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THE COLLIERIES.?No. II.
[View on the Tyne. showing the mode of shipping the Coal]
We explained in the preceding Supplement the process of obtaining
coal, and the manner in which it is prepared for the market. When
this is accomplished, it has next to be transported to the ships
employed in the coal-trade. For this purpose a road is constructed
(generally a rail-road) leading from the mouth of the pit directly
to the nearest harbour or river.
Nature has intersected the northern coal-field by three considerable
rivers, in consequence of which the whole district possesses an
easy, cheap, and expeditious mode by which its produce may find its
way into the general market. These three rivers are the Tyne, the
Wear, and the Tees, each of which is admirably adapted, both by its
volume of water, its tides, and harbour-room, for the purposes in
question.
The Tyne is the most important of the northern coal-rivers, and, as
it possesses all the excellencies of the others, we shall confine
our description to it. It originates from two small streams called
the North and South Tyne, which unite a little above the ancient
town of Hexham, at about thirty miles distance from the sea, where
it becomes navigable for small craft.
From Hexham it flows through a fine hilly country to Newcastle,
where it is sufficiently wide and deep for vessels of large burden,
and where its office as a coal-river may be said properly to
commence. Its course from Newcastle to the sea, at Tynemouth,
presents scenes full of activity and enterprize. Nowhere is capital
seen in fuller or more beneficial employment. Heedless alike of the
obstructions of hills and valleys, it has created hundreds of
railways, which, commencing at the mouths of the different pits,
terminate at some convenient place on the banks of the river. On
these thousands of waggons convey with rapidity the produce of the
mines to the vessels lying at anchor in the river, which, as they
complete their freight, are towed out and depart with every
favourable wind for their several destinations.
The large collieries in the vicinity of the rivers have each a
railway running in the most direct line to their banks. Upon these
railways the waggons move in trains of from ten to thirty or more in
number, according to the extent of the works or the existing demand
for coal. The nature of the power which puts them in motion depends
in some measure on the distance they have to travel, and the
inclination or other peculiarities of the surface. On those which
are perfectly level, a locomotive steam-engine generally heads the
train, and drags it to its destination with startling rapidity. On
other railroads, which have a regular descent the whole way, the
waggons are impelled by their own gravity, and, by the aid of a long
rope and a series of pulleys, drag up the empty train, which, in its
turn, when again descending with a load, draws the other to the pit
in like manner.
When the railroad is carried up an ascending piece of ground, the
train is drawn up the ascent by a winding-engine placed at the
summit. In many small establishments, and in some which are situated
very near one of the rivers or the coast, horses are employed to
draw the train of coal-waggons; and, in others, a combination of all
these methods is practised. Those collieries which are situated
several miles from either the rivers or coast have frequently to pay
sums amounting to 400l. or 500l. a year for the right of carrying
their communications through private property which intervenes
between the pits and the place of loading.
At the end of the railway, and overhanging the river, a large
platform of wood is erected, which is called a staith. Upon this the
waggons laden with coal are brought to a stand previous to the
discharge of their contents into the holds of the ships which lie at
anchor underneath. Each waggon contains about 2 and a half tons (53
cwts.) of coal, and when the number of waggons has been entered by a
clerk appointed for that purpose, they are placed, one at a time, on
a square open frame, which, on the withdrawal of a bolt, is
immediately moved from the staith by machinery until it is suspended
over the main-hatchway of the vessel. A man who descends with it
then unfastens a latch at the bottom of the waggon, which, being
made to turn upon hinges like a door, immediately opens, and the
whole of the coal in the waggon is cleanly poured into the hold. To
facilitate this operation the sides of the waggons converge towards
the bottom, and are lined with smooth iron-plates. Attached to the
suspending machinery are two counterpoising' weights, which, being
less heavy than the waggon when laden with coal, do not impede but
add steadiness to its descent; but, the moment the coal is
discharged, their gravity draws up the waggon to the staith. This
mode of loading the vessels is both complete and ingenious. In an
excursion on the Tyne, between Newcastle and Shields, the perpetual
ascent and descent of the waggons in the manner above described
forms a very novel and curious spectacle to a stranger.
In situations where, owing to the height of the cliffs, the above
mode of emptying the waggons would be inconvenient or impracticable,
a large spout is used, and the vessel is brought under the aperture
at the lower end; so that the coal emptied at the top passes along
the spout, and is discharged into the ship's hold. The height of the
staith at Seaham is perhaps forty feet above the deck of the vessel,
and to diminish the force with which the coal would descend the
spout from such a height, there is a trap-door at the lower end, by
which the force of its descent is diminished, and it reaches the
hold without injury to the vessels. The accompanying cuts (pages 161
and 168) represent both the mode of loading by staith and by the
spout.
