September 17, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

575

coal trade of the county in. There were a few outsiders who
always kept offering coal at slightly less than the prices
fixed by the association, and naturally that led to their
filling up their order books and taking contracts away from
the association members. There was also the question of
foreign competition. The competition of Germany was then
becoming more and more fierce, and it was very difficult
indeed to maintain prices in the face of that. There was
also great difficulty in classifying the prices. The Durham
coal trade was particularly a trade which included all classes
of coal, both coal used for different purposes and different
qualities of coal used for the same purpose. There was
enormous difficulty in classifying and fixing a price which
was fair as between the different qualities and the different
mines. It led to innumerable difficulties. With regard to
sales of house coal, witness said some collieries had depots
of their own, and others sold through the agents under
their own control. Others sold through agents over whom
they had no control, and who made their own contracts
with their consumers.

Mr. Warham here stated that the stationmasters of the
railway company sold a large amount of coal in these
counties direct to the consumer, charging a commission of
about 5 per cent. That kept the control of the prices in the
hands of the collieries. These stationmasters acted with
the permission of the railway company as agents for the
colliery for whom they are selling; but also, by order of
the railway company, they were not allowed to undertake
this work except under a guarantee that they did not charge
more than 5 per cent. The railway company did it for some
purpose of their own.

Mr. Rhodes said that down in the south they did the
same thing; but there it was with the avowed object of
retaining the trade absolutely in the hands of the North-
Eastern.

Witness said although prices had gone up considerably in
other classes of coals, and these coals could be sold at
higher prices, the colliery companies had deliberately kept
them at very little above the old prices for household
purposes. He was not aware of collieries being stopped for
want of trucks. The trade was almost entirely carried on
by North-Eastern Railway trucks. A very small proportion
of the collieries had trucks of their own. There were no
wagon companies. The only transport difficulties had been
with regard, to shipping.

Witness continued : We do not look upon the employment
of women in mining work as desirable. We think it is
not suitable work for them, and we think it would probably
be resented by the workmen if we were to endeavour to bring
it about. The particular duties which women could perform
on the surface have been largely taken up by compensation
men, and old men who are prevented from some cause from
going down the pits. We do use a certain number of boys
on the belts. By the employment of younger boys they
might be relieved. The educational regulations are one of
the causes of the difficulty of getting young boys.

Mr. Warham stated that, in answer to questions, the New-
castle and Gateshead Gas Company and the large electric
supply company in the Newcastle district, had told them
that they were well off for supplies. With regard to the
London»gas companies, Mr. Guthrie said he understood from
some of the colliery companies that last year the gas com-
panies* did not take out their contract quantities. They had
two different kinds of contracts. Some had f.o.b. contracts,
by which the gas companies provided the ship, and the others
had c.i.f. contracts, in which the contracting collieries pro-
vided the ships. The other contracts had a clause in—and
it was the gas companies’ own contracts^—by which in the
case of such events as the present one, they had the right to
suspend delivery. Many of those c.i.f. contracts were taken
out fairly well, and some of the c.i.f. ones were not delivered
so well; but that was on account of this clause which the
gas companies themselves put in. There were war risk
questions and various other matters of that sort that came
up, which many consumers, especially consumers abroad,
recognised, and said, “ We will pay an extra freight to over-
come these things.” He did not exactly know of his own
knowledge how the gas companies treated these; but they
did not take the full contract quantities from the collieries,
and during that same time the collieries were lying idle for
want of trade. During that time they could have bought coal
very cheaply. On the other hand, the collieries being left
in the lurch, not only by them, but by other buyers as well,
and their pits being idle, provided themselves very largely
with trade for the coming year. During the whole of. this
time recruiting was going on; and by the time the gas
companies and other consumers woke up to the fact that
their stocks were approaching a dangerous condition of
depletion, and began to come in and buy, everybody else
began to come in and buy. Shipping also, owing to the
interned steamers being liberated, and so on, began to be
more plentiful, and other things came down upon the
collieries at the same time. He understood there were some
collieries who sold practically the whole of their output, and
had lost, perhaps, 20 per cent., or it may be even more, of
their men. So that, naturally, they could not supply the
whole of their contracts to everybody. Of course, some of
this coal that had been sold had been sold to merchants who
had re-sold it to foreigners, and it would have to be done in
■such a way that they could keep themselves free from claims.

