§ Mr. LAWSONasked the Secretary for Mines the amount by which the price of export coal has been increased as the result of recent large orders from abroad; whether that increase is already reflected in the home market; or whether he has information showing that the recent increase on the London market, of 2s. per ton is merely the result of interested persons using for private gain a situation which is not really justified by home selling prices?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANI cannot give a categorical answer to the first part of the question, as the prices of the various classes of coal have advanced by varying amounts in the different districts. As to the second, I understand that it is a fact that the price of certain classes of coal sold for the home market show an upward tendency. The variation in home selling prices seems to me to be due to the ordinary operations of the law of supply and demand.