a larger stock. The prevailing cold weather has greatly stimu- lated the delivery trade, and trollies with their weekly round in the poorer neighbourhoods are very eagerly awaited and soon cleared of their loads. At Egham, on Tuesday and Wednesday last, several wagons of coal were carted away from Baron Schroeder’s house for distribution in the neighbourhood. German prisoners did the work. From Messrs. Dinham, Fawcus and Company’s Report. Friday, November 15.—There was only a small arrival of seaborne coal for to-day’s market. All of it was on account of contracts. Arrivals, 8. Monday, November 18.—The number of arrivals of sea- borne cargoes on account of contracts was good. No coal was on offer. Cargoes, 23. Wednesday, November 20.—The supply of seaborne coal was not good. This was partly owing to weather con- ditions, vessels arriving being on account of contract. No coal for sale. Arrivals, 9. THE BY-PRODUCTS TRADE. Tar Products.—A sign of the return to normal lines of trade is found in the revocation of certain clauses of section 2 of the Customs (Exportation Prohibition) Act, 1914. The prohibition is removed from anthracene oil and creosote. Some trouble is experienced regarding export licences for pitch, chiefly in the slowness of official proce- dure, and hopes are entertained of more facile arrange- ments for expediting shipments. Some important move- ments are likely, but at present there is very little to note. Provincial prices tend to advance. Generally speaking the shipping position may be expected to improve appreciably, in consequence of the freeing of a great deal of tonnage. That is desirable, for a huge quantity of pitch is needed abroad. Benzol prices are practically certain to rise if the control is removed, chiefly because motor owners will find that petrol remains a question in the market. Solvent naphtha is in fair request at unchanged quotations. As crude carbolic prices have been fixed, there is nothing fresh to report in that direction. Prospects all round are rather unsettled, owing to uncertainty regarding Departmental intentions. Sulphate of Ammonia.—It seems doubtful whether any great addition to shipments can be looked for in order to meet demands abroad. In October we exported only 2,836 tons under licence, little more than one-tenth of the quantity shipped two years ago. The possibility of increased exports is not a great one. The home demand is still on the basis of schedule prices. Export Prices of Steel.—The Minister of Munitions gives notice that all deliveries of steel for export shall con- tinue to be made at prices fixed by the Minister. Infor- mation as to the export prices ruling on and after 18th instant will be obtainable on application to the Ministry of Munitions (Controller of Iron and Steel Production), Whitehall-place, S.W. 1. Imports of Pit Props.—The table below shows the quan- tity and value of pit props or pit wood imported in October:— October. Jan.-Oct. 1917. 1918. 1917. 1918. Loads....... 61,260... 41,684 .. 867,726... 627,485 Value....... <£350,004...£144,679... £3,562,904... £2,746,675 BRITAIN’S MINERAL RESOURCES. A report prepared by Sir Lionel Phillips, late Con- troller of the Department for the Development of the Mineral Resources of the Kingdom, has been issued as a White Paper. One of the recommendations it contains favours the formation of a Mines Depart- ment. The report characterises the present system of royalties as illogical, harsh, and unfair. It says that where natural resources were involved there might be complete justification for well-considered State inter- ference between land owner and the tenant. The question was complex, and safeguards were necessary. No Act of Parliament would be comprehensive enough to provide for the diverse conditions that would be met with. An independent body should be set up with defined general powers within the limits of which they should be allowed a wide discretion. The proving of mineral bodies could usually be undertaken by the occupation of very limited surface area and with modest appliances. Only in the unusual case of attractive indications resulting in the provision of elaborate works and extensive development which ultimately fail to prove payable deposits would it be necessary to provide adequate compensation for injury done to the surface. Royalties which averaged about 6d. per ton of coal and 9d. per ton of iron ore did not seem excessive or restrictive of output, but they should come out of the profits derived from working, and not be levied on the gross product. Power should certainly be given for a just variation in accordance with the circumstances of each individual case where the landlord and the tenant failed to come to an agreement. Taxation of Mines. Taxation of mines was a thorny question that had never been approached in a sufficiently broad spirit. Although the magnificent coal measures might give to individual holdings very long lives, the day of ex- haustion must come, and there was no logical reason why an annual percentage—even if only fractional— should not be written off as wotking costs to redeem the capital involved. In all mines earning profits the amounts distributed to proprietors as dividends or profits consisted not only of income, but included the return of capital as well. Thus when a mine was worked out the proprietors suffered not only a loss, of income, but, beyond the break-up value of their equipment, had none of their capital left. To tax mining profits on this basis was to tax capital as well as income, and to differentiate unfairly against persons who invested in mines. Individual pro- prietors could not be protected against improvidence, but limited liability companies might be encouraged to set aside each year out of profits sums estimated as sufficient to redeem the capital during the life of the property, so that participants would find their capital intact when profits were no longer earned. The case was not one for the application of compul- sion, because some mines spent initial capital which was never recovered, and many others, after enjoying a limited career of prosperity, met with adversity. Reserve funds so derived should not be taxed. Similarly, the tax gatherer should not levy toll upon sums spent out of profits in development. The general effect of such a course was to limit development and induce owners to distribute as much money as possible. The excess profits tax had a *most discouraging influence upon mining. Capital could not be found for new propositions, and special arrangements for