One of these two methods is invariably pursued wherever there is a
sufficient depth of water to allow the vessel to come alongside the
staith; but as this is not always the case, whenever an impediment
exists, some other mode becomes necessary. There are many coal-works
in which, owing to local obstacles and the intersection of private
property, a right of way cannot always be obtained. The greatest
obstacle of all, and one which is coeval with the coal-trade itself,
is the bridge which crosses the Tyne at Newcastle, which effectually
bars the passage of coal-vessels above the town. Those owners,
therefore, whose pits lie "above bridge" are compelled, in addition
to the railway and staith, to employ a number of light barges called
"keels", for the purpose of conveying their coal to the ships. This
mode of conveyance is the most ancient, and was universal before the
invention of this staith and its mechanical apparatus.
A keel is built sharp at both ends, and is capable of containing
about 16 and a half London chaldrons of coal (about21 tons), has a
sort of quarter-deck for the convenience of the keelmen, and a
footway or gangway along the sides. The collier, waiting to receive
the cargo of the keel, lies at anchor in a convenient part of the
river, and generally a keel is lashed on each side of her. The coal
is shovelled through her ports, or into a large tub, which, when
filled, is drawn up, turned over, and the coal emptied into the
hold. But this method occasions the breakage of the coal to such an
extent as to deteriorate its value in the market.
By the vessel receiving her cargo from the staith, without the
intervention of the keel, a saving of about 9d. per London chaldron
is effected in keel dues. The employment of keelmen is therefore
dispensed with wherever it is possible. Still their wages are
tolerably constant, and are higher than those received by pitmen,
and considerably higher than the wages of an agricultural labourer.
They average from 18s. to 21s. per week, and occasionally they
obtain, under certain circumstances, from 30s. to 40s. They are paid
by the tide, voyage, or trip.
We feel much pleasure in recording a circumstance in the history of
the keelmen, which does great credit to their foresight, and is
worthy of imitation by all classes of our industrious population.
Warned many years ago by the sentiment expressed in the northern
proverb?
" Did youth but know what age would crave, Many a penny it would
save,"
they raised a sum by subscription among themselves, with which they
founded an extensive establishment in Newcastle, known by the name
of the "Keelman's Hospital." In this quiet retreat fifty-two aged
men and women find a comfortable asylum during their latter years.
We believe that this is the only hospital in the kingdom built and
supported by the working classes for their own members. The keelmen
meet once a year to celebrate the establishment of this institution,
perambulating the town with bands of music, playing the lively
Northern air?" Weel may the keel row."
A stranger who visits the banks of the Tyne will not fail to be
struck by the immense heaps of sand which are to be seen, some of
them being from 100 to 200 feet in height. The colliers, after
discharging their cargoes, take in a quantity of sand as ballast,
and on their return to the river, it is discharged on its banks. It
is afterwards removed to the top of these ?ballast hills?, which is
often a tedious and expensive process. Sometimes a steam-engine and
an ?endless train" of ascending and descending buckets is necessary.
Newcastle, the metropolis of this district, has doubled its
population within the last thirty years. It has been enriched by the
coal-trade, which attracts vessels from all parts of the world to
discharge their merchandize upon its quays. By the exchanges which
follow these transactions, a multitude of trades are called into
activity, which in their turn give employment and wealth to
industrious thousands, who, spreading over the neighbourhood, form
new and flourishing communities. In this way North and South
Shields, at the mouth of the Tyne, and many intermediate villages on
its banks, have sprung up within the memory of persons yet living.
Of the coal annually consumed in London, one-half, amounting to more
than 1,000,000 tons, is shipped at Newcastle. The foreign export of
coal from Newcastle amounted, in 1833, to 233,448 tons, being above
a third of the whole quantity sent abroad. Vessels do not enter or
clear at North and South Shields, but at Newcastle, of which those
places are the out-stations. The number of ships registered at
Newcastle is above 1,100, and their tonnage amounts to 221,276 tons.
A collier makes on an average nine or ten, and sometimes more,
voyages to London in a year ; and the number of arrivals in the Tyne
annually is not less than 13,000 or 14,000,-10,000 of which are on
account of the coal-trade.
Sunderland is the great shipping port of the Wear. The number of its
registered vessels has more than doubled within the last fifty
years, being 625 in the year 1829, and the tonnage 107,880. The
average number of vessels quitting the port is 176 per week, or 9152
in a year. The amount of coal sent abroad from Sunderland is about
176,000 tons annually; and it supplied the London market in 1833
with 667,787 tons, besides enjoying, along with Newcastle and other
ports of the North, a share in the general coast-trade in coal.