Mr. Warham : It is to be remembered that certain gas
companies made a very large purchase of German coal, which
they have been unable to obtain, and that is one of the
causes of their difficulty. They made a contract in London,
I understand, through Hugo Stinnes, of Mulheim.

Mr. Guthrie said no doubt the gas coal producing collieries
were to a large extent on the east coast, and they had lost a
larger proportion than those further inland.

The bonus question being raised again, Mr. Kirkup
referred to a case where a bonus was being paid at present.
It was quite a limited bonus, he said, which they had been
in the habit of paying at a certain colliery for some years.
It was paid to the putters. Atj this particular colliery the
putters were in the habit of lying idle, and a bonus of 5 per
cent, was given for regular work to everyone who put in his
full time. He had not been able to find out that it had had
any effect. In fact, the lying idle of the putters at that
colliery was now somewhat higher than at the adjoining
collieries, where the bonus was not paid. It had always been
a colliery where putters had lain idle, and it continued to be
so. The conclusion he had arrived at was that the bonus had
had no effect on them whatever in inducing them to work.
It was a 5 per cent, bonus on wages if they worked the full
time.

Mr. Guthrie said in Northumberland at that moment they
had a sliding scale which was automatic in its operation,
and the only element was the selling price of coal. In
Durham it was different. They had no automatic sliding

scale; but they had a Conciliation Board, which received the
ascertainment each quarter, and that was the main factor in
determining what should be the rate of wages for the succeed-
ing quarter. In the last quarter the full reduction was not
insisted upon, owing to the extra cost of living in Durham,
although the price had fallen. In the first ascertainment
after the commencement of the war there was a considerable
reduction in the selling price, but the owners felt it undesir-
able to put forward a claim at that moment for a reduction
in wages. The next ascertainment showed a continuance of
the fall; and in consequence of the position in which they
found themselves owing to the short working, and conse-
quently their heavily increased costs, which were further
added to by increased cost of materials and other matters,
the owners felt it necessary to make application for the
amount of reduction which they considered necessary in view
of the fall of prices. They obtained a reduction. In the
next ascertainment there was still a further fall; but in
response to the appeal of the workmen, the owners agreed not
to press for the reduction. Witness said they were paying
very much higher prices for timber. Even on the contracts
which were existing at the time the merchants demanded
higher prices. The increase would be 75 to 100 per cent.

Mr. Guthrie said there had been a considerable amount of
re-arrangement of work in the mines in this respect—not only
of transferring men from seam to seam, but from place to
place within a seam, and even closing a pit, and transfer-
ring the whole of the men to another. Wherever it was
possible to concentrate work in that way, the managers were
doing it. The output per hewer employed per shift had
increased since.

Mr. Kirkup added that it was a fairly general practice
where they were a long way in-bye, and where the roads
were such that they could safely do it, to ride the men in.
He did not know of any cases where it could still be done
with advantage. The endless rope system had been adopted
very little in Durham. There was a little more in North-
umberland, but the permanent method of haulage was main-
and-tail.

Mr. Guthrie said he did not know that they had any quota-
tion for railway rates to districts in the Midlands, but they
would certainly be prohibitive. Mr. Warham said the
rates from his collieries to Bradford, for instance, were 7s. a
ton, and to Manchester 9s. Practically all the industrial
centres that were round Newcastle away from Tyneside were
in a coal field themselves.

Witness stated that certain companies in the county of
Durham were not included in the ascertainment for the reason
that they were companies who had large ironworks and indus-
tries of that kind, and consumed the ^greater proportion of
their coal for use in their own works. Therefore, it was
impossible to get a proper price from them, except by taking
it at the average of the rest, which, of course, would have
no effect. Therefore, they excluded four firms of that kind
in the large county of Durham. In Northumberland every
colliery was included.

