993 



COAL. TRADE. 



COAL TRADE. 



94 



They will be found more fully described in their respective alpha- 

 betical places. 



Reichenbach has also noticed, and partially examined, three other 

 substances : pittacal, a deep blue coloured solid ; picamar, a bitter oil, 

 sp. gr. I'l ; and cedriret, which crystallises in orange-red needles from 

 a solution of persulphate of iron. Greville Williams has also isolated 

 several radicals of alcohols, or their hydrides, including tetryl and 

 amyl, 



COAL TRADE. In the article COAL, COMPOSITION OF, in the 

 NATURAL HISTORY DIVISION of this Cyclopaedia, an account is given 

 of the chemical constituents of different kinds of coal ; in the article 

 COAL FIELDS, in the same division, a full description is given of the 

 chief deposits of coal in our own and in foreign countries ; lastly, 

 under the head of MINING, COAL, in the present division, will be found 

 a description of colliery operations. In the present place, therefore, it 

 will suffice to trace some of the more remarkable features in the coal 

 .trade of this country; with a notice of some of the circumstances 

 which have led to a rapid augmentation of that trade. 



In 1816, a committee of the coal-owners of Northumberland and 

 Durham was commissioned to inquire into the quantity of coals at 

 that time sent by road and canal, from the pits of these two counties 

 to other parts of the kingdom. The quantity was ascertained to be 

 nearly 11,000,000 tons. But this estimate took no account of the sea- 

 borne coal to London, nor of the coal consumed in and near the 

 busy towns of the north. Twenty-five years ago it was estimated 

 that Sheffield alone consumed half a million tons, drawn from neigh- 

 bouring pits ; and that the iron-works of the midland counties consumed 

 five million tons. The statistical returns were, however, very incon- 

 clusive ; for the estimates of total consumption in the United Kingdom, 

 in all localities and for all purposes, varied between the wide limits of 

 fifteen and thirty million tons. About the year 1830, a great authority 

 on mining subjects, Mr. Taylor, made the following estimate : 



Tons. 



Coals sent coastwise from Northumberland and Durham . 3,300,000 

 Home consumption in Northumberland and Durham . 660,000 

 Produce of other counties for domestic purposes . . . 7,920,000 

 Consumed in iron-works and Cornish mines . . . 3,000,000 

 Exported to Ireland 700,000 



15,580,000 . 



This was exclusive of the exports to foreign countries. Other 

 inquirers, about the year 1835, felt assured that the quantity was 

 higher than Mr. Taylor had estimated. One tabulation, carefully pre- 

 pared so far as data were obtainable, gave the following result : 



Tons. 



Sent coastwise from Northumberland and Durham . . 4,368,000 

 Home consumption in Northumberland and Durham . . 870,000 

 Produce of other counties for domestic use . . . 10,480,000 

 Consumed in iron-works and Cornish mines . . . 6,000,000 



Exported to Ireland 1,000,000 



Waste by screening . . w 6,630,000 



29,348,000 



Later estimates, based on surer grounds, we will advert to presently. 



It was long considered by the legislature politic to check the ex- 

 portation of coals to other countries ; both through fear of exhausting 

 the mines, and because it was imagined that our superiority 33 manu- 

 facturers might be endangered. Coal was also, on many occasions, 

 made a source of revenue to the state, a source of revenue to the 

 corporation of the city of London, and a perquisite to certain pampered 

 minions of the court. The national tax was sometimes on exported 

 coal, sometimes on coal carried coastwise. The London tax is a corpo- 

 rate privilege, granted by virtue of several acts of parliament, for 

 several alleged reasons ; it amounts to about a shilling a ton, and is 

 levied on all coals brought into London, or within a certain radial dis- 

 tance of it. There is a probability that this tax, in its appropriation, 

 if not also in its amount, will shortly undergo modification. The 

 Tyne tax, or Richmond tax, was a perquisite granted by letters patent 

 from Charles II. to the Duke of Richmond, amounting to one shilling 

 per chaldron on all coals shipped from the Tyne to the Thames ; the 

 descendants of the duke received this perquisite xmtil the year 1799, 

 when it was found to amount to about 21,000?. per annum; it was 

 cdmmuted for a perpetual annuity of 19,000?., "chargeable on the 

 Consolidated fund. 



The coal-owners of Northumberland and Durham, looking to London 

 as its best customers, maintained for many years a remarkable com- 

 pact, tending to keep up prices. Railways have now nearly broken 

 down this monopoly, but it may be well briefly to state its nature. In 

 1771, the owners of the greater part of the collieries in the counties of 

 Durham and Northumberland entered into a mutual agreement, under 

 the denomination of " The Limitation of the Vends." The object of 

 this compact was to apportion among the different collieries the quan- 

 tity to be raised and sold, according to the quality of the coal and the 

 power of raising it, and with reference also to the probable demands of 

 the different markets in the kingdom. A representative was named 

 for each of the collieries : these representatives met together, and from 

 amongst them chose a committee of nine, fbr the Tyne, and seven for 

 the Wear. This being done, the proprietors of the best coals were 



ARTS AND SCI. DIV. VOL. II. 



called upon to name the price at which they intended to sell their 

 coals for the succeeding twelve months ; according to this price the 

 remaining proprietors fixed their prices. This being accomplished, each 

 colliery was requested to send in a statement of the different sorts of 

 coal they raised, and the powers of the colliery, that is, the quantity 

 that each particular colliery could raise at full work ; and upon these 

 statements the committee, assuming an imaginary basis, fixed the rela- 

 tive proportions as to quantity between all the collieries, which pro- 

 portions were observed, whatever quantity the markets might demand. 

