The Author Replies to His Critics
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I am in receipt of your letter informing me that my recent article on coal hawking has aroused much criticism, and asking whether I am prepared to reply to this. My answer is: Yes, certainly, and I • don't care a tinker's cuss whether the criticism comes from the best man the Coal Merchant's Federation can put up, or -from a country coal hawker who has tried and failed.
In reply to the gentleman. in Hull, who says that " my imagination is only excelled by my gross ignorance of the subject," I mould remind him that when he makes that sort of statement he -is the one who is talking "tripe," as it must be obvious to the meanest intellect that an article of the nature he has ventured to pull to bits could have been written only by one with a -practical knowledge of coal selling, and readers generally may be interested to hear that the writer was born and bred inthe coal trade, and is still in it.
Selling at a .Satisfactory Profit.
in reply to the critic who desires to know the districts where you can sell three tons of coal in three hours, the answer is, in no end of districts, and there is no need to repeat what I wrote in the article on this point. What I said once on this topic I can get lip and -say again. His point on obtaining 8d. per cwt. profit does not alter my opinion. A coal merchant is a fool who sells house coal for less. Many hawkers get more, although I agree that there is a certain