Mr. Guthrie said he had no reason to think that those who
were affected by drink were any very considerable proportion
of the men.

Regarding the question of exports, he said the stoppage of
exports altogether in Northumberland would be a very serious
disaster to the trade of the county. It would lead to the
throwing out of employment a very large number of men—
not only those employed in the mines, but those engaged in
all the various industries connected with the shipping of coal
on the Tyne and other ports. Then, again, there was the
economic effect of our being unable to send goods to other
countries in exchange for something we must have from them.
They always considered in Northumberland that about 80 per
cent, of the saleable produce was exported. In Durham it
was very much less—something like 20 to 25 per cent. But
even so, some collieries in Durham shipped 60 to 70 per cent,
of their output; and Mr. Kirkup said his company shipped
80 per cent, of their output, of which 20 per cent, was coast-
wise and 60 per cent, foreign. He could not see how -the
20 per cent, of coal that was exported from Durham could
be absorbed in the country in the neighbourhood of the
collieries. The remaining part of the output was supplying
the manufacturing industries in the neighbourhood, and that
20 per cent, would not be ‘required for them. The same diffi-
culty of transport to other distant parts of the country which
applied to Northumberland would also apply to their coal. In
Northumberland practically the whole trade was dependent
upon the export, and the commodity could not be diverted to
other purposes unless the Government bought it for Admiralty
or other purposes, and themselves took the responsibility of
distributing it. A great many years ago the Admiralty used
to take a considerable amount of Northumberland coal; but
they had not recently taken any for use in their ships. It
would be impossible to stop the exports to-day and resume
them to-morrow. They could not tell people that for a time
they were not going to supply them, and then expect them to
be waiting at the door when they were ready to resume busi-
ness with them.

Witness said he did not think they would object to other
districts getting the advantage of the suspension of the
Act.

The Chairman said he doubted if legally the*” Class of
mines ” could be taken to apply to a district. He thought it
would have to -apply to a description of mine.

Speaking of the number of cases that come before the
joint committees in the two counties, Mr. Guthrie -said that
in Northumberland and Durham there was a peculiar system
in operation whereby -all sorts of questions, other than wage
questions, on which a difference of opinion arose between
the management and the men, were referred to the joint
committeee in the way of friendly reference, and these coming
to the joint committee did not mean that there was friction
going on at the collieries. Thus they had an arrangement
by which, if the wages were more than 5 per cent, below
the county standard, the men might come to the joint com-
mittee and ask for an advance. On the other hand, if
they were 5 per cent, in advance, the owners might come
to the joint committee and ask for a reduction. In some
cases there were scales per inch, according to the height of
the seam. Those disputes only reached the joint board
when the local committee had failed to settle them. The
local manager could only change his rates subject to the
approval of the joint committee. Very frequently they did
agree at the colliery, and simply sent the agreement for
confirmation. In some of the cases, said Mr. Kirkup, the
miners’ representatives at the collieries did not themselves
like to sign an agreement, and they mutually agreed to let
the chairman of the joint committee decide it for them.
It helped them with their local men, either with regard to
advance or reduction, That was how many cases got to the
joint committee.

Mr. Kirkup said the night shift started at 10 o’clock at
most of the pits. Deputies went down, and the stonemen
might go in on the Sunday night; but there was no coal-
getting on the Sunday. The miners, generally speaking,
were very anxious to cut coal on Sunday rather than cut
it on the Saturday afternoon, or even on a Sunday night.
But they arranged with the Miners’ Association many years
ago that they would do all that was possible to discourage
Sunday labour. Going to work on Sunday night, even at
10 o’clock, was only necessary when the Eight Hours Act
came into force. It used to be 12 o’clock before.

(To be continued.)

THE GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN COAL
AND IRON TRADES.

We give below further extracts from German
periodicals that have reached us, showing the course of
the coal and iron trades in Germany and Austria :—

The Coal Syndicate and Prior Contracts.

