ne-owners
received neither the honours nor the tricks, that is, unless you are
disposed to count the chicane as one. Most cases, in their futile
efforts to bolster up the exchequer of the company, the barons have
sacrificed their private fortunes, so that their titles may, with
entire propriety be spelled barrens. It was one of these men who
feelingly remarked: "When a man's affairs in this province go rocky,
you may safely reckon on coal being the rock."

But now that the seven lean years of coal are over and the fat ones are
well begun, now that coal as a revenue producer is only second to
Mother Wheat, we can with calmer and more unbiassed judgment consider
the causes which have hitherto been responsible for its "outrageous
fortune."

Perhaps the commonest cause of failure has been the lack of adequate
capital. The President's chair in a coal company is no place for empty
pockets. To successfully operate his mine he requires money at any
price. The initial outlay is large, the carrying expenses heavy, the
unexpected demands many. Hitherto, this capital has not been readily
forthcoming. Investors have preferred to buy town lots rather than
industrial stocks. In older and more settled communities the opposite
condition prevails. On the other hand, coal on the cars is cash. The
mine operator takes his bill-of-lading to the bank and draws up to
two-thirds of its face value. This enables him to meet his fortnightly
pay-bill and general mining expenses, but, for two or three years,
until sufficient rooms have been made in the workings of the mine, he
cannot expect it to do more.

In the meanwhile, there is development work to be done and development
work is expensive. The entries or hallways off which the rooms open
are costly to drive and they must be beamed with great timbers held in
place by tree trunks. Initial surveys have to be made, and expert
superintendence paid for. It is for such work the President requires
ready money and free money. He cannot possibly make his working
expenses to cover those of development in that the same managing staff
is required to handle a small output as a large one. The same is
applicable to the engines and hoisting machinery.

The second cause which has hitherto hindered successful operations has
been lack of railway facilities and lack of a steady market. Emerson
has defined commerce as taking things from where they are plentiful to
where they are needed. Coal,