ON FUEL -ECONOMY. 



249 



Coal Outputs and Average Pithead Prices in 1919. 



According to information kindly furnished to the Committee by the Statistical 

 Department of the Board of Trade, the total output of coal in the United 

 Kingdom during the year 1919 has been provisionally estimated at 229,668,000 

 tons, and the total output per person employed (below and above ground) in the 

 mines at 197 5 tons. 



Owing to abnormal circumstances during the period of coal control, it is 

 difficult to give strictly comparable figures for the average pithead prices of coal 

 in the years immediately preceding and following (respectively) the war. 

 According to official estimates supplied by the Statistical Department of the 

 Board of Trade, the pithead prices per ton of coal raised in 1913, and in July 

 1919, respectively, were approximately as follows : — 



Average On July 16, 



Labour . 

 Timber and Stores 

 Other Costs 

 Royalties 

 Owners' Profits 

 Compensation . 

 Administration, etc. 



Total 



10 IJ 26 OJ 



In the Report recently made to the Prime Minister by Messrs. Alfred Tongue 

 & Co., Chartered Accountants, of Manchester and Glasgow, and presented to 

 Parliament by command of His Majesty (Cmd. 555), it was estimated that the 

 average cost per ton of coal raised in British mines during the year ending 

 March 31, 1920, was as follows :— 



Wages 



Timber and Stores 



Other Costs 



Royalties . 



Administration . 



Capital Adjustments under Finance Acta 



Control and Contingencies . 



Owners' Profits ..... 



Total 27 Si 



It would thus appear that the pithead cost of coal has been nearly trebled an 

 the result of the war. 



Coal Export Statistics. 



The Statistical Department of the Board of Trade has also placed at the 

 disposal of the Committee detailed information concerning the amounts of coal 

 exported from the principal ports of the kingdom (a) to British possessions, and 

 (b) to foreign countries, during each of the years 1913-1919 inclusive. In view 

 of the importance of such statistics, the Committee has decided to publish them 

 in tabular form as Appendix II. to this Report. The Committee is also collecting 

 information as to average prices obtained at the principal ports for the coal 

 exported during each of the years in question. In the light of such statistics 

 the Committee hopes next year to be able to review the question of the effect of 

 the war upon the coal export trade. 



Chemistry of Coal. 



During the year considerable progress has been made with the researches on 

 the chemistry of coal under the direction of Professor Bone at the Fuel 

 Laboratories at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, further details 



