THE TRAGEDY OF COAL
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In a letter published in a recent issue of The Spectator reference was made to house coal produced at a cost of 1.3s. ad. per ton at the pit and sold to the domestic constuner at over 40s. per ton.
When such figures are placed before the general public they are, quite naturally, unable to understand why there should be such a wide margin between the pithead and the retail price of house coal and are easily persuaded that there is some excess profit made on this class of coal by the distri- butor or other person through whose hands the coal passes from the mine to the consumer.
It is singularly unfortunate that the statistics which. receive the widest publication are those which relate to the average costs, &c., of producing all classes of coal (published' periodically by the Mines Department) and the retail prices of house coal (shown on dealers' price lists).
. The fact is, of course, that these figures are not in any way comparable, since a great variety of coal is included in the production on which the cost is based, whereas the retail price relates to the best coal only.
Coal, as hewn front the seam and sent up to the pit-head, contains only a. proportion of coal suitable for domestic purposes ; indeed, even from the best house-coal seams in Lancashire less than 30 per cent, can be classed as house. coal.
A large weight of inferior coal is picked out which is either thrown on the dirt-heap or sold at a very low price. The smaller coal, or slack, is often sold at or below the cost of production ; a lot of dust is made in handling the coal on screens, &c., and, in the washing of coal, a practice which. has developed rapidly in recent years, a considerable amount of the fine particles of the coal is carried away in the water and deposited in the form of "slurry."
Only the best of the coal is therefore sold as house coal and even in this one .class there may be wide variations. It is possible that the very best selected coal may be sold for as much as 30s. or more per ton at the pit, but only abont 5 per cent. of the coal produced from the same seam can command such a price, but it is obvious that, while so much of the production is either sold below cost, is unsuitable for. sale or is lost in the process of preparation for the market, the pit price of the better-class coals must of necessity be Considerably higher than the actual cost of getting, if the
coal-mining industry is to receive an 'economic return for its products.
If a general average price of 20s. per ton is taken for house coal sold at the pit, to which is added 15s. to cover railway rate and wagon hire to London and in addition the cost of delivery from the station to the consumer, it is clearly seen that a retail price of 40s. or more per ton cannot be justly described as excessive.—Yours sincerely, A. F. TAYLOR, Confidential Secretary, • Lancashire Associated Collieries.
Lancashire House, 47 Peter Street, Manchester 2.
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