A correspondent of the Times complains bitterly of the price
of coals. He says the coal sold by the owners at 7s. a ton costs 5s. 10d. for railway carriage, and is then sold to Londoners at 20s. a ton, leav- ing a profit of 50 per cent. on outlay to the dealer, who, however, has to pay for intramural delivery. He, however, usually charges more than 20s. The owners will not sell to individuals, as they thereby offend the agents, who lose their profit. The price of coal is one of the great evils of London, and we doubt if it will be remedied till we have a great Coal Delivering Company, con- tented to divide 10 or 12 per cent., and too large a customer to be neglected by the coalowners. Petty distributors are useful people, no doubt, but the experience of the public is that big salesmen sell better articles at less price.
Previous page
