The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-11 00:00:00

The Coal Question.

(From a Correspondent of the Times.)
Several hundreds of thousands of years since about
2,000 millions of tons of coal were stored under the surface
of Great Britain, but the existence of coal was a f
matter o
little more than curiosity until about five centuries fr°lll
the present .
About twotime centuries since the woods became exhausted'
and the coal rose in importance, but for another century;
its recovery being only effected by horse-power, the greittef
part of the store was inaccessible, and the exhaustion 0
the workable coal was generally regarded
question of but a few years, and its consumption wee
principally limited to its substitution for fuel for lluaee
hold purposes.
But when the exhaustion of the recoverable coal Wae
expected the discovery of steam power and its apPlicetii°,:ci
the drainage and winning and the ventilation of millesZji
open what appeared to be inexhaustible resources, sn'gr.
apprehensions were set at rest for 100 years. Then be
Hull demonstrated that, owing to the increasing heat of t t
mines, as they descend towards the interior of the eartb'flif
would be difficult to work the coal beyond a depth
en
4,000 ft., and recently that limit of 4,000 ft. has bed
connected with the principle that the exhaustion t
coal will progress in a geometrical the exhaustion
ratio for
100 years at as nacre)), a..
the rate at which it has progressed 3;
ptto.o
tween the years 1854 and 1861, and the consul3l
in 1961 will exceed 2,000 millions of tons Of .°l4
each year, and that exhaustion of coal down 'ertthis
limit of 4,000 feet will ensue about the year 2000' - t
ti
stated that the quantity of workable coal within 4,000 le
of the surface is 86,000 millions of tons, and ttt t
annual consumption in 1861 was 83 millions, s° t's but
atthat rate the coal would last nearly a thousand Ye h
t the
that the consumption may be expected to increase a the
rate of 31 per cent. in each year, making m 1961
annual consumption 2,670 millions of tons. ; voint°
The truth of this theory depends upon two Ms"'„ be
-the one, that 4,000 feet will a hundred years ben the
the extreme depth at which coal will be workable
other, that the rate of increase between 1854 and 18611 e
fair e
rate to assume throughout the next 100 years' 19
On the first point it may be said tbatthe question m",,i'reef
turns on the possibility of introducing the temperate
at at
the surface (or any temperature under 80 degreesi the
depth of 4,000 feet, and that it is difficult to deflua be
limit of the power of science when it has occasion t° tie
directed to that particular point. But the second Pci,e4oe
capable of being tested by the consideration of the fae-
which it is
Agreeing b
toased 83. millions of tons as the annual consure'...;
tion, it is necessary first to divide the total quantity' iteci,
the separate objects of consumption to which it is deCf.ep,
and, although there are no means for its accurate div'et
an approximate division will be sufficient. a to
The consumption for household purposes is asSnyaeilio9
be a ton for each unit of the population-say, 24 rei,lveo
of tons a year ; and the theory we are considering in ball
that the consumption of coal for household purP°ses„,s,
be in 1961 576 millions of tons, and that, as the cod
will b 3 neither hotter nor colder, and coals will aff°i-tion
same warmth to each person, the corresponding P°Pe-e

of the British Isles will also 576 milli.
The next single item isbe the consumptionons of coal ferbtsitil
way travelling, amounting at the present time te Rithie
five millions of tons for 10,000 miles of railwaY of
of
Great Britain. The theory involves that the n99', -.1961
tons supposed to be consumed for this purpose'
,ill;6is
will be 120 millions of tons; so that either the I.gut
must extend within Great Britain to 24 times their
length, or the train services must be 24 times:theicariir
sent number, or both compounded must involve
crease, of the aggregate consumption. bout°
The present consumption in the iron trade is 9 fi.pa'
millions of tons of coal, operating to produce and 193-011-00
late 41 millions of tons of pig iron, and the theoriill,ooso
that the quantity if coal consumed in 1961 for this 139;i0' 80
thewi presentllbe472 millions of opfigtoinros,n7the
which would produce 24 .-
001
These three objects employ more than half of biai
the
is
.eacemployeduconsumption,nti
quantity
titt
to 24
2d i4et
timesmp uarypobsietess
resentpsasnu amtehdaat that the etUe or f
latterfnet
more tsheanof24trtaidmee
Doe
According to the rate of increase established 11 1"a"; co'
latiou returns, the total amount of population in 19" i 01
not exceed 90 millions, involving a e", Coale
for household purposes of the samge number of tons e' rote
so that there is a discrepancy between the result of the rot
of the increase of consumption of coal of 480
five-sixths million
or of the total assumed consumption• f cold
Few persons will consider that the consumptleri (7,050
for railway transit can more than double its P-000
amount, so that there will be a discrepancy under t4oeti
of 110 million tons, or more than five-sixths of the 9e;iooed
consumption. The only one of the three above-91e.,,,1i0e
saintds pc:enseseneitilaemntoluynto.infanowueenlattieti::::l.:ooll
items of which the amount is not limited is the ": er-
iron. This would involve an increase of poPulatleo, it
ployed in that trade from 60,000 to 1,444,000' :orrer
may be added, that the coal miners must bf, 000 to,„
pondingly increased in number from 2'1,0.05"
6,000,000 persons. The same proportionate otliet
must take place in the persons engaged coax
trades dependent • on the consumption c';sllg
Taking only three trades—cotton, wool, 911- tole
at 500,000 persons, their number must be incre3s„ la th
millions, irrespective of a corresponding increes"_ oar
persons engaged in the trades connected with those
00°011
factures.
The expected increase in the consumption c 9-: vreg-L
be admitted without further consideration. If,
an one should believe in an annual consumPtie9,-tbst
millions of tons of coal in 1961, we would sugge,s'b flee
should calculate and explain the proportion wh'cAar thes",
tional debt of 800 millions of money would I.l9'"oith e*
circumstances bear to the population and to the svdevelor
Great Britain. The increase of population, theno
anent of railway transit, and the extension a the --for tv"
and of our trade generally, affoid special reason
recent increase in the consumption of coal.