i'KEsinK\i"i.\[. .\ni)Ki:ss — skation a. 45 



cising the minds of all critical thinkers. I^rofessor Annstroiiij 

 fJ.S.C'.r.. Fch. K). 1916) says: — 



" I'hc priinar}- jjolitical issnc in connection witli coal to 

 be considered some day in the not distant futnre, thongh not 

 yet T imagine, will be tliat of the ownership of onr national 

 tnel snpplies. \W" should be prepared and prepare to deal with 

 this grave ])roblem in an absolutely jihilosophic and scientitic 

 manner, without tinge of political feeling; it v.'ill be a thorny 

 one to attack, but it is inevitable that it should l)e attacked. 



" ( )ne of the greatest questions to be discussed to an issue 

 in the near future will be tlie extent to which such raw materials 

 as coal should be allowed to leave a countr}- which is imdoubtedly 

 a home of industrialism." 



.\t an\- rate, there would appear to be a growing desire in 

 certain cjuarters for the re-imposition of the coal export tax in 

 Great Britain. One scientist advocates that tlie proceeds from 

 such a tax should be ear-marked for investigations u])on coal 

 and fuel economy, and in loans in aid of improved methods of 

 using fuel. It is a well known fact that the taxation of coal 

 is already in force in Westphalia, the amount raised being 

 expended partly for the benefit of the workers, but mainly for 

 the education of the miners and officials engaged in the industry, 

 several Schools of Mines being maintained in this way. 



Coming to South Africa, the coal output for th;.' L^nion 

 during the past five years is shown in Table \TII ( i ton, 2,000 

 lbs. ), the figures for 1915 having been kindly supplied in advance 

 by the (iovernment Mining Engineer. It will be seen that 

 the Transvaal provides about 63 per cent, of the total coal sold, 

 and that the price is also the lowest in the Union. As compared 

 with the total world's reserves, as already seen. South Africa 

 is very poor in coal. 



It is evident that, to conserve our coal rcs(jurces, there are 

 two courses open to us, z'i::. :— 



( I ) To adopt every possible means of increasing the effi- 

 ciency when coal is used and heat converted into work, so that 

 a smaller amount may suffice to do the world's work. 



(2) To utilise to the utmost natural sources of energy, such 

 as water power, which is a permanent source of energy, and not 

 a wasting asset like coal ; to utilise other fuels; and to endeavour 

 to obtain substitutes, the supply of which could be continued 

 when the world's coal reserves are exhausted. 



It is unfortunatclv impossible, for thermodynamic reasons, 

 to convert more than a fraction of the heat energ\- of coal into 

 mechanical work, and an actual engine has not more than 60 

 per cent, of the efficiency of an ideal one, due to inevitable losses. 



The greater amount: of coal used for power production is 

 consumed in boilers, and in these the amount of heat lost may 

 be as much as ;o ixr cent. Recently-published ( Jlugiuccying, 