Stockton, on the Tees, is a thriving port; and its trade in coal,
though not so large as its more powerful neighbours, Newcastle and
Sunderland, is, we under stand, increasing.
Blythe, or Blythe Nook, is a small port on the river Blythe, which
may be considered one of the smaller livers on the Northern
coal-field. Above 100 vessels belong to this port. Seaton Sluice is
another small port in this quarter and, within the last few years, a
harbour has been formed at Seaham, near Sunderland, by the Marquis
of Londonderry. A rail-road leads to it from the South Hetton
colliery, a distance of about four miles, passing, in its course,
across valleys, and through passages cut in the solid rock. There
did not exist, at Seaham, the slightest natural appearance of a
harbour; but it is now a most convenient shipping-station for
colliers to receive their cargoes in safety. Two piers have been
constructed, and a village has sprung up on the site where these
improvements have been so successfully undertaken.
The quantities of coal shipped from the different ports of England,
Scotland, and Wales, in 1829, were as follows:?Quantities sent
coastwise, 5,014,132 tons; to Ireland, 840,246 to the British
colonies, 128,893 to foreign countries, 240,854 making the total
quantity shipped 6,224,125 tons.
Soon after the Revolution, in 1688, a duty was imposed on coal
brought coastwise into the port of London in addition to the
municipal charges with which it was burdened. During the last war,
it was as high as 9s. 4d per chaldron; but was reduced to 6s. in
1824. There was a drawback allowed on coal sent coastwise to
Cornwall for the use of the mines. This drawback amounted, in 1829,
to 16,148l. There was no duty on coal sent coastwise from one part
of Scotland to another and the duty on that exported to Ireland was
only 1s. 1d. per ton. After having, in the interval, undergone some
modifications, the whole of these duties were totally abolished in
1831.
The total sum received for the duty on coals amounted, in 1829, to
1,021,862 of which London contributed 464,599; Norfolk, 83,564;
Kent, 52,549; Devonshire, 42,784; Hampshire, 37,813; Sussex,
36,295; Essex, 30,881; making, with other maritime counties,
847,265.
In the same year, the duty on coal exported to Ireland amounted to
74,050. The chief ports of shipment were Whitehaven, Liverpool,
Newport, Swansea, Irvine, Ayr, and Glasgow.
Up to August, 1831, the duty on coal exported to British possessions
was Is. 6d. per chaldron, and to foreign countries 17s. per chaldron,
Newcastle measure. (53 cwts.) Since that year, the duty on coal sent
to foreign countries has been 3s. 4d. per ton ; and on small coal
2s. In 1829, the quantity exported was 369,747 tons; whereas, in
1833, owing to the reduced duty, it had increased to 634,418 tons.
In 1829, there were sent to the British possessions 128,893 tons. In
1833, the isles of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Man imported
53,866 tons; our North American settlements, 55,313 tons; British
West Indies, 46,449; Gibraltar, 9914 tons; and Malta, 7000 tons.
Of the coal exported to foreign countries, Holland takes a greater
quantity than any other. In 1833, the exportation from this country
to Holland amounted to 142,38 tons. Denmark took 74,445 tons;
Germany, 69,896; France, 45,218 ; the United States, 28,512;
Prussia, 24,068; Portugal, 13,532; and Italy, 10,000 tons.
London is, of course, the most important market for coal. In 1833,
the supply amounted to above 2,000,000 tons, which was furnished by
the following- places :? Newcastle, 1,060,839 tons; Sunderland,
667,787; Stockton, 170,690; Blythe and Beaton Sluice, 48,689 : from
Scotland, 15,138; from Wales, 32,156; from Yorkshire, 16,110; from
inland pits, by the Grand Junction Canal and the western part of the
Thames, 4395 tons, making a total of 2,015,804 tons.
The immense activity which the coal-trade gives to the shipping
interest renders this branch of commerce not only important on
account of the wealth which it creates, but intimately allies it
with our national welfare, by forming a most admirable nursery for
seamen. Even sixty years ago, when it was far less extensive than it
is at the present moment, Postlethwaite said that, "in a time of
urgent necessity, the colliery-navigation alone has been able to
supply the government with a body of seamen for the royal navy able
to man a considerable fleet at a very short warning, and that
without difficulty, when no other branch of trade could do the
like." Above 10,000 men and boys are engaged in the Newcastle
shipping alone.
