18

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

January 5, 1917.

Two advances in colliers’ wages have been conceded
in the year, quailing 8| per cent, new scale, or 12| per
cent, old scale; and a third (of 5 per cent, new scale)
has been brought forward by the men’s representatives
for consideration.

WEST YORKSHIRE.

Taking all'circumstances into, account, there is reason
to regard the year just closed with a good deal of satis-
faction, and as coal plays so large a part in the war,
perhaps the most satisfactory feature is that the output
has been well maintained. The production in West York-
shire is estimated, in fact, to be slightly in excess of
that of 1915. For patriotic,, apart from other, reasons,
coal owners have been, anxious to raise all the coal
possible, and despite difficulties arising from depleted
working staffs, they have succeeded, by re-organisation,
speeding-up generally, and developing the use of coal-
cutting machines, which are now in operation for the
first time in many pits, in securing a slightly increased
output. If'miners, as a body, had recognised with equal
readiness the special importance of coal to the nation in
a time of war, the tonnage raised might easily have
shown a considerable increase. Absenteeism, fluctu-
ating at times, has been a trouble all the year. It is,
of course, necessary to recognise that many of the more
active of the miners have joined the Colours, and where
these have been replaced, it has been in. many cases by
labour less physically efficient. , No doubt much absen-
teeism has been caused, by men unfitted to' stand , con-
tinuous hard toil, six days a week, in a coal mine. If
this accounted for the bulk of the trouble', there could
be little ground for complaint, but there is no doubt
that it does not. What occurred on the occasion of the
various holidays is a case in point. At Easter the pits
stopped for two' days, but the output lost was equal to
more than three days’ normal production, and an
already grave shortage of coal was accentuated. The
Whitsuntide holidays were postponed, but so many
miners absented themselves that the week’s output was
not much, if any, over four days’ work. The August
postponement of holidays marked a distinct improve-
ment. The output that week was only about 10 per
cent, down, but taking the year as a whole, the pro-
duction of coal has suffered severely from this cause.

From a financial point of view, the year will have
been exceptionally successful. Wages have been high,
and all colliery material and stores, iron, steel, timber,
oil, tallow, brattice cloth, explosives, and everything else
used in the working of a colliery, have risen in price
enormously, in some cases as much as 300 per cent, on
pre-war values. But the increase of 4s. per ton on pre-
war prices of coal allowed under the Price of Coal (Limi-
tation) Act, has been sufficient to cover the extra, costs,
and a good many of the collieries, to some extent, parti-,
cipated i'n the higher prices which ruled for export during
the first half of the year. It is satisfactory to record
that the year has been free .from serious labour disputes. -
In quite a number of cases notices have been handed in,
but the differences have been settled without any actual
strike or suspension of work. Adverting to the Price of
Coal (Limitation) Act, apart from its necessary effect in
making quotations stationary, it has led to the introduc-
tion, into all contracts, of two special clauses : one to
the effect that any of the coal contracted for which
should be commandeered by the Government should be
considered as cancelled; and the other providing that
if there should be any alteration of the maximum prices
under the Act the' contracts concerned should have the
benefit. Whilst the Act, taking a broad view, has pre-
vented fluctuations in prices, there have been times of
special shortage of coal when eagerness to secure sup-
plies has led to offers which have disregarded the legal
maxima; but the coal owners have observed the spirit
of the Act.

Apart from absenteeism, the chief trouble of the
collieries and buyers alike has been the short supply of
wagons, due to' a variety of causes, -such as the wagon
requirements of the Government for war purposes, the
busy state of the railways for the same reason, the send- '
ing of British rolling stock to France, congestion of
railway wagons ait the ports (owing to shipping delays),
and the almost complete suspension of wagon-building
through works normally engaged in this trade being
now occupied with munitions and other war materials.
The West Yorkshire district has also been particularly
affected by the scarcity of boats for the coastwise trade
to London and the south coast, which has materially
increased the demand for railbome coal. Railway-
owned trucks have been available to only a very limited
extent for the transit of coal, though in the early
autumn there was a brief period in which they were
comparatively plentiful. The scarcity of trucks no
doubt would have been felt a great deal more had it not
been for the pooling arrangement existing between
various groups of railway companies, which has proved
of .very great assistance. Railway delays affecting long-
distance traffic, especially crossing London, have been
serious. Instances of trucks occupying three weeks, or
even more, on the double journey to- London, have been
too frequent to be exceptional. Had it not been for the
economy of time and labour, and the lessened congestion
which the pooling of railway trucks secured, something
approaching chaos must have occurred. As it is, the
insufficient supply of empty wagons has, particularly in
the closing weeks of the year, compelled some collieries
to resort to ground stocking in order to keep working;
and in a few cases it has not been possible to maintain .
full time working, the output suffering in consequence.
In connection with this question, it may be mentioned
that, the additions to. rolling stock during the year being
negligible in quantify, values of trucks have appreciated
by 30 to 35' per cent., and hiring rates have advanced
considerably as well.

