March 3, 1916. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 413 TRADE AMD THE WAR. , The Board of Trade give notice that all applications for licences to export tin from the United Kingdom should indicate whether the tin it is desired to export is of English .manufacture or imported metal. The Prime Minister has fixed Tuesday, March 7, to receive the deputation appointed at the recent Guildhall meeting on the subject of “ Trade and Employment after the War.” Under an Order in Council, dated February 23, the Customs (Exportation, Prohibition) Act Proclamation of July 28, 1915, is amended by the deletion of the heading “ Haematite pig iron ” in the list of goods the exportation of which is prohibited to all destinations, and the following substituted : “ Pig iron of the following descriptions : (a) Pig iron con- taining less than 0-1 per cent, of phosphorus, including haematite pig iron ; (6) all other pig iron containing more than 0-1 per cent, of phosphorus, but less than 1-5 per cent, of silicon, together with less than 0-09 per cent, of sulphur.” A Royal Proclamation published in the London Gazette prohibits trading with certain persons or bodies of persons in neutral countries by reason of their enemy nationality or enemy association. A Statutory List, which may be added to or varied from time to time, is appended to the Proclama- tion. It embraces Greece, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Portuguese East Africa, Spain, and Sweden. Persons engaged in railway or public utility works .in neutral countries under charter, grant, or con- cession, may trade with persons named in the list so far only as is necessary to enable them to comply with the conditions of their charter, grant, or concession. . The Tribuna, of Rome, publishes a statistical return from the port of Genoa showing that from October to Eebruary 10, English coal was brought to Genoa by 28 Italian ships of 89,207 tonnage, against 108 neutral ships of 342,435 tonnage, and 81 English ships of 345,328 tonnage. These figures, it is argued, show that the English mercantile marine (shared the advantage of the freights against Italy to the extent of about 40 per cent., which slightly exceeds that of the neutrals. Speaking at a meeting of shareholders of Wm. Erance,. Fenwick and Company Limited, Mr. C. H. F. Leslie said it appeared to him that the most hopeful remedy towards reducing the high rates of freight now ruling would be for the Government to give facilities to engine builders to com- plete the engines of the many steamers of the’mercantile marine already launched, or now nearing the fitting-out stage, so that these vessels might be rendered 'available for relieving the markets now affected by the shortage of tonnage. The Government should also obtain greater efficiency in the working of the large quantity of requisitioned tonnage. It was most wasteful that valuable colliers, such as were owned by their company, should be lying in port often weeks at a time—in fact, being used as coal hulks— while London and other coal merchants were in dire need of this class of tonnage.* The Chancellor of the Exchequer was the chief speaker at a luncheon on Tuesday, given in connection with the meet- ing of the Central and Associated Chambers of Commerce. He said that trade policy after the war must be guided by experience, and that never again must we allow ourselves to be dependent upon our enemy for the essentials of our own trade. He foreshadowed Government assistance for the. development of trade. Mr. Milton S. Sharp told a meeting of the Bradford Dyers’ Association Limited that about 75 per cent, of German collieries have coke ovens installed, as compared with 25 per cent, in great Britain, at the outbreak of war. The conse- quent facility in obtaining by-products gave Germany an enormous advantage over us in explosives. He urged that there should be co-operation between users and producers of aniline dyes. The railway companies call the attention of traders to the necessity of making every effort to avoid the wastage of rolling stock. Two means by which material assistance can be rendered arc :—(1) Traffic should not be loaded in railway trucks until senders have ascertained that consignees are able to take immediate delivery and have obtained confirmation from the railway company; (2) wagons received with inward traffic should be unloaded and handed back to the railway company with all possible despatch. The Association of Chambers of Commerce unanimously decided on Tuesday that the Government should be asked to create a Ministry of Commerce and Industry, with Cabinet Minister and Permanent Advisory Committee. Another reso- lution, aiming at closer commercial relationship with the Overseas Dominions, and restrictions on imports in peace time from enemy countries, was also carried. A statement of principle was also agreed to, expressing the opinion that strength and safety of the nation rested in ability to produce what it required from its own soil and factories, rather than in the possession of values or symbols of value which might be exported and exchanged for such products and manufac- tures of foreign countries as could be procured abroad and imported from over the seas to meet the nation’s needs. . A memorandum prepared by the Acting British Consul- General at Moscow (Mr. R. H. B. Lockhart), dealing with the possibilities of British trade with Russia, states that at the beginning of the present war, both in the United Kingdom and in Russia, there was a strong movement in favour of an anti-German commercial campaign, by aid of which the United Kingdom was to oust Germany from the Russian market. Owing to the difficulties of communication and of foreign exchange, and also to the fact that British firms are already over-supplied with home orders, it has so far been impossible to realise the objects of this campaign in any tangible form. If the United Kingdom wishes to establish1 her footing on the Russian market after the war, . she must begin to organise now on certain definite lines. If she does not begin now, the psyschological moment will assuredly be lost. Although business success' in Russia is largely dependent on the credit system, there is no country where credit should be granted with greater caution. This can only be done by proper local representation, and by a knowledge of local conditions. The Germanffirm had its own man and its own office on the spot. The German quoted c.i.f. Moscow. The British merchant preferred f.o.b. London or Hull. British firms who are intent on developing business with Russia must, as widely as possible, open their own agencies or branches in one of the chief centres of Russia, and send out British subjects to control them. There seems no reason, says the memorandum, why three or four firms, dealing in allied trades, or in more or less similar lines, should not co-operate and share the expenses of a common office. The development of commercial banking and the organisation of credit are matters closely connected with the very serious general question of organised trade. Another measure, which would be very popular with Russians, would be an official visit of a body of representative British mer- chants to Petrograd and Moscow. COLLIERY ACCIDENTS. Middleton. At Middleton on Tuesday, the inquest was resumed on the three men, named Holroyd, Woodall, and Tomlinson, who were victims of the explosion in the powder store at the Middleton Colliery last Monday week. Mr. Cecil Hinchcliffe, the colliery manager, giving evidence, stated that the little building in which the explo- sion took place was erected 16 years ago. The walls and floor were of brick. Holroyd had had charge of the explosives stores for two years. As a rule there would be about 301b. of an explosive known as super-rippite in the store. Holroyd’s work there was to prepare the cartridges for the men who were going into the pit, and sometimes in the winter he had to soften the explosive, which was used for blasting, in a warming pan. After the explosion a quantity of unexploded super-rippite was lying about the yard in the form of broken cartridges. The weather at the time was cold and frosty, such as would make it necessary for Holroyd to warm the explosives. Heat might have caused the explosion, but not unless the super-rippite was placed on or near the fire. Holroyd was a careful man, who would not be likely to do that. Violence or shock might also cause an explosion. Major Crozier, Home Office Inspector of Explosives, made some strong observations. He said he could not give an opinion as to the probable cause of the disaster. A fire in a room where explosives were handled was an unheard-of thing in his experience. The explosion might have been caused by the thawing of the explosive (at the fire, an improper and dangerous practice which was more common th^n one would imagine. It was quite wrong to have a fire in the building. Then there was the absence of ordinary precautions, such as having a wooden ' covering over the brick floor land providing special boots for wear in an explo- sives store. Explosives and detonators were kept in the same place, and not only kept, but manipulated there, and that was quite wrong. The building itself was unsuitably situated, standing as it did near the colliery railway line. If it had been registered and the authorities had inspected it, they would not have allowmd