Five-and-thirty years since, Colquhoun, who wrote a treatise
containing an historical view of the commerce of the port of London,
says, in that part of it which relates to the coal-trade, that this
branch of our enterprise " exceeds the foreign commerce in the
number of ships annually discharged; and requires double the number
of craft which is required for the whole import and export trade of
the Thames." In 1799, the number of colliers which arrived in the
Thames was 3279; in 1818, there were 5239; and in 1833, 7077. The
two ports of Newcastle and Sunderland now possess shipping whose
tonnage is above 310,000 tons, being about 50,000 tons more than the
whole mercantile navy of the country about the year 1700. But as
there was no legal registry of tonnage at that time, the presumption
that the shipping of Newcastle and Sunderland now and that of the
whole country in the year 1700 were equal is, perhaps, the most
accurate.
Owing to the configuration of our coasts, persons who reside a great
distance from inland collieries can be supplied from pits 400 or 500
miles off at a cheaper rate than if coal had to be procured by
land-carriage only a few short miles from their homes. Even at a
distance of 600 or 700 miles from the pit, the sea-borne coal
commands the market. Hence the most distant parts of the country
partake of the advantages of cheap fuel; and if they be remote from
the coast, it is ten to one but capital has been employed to open a
cheap communication with an inland coal-district by means of a
canal, which always benefits the humble labourer, whilst the
capitalist whose money has been expended on such works is frequently
compelled to wait for years before he begins to receive a profitable
return on his investment; the advantage to the former commencing
from the moment that the first boat-load arrives by the new
communication, rendering an article, which formerly only the rich
could afford to purchase, accessible to the humblest cottager.
There is generally an intermediate agent between the coal-owner and
ship-owner or merchant, termed a coal-fitter. The intervention of
such a class of men is an economical and beneficial arrangement to
all parties, and renders it unnecessary for a coal-owner to leave
his works and attend the shipping-port in search of buyers; at the
same time it prevents the ship-owner leaving his ship in order to
seek a cargo at the pit. When the trade is unusually good, the
coal-owners sometimes hire vessels and send them to market at once.
A cargo is generally purchased by the trader, who, after payment of
the freight and other charges, disposes of it to the London
merchant.
[Inclined Plane on the Railway from South Hetton to Seaham Harbour,
showing the manner in which a Loaded Train of Waggons pulls an empty
one up the declivity.]
Legislation on the subject of coal commenced about 400 years ago,
and as the use of this article gradually became more extensive, it
was surrounded by many regulations, some of which were intended to
benefit the consumer, and others to render the imposition of a tax
beneficial to the state. The enormous supply which the metropolis at
present requires is furnished under peculiar local regulations, one
of the most important of which is that all coal must be publicly
sold at the Coal .Exchange. The following extract from an old
pamphlet, published nearly 200 years ago, and purporting to be a
dialogue between a wholesale and retail dealer, will show the
advantages of a public market for the sale of coals. The former,
detailing the means which he used to enhance the price of coal,
says:?" Though the fleete be an hundred saile, yet we meet them at
Yarmouth, or before they come so farre, and suffer not above twenty
or thirty to appeare at a time, and then give out the rest are
suspected to be lost or taken. We tell the masters that our yards at
London are full, that money is dead, and they must deliver or sell
forthwith, or else their charges will quickly eat out their gaines;
and so we get coales at our owne prices, and sell them as we list."
He then goes on to say :?" There are now some forty or fifty saile
of colliers come into the poole, and the poore people have great
hopes to see coales fall in their prices; whereas, alasse, poore
silly fools, our agents at Newcastle have bought them all for us."
The practice at present is, when a vessel with coal arrives in the
port of London, to transmit to the authorised factors at the Coal
Exchange a statement containing the name of the vessel, the port to
which she belongs, and the quantity and name of the coal she
contains. The sale of the cargo then takes place under certain known
and public regulations. The times of sale are between the hours of
twelve and two on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in each week. The
average number of ships at market on each of the above days during
the year is about ninety; the average number sold each day about
forty-six.
In the port of London the crew are not employed in delivering the
cargo when sold. In order, therefore, to avoid any delay in this
operation, which would be injurious both to the seller and
purchaser, but particularly to the former, whose profits depend to a
great extent upon the rapidity of his voyages, a beneficial division
of employment is created, which is useful to both parties under the
existing regulations concerning the delivery of the ship. Men,
called coal-undertakers, attend the Coal Exchange when the vessel
whose cargo he has engaged to deliver is to be sold. He obtains the
name of the buyers, and then hires a gang of labourers, and apprises
the purchasers of the time when the delivery will commence.