In the negotiations for renewing the Coal Syndicate,
the question of the fate of prior contracts entered into
with merchants has proved a difficult problem. At first
the Syndicate wished to have these contracts cancelled,
but has since issued a modified proposal, according to
which the contracts in question are to be suspended
during the existence of the new Syndicate. Even this
modification, however, is proving difficult to carry into
effect, as is shown by the case of the Gewerkschaft
Viktoria, of Kupferdreh. In 1910 this company was
obliged to sink a new shaft in order to reach the deeper
seams, and in consequence of cavings in both the old
and new shafts, was prevented from taking advantage
of the removal of the limitation on output in 1913. Last
year, being able to produce 600,000 tons per annum, it
applied for an increased allotment (as an act of grace in
view of the circumstances), which was refused. Notice
was therefore given to terminate connection with the
Syndicate, and arrangements made with merchants to
dispose of the above output for a term of years. Now,
as the suspension of this contract would vitally affect
the success of the company—in view of the heavy debt
contracted on the deepening scheme—if it only received
its old allotment, it has applied for an increase to 450,000
tons, in order that its existence may be secured if it
joins the new Syndicate. This instance is sufficient to
demonstrate the difficulties attending the application of
a hard and fast rule with regard to prior contracts.

Austrian Coal Output During 12 Months of War.

In the first completed year of war Austria produced
14,821,000 tons of pit coal (16,514,000 tons in the corre-
sponding period of 1913-14), 1,788,000 tons (2,615,000
tons) of coke, and 207,000 tons (191,000 tons) of
briquettes, together with 21,685,000 tons (26,570,000
tons) of brown coal, and 241,000 tons (240,000 tons) of
brown coal briquettes. In the case of pit coal, the
deficit is approximately If million tons, and in brown
coal nearly five million tons, being 10 per cent, and 18
per cent, respectively of the normal output. The
deficit in coke is 827,000 tons, or over 30 per cent. In
ordinary times Austria has a surplus of about 7| million
tons of brown coal available for export, but has to import
16 million tons of pit coal, mostly from Germany. No
figures are yet published to show how far this supply
has been continued.

New German Coal Trading Company.

The Gewerkschaft Furst Leopold, Dorsten, an offshoot
of the Bergwerks A.G. Consolidation, has founded the
Dorstener Handelsgesellschaft fur Bergwerkserzeugnisse
m.b. H., with a capital of 20,000 mk., for trading in
coal and coal products. The Furst Leopold Company
has been allotted a participation of 600,000 tons by the
Coal Syndicate Renewal Committee, thus bringing the
total allotment of the Consolidation Company to more
than three million tons of coal and coke.

Coal and Iron Market in Upper Silesia.

The situation of the coal market in August was
highly satisfactory, the output being about 75 per cent,
of the normal, whilst the demand was extremely heavy,
especially in house coal, this district having now to
supply consuming centres which formerly used English
coals, and also to furnish the capital with gas coal. The
coke trade was also very inactive, in consequence of the
substitution of this fuel for coal, and therefore the usual
need for stocking a large proportion of the output was
lacking. Again, most of the large coke usually shipped
to Russian Poland has found employment in the local
blastfurnaces, which have been exceptionally busy.
By-products are in good demand at remunerative prices,
and the cokeries have therefore every inducement to
increase their output.

In the iron industry the fear of a scarcity of raw
material has now passed away, though prices are high,
and all other materials, labour, etc., have advanced.
The situation in the pig iron market has changed con-
siderably since the outbreak of war, for whereas a year
ago the works had heavy stocks, and a stoppage was
regarded as imminent, pig iron has since been occasion-
ally scarce, though at present there is enough to supply
not only the demand for war material, but other con-
sumers as well.

Rhine Traffic.

Considerable shipments of coal have been conveyed of
late, especially to harbours above Mannheim, where
sufficient stocks have been accumulated to remove all
fear of a scarcity of fuel for some time. Most of the
traffic has been handled by the big firms, having suffi-
cient barges to deal with the consignments, and as craft
have been able to carry full cargoes all the way, there
has been little demand for small craft. For the traffic
to Holland and Belgium, and on the Westphalian canals,
on the other hand, smaller vessels have been in better
request.