7

H.—24

owing to a large number of men who had taken Up mining temporarily during the war period taking up occupations in other directions. However, despite these adverse conditions, railway stocks were again built up until, at the end of March, they stood at 28,000 tons; but following the Easter holidays, when additional trains were again provided to cope with the services, stocks were reduced until at tho end of April they were down to 2 1,000 tons, since when they have been steadily going down, reaching the 10,000 mark when the present cut was put into operation. During May and June several stoppages took place in the West Coast lignite and Waikato mines, which seriously restricted not only supplies available for railway requirements, but for other essential industries. There appears to be an impression abroad that the whole output of coal from the West Coast mines could be drawn on for railway purposes. This idea is quite erroneous, as the railways require screened coal for their main services. The following figures show the quantities of coal, including lignites, delivered to the railways for the six years ended 31st March, 1919 :-— Tons. 1913-14 ... ... ... ... ... 293,157 1914-15 ... ... ... ... ... 306,656 1915-16 ... ... ... ... ... 324,343 1916-17 ... ... ... ... ... 330,660 1917-18 ... ... ... ... 271,110 1918-19 ... ... ... 307,369 The deliveries for the seven months of the current year are as under :—■ Tons. January ... ... ... ... ... 10,959 February ... ... ... ... ... 31,105 March ' ... ... ... ... ... 36,762 April ... ... ... ... ... 15,026 May ... ... ... ... ... 19,198 June ... ... ... ... ... 13,950 July ... ... ... ... ... 19,665 146,665 Average per month, 20,952 tons. Chnsus of Coal Stocks held as returned Quarterly by Government Statistician since 30th April, 1917. Tons. As at 30th April, 1917 ... ... ... ... ... ... 183,286 As at 31st July, 1917 ... ... ... ... ... ... 218,907 As at 31st October, 1917 ... ... ... ... ... 191,249 As at 31st January, 1918 ... ... ... ... ... 178,192 As at 30th April, 1918 ... ... ... ... ... ... 151,866 As at 31st July, 1918 :... ... ... ... ... 178,301 As at 31st October, 1918 ... ... ... ... ... 186,043 As at 31st January, 1919 ... ... ... ... ... 111,319 As at 30th April, 1919 ... ... ... ... ... 121,049 The serious position, together with the unfavourable outlook of coal-supplies at the beginning of the present winter, demonstrated the necessity for closer control over the distribution of coal from the time shipped until reaching the consumer. It was therefore arranged to obtain statistical information as to the monthly outputs of all Dominion mines, and detailed information from the various Coal Trade Committees showing the actual direction in which the coal is distributed. In this connection the following table shows the movement of coal shipped from the West Coast for the month of July to the various primary industries and services: — Summary showing Approximate Allocation of Coal actually shipped from Greymouth and Westport for the Month of July,' 1919. Tons. Railways ... ... ... ... 6,987 Gas ..; ... ... ... ... .. 12,638 Freezing ... ... ... ... ... ... 5,280 Light and power ... ... ... ... ... 2,901 Bunkering ... ... ... ... ... ... 17,744 General industries ... ... ... ... ... 11,110 Domestic ... ... ... ... ... ... 7,207 Total tons ... ... ... ... 63,867 Summary showing Glass of Coal shipped from West Coast Mines for July, 1919. Tons. Screened coal ... ... ... ... ... ... 9,505 Unscreened ... ... ... ... ... ... 39,706 Steam and small ... ... ... ... ... 14,656 Total tons shipped ... ... ... .•• 63,867