![]() |
The Coal Question
Chapter V
|
Average Shipping Price of Newcastle Coal. |
||
---|---|---|
Year. | s. | d. |
1771... | 5 | 4 per ton. |
1794... | 7 | 6 per ton. |
1801... | 10 | 4 per ton. |
1811... | 13 | 0 per ton. |
1821... | 12 | 8 per ton. |
1831... | 12 | 4 per ton. |
1841... | 10 | 6 per ton. |
1850... | 9 | 6 per ton. |
1860... | 9 | 0 per ton. |
This is probably as good and comparable a series of prices as could be got; yet it is very difficult to draw inferences from it beyond the contradiction of any recent considerable rise. The great rise of price up to 1811 was more or less due to the depreciation of gold and paper currency, or to the other causes, whatever they may have been, of the great general rise of prices. The subsequent fall is, of course, partly due to the restoration of our currency, and to the other debatable causes of a general fall of prices.*51
There are, however, at least two other circumstances not to be lost sight of in comparing early and late prices of coal.
Firstly, there is the limitation of the vend, an arrangement which used to exist among the coal proprietors of the North, to limit the amount sold by any colliery, in order that each colliery might have a share of the trade proportional to its capabilities. This combination maintained itself at intervals for about two centuries, and was much complained of because it was supposed to raise the price of coal. It may have had some effect, especially upon those better kinds of coal of which the price is quoted.
Secondly, there is the practice of screening coals, whereby a considerable portion of the coal raised at the beginning of the century used to be separated out and burnt as waste, the whole cost of raising the coal being paid in the price of the large coal sold. Though coals are still generally screened, the "seconds," "nuts," and even the "dead small," or "slack," are usually sold for manufacturing purposes at prices proportional to the size of the coal. The total price thus returned is increased by more than is represented in the price of the large coal.
Both the limitation of the vend and the practice of screening would thus tend to raise the earlier quotations of price of large coal, as compared with late quotations, and thus disguise the real rise of price due to the growing demand and the depth of the mines.
I take it, therefore, to be pretty certain that the cost of the best quality of Newcastle coal has been considerably more than doubled within a century by the growing depth of the collieries. It is not to be said that trade is much affected by the price of the very best coals, which are chiefly valued for household purposes. But from the price of such coal we learn what we should have to pay were all coals drawn from the depths of 1,000 or 2,000 feet or more. The mines of South Wales, Scotland, and Yorkshire are yet shallow, and the coal cheap enough. The cost of the coal, especially, which supports the great and rising iron trade in South Wales and Scotland, is only four or five shillings per ton.
The following are some returns of the price of coal published by Mr. Hunt in the Mineral Statistics for 1860:—
Description of Coal | Price per Ton | ||
---|---|---|---|
s. | d. | ||
Newcastle... | House Coal... | 9 | 0 |
Steam... | 8 | 0 | |
Gas, Coking, and Manufacturing | 5 | 6 | |
Derbyshire... | Best Coal... | 9 | 0 |
Common... | 6 | 6 | |
Cost of Getting...5s. to | 5 | 6 | |
North Staffordshire... | Best... | 9 | 2 |
Common... | 6 | 0 | |
Cost of Getting...2s. 6d. to | 4 | 6 | |
Lancashire... | Best Coal... | 6 | 3 |
Lately... | 5 | 6 | |
South Wales and Monmouthshire... | Large Coal... | 6 | 6 |
Small... | 4 | 6 | |
Scotland... | Average... | 4 | 0 |
Cost of Getting... | 2 | 8 |
The average cost of getting coal throughout the country was stated to be 4s. 10d. per ton, not including profits, rent, and other charges.
In the very various prices of coal from the several collieries of the Newcastle district, we have evidence of the rise of price due to the depth of mines. Shipping prices of coal are given in full detail in the Report of the Committee of 1838 (p. 240); and taking the coals classed as Newcastle Wallsend only, we find the price varying from 6s. 6d. to 11s. 6d., the nuts and small coal ranging down to 3s. 9d. It is obvious that the difference of five shillings per ton in Wallsend coal must either be absorbed by the expenses of deep mining, or else it must make the fortune of the proprietors or workers of the mines. That in some cases prodigious profits are made, as in the case of the original Wallsend mine, is well known. But this cannot usually be the case, otherwise the wide areas of land yet known to contain untouched seams of coal of the finest qualities, would at once be broken up by speculators, who are never wanting. That deep mines are so deliberately opened is a sufficient proof that the highest prices obtained are, taking all mining risks and charges into account, only an average equivalent for the capital invested. These deep pits can only be undertaken at present in search of coal of the finest household quality. The Monkwearmouth Pit was sunk to win the Hutton seam, which yields coal of the highest possible character. The Dukinfield Deep Pit was undertaken to follow the celebrated Lancashire "Black Mine," a four feet seam of the finest coal, selling for 10s. per ton at the pit's mouth, the small coal returning 5s. 6d. per ton.
The high prices, which are necessary in order to tempt speculators to undertake deep mining, afford a rough but sure indication of the effect of depth upon the cost of coal. When the general depth of coal workings has increased to 2,000 feet, little or no coal will be sold for less than 10s. per ton, and the choice large coal will have risen to a much higher price. Our iron and general manufacturing industries will have to contend with a nearly double cost of fuel. And when with the growth of our trade and the course of time our mines inevitably reach a depth of 3,000 or 4,000 feet, the increasing cost of fuel will be an incalculable obstacle to our further progress.
Chapter VI
Return to top