The men whose duty it is to deliver the colliers of their cargoes,
are called coal-whippers or coal-heavers, and are about 1800 in
number. Their existence is entirely owing to the regulation which
precludes the crew of the vessel from performing this work. In any
other port but London it is done by them. They are therefore a
"privileged'' class; but, like similar bodies whose interests are
based upon regulations which are artificial and incompatible with
the general good, they fail to draw from them all the advantages
which at first sight they might be thought undoubtedly to confer. As
far as the consumer is concerned, the operation of
[Seaham Harbour, showing the Termination of the South Hetton
Railway.]
this monopoly is decidedly injurious. The expense of delivering a
cargo of coal is above 20, while a vessel laden with timber, which
is a more cumbersome article, is delivered at a cost of about 9/.,
owing to the competition of labour being unfettered. Each of the
1800 coal-whippers of London earns on an average 66 a year. This
sum, with economy and good management, would surround them with many
comforts, and if the general habits of this class were steadier,
they would form a respectable body amongst the industrious
population of the metropolis. They deserve to be well paid, as their
labour is very severe; but it would not be difficult to prove that
there are much better means of sustaining the animal powers than ale
and porter, or gin, which too often they consume in large
quantities. But if these men be not distinguished by their habits of
temperance, the unfortunate position in which they are placed with
respect to the coal-undertakers (who are usually publicans),
absolutely compel them to become his customers.
This degrading thraldom is the result of their ?privileges?, and
could not be maintained if competition were free to any one who was
capable of earning his bread by such labour. There were but 800
coal-whippers when Colquhoun's work was published. But he gave in
that work statements proving that the coal-heavers were each
defrauded out of 30 annually; and he estimated the profits of the
publicans on the liquors which are forced upon these men, with the
money taken for commission, as being not less than 8577/. per
annum.
It appears that there existed at one time an act (10 George III.,
cap. 53) which, as far as possible, relieved the coal-heavers from
their dependence on publicans, by enacting that no coal-undertaker
should take or demand money from any coal-heaver as a commission for
procuring him employment; and that no coal-undertaker should be a
victualler, or directly or indirectly concerned in receiving any
part of the profits of such trade, or in any other manner in the
selling of spirits or drink of any kind, on pain of being deprived
of his appointment. This act was in force for three years, when it
expired, and has never since been re-enacted.
Perhaps we ought to add, that though the circumstances described by
Colquhoun still exist, and the habits of coal-heavers may still be
characterized as frequently intemperate, yet that the intensity of
these has considerably diminished; and it is gratifying to reflect
that, although the wages of coal-heavers are not so high as they
once were, they now bring home to their families a larger weekly sum
than at the former period.
The bargemen are employed in conducting the barges from the ships'
side to the different wharf's. An idea of their number may be formed
by comparing the coal-trade at the commencement of the present
century and its extent at this time. At the former period the
monthly supply of coal for the metropolis was estimated at 300
cargoes per month. Colquhoun observes that, on some occasions, 90
colliers (each requiring on an average thirteen barges) were then
discharging their cargoes at once, giving employment to 1170 barges.
The total number of barges engaged in the trade he estimated at
2196.
From returns obtained from the Coal Exchange, it appears that there
are now 598 cargoes sold per month, which is double the quantity
brought to the metropolis when the above estimate was made. The
number of coal-barges at present employed is therefore most probably
above 4000. They are usually the property of coal-merchants, and
must be navigated by members of the Watermen's Company. The charges
for lighterage,?ie., for conveying the coal from the vessel and
discharging it at the wharf,?is 2s. per London chaldron. Many of the
bargemen receive about 30s. per week for conducting their barges up
and down the Thames. We believe that coal is often taken from the
vessels and conveyed as high as Lambeth at the rate of 1s. per
Chaldron. These barges an; carried by the tide, and conducted by a
single man. If their cargoes had to be conveyed the same distance by
land, the cost of coal would be enormously increased to the
consumer.
The wholesale coal-merchants have wharfs along the banks of the
river. In the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558)
twenty wharfs were established, and up to the commencement of the
present century their number had not been increased. The coal being
brought by the barges from the vessel is landed on the wharf, from
whence it is sent out to the retail dealers and larger consumers.
The cost for cartage and shooting is about 3s-. 5Ŧd. per ton per
mile, and assuming the average distance carted to be a mile and a
half, it will amount to at least 7s. per London chaldron. The charge
of unloading the waggons is 1s. 6d/. per chaldron.
