27

H.—44a.

Table 17.—Total Direct Labour-cost per Ton of Coal mined, etc.— continued.

It will be seen that the average direct labour-costs, with the exception of Mine E (Point Elizabeth), increased. The lowest rate of increase is 3 per cent., and the highest 78' I per cent. There is considerable variation in the rate of increase when we compare mines even on the same field, or mines owned by the same company, the differences being due largely to the different stage of development of each mine. The percentage which labour-cost is of total cost has increased considerably, except at Mine J, Mine I, and Mine L, at which it has decreased, and at Mine 0, where it is about the same. The percentage increase in labour-cost is less than the corresponding increase in total cost at nine mines out of fifteen.

Table 18. —Increase in Labour-cost, other Cost, and Total Cost per Ton of mining Coal, 1913-18.

The figure which gives the closest measurement of the increase in the cost of the manual labour directly applied to the production of coal in and about the mines over the period 1913-18 is that obtained by weighting the average yearly labour-costs per ton at each mine according to the relative importance of the output of the mine in the total output and comparing the results. From the data provided by those mines giving particulars of labour-costs over the whole period it is clear that the cost of the manual labour employed in and about these coal-mines increased during the period 1913-18 by 31 per cent. — i.e., from about ss. lid. to about 7s. 9d. per ton. This result is in close agreement

Mine. 1913. 1914. 1915. 1010. 1917. 1918. Increase per Cent. Increase. E .. s. d. 6 4-19 54J 5 8-92 59 4 9-9 42£ 5 10 60 8 4-55 63£ 5 1 79 s. d. 6 0-61 46 s. d. 5 8-95 52 s. d. 5 I -37 54 s. d. 5 6-81 61 s. d. 5 8-85 63 7 4-32 43 8 7-14 42 8 2 71 11 7-33 58£ 7 8-25 73 6 6 36 6 2-4 47 7 2-48 68J (March 31) 6 3-37 56 5 6 51* 15 0 65 10 e; d. 0 7-34 (decrease) 1 7-4 F .. (decrease) 28-2 G .. H .. 1* .. 5 8-71 43 5 4 09 8 1-87 03 5 4-75 m 5 11-6 42 5 5 61 8 5-96 50_ 5 4-5 79 7 0-91 46 6 0 67 10 4-06 58 5 2-37 78A 6 3 44 5 9-25 53 6 6-72 70 7 6-94 44 No details 12 2-47 59 6 3-37 751 6 8 43 6 203 54_ 7 2-93 79 78-1 40 38-5 3 9-24 2 4 3 2-78 J .. 51-25 2 7-25 K .. 4 0 3 L .. 0 0-79 51 6 6-22 08 3 0 1-61 M .. 7 4-27 (1918 to Aug. 31) 5 8-23 63i 27-3 1 8-04 N .. 5 3-32 5 6-73 19 1 0-05 O .. P .. 4 1-4 50 9 5-74 59 4 1-7 53 11 7 50 4 5-7 52J 11 0-7 63 4 10-8 50i 10 2-8 58 (3 years) 33-6 (5 yoars) 58 (5 years) 1 4-6 5 6-20 ■(■Highest (to nearest penny) f Lowest (to nearest penny) •fMean (to nearest penny) 8 5 11 7 37-6 3 2 4 10 5 9 19 0 11 5 10 8 2 40 2 4 * A railway iharge of 3}d. to 7_d. a ton i: the total cost has been ign< wed. t Of tl l'e mines givini data for the lix years.

Increase in Labour-cost. Increase in T< >tal Coat. Mine. Per Cent. Increase in other Costs. Amount. Amount. Per Cent. A .. B .. C .. s d. 1 11-98 3 3 0 7-34 (decrease) 3 9-24 2 4 38-8 56 10 s. d. 1 8-03 0 1-26 (decrease) 1 7-35 (decrease) 4 5-55 0 0-25 (decrease) 0 0-85 s. d. 3 8-01 3 1-74 2 2-69 (decrease) 8 2-79 2 3-75 29-25 31-66 20 D.. E .. (decrease) 78-1 40 57-2 18-7 F (5 years) .. G (3 years).. H (5 years).. I (5 years) .. T 1 6-25 1 0-05 1 4-6 6 6-26 3 2-78 2 7-25 1 2-65 0 3 0 1-61 1 11-6 1 7-4 26-7 19 33-6 55 38-5 51-25 24-8 4 3 31-8 28-2 1 7-1 18 J .. K.. 0 9-2 3 11-54 4 3-28 1 5-5 2 2-8 9 5-8 7 6-06 4 0-75 7 9-54 1 1-6 1 1-75 7 9-54 6 11-26 26-7 59 56 63 50-2 6-6 7-5 50-2 63-6 L .. M (3 years) N (4 years) n 0 io-6 0 0-14 o .. 5 .3-86 p ..