ON FUEL ECONOMY. 193 



organising of means for making it possible to raise this hitherto wasted 

 coal at an economic advantage. 



So much for the general statistics of coal production. Coming now 

 to the possible saving in the coal consumed annually in this country at 

 the outbreak of the war (nearly 200,000,000 tons), it will be remembered 

 that the 1905 Royal Commission on Coal Supplies found that the 

 possible saving in our then annual coal consumption (167,000,000 tons) 

 amounted to between forty and sixty million tons. There are many 

 competent judges who consider that, notwithstanding the improved 

 apparatus which has been put into use in the best factories throughout 

 the country during the last ten years, the average result obtained for 

 the country as a whole still lags behind the best obtainable to-day in as 

 great a proportion as it did in 1905. It will be the business of this 

 Committee (1) to estimate as nearly as may be the present possible 

 margin of saving, and (2) to point out the particular directions in which 

 it can be attained from a national point of view. 



Organisation of the Committee's Work. 



Having regard to the magnitude of its work, and the fact that the 

 coal question is one upon which almost every branch of manufacturing 

 and transport industry is dependent, the original Committee of thirteen 

 members appointed by the Association in October 1915 decided to 

 exei'cise somewhat freely its powers of co-option, so as to make a 

 General Committee sufficiently large and representative of all the 

 important interests involved. 



For the more detailed and special study of particular aspects of the 

 fuel question the enlarged General Committee resolved itself into the 

 following five Sub-Committees, each of which subsequently elected its 

 own Chairman and, subject to its reporting from time to time to the 

 General Committee, proceeded to make such arrangements as seemed 

 best for the prosecution of its work : — 



(a) Chemical and Statistical. 



(b) Carbonisation. 



(c) Metallurgical, Ceramic, and Refractory Materials. 



(d) Power and Steam Raising. 



(e) Domestic Heating and Smoke Prevention. 



The General Committee next appointed an Executive Committee, 

 composed of the Chairman and Secretai'y of ilie General Committee, 

 the Chairman of each Sub-Committee {ex officio), and twelve other 

 members, which could meet frequently in London for the discussion 

 of matters relative to the organisation and co-ordination of the work of 

 the Committee as a whole, to deal with matters arising out of the 

 proceedings of the Sub-Committees which might require immediate 

 action or decision, and to receive and consider communications either 

 from Government Departments or Technical Associations concerning 

 subjects under investigation by the Committee. 



The General Committee has met in London four times since its 

 appointment in October 1915, the various Sub-Committees have each 

 met about four times since their formation in January 1916, whilst 

 the Executive Committee has met regularly on alternate Fridays since 

 April 28 last. In all, thirty meetings have been held during the year. 



1916 o 