 The committee then met once a month, and according to the probable 

 demand of the ensuing month they issued so much per 1000 to the 

 different collieries. This demand was determined wholly by the price 

 in the London market. If this had been greater during the previous 

 month than the price fixed by the coal-owners, as already explained, 

 added to the freight and other charges of conveyance to London, per- 

 mission was given to raise a larger quantity ; and on the contrary, if 

 the price had been below a remunerative one, thus calculated, then the 

 supply was limited till the requisite price was reached. In the agree- 

 ment entered into among the owners of collieries, it was stipulated 

 that no one without leave of the committee should sell below the fixed 

 price agreed on as the price to be charged by such colliery : and 

 arrangements were made for enforcing penalties for any breach of this 

 agreement. The policy or impolicy of the " Limitation of the Vends " 

 was for many years very fiercely contested, the colliery interest re- 

 garding the practice from a protective point of view : while the inha- 

 bitants of the metropolis were naturally favourable to a free-trade 

 policy. It is unnecessary to follow the line of argument used by either 

 side ; for the system has gradually yielded to the power of railways, 

 which now bring up coals cheaply to London, from districts which 

 were formerly wholly shut out from this important market. 



Another regulation affecting the coal trade from the Tyne and the 

 Wear was established by Act of Parliament (6 Geo. IV. c. 32), under 

 the provisions of which every ship must be loaded in her turn ; and if 

 any colliery refuse to sell, a penalty is imposed of 100?. This regulation 

 was, however, evaded by the coal-owners towards ships the owners of 

 which refused to be bound by their regulations in the port of dis- 

 charge. The mode of evading it was to fix an exorbitant price upon 

 their coal, which might be done although a price below the regulation 

 was not allowed ; by this means the vessels were either brought into 

 conformity with the regulations in the port of discharge, or forced out 

 of the trade. The factors and colliery-owners, again, still find it con- 

 venient among themselves to make regulations concerning the number 

 of ship-loads of coal that shall be offered for sale on one day, and the 

 order in which the several collieries shall be represented ; but all such 

 compacts, like the limitation of the Vends, have been much affected 

 by the extension of railways. 



In 1836 there were 47 collieries on the Tyne, 17 on the Wear, and 

 16 on the Tees. The Tyne and the Wear were at that period jealous 

 of the Tees, which was beginning to ship large stores of inland coals 

 brought down to Stockton by railway ; and attempts were made, with 

 partial success, to check the further construction of railways in the 

 two counties. Seven years afterwards, in 1843, the colliery pro- 

 prietorships were ranged under four classes, according to the scale of 

 the operations. The 1st class comprised four great concerns, headed 

 respectively by the Marquis of Londonderry, the Earl of Durham, 

 Lord Ravensworth, and the Hetton Coal Company. The capital sunk 

 in each of these concerns was supposed to be not less than half a 

 million sterling; they each comprised from six to twelve separate 

 mines, and all the necessary engines, waggons, horses, &c. ; and they 

 were believed to realise a profit on an average from 35,000?. to 45,000?. 

 per year each. The 2nd class comprised companies or partnerships 

 whose sunken capital ranged from 100,000?. to 200,000?. The 3rd class 

 included those concerns which had only a single pit each, and whose 

 capitals ranged between 40,000?. and 60,000?. The 4th class, humbler 

 but more numerous than any of the others, comprised those whicli had 

 a capital ranging from 8000?. to 30,000?. In that year, in Durham 

 county, there were more persons employed under ground in coal-mines 

 than above ground in agriculture. The following figures referred to a 

 particular day in the year 1843, and to all the collieries on the Tyne, 

 Wear, and Tees : 



On the Tyne. On the Wear and Tees. 



No. of collieries . . 41 29 



No. of pits ... 92 100 



Average depth, in fathoms 85 75 



No of men and boys em. > 12 gsj 1 12,937 (la 27 collieries) 



ployed / f 



Engine-power in pumpins \ 4 88g bmm \ 



water . . . . ) f g .. ( , 23 colHeries) 



Engine-power m raising | . ,., I 



coals . . . ./ 4> ' 8 - " j 



Coal raised per annum . 2,408,481 tons 2,355,486 (from 22 collieries) 

 Highest price at that date 10. 1 \A. per ton 1 Is. 6d. per ton 

 Lowest price at that date 7s. Id. ,, 85. Hi. 



The coal-mining arrangements, in relation to wages and labour'- 

 agreements, differ in different counties. In South Staffordshire and 

 the neighbouring coal-fields, the " Butty " system is extensively acted 

 on. This consists in the miners being the servants, not of the pro- 

 prietor or lessee of a colliery, but of a contractor called a " butty," who 



3 s 



