January 7, 1916.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

Part III. of the Chief Inspector of Mines Eeport
for 1914 has been issued. It shows that the total
output of coal during that year was 265,664,393 tons,
and the value £132,596,853, or a decrease of over
21 millions in the former and nearly 13 millions in
value as compared with 1913.

At Mansfield, last week, Mr. F. P. Day, manager
of the Bentinck Colliery, asked for the issue of a
summons against a checkweigher at the pit named
Peach. It is stated that the latter interfered with
the management of the mine and caused a stoppage.
The application was granted, and the case will be
heard on the 13th inst.

Special courts have been set up by the Home
Secretary to deal with the question as to the possi-
bility of sparing further miners for service with the
Forces.	'

Included in the New Year Honours list is the
name of Mr. D. A. Thomas, who has been granted a
peerage. It is understood that he proposes to take
the title of Baron Phondda of Llanwern.

A special conference of the Miners’ Federation of
Great Britain will be held next week to consider the
Compulsion Bill.

The year just passed has shown the

The full effect of war conditions, and the

Coal Trade situation is without precedent in the
in 1915. history of the coal trade. To a large
extent the state of the industry must
be considered artificial, the natural laws governing
supply and demand having been disturbed by various
factors, of which the most important have been due
to Government control and legislative restrictions.
Perhaps for the first time the nation has been brought
face to face with the vital importance of coal to the
effective conduct of the war, and the intricacy of the
machinery by which the output and distribution of
fuel are maintained. Unfortunately, in each of
these factors disturbances have been caused. The
output has been adversely affected by enlistment of
miners, by petty strikes and by absenteeism, while
distribution has been hampered by tonnage and
wagon difficulties, to a large extent inevitable in
view of military and naval requirements.

On the whole the country has emerged from these
embarrassments with less anxiety than at one time
seemed* probable, and the present position is more
satisfactory than could have been expected in the
earlier part of the year.

Let us in the first place review briefly the part
which the Government has played in the undoubtedly
difficult position which arose early in the year.
Shortage of output and other complications led in
the early spring to so rapid an advance in prices of
household coal that a Detail Coal Prices Committee
was appointed for the purpose of enquiring “ into the
conditions prevailing in the coal mining industry,
with a view to securing such organisation of work
and such co-operation between employers and work-
men as will free for enlistment the largest possible
number of men qualified for military service without
interfering with the necessary production of coal
during the war.”

The only practical result of this Committee’s
deliberations was the institution, in May, of the
licensing system for the restriction of exports in order
to set free a larger quantity of coal for the home
markets. The licensing system was applied
cautiously and was in the first place confined to
shipments to neutral markets, but it was subse-
quently extended to Allied countries. Its effect has
naturally been felt unequally in the different coal
fields. We shall touch at greater length upon the
influence of licences in a future article upon the
export coal trade. It is only necessary here to
examine to what extent this procedure fulfilled its
professed object of relieving the pressure upon
the home markets. In South Wales, as might have
been foreseen, restriction of exports could scarcely
be expected to have much influence upon the supply
of those classes of coal which are most in request for
home consumption. A very similar state of things
was experienced in Northumberland and Durham.
The qualities of coal exported from the Tyne are not
such as can be used with advantage in factories and

Prices.

Description of fuel.	Per ton. January 1, 1915.	Per ton. July 1, 1915.	Per ton. January 1, 1916.
Best Northumbrian steam coals f.o.b. Tyne...  ,,	,,	steam smalls „  Best Durham gas coals	„  Durham coking coals	,,  Best Durham blast-furnace coke del. Tees-side Durham bunkers f.o.b. Tyne 	  Foundry coke f.o.b. Tyne	  Best Lancashire house coals at pit 	  ,,	,,	slacks	„  Best Yorkshire Silkstone	„ 	  Barnsley thick-seam house	„ 	  Best Haigh Moor (London)	„		  Yorkshire steam coals	,,		  Best Derbyshire house coals ,,		  Large ,,	nuts	„		  Best Staffordshire house coals 	  ’	Welsh steam coals	f.o.b. Cardiff...  „ Welsh small steam coals ,,	,,  ,, Semi-bituminous	,,	„  No. 3 Bhondda, large	,,	,,	...  No. 2	„	„	„	„ ...  Patent fuel	,,	„	...  Best Welsh malting anthracite f.o.b. Swansea Special foundry coke, Cardiff	  Scotch ell coals f.o.b. Glasgow 	  ,, steam ,,	,,		  ,, splint „	,,		  Fife steam coals, f.o.b. Methil 	  Fife treble nuts „	,,		  Hetton Wallsend, London 		12s. 3d. to 12s. 6d.  7s. to 7s. 3d.  12s. 6d.  10s. to 10s. 6d.  19s.  10s. 6d. to Ils. 6d.  19s. to 20s.  17s. 3d. to 18s.  9s. 6d. to 10s.  15s. 6d. to 16s.  15s.  15s. to 16s.  11s. 6d. to Ils. 9d.  13s. 6d.  10s. 6d.  18s. 6d.  21s. to 22s.  12s. to 12s. 6d.  18s.  18s.  15s. to 15s. 6d.  18s.  22s. 6d. to 24s. 6d.  28s. to 32s.  13s. 9d. to 14s. 11s. 3d. to 13s. 3d. 13s. 3d. to 15s. 9d. 12s. 6d. to 12s. 9d.  12s. 6d. to 13s.	20s.  14s.  20s.  17s. 6d. to 18s. 6d.  30s.  16s. to 19s.  37s. 6d.  21s. to 22s.  14s.  21s. to 22s.  19s. to 20s.  19s. to 20s.  15s. to 16s.  17s.  15s. 6d.  23s.  27s*  19s. 6d. to 20s.  26s. to 27s.  28s.  20s. to 21s.  35s.  22s 6d. to 24s. 6d.  40s. to 42s. 6d.  15s.  13s. 6d. to 16s. 6d.  15s. to 18s.  18s. to 20s.  16s. 6d. to 17s. 6d.	’ 22s.  10s. 6d.  21s. to 22s.  21s.  36s.  21s. to 22s.  36s. to 38s.  21s. to 22s.  14s. to 15s.  20s. to 22s.  18s. 6d.  20s. to 21s.  17s. to 18s.  17s.  15s.  	#  	  . 12s. 6d. to 13s. 6d.  24s. to 25s.  23s. to 24s.  20s. to 21s.  24s. to 25s.  36s. to 37s. 6d.  42s. 6d. to 45s.  21s. 6d.  18s. to 20s.  22s. to 26s.  21s. to 22s.  21s. to 22s.