The markets served from the West Yorkshire district
have been very much as in former years. A large quan-

tity of the better class house coals, such as the Haigh
Moor, best Silkstone, and Winter bed seams, are still
sent to London, but unfortunately these seams are being
worked out, and the output tends to decrease, whilst no
other seam of equally good quality is being reached.
The year has also witnessed a. marked advance in the
importance of Leeds as a coal centre. The membership
of the Coal Exchange has greatly increased, and the
weekly gatherings attract coal traders from all parts of
the country. The members of the Exchange and the
trade generally have borne their full share of the finan-
cial sacrifices entailed by the war, in the shape of hand-
some contributions to war funds. This applies particu-
larly to the West Yorkshire Coal Owners’ Association.

The experience of London with regard to the shortage
of coal has been reflected in West Yorkshire by the
strong pressure on the collieries for supplies. March
was a time almost of crisis. The depots in London
having long been clear of stocks, the severe wintry
weather in that month gave a stimulus to a demand
already more than the collieries could meet. Practi-
cally the whole output of the best house coals is sold
under contract, and for the second-class and cheaper
qualities the collieries, as a general rule, were booked
up weeks ahead. It was impossible to give any material
increase in deliveries, and although offers of prices,
which bore little relation to values as restricted by the
Price of Coal (Limitation) Act, were not unknown at this
period, there was little result, coal owners—apart from
their disinclination to disregard the Act'—being unable to
increase their deliveries. A repetition of this state of
affairs occurred in the autumn months, when merchants,
faced by the strong probability of scarcity of coal in the
winter, were exceedingly keen to augment the inade-
quate stocks they had managed to' accumulate, which
had already begun to dwindle. At other periods of. the
year any falling off in the trade at the depots merely
afforded an opportunity to lay in stocks, and so the
demand on the collieries was always in excess of the
output available for this trade. Practically none of the
collieries has been in a position to make the concession
in price for stocking purposes which merchants some-
times secure. The better prices obtainable elsewhere,
in the export trade, for example, have had,the- effect of
keeping prices for London consistently at the full Price
of Coal (Limitation) Act figures. For the same reason,
in the contracting season coal owners were not over-
anxious to enter into heavy commitments for the future,
with the result that in nearly all cases the tonnage con-
tracted for was reduced by from 20 to 25 per cent., and
only exceptionally was this business done at less
than the maximum prices. This naturally increased the
keenness to secure any odd lots which came into the
open market, and, as winter approached, a considerable
quantity of screened, and even unscreened, steam coal
was purchased for use in substitution for second
qualities of house coal. At the end of the year the posi-
tion was that, whilst collieries were booked up with
orders for some time ahead, merchants with stocks con-
siderably less than usual were unable to view the
immediate future with any feeling of security. The
shortage of coal trucks and the delays on the railways
are serious factors affecting London supplies, in addi-
tion to the growing difficulties of distribution, owing to
the scarcity of loaders and carmen.

In the coastwise branch, business .has been so ham-
pered by the difficulty of securing boats, and the high
freights, that the tonnage of West Yorkshire coal shipped
from the Humber ports is probably little more than half
that of a normal year. A few boats owned by con-
tractors have run regularly, but many vessels normally
engaged in this trade are under Government charter,
and there has been comparatively little coal shipped out-
side contracts. A gradual drop in freights from 16s.
Goole to London in January to about 12s. in midsummer
led to a spell of greater activity, but from that point
there was a turn upwards again until in early December
15s. per ton was easily secured, and in an extreme case
as much as 20s. per ton was paid for a 1,000-ton boat
for the south coast. Under these almost prohibitive
conditions, shipment fell off again, and became practi-
cally limited to contract coal in privately-owned boats.
The consequence of these difficulties has been to divert
much of the trade usually done coastwise to the railways,
necessarily increasing the strain upon the latter, and
leading to serious delays to traffic, especially over the
long distances from this district to the south coast.
Merchants on the south coast and. in the Metropolis
south of the Thames have suffered perhaps more than
aPy other class of traders from the abnormal transit
difficulties of the year, and their handicaps for the
immediate future are proportionately great. To a large
extent, the local house coal trade in the West Riding
hats escaped these troubles. Supplies were short in. the
remaining months of the year, when depot stocks had
gone, and the demand was fat its highest owing to the
severe weather: but although contract tonnage was
reduced when the time for renewal came, and some
collieries refused to contract at all, in view of the ready
sale for ail fuel, merchants as a rule were able to secure
stocks which, though not adequate, were, at any rate, as
heavy as a year ago. These stocks have begun to dis-
appear as the winter consumption has increased, and
merchants who were unable to cover their requirements
by contract, have troubles to contend with. As in every
other branch, the wagon question affects the situation'
materially, and merchants who are able to send their
own trucks to the collieries are consequently more
favourably placed. Quotations have been firm at full
Price of Coal (Limitation) Act levels throughout the
year, and contracting has generally been on that basis.
The usual reduction of Is. per ton in April did not take
effect in 1916, except, of course where contracts
provided for it.

