The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-27

inesses want to act together, or--in the
last reaort--if the owners Of the one want
to sell to the owners Of the other. nothing
can prevent them short Of the abolition OF
their rights Of property. Mr.. AL ley
points out that the outcome Of previous
attempts to leeislate against capita istic
combination has simply been to bring
about . closer form Of union instead OF
looser one; and. although the Northern
Securities case has aroused an unusual
amount Of excit ement, from the magnitude
OF the interests involved and the Presidents
interpretation, h cannot. in the long run
al or tho economic situation.
The long run however. will involve
some waiting on the part OF the financial
statesmen OF tho United States before
they can effect the combination which
they regard az urgently desirable, and
they may have to do their work In the teeth
Of public obloquy--a situation which can
be hut painful to upright and public
spirited mon. Our author suggests that.
to financial statesmen to reflect that COM
bination among working people is. after
all, orly another form Of tho effort to lessen
the disadvantages Of competition In
which capitalists are engaged; and
that, at q time whom capitalists certainly
want ell the friends they can get, It may
be politic to show a little more patience
with the movement Of organized labor
On the other hand. 1t may occur to some
OF the labor unionists who now join In tho
outcry against trusts" that 1t II no more
reasonable for one railway to bid against
another for freight than for one workman
10 bid against another for employment.
In the lecture on British coal fields will
be found some interesting data with
reference to the geographical position and
physical characteristics OF the principal
deposits. Our author begins with an ac-
count Of the great Northern or Newcastle
n,ld, because It has been worked much
longer than any other and until q COM
paratively recent period was by Tar the
most important. Ito output In 1901 was moro
than 1000 900 tons. and II gave employ
ment to iss 900 persons. Tho coal Is easily
worked, and most Of what ID contained In
Q seam can be taken out. Owing to It's
proximity to tho sea Il is easily shipped,
and the greater oheapness Of water car
rage long gave II an advantage in tho
London market. OF the total output
(4soo 900 tons) in 1901. about half was sent
away by water, OF which $4,000 tons
were exported to foreign countries. The
remaining half Of the output OF the great
Northern field was used In domestic oon-
sumption, and especially In the manu-
fact cries Of the district. The output Of this
field liz increasing. but only slowly; and It's
miners form slowly decreasing percentage
Of tho total number employed In Great
Britain. Five yesrs ago the percentage
was 10 3: now IL Ia 1915. Moreover, the days
Of this field arc numbered. According to
the most Trustworthy estimates. it's availa-
bic resources, down to q depth Of 1000
feet, are not one third OF those Of South
Wales; and at the present rate Of consump-
ton they will be exhausted In about q
century.
Mr.. Ashley next considers the great con-
tinuous coal-bearing area which stretches
from the West Riding Of Yorkshire into
Derbyshire and includes fringe OF Not
tinshAmshire. This IL most conveniently
spoken Of ~ the Yorkshire hsld. It has
at present larger output than any other,
to wit, SC, 900 900 tons In 1901; and tho largest
number of people employed In coal mining
Isl per cent Of the whole. Tho available
resources are very large, more than three
times as great as those Of the Northern
fleld; and the output Is rapidly Increasing,
having gained 90 per cent. In the last twenty
years. We are next invited to examine
what, In some respects. Is the most inter-
estins OF all tho British coal fields, that Of
South Wales. Its output is somewhat
less than that Of the Newcastle tis,d, and
much les than that Of the Yorkshire field
having been some 80 900 ,0O0 tons h 1901;
the number Of people employed was pro-
portionAts. Larnely. 10000. Reproduction
howvveS, ID incrsss sing even more rapidly
than that Of Yorkshire; III the last twenty
ysan n hiss almost doubled. Moreover.
the ooAl Of South Wales 10. on the whole.
considerably more valuable-the average
price psr ton In 1901 being about lis 3d.,
a. compared with rs. I'd. for Great britain
- whole.
In order TO bring out the meaning Of
these figures, 1t u nsedful to note the dif-
ferences III respect Of quality exhibited
by various kinds of the British combustible.
II u we'll known that coal Is divided roughly
into two great classes-bituminous and
anthracite; terms, however, which are
seldom heard In England Outside mining
circles) because almost all Of the British
coal Is more or less bituminous. On the
other hand, the terms are household words
in the United States, where throughout
| q large section Of the country hard or an
thracite coal is the only coal used in stoves
and furnaces for domestic purposes. Coal
Is generally called anthracite when It con-
tains some 90 per cent. or more OF carbon
bituminous, when 1t contains from 10 to sc
Der cent. Az rule, the coal OF given
district belongs clearly to one or the other
variety. In South Wales, however. there
exist unusually large quantities OF Goa
OF an intermediate sort. containing from
90 to 90 per cent. OF carbon. This u the
celebrated steam coal Of South Wales. The
different sorts OF the combustible are seq
reQated In different sections OF this basin
An isolated section to the extreme we,'
contains hardly anything but pure an
thracite. There Is not much OF this minec
anywhere In South Wales-about two and
2 Quarter million tons a year, half OF which
u exported. The extreme eastern trac
u chiefly bituminous. Between these two
extremes. mixed with softer coal. but pre-
ponderating more and more a. one moves