Previous to 1831 the coal-trade of the metropolis was under a series
of close municipal regulations, many of which are now done away
with. They were, however, insufficient to prevent the extensive
prevalence of fraud, and an act was passed in 1831, which, by one of
its clauses, simplified the previous cumbersome administration of
the. law, and placed the trade on a footing much more advantageous
to the consumer. This beneficial change was accomplished by an
enactment under which, within twenty-five miles of London, all coal
must be sold by weight and not by measure. Every waggon carrying out
coal from the merchant's yard is required to be provided with a
weighing-machine, and the waggoner is compelled, under heavy
penalties, to weigh any sack which the consumer may conceive to be
deficient in amount. A ticket must always be delivered to purchasers
of a certain quantity, specifying the name of the coal, and the
number and weight of sacks which the waggon contains. Temptation to
fraud is now removed as far as possible, and can be easily
discovered if suspected.
To that class of persons whose consumption is small, the change in
the mode of selling is of the greatest importance. Dr. Hutton who,
being brought up a collier, is a good authority on such a point,
says, that if a cubic yard of coal when broken be equal to five
bolls, it will measure seven and a half when broken small?Mr. Buddie
thinks eight. The consumer, therefore, paid for the latter
proportion and received only the former. It was therefore clearly
the interest of all classes of dealers through whose hands the
article passed, to cause as much breakage as possible.
In addition, the evil of selling by measurement at all was greatly
aggravated by the nefarious practice of selling by heaped measure.
By forming the cone of small coal, much less would be measured than
if larger pieces were used. Happily for all classes of consumers,
the Act respecting ?Weights and Measures?, which came recently into
operation, has abolished heaped measures entirely.
In an active and wholesome state of competition there cannot exist
in any trade a class of men whose functions are not obviously
connected with its useful and beneficial operations. It appears that
in the middle of the sixteenth century the supply of coal was in the
hands of too great a number of dealers. This subdivision, however,
was not owing to the perfected manner in which men carried on their
different trades, but shows rather that these trades had not yet
found their natural channels, and that they were so unimportant as
to have been unable to maintain a separate existence, just as we see
now a village shopkeeper acting as a hatter, a draper, a grocer, a
druggist, &c. An Act passed in the reign of Edward VI. attributed
the circumstance of a trade being divided in the above manner to the
" greedy appetite and covetousness of divers persons ;" and then
went on to state, that, in consequence of this, " fuel, coal, and
wood runneth many times through four of five several hands or more,
before it cometh to the hands of them that for their necessity do
burn or retail the same ;" and as a remedy for the evil,?"It is
therefore enacted that no person shall buy any coal, but only such
as will burn or consume the same; or such persons as sell the same
again by retail to such as burn or consume the same for their own
occupying."
Admitting, however, that the trade was, at the above period,
engrossed by too great a variety of dealers, we shall see that 100
years afterwards, either in consequence of this very enactment, or
from the fluctuating and unsettled condition of trade, it was then
monopolized chiefly by two classes of traders. In a pamphlet from
which we have already quoted, published at that time (1653), and
entitled, ?The two grand Ingrossers of Coles, viz., the Woodmonger
and the Chandler,' it is shown that they bought the coal at the pit,
and so held in their hands the power of controlling the market. In
this instance an intermediate class of men was required between the
coal proprietor and the London wholesale merchant, whose interests
should be best promoted by carrying supplies into the market as
quickly as possible.
In order, therefore, that the very poorest class may enjoy the
luxury and comfort of a fire, there are, first of all, men employed
in procuring the coal from the bowels of the earth,?others in
navigating the ships which bring it to market,?merchants possessing
wharfs and the conveniences which enable them to keep a sufficient
store; and then come the retail dealers, from whom even so small a
quantity as a single pennyworth can be obtained. Lest an article so
important should become a monopoly where it is sold in large
quantities, it can only be disposed of, in London, in a public
market, in which every transaction that occurs is published and
widely circulated in newspapers, which also state the prices which
the various descriptions of coal are fetching from one market-day to
another.
The tricks which were practised in this trade some two hundred years
ago, and which the old pamphlet we have noticed details, would now
be utterly void of success. The ?chandler" of that day mentions to a
brother dealer the devices which he adopts in order to procure a
temporary rise in fuel. " First," says he, " I vent it out by carmen
and poor folks, that indeed there was a fleet come of sixty-five or
seventy saile almost as far as Harwich ; but there rose a violent
storm, so that most of the fleete was shipwreckt, and the rest
rendered unserviceable to put to sea till next Easter at least. At
the report of this, O how the poore shrug in their shoulders, and
pawn their pewter dishes and brasses, and any goods, at the brokers,
to get some coales in at any rate; and then I vend my worst coales,
or mingle them with a few good ones."