The settled firmness of the market has been fully
shared by gas coal. Whether or not the restrictions on
public and private lighting have tended to reduce con-

sumption of gais coal, several exceptional circumstances
have combined to absorb the full output of the pits, and
yet leave the demand unsatisfied. There has been a
heavy call for shipment to France and Italy, gas nuts
have been largely, used for manufacturing fuel at muni-
tions and similar works, while the unprecedented
demand for coking slacks has led to the screening of
the great bulk of gas coal. After meeting these and
contract requirements, very little gas coal has been left
for the open market, and a regular feature has been the
anxiety of gas works in London and the South, usually
dependent on seaborne coal, to secure any free coal that
became available. In the first few months of the year
inland works generally were suffering from shortage,
but the position became easier later on, and at the pre-
sent time stocks are satisfactory. Contracting was held
back by uncertainty as to' the Price of Coal (Limitation)
Act and possibilities of an increase in the maximum
price, but eventually better progress was made, on the
basis, as a rule, of about 75 per cent, of normal require-
ments, with the special conditions indicated above.
Shipment of gas coal to France and Italy, but especi-
ally the former, has been on a fairly heavy scale since
the fixing of the official prices, which as regards France
is 26s. f.o.b. at Hull. In the early months the position
of inland works probably influenced the issue of licences
for export, but latterly shipments have increased very
considerably, despite the fact that scarcity of shipping
tonnage has always restricted the volume of business.
This has affected coal for Italy more than for France,
and, incidentally, shipping difficulties have been the
cause of the delay and congestion of railway ’trucks at
the ports. Licences for the export of gas coal from the
Humber ports to neutral countries have been issued
only occasionally, and the amount of this business, for
which as high as 36s. per ton f.o.b. Hull has been
sec ure d, has been n e gl i gi bl e.

The continuously growing requirements of munition
works and other Government establishments, which
have themselves increased greatly, both in number and
extent, as well as the busy state .of all other'manufac-
turing industries, have kept the market very bare of
factory fuel. Munition works and the like have been
assured of sufficient and regular supplies as a result of
the operations of the committee of West Yorkshire coal
owners, which came into being in February. Consump-
tion in the West Riding has been on an unprecedented
scale, and, in the first half of the year, many large
users complained loudly of insufficient supplies. In
some instances house coal was used, after crushing, for
factory steam raising, and in others actual stoppage of
work occurred for the want of fuel. As Easter
approached, fancy prices were offered, in the hope of
securing adequate supplies for the holidays, and large
consumers in Bradford, Huddersfield, and other districts
engaged mainly in woollen manufacture, organised a
joint representation to the Board of Trade on the sub-,
ject of the distribution of coal. Apparently this had
good results. At any rate, complaints ceased, notwith-
standing that the output of the pits obviously could not
be increased, and all that could be done was in the
direction of regulating distribution with regard to the
relative needs of districts and individual consumers.
The greatest shortage has been in nuts, so greatly used
by the munition works. This quality has always com-
manded relatively the highest prices. Good quality
slacks have also been keenly sought after, and this
applies to other qualities as well, except that in the early
autumn small slacks developed a temporary weakness,
which, however, soon disappeared. In view of the
abnormal circumstances, the position in regard to manu-
facturing fuel is now fairly satisfactory, but slacks suit-
able for coking were extremely scarce. There has been a
marked increase in the output of furnace coke, and this
has led to' a progressive difficulty in securing sufficient
coking smalls. As several collieries have new ovens
which are nearing completion, the difficulty is likely to
become more acute. As to coke, despite the increase
in the output, makers have 'at no time been able to
satisfy the demand.

The export of coke, which was a cause of dissatisfac-
tion among home consumers whose requirements
increased faster than did the output, was stopped, and
this brought a little relief, but the demand, soon again
outstripped the supply. With regard to price, coke has
fluctuated a little, but eventually settled down at an
agreed figure of 25s. 8d. per ton, which has ruled since
the end of June. This represents an advance of Is. 8d.
on the January price. Until export was stopped, 29s.
to 30s. f.o.b. Hull was obtained.

The outlook of the coal trade in West Yorkshire is
considered to be satisfactory from a producer’s point of
view. Many of the pits have sold forward, over the
whole of 1917, a big percentage of their output,
some considerable quantity of which is for export. A
feature of the export contracts is a clause whereby, in
the event of inability to ship the coal, it will be allowed
to be delivered in England at an agreed price.

SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

The year has yielded a remarkable experience. In
regard to selling prices and distribution, there has been
as near an approach to State control as can be realised
in practice. Prosperity has prevailed amongst all con-
cerned in the industry. The workers have never
hitherto earned such wages, and many firms have paid
larger dividends, whilst others working thinner seams
have found their financial position become more stable.
The reputation of district coal has become more recog-
nised in a national sense, and the commercial value of
fuel from the thinner seams hitherto largely discarded
has been considerably increased. The times have been
strenuous to those responsible for fuel production, and
the indifference of a small section of the men to recog-
nise the vast importance of putting forth the maximum
effort has at times been deplorable. There is no doubt