742 REPORT— 1901. 



During the last 400 yeais there have been many alarms regarding the 

 approaching exhaustion of the coalfields, with the result that at various periods 

 laws have been passed either totally prohibiting the exportation of coal or placing 

 a heavy tax on any coal exported. 



In recent years the proportion of the output which is exported has increased 

 enormously. In 1861 the proportion of the output exported was only 6-4 per 

 cent., whereas last year it amounted to over 20 per cent. In 1861 the home con- 

 sumption per head of the population was about three tons per annum, whereas it 

 is now over five tons per head of the population. Most of the Scottish coal 

 exports go to the continent of Europe, and about 25 per cent, of the whole export 

 goes to Germany. 



If the export and home consumption are to continue increasing at the present 

 rate, then by the end of this century the Scottish output will be 60 million tons 

 per annum, and the 10,000 million tons we have available will be exhausted in 

 about 180 years. If all the coalfields were producing coal in the same proportion 

 to their area as in Lanarkshire, the output of Scotland would be 60,000,000 tons 

 per annum. Such an output will never be required, because methods will he 

 found to use the coal much more economically than at present, so that one ton of 

 coal will do the work for which two tons are now required, and in that way the 

 duration of the coalfields will be prolonged indefinitely. A great deal of coal is 

 being wasted in the working, and in shafts and bores many thin seams are being 

 passed through of which no national record is kept. There should be a Govern- 

 ment department for the inspection of systems of working and for the preservation 

 of exact records of all shafts and bores. 



More than one-half of the Scottish output comes from the Lanarkshire coal- 

 field, and at the present rate all the coals in that county will be exhausted in 

 forty years ; but within twelve or fifteen years all the thick and easily wrought 

 seams of the Clyde basin will be worked out. This is not such a serious matter 

 for the population of Glasgow and the west of Scotland as at first sight it might 

 appear. The royalties payable on these coals are from 9d. to Is. 6d. per ton 

 higher than are payable'on similar coals in the outlying districts. As the Lanark- 

 shire coals becomeexhausted less money will be paid to the landlords and more 

 to the railway companies, but the net result will not be any very serious increase 

 in the cost of fuel. 



The royalties at present being paid in Scotland vary from 2^d. to 2s. per ton, 

 or on a sliding scale from -^^ to ^ of the selling price. From the report of the 

 Royal Commission on Mining Royalties it appears that the average royalty pay- 

 able in Scotland in 1891 was 6'54rZ. per ton. 



The average profit earned by the coalmasters under normal conditions is 8d. 

 per ton. 



Coal-cutting machines have been in use in Scotland for over thirty years, and 

 last year 529,791 tons were produced by that method. It is not ignorance or 

 prejudice which prevents the more extensive use of these labour-saving appliances, 

 but the physical conditions under which most of the seams are now being worked. 

 In practically every case where coal-cutting machinery can be used to advantage 

 it has been adopted ; but in the future it may come to be more largely used when 

 thinner seams are opened up. 



The annual output per man employed is 360 tons. In U.S. America it 

 amounts to 400 tons, but in Germany it is only 270 tons per man. 



The greatest depth from which coal is being worked in Scotland is 2,760 feet 

 below the surface. 



3. The Growth and Geographical Distribution of LuntxCy in Scotland. 

 By J. F. Sutherland, M.D. 



The lunacy forming the subject-matter of this communication is what is known 

 &s ' pauper lunacy,' an unfortunate and misleading term in so far as it refers to 

 the lunacy arising in 80 per cent, of the population, whereas indigency, pauperism, 