relief have been necessary in specific cases to induce proprietors to open up lodes, and especially to work the richer ore bodies yielding metals needed for the war. Mines Department. The mineral industries required for their super- vision and assistance a more elaborate department, and its duties should be comprehensive. The section of the Home Office devoted to the purpose was too small for efficient government, and its duties and authority too circumscribed. Its officers have most courteously given to the Department every assistance in their power. A small body which might be termed the Metal and Mineral Trades Commission (linked with the Mines Department) should be created to examine applications, have them investigated, and, if deemed advisable, recommend the trade bank to make ad- vances where it was considered necessary to hold stocks. Ordinary banking facilities might not always be adequate to meet specific cases. The metal trade should be represented on this Commission, and con- tact between it and the body referred to later on in connection with the self-governing Dominions should be maintained, and joint meetings arranged, when necessary, through the medium of the Mines Department. The Geological Survey, now under the Board of Education, would surely be more appro- priately linked with the Mines Department. That section was well organised, and had rendered very valuable service to the country. More than one person was often needed in the compilation of reports, and in most cases the special knowledge required must be sought outside the Civil Service. More extended legal powers were required respecting the collection and publication of statistics and plans. A fund for experimental work, to be rendered as far as possible self-supporting, should be at the disposal of the Mines Department for the purpose of following up geological studies of certain districts. Boring would doubtless - lead to the discovery and subsequent profitable de- velopment of valuable mineral lodes. Many cases could be cited in which the State might reasonably incur a limited risk on behalf of the taxpayer. Legislative sanction was therefore needed for the Mines Department to enter and make tests upon selected lands, and a system should be established for recovering the outlay with a substantial profit in cases of success to replenish the fund and defray the cost of barren efforts. Recommendations. The following recommendations are made: — 1. That the Government should, in the public interest, concern itself more- actively than hitherto in the mining and mineral industries at home and in the Crown Colonies and Dependencies. 2. That for this purpose it is necessary to organise a Mines Department on suitable lines for the United Kingdom. 3. That, in order to secure the full benefit of the Department, at least three small qualified bodies acting as committees or commissioners should be appointed, and they might be conveniently styled— (a) The Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau—form- ing a link with the self-governing Dominions; (b) The Mines and Minerals Commission, to watch and foster the interests of the Empire in the output and trade in mineral and metallic products; (c) Com- missioners authorised to take action in cases of im- proper exploitation of properties, or unreasonable or prohibitive conditions imposed by land owners for royalties and wayleaves. 4. That a fund, to be administered by the Mines Department and rendered as far as possible self- supporting, should be provided for the purpose of undertaking experimental work in approved direc- tions. 5. That profits spent upon the further development of the properties from which they were derived should be exempted from taxation. 6. That the provisions of the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act of 1872 should be amended and ex- tended, where necessary, in order to give effect to these recommendations. Collection of Information. Some details are given concerning the collection of information by various departments and technical organisations in the United Kingdom and the United States. Turning now to the organisation deemed suitable for this country, its Colonies and Dependen- cies on the one hand, and India and the self-governing Dominions on the other, all branches of official work connected with mines and quarries might be concen- trated in the Department. The Geological Survey would be a very important branch of it. The Survey was, as far its limitations permit, well organised, and it had rendered very valuable service to the country. The constitution of the proposed Mines De- partment should include amongst its powers and duties the collection of the following informa- tion: Monthly or quarterly confidential returns as to the number of hands employed above and below ground, wages paid, feet driven in current and prospective development, tons raised of productive and unproductive rock respectively, quan- tity, value and cost per ton of saleable product. Every branch of the industry should furnish returns designed in each case to supply the picture of progress or decline, as the case may be, and it should be the duty of an officer of the Department of Mines to study the returns, watch the tendencies, reporting to the chief of the Department, who might, with the know- ledge obtained, be able to take action at once bene- ficial to the industry and country. It should receive progress plans of all mines, which the law should compel owners to supply. These should be kept up to date. Results of prospecting work carried out on behalf of private interests or companies should as far as possible be reported, and correct diagrams and details of all borings, whether successful or otherwise, delivered to the Department. Whenever a mine closes down, both surface and underground plans should be deposited with the Mines Department, and a statement should accom- pany them describing: (a) The state of workings at the time of closing down, and the reasons for doing so ; (b) the quantity of water being pumped at the time; (c) the nature of the rock in which shafts and drives were made, and information as to whether heavy timbering in any particular part of the mine was required ; (d) the character, size and value of any ore bodies visible in the workings ; (c) results obtained during the life of the mine in cross-cutting to other veins from the main workings, in prospect- ing shafts, surface trenching, etc. ; (/) points at which underground connections, if any, have been made with neighbouring mines; (