The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-03-01
JOHN BULL ALARMED.
TIE THREATENED COIL FAMINE
THE FACTS OF THE CASE.

THE THREATENED COIL FAMINE
THE FACTS OF THE CASE.
Dreary Prospects for tho English Poo
ple-The Present Demand and the
Supply In the Future.
Correspondence or the New York Timegl
LONDON. Saturday, February 8.
People here are terribly alarmed at the
prospect OF an impending coal famine. Last
Sunday the long-deferred snow fell; the cold
weather stimulated the demand for Goals; the
coal owners saw that their time hadcome,
and up went prices eight shlings at bound
-forty-eighG shIlllngs ton Instead OF forty.
To-day they are fifty shilllngs, and 1t Is e4-
pected that next week will see rise of anoth-
or ten shilllngs. These are the prices of the
best Goals, but inferior kinds have gone up In
the came proportion. The poor, who buy, not
In tons, but In half hundred weights and small
Ter Quantities, suffer terribly, for what is
fifty shil!ings to those who can afford
to buy by the ton, ls nearer I'VE pounds when
sold retail. Sir W. Armstrong. the engineer,
calculates that rise OF shilling Ito top Means
8 Hne on the people Of f5, 500, 900 sterling.
According to his reckoning, the country re-
qnlras. for domestic and industrial purposes,
loo, 900, 600 tons of coal year, aud ,0O0, 900
goes in exports. The present supply is much
below thfs demand, and there Ia apparently
no hope of Its being Immediately Increased.
1t is Impossible to shut ones eyes to Inc iact
that the coal question is becoming very
serious one. Tuere II, hrst, the exhaustion OF
the stock stored away In the bowels OF the
earth. AS far as absolute exhaustion goes,
that Ia far of .tory, and some substitute
will surely be Invented before 1t comes TO
pass. But there Ia one form of exhaustion
which ia very near us, and that Ia the
exhaustion OF coal which ia at once good
lent quality Within easy reach, go that 1t could
be cheaply worked and sent Into the
market at moderate price, has hitherto been
the mainsLAy OF British commerce. The sup.
ply OF good coal near the surface Ia now pretty
well used up. There Is still vast quantity oil
good coal, but It lies In deeper and more ewk-
ward situations. and consequently 1t Ia more
expensive. The working expenses are heavyi
and working expenses, with transport, make
uD the price OF coal. The royal commission
ers who Investigated this subject q few years
ago reported that, according to the evidence
laid before them, there was an aggregate
quantity OF l46, ,480, 900 900 of tons of coal at
workable depth. With consumption oil
lit, ,0O0, 900 tons per aunum, this steck would
last 1878 years; at the rate OF LAG 600 900 tons,
1000 years; of lis 000, 900 tons 837 years, or oi
2SO 900 being double The present production
-638 years.
Tnis estimate is net quite 30 cheerful as 1t
looks. when We begin TO examine the grounds
on which 1t rests. The commissioners came
to the conclusion that the PROBABLE quantity OF
coal contained In the ascertained coal helds OF
the United Kingdom was 1907 600 OF
tons, at depth not exceeding four thousand
rfan In nrH.l n rnpk
their grand total, they added guess as to the
amount OF coal which may ge2logically De
supposed 10 exist under the permian, near red
sandstone, and other superintendent strata,
10 districts where IL has not yet beeh proved
to exist BY actual exploration. 10 the opin-.
lon Of Mr. Hull, one OF The geolOgisls attached
10 the government survey, and WHO hrst
called attention to the rapid exhaustion Oh me
coal treasures, the commissioners not only
included In tneir calculations number OF
coa!-seams thinner than ought to be con-
sldered workable, bnt added an enor-
nous area which, being concealed under
newer formations, must be regarded with
some suspicion unlll actually explored. Fhey
were, Indeed, sangulne enough to suggest
that a great coal held would be found under
meath the German Ocean. It is not only pos
sibe, but PROBABLE, that the known areas OF
coal may be considerably Increased by future
discoveries but IL Ia best not 10 be too confident
as TO the amount OF treasure troVe which le
thus hidden away. Again, 1t ls possible that
coal may be worked at g lower deptn than
four thousand feet. All this belongs TO the
future and the uncertain. This actual state of
things now existing may be this. that OF coal
Actually known to exist there Is not more than
1000, ,O0c 900 OF ions, or thereaoouls. and that
while the annual consumption is 10000 600
or ll6, 600 QUO tons, the cost ot working coal is
continually increasing, partly IN consequences
sequences OF moral causes. On the one
baud the eeums to be worked are at
a greater depth aud less accessible than
formerly, and on the other hand the heWers
OF coal demand higher wages, and do all Lhey
can 10 The limit output OF coal. pernaps, 10
some extent, The coal owners are aleo ANXIOUS
to limit production The compact i0r dimin-
lshing the market supply OF coal, Known ,s as
back as one hundred years ago. The prlaci-
pal coal owners of Durham and Norlhumser-
land undertook, by this agreement, thai eacn
colliery should send out only hAed qnanllty
of coal year. a COMMITTEES OF the trade nelo
monthly meetings, and regulated tas rate OF
production, and the price al which the dlntrent
kinds OF coal snould Dc SOLO. anu eoue'nink
of the same KIDD Is done TO this day. by
limiting the supply, the owners are enabled
TO raise the value OF this commodity, and
ihe coal waits In their great cellars under
ground until they choose to dispose of 1t. It
nav be doubted, however, whether the
len1ptallon TO make money as fast as they can
will not counteract the temptation to secure
apparently large profits, and an owner who
selis as much coal as he can produce ID likely
to be richer at the end Of 90 many years tnan
The owner, who though he gets higher price,
srls smaller quantity. The check on pro-
ductlon ls mainly applied by the miners, and
nj The present moment the owners are OILY
taking advantage of the reduction OF the coal
supply. which mas been caused by their men.
In tns north OF Eogland an able-oodied colllef
makes eight 10 len snilllngs 6y q Gays worK
of ak aud a halt hours. In the Midlands
collIers earn from fl50 to f2O0 year. 10
South Wales, where the great strike Is now
going on, colliers might be making from
thirty shlIlings to forty shilllngs week, at
Lhe lowest, If they chose. some OF tne men
were earning as much as f20 10 f3O montn
h.Inre the strike. The luVariauie ehrct OF
nigh wages would seem 10 be reduction OF
The hours OF labor. the men 40 not care Ior
the money unless they can enjoy themselves
with IL, and they must have more leisure, 90
they think, 10 enjoy themselves property.
There is, therefore, every reason 10 suppose
that, although the present excessive prGes
NAV not be maintained, the permanent Value
of coal will be greatly Increased as comparso
win a few wears ago; and the price OF coal ls,
nf couree, an all-lmporlant element IN the
financial conditions Of every Industry.
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