The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-06 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL, Nov. 5.

A Common Council was held for the general des-
patch of business.

PRICE OF COALS.

Mr. Alderman WArrumAN presented a petition
from a Mr. Dixon Holmes, stating'that he was the
proprietor of coalmines in thq West Riding of
Yorkshire, which were very eligible for supplying
the London market, and would'assist in defeating
the monopoly of the great coal-proprietors. All
that was necessary was the consßuction of a rail-
way, to facilitate the conveyance, and he prayed the
a.,sistance of the Corporation in forwarding that
object. The worthy Aldermal; in presenting the
petition, went over the same lino'oft-argamentas he
did at the lust Court, regarding the inpnopoly of the
great coal-proprietors, and observed, that in stating
the amount of tax which the monopoly had' created,
he had on the former occasion,tinder4atedit.; he
stated it to be 400,0001. per anOurn, but. it was, in
fact, 800,0001.
_

'Mr. TICKNER fully agreed with what had fallen
from the worthy Alderman. He had received a
communication from one of the coal-counties; which
after alludinvo the crit4is of the coal owners, stated
4. that ie-teentevoisassselk.theoseinergy.of th© Corpo-
ration of London, of 'Pailiament, and the public at
large, to counteract them." The letter went on to
state that in 1793, the price of coals at Newcastle
was Bs. 6d. per chaldron ; in 1828 it was ISs. 3d.
a price raised and kept up by means of the combi-
nation of the coal-owners. About the latter end of
the last year the coal-owners quarrelled, and on the
Ist of January the combination was broken up, and
every person was at liberty to supply the market
with ghat quantity of coals he liked ; the conse-
quence was, that from IBs. 3d. coals fell to 13s. 3d.,
which Was a very fair and adequate price for the
best coals : the colliers, who, during the combina-
tion, had been employed only about nine days
in a fortnight, were then employed twelve days ;
and the coal-ships, instead of waiting in the harbour
three or four weeks for a loading, got loaded without
delay. That state of trade was generally considered
prosperous ; but the coal-owners found out that
things did not thus work well, and they therefore
forgot their differences. The combination was re-
newed, and the prices and quantities of coals to be
supplied were fixed to the price of 16s. 3d., but
which would shortly be advanced to 18s. 3d., the
price of 1828. The letter continues—" The coal-
owners here (Newcastle) raise a great cry about the
coal duty ; but when Lord Bexley took off 3s. per
London chaldron, the coal-owners instantly advanced
the price of coals to 25., so that the public gained
but little by the reduction of duty." '1 he object of
the great coal-owners was to get coals sold by weight,
and excisemen to weigh them at the pit's mouth,
which plan, if managed, will cause coal to be gene-
rally small and mixed with slates; and after they
have passed the exciseman's hands, they will be
well wetted for sale, over and over again, before
they reach the consumer; it would be, therefore,
well for the public to guard against any change or
innovation respecting the mode of taking the duties.
Speaking of the Clarence railway, the writer says,
" It is a happy event that it is in progress, but still
some time must elapse before the country can obtain
any quantity of coals by it ; the coals will be found
good end workable at moderate depths, and the
speculation, both as to railway and collieries, will
prove highly beneficial to all concerned."
The writer, in a postscript, says, " The Walls
Ends, namely, Stewart's, Lambton's and Hetton's,
are nothing more than the round coals picked out
from Eden Main, Primrose, and Lyon's Main, &c.,
and a small quantity of Stewart's, Lambton's, and
Hetton's Walls Ends, and these establish their
general price upon the cost of the latter. The hum-
bug of the above Walls Ends, as well as others as-
suming the same name, but of inferior quality,
should be done away with, and then the London
market might be supplied with Eden's, Primrose,
and Lyon's, at a price justified by the cost price of
them at the Coal-Exchange, which is always 3s. or
4s. below the price of the above-named Walls Ends.
But a great evil of the coal trade in London is in the
factors : the prices as stated in the Coal Lists are
often agreed for and made—Lribes are not unfre-
quently given ; but all these were properly within
the province of the public in London to controul."
The petition preferred by Alderman Waithman
was referred to the Coal and Corn Committee.