Camden, in his history of Durham, the materials for which were
collected more than 250 years ago, said that that county was rich in
pit coal, ?which we use for firing in many places." About 100 years
afterwards the quantity imported into London was 270,000 chaldrons;
in 1688, 300,000 chaldrons; and in 1750, 500,000 chaldrons ; and the
consumption has gone on gradually increasing until its use has
become universal. In 1801 the consumption of coal in the metropolis
was 1.05 chaldrons per head; in 1828 it had increased to 1.156.
Owing to the very nature of mining speculations, it is scarcely
possible that there should be any monopoly of the article by the
coal-owners. We have stated that when the trade in London is
unusually good, the coal-owners occasionally freight ships on their
own account, in order to have the benefit of the market; and it
appears that they also do this at times when prices are excessively
low.
Mr. Buddle stated to the Parliamentary Committee,?" Although many
collieries in the hands of fortunate individuals and companies have
been perhaps making more than might be deemed a reasonable and fair
profit, according to their risk, like a prize in a lottery ; yet, as
a trade, taking the whole capital employed on both rivers, he should
say that certainly it has not been so." Being asked, ?What have the
coal-owners on the Tyne and Wear, in your opinion, generally made on
their capital employed?" He replied,?" According to the best of my
knowledge, I should think that by no means 10 per cent, has been
made at simple interest, without allowing any extra interest for the
redemption of capital." | In 1813 coals were from 52s. to 55s. 9d.
per chaldron; and in 1932, from 25s. to 31s. In 1833 the price was
from 15s. to 18s. per ton. The difference in price at the two
periods when the demand for coal is likely to be most
dissimilar?January and July?has gradually become less striking.
Previous to 1831 the price paid by the consumer for a chaldron of
coals was apportioned in the following manner:?
s. d.
Coal-owner, for coal 13 9
Coal-fitter, keel-dues, &c 2 3
Shipowner, for freight, &c 8 6?
Municipal dues at Newcastle 0 8Ž
Government tax 6 0
Municipal dues in the port of London ........ 4 4 ?
Coal Factor, commission 0 4?
Coal merchant 12 6
Sundries 2 2?,
2 10 7i
The alterations which have taken place since this period, first in
the abolition of the Government tax of 6s. per chaldron, and next in
the fees which were paid to the meters, which amounted to upwards of
24,000 a year, have rendered coal much cheaper, it is true; but
there are still many vexatious regulations which enhance its price,
and which ought, to be modified or abolished. A sum of 25,000 a
year is paid annually to the Corporation of London for ?metage?, and
is claimed as one of their prescriptive rights; but it might be
advantageously commuted, as the Richmond duties have been. A further
sum of 63,000 a year, paid as orphans' dues, will expire in the
course of a few years. Some of the other charges are also
susceptible of considerable reduction, amongst which is the enormous
sum of 107,000 a year paid to the coal-whippers, which, as it has
been stated, benefits a number of publicans at the expense of the
health and morals of these men. The charge for the work which they
perform is 1s. 1d. a chaldron, whereas at Newcastle and Sunderland
the waggons are filled at a cost of only 1Žd, or l?d. per chaldron;
the additional labour of raising-coal a little greater height in the
former case would be well paid by an allowance of 4d. per chaldron.
If the trade were free, the public would not be burdened by the
support of the odious monopoly of the publicans.
It will be seen that the cost of bringing coal from the ship to the
consumer's cellar exceeds the original price of the article, and is
also much higher than the expenses of transit from the pit's mouth
to the Thames. The charges of the London coal-merchant, amounting to
12s, 6d. per chaldron, consist of the following items:
Buyer's Commission 1 0
Lighterage 2 0
Cartage 6 0
Credit 2 0
Shootage .Ū? 1 3
Sundries 0 3
12 6
The charge for lighterage very much exceeds in amount the charges
paid in the North for a similar sort of work.
Mr. Buddie states that the Tyne keelmen, who take the coal from the
spouts, or staiths, to deliver into the vessels, are paid 1s. 3d.
per London chaldron for navigating their keels from seven to eight
miles, and casting the coals into the ship, a height of five feet,
independently of the horizontal distance which it is requisite to
project them to reach the port-hole of the vessel into which they
are loaded: in addition to which the keels will cost them from
three-halfpence to twopence the London chaldron; " so that our
keelmen have not so much as the lighterage in London comes to for
merely carrying the coal from the side of the ship to the wharf;
although the keelmen navigate the vessels from seven to eight miles,
and discharge the cargo by shovelling it out of the keels into the
ship."