* Nominal; best sorts off the market.

Freights.

	January 1, 1915.	July 1,1915.	January .1, 1916.
Tyne to—			
Bonen 		17s.	16s.	21s.
Marseilles		21s.	• 28s.	50s.
Genoa 		21s. 6d.	27s.	66s. 6d.
Alexandria 		22s. 6d.	27s. 6d.	72s. 6d.
London		Ils. 6d.	7s. 6d.	15s.
Cardiff to—			
Genoa 		; 17s. 9d.	22s. 6d.	66s.
Bordeaux		Ils.	16s. 6d.	32s.
Marseilles		15s. 6d.	20s.	48s.
Havre 					Ils. 6d.	12s.	21s.
Barcelona		16s.	20s.	50s.
Las Palmas		13s.	19s.	35s.
Alexandria 		19s. 6d.	25s.	67s. 6d.
Biver Plate		16s. 3d.	27s. 6d.	40s.

workshops in this country, and, partly from the very
limited extent to which licences were granted, partly
also from scarcity of tonnage, the Northumberland
coal trade has been heavily hit by the restriction in
the export trade. Durham gas coals have scarcely
fared much better, and a considerable fall in prices
took place when the Order in Council came into
operation, but in this case the surplus output was
more readily taken up in the long run at home. The
Scottish coal trade was also seriously disjointed by
the licensing restrictions, and prices fell in conse-
quence, while the market remained weak and
uncertain for some months. So far as relief for the
home demand has been secured by the licensing
system, this has been heavily discounted by loss of
output at the collieries, which is an invariable
accompaniment of any impediment to the free move-
ment of coal. It is, in fact, difficult to say to what
extent the object of the Government has been
attained, because the position has been obscured by
other factors, such as scarcity of tonnage and railway
wagons. There can, however, be no doubt that the
licence system will be continued during the war, and
the coal trade will have to adjust itself as best it can
to the conditions thus established.

A second Coal Prices Committee issued a report in
June, but the result was unimportant in comparison
with that of a third Committee, which led to what is
known as the Price of Coal (Limitation) Act, 1915,
passed last July. This Act applies only to the sale
of inland coal, and affects, with certain limitations,
both coal actually sold and also coal offered for
sale. Without entering into the many controversial
matters raised by this Act, it may be stated that its
effect appears to be distinctly one-sided, because no
allowance is made for increase of wages in the mean-
time. It is, however, only fair to state that, by
section 2 of the first clause of this Act, the standard
amount of 4s. per ton increase in price over the
pre-war price may be increased by the Board of

Wages.

Percentage of wages above
standards.

District.

	Jan. 1, 1915.	July 1, 1915.	Jan. 1, 1916.
Northumberland 		... 47	...	65 f...	78 t
Durham 		... 53J ...	681f...	75 t
Federated area 		... 65	...	9O4f...	95J*f
South Wales and Mon....	... 60	...	77-i-f...	881f
Scotland 		... 75	...	106ft...	1181t

* 25f above the new standard, which is 50 per cent, above
the standard of 1879, with a minimum wage of 10 per cent,
above the new standard or 60 per cent, above the standard
of 1879.

f Including the war bonus.

Trade in respect of any class of coal mines where
special circumstances exist. In actual practice, as
might be expected, the effect of this Act has been
that pit prices have in general risen to the statutory
limit. It cannot be denied that without the Act
prices would almost certainly have been higher, and
the consumer has, therefore, been relieved to that
extent; but contractors will not necessarily obtain
the full benefit of the statutory limitation, owing to
the provision made in the Act for wagon hire. It is
yet too soon to estimate the full effect of the Limita-
tion of Prices Act upon the colliery balance-sheets,
but coal owners have accepted the situation with a
good grace, and it is to be hoped that the heavy
demand caused by the war will be found to have
made the position at least tolerable. The effect from
the consumers’ standpoint may be estimated by the
fact that the Glasgow Corporation is said to have
benefited already to the extent of some £50,000
on contracts made by the Gas and Electricity
Departments.

Attention must also be given to another way in
which coal prices have been artificially controlled.
Pit prices, as is known, chiefly concern contract coal.
The ordinary retail consumer of coal is largely in the
hands of the coal merchant. In the London area the