Archives

Newcastle on Tyne

25th July 1916
Messrs. Worms & C° - Paris

Dear Sirs,
We confirm our special letters of the 22nd and 24th inst, and reply to yours of the 22nd. Bayonne. We are still without the specific licence which would have permitted us to buy other coals this month if the Committee could have given us another steamer for this port. According to a letter which we have to-day received from Bordeaux it is evident that they do not wish to buy any Coals for this order as they write: "Si vous ne pouvez pas obtenir de charbon ce mois-ci sur notre contrat Lambton, vous pouvez demander un tour pour chargement au commencement d'août, car nous ne tenons pas du tout à acheter du charbon hors contrat qui coûterait trop cher, et nous laisserait une forte perte, puisque comme vous le savez, nous sommes tenus, pour la vente, à nous confirmer à la taxe fixée par le gouvernement. Nous vous prions de bien vouloir vous pénétrer de cette question qui est primordiale pour nous.
En effet, nous avons du charbon par nos contrats qui nous coûte assez bon marché, et si nous étions amenés à payer 26/- hors contrat, nous perdrions 6 à 7/- par tonne ; ce n'est pas dans ce but que nous cherchons à faire des affaires."
We cannot quite understand this because if they must sell at the limitation of price fixed by the Government and had to buy at
limitation price we hardly see how they would lose 6/e to 7/- per ton. Seeing that our quantities for August and September are already more than Lambton is likely to be able to supply then it is highly probable that we may be compelled to buy some coals at limitation price if they can be obtained and moreover if such a case should arise it will be necessary to be prepared to take almost any decent quality of Gas Coals as may be obtainable at the time tonnage is offered by the Committee.
Marseilles. We note what you write and Messrs Burness also spoke to us about this yesterday. As you know we have had the matter put before the Board of Trade and yesterday a further reply on the subject was received by Mr. Shaw from Mr. Elliott of the Coal Exports Committee. For your private guidance we enclose carbon of that reply.
We wait to know if M. Leon has anything further to say on the subject but from what Mr. Barbier said to us when he was here we quite expect that he will endorse Mr. Elliott's opinion. On the face of this opinion of Mr. Elliott you will understand that we will now, be able to persuade the Local Committee to recommend a licence to the WTD. without our application is supported by an autorisation of the B des C. As regards your suggestion to ship the 800 tons of Gas along with Messrs Milburn in one of their steamers we will ask Mr. Hobkirk what is his position in the matter and if, in case of need, he can assist us.
Dieppe/Rochefort. We are not pressing the Committee for a steamer to replace the ss. "Alice" as we have no means of loading one and we are in the same position as regards Bayonne. You may be sure however that we will do all we can to have tonnage allocated to us as soon as we can obtain the necessary Coals from Lambton. Rhyope. We had another interview with the Colliery Agent yesterday and impressed upon him the vital necessity of a small shipment of Peas by the ss "Hugin". He was unable to make any definite promise but when the steamer is ready to load he will do his best to assist us.
Licenes. Our WTD licence for the 21.800 tons has not yet turned up. We are waiting before putting in applications for further quantities. We note what you say about the 2.000 tons of Derbyshire Coals and as soon as we come across it we will have it forwarded to Hull.
We are, Dear Sirs,
Yours truly,