The price of cartage in London Mr. Buddie also thinks enormous. ?In
the North," he says?, we let cartage by contract, including the
loading, at 7d. to 8d. per ton, per mile, on turnpike-roads, and at
from 9d. to 10d. per ton on heavy country-roads; so that the price
of cartage in London is from four to five times as much as we pay
for it in the country." In allusion to the charge of 1s. 6d. for ?shootage?,
which is paid in London for shooting the coal down into the cellar,
Mr. Buddie says that, ?at the rate we pay our waggon-men for filling
the waggons, I believe they would be very glad, for twopence, to
heave these same coals out of the cellar again up the hole."
The artificial circumstances in which, until a recent period, the
coal-trade has been placed, may have occasioned some of the charges
noticed above to have risen beyond the usual cost of labour; but it
is highly probable that, in proportion as the influence of (his
state of things decreases, that the coal-trade will not, any more
than other branches of enterprise, present such anomalies as those
described by Mr. Buddie.
Mr. Taylor, an experienced individual connected with the coal-trade,
laid before the Lords' Committee the following estimate of the
consumption in Great Britain
Tons,
The annual vend of coal carried coast
wise from Durham and Northumber
land is 3,300,000
Home consumption, say one-fifth 660,000
3,900.000
Which quantity supplies 5,000,000 per-
sons ; and supposing the whole popula-
tion to amount to 15,000,000, the
estimate will therefore be 11,880,000
Consumed in Iron-works 3,000,000
Annual consumption of Great Britain.. 14,880,000
Exported to Ireland 900,000
15,780,00
Mr. Taylor has not, in this estimate, taken into account the foreign
export of coal, which, in 1833, was 634,448 tons. The population of
Great Britain is now about 17,000,000. The estimate will therefore
stand thus:?
Tons. Consumption of 15,000,000 inhabitants 11,880,000 Add for
consumption of 2,000,000, the
additional population 1,584,000
Exported, in 1833, to foreign countries . 634,448
Exported to Ireland 900,000
Consumed iu Iron-works ...................... 3,000,000
17,998.448
Mr. Buddle supplied some interesting information to the
Parliamentary Committee. On being asked if he had anything to state
respecting the number of men and ships employed on the rivers Tyne
and Wear, he said that he had made a summary??that there are seamen,
15,000; pitmen and above-ground people employed at the collieries,
21,000; keelmen, coal-boatmen, casters, and trimmers 2000; making
the total number employed, in what I call the Northern Coal Trade,
38,000. In London, whippers, lightermen, and so forth, 5000;
factors, agents, &c, on the Coal Exchange, 2500; 7500 in all. Making
the grand total in the North country and London departments of the
trade, 45,500. This does not, of course, include the persons
employed at the out-ports in discharging the ships there.?
The above return is strictly confined to the Tyne and Wear, and does
not include Seaham, Blythe, Hartley, or Stockton. From it we may
obtain a tolerably accurate approximation of the numbers employed in
the trade of Great Britain. In the first place, then, it may be
inferred that as the produce of the collieries on the Tyne and Wear
does not exceed 3,000,000 tons, and employs 21,000 men, the whole of
the collieries in Great Britain, as their produce is six times
greater, will
employ at least 121,000 men.
For the supply of London with less than 2,000,000
tons of coal, the shipping on the Tyne and Wear
employs 15,000 seamen; and as the whole quantity
shipped coastwise in 1833 was nearly 6,000,000
tons, the number of seamen employed in the coal-
trade must be 30,000
London consumes one-ninth part of the produce of
the mines of Great Britain ; and as the number
of factors and individuals to whom the trade gives
employment in the metropolis amounts to 7500,
the number for Great Britain is probably 45,000
The bargemen employed on the Tyne and Wear
are 2000 in number ;?for the whole country the
number cannot be less than 10,000 men
The population to whom the coal gives direct em
ployment is therefore about 206.000
Mr. McCulloch estimates the number of individuals employed at from
160,000 to 180,000; but the increase in the consumption which has
taken place since the abolition of the coast duty has enabled the
consumers to go to market every year with nearly a million of
additional capital, and the use of coal in gas-works, and for a
variety of purposes, has therefore been considerably extended.
The capital employed in collieries, on the Tyne and Wear, Mr. Buddie
estimates at about 2,200,000 Mr M'Culloch estimates at 10,000,000
the capital employed in the coal-trade of Great Britain.
Camden remarked, about two centuries and a half ago, that "sea-coal
are dug in great plenty, to the great benefit of the inhabitants."
We shall not stop to inquire what signification he attached to the
expression ?great plenty?, but if the benefits arising from the use
of coal were apparent then, they are now increased a thousand-fold,
and the possession of an almost inexhaustible source of supply of
coal has become one of the most important of our national resources,
with which the stability of our manufactures, commerce, and strength
as a nation is identified.
[Seaham Harbour Coal Staith, Mode of Loading by
the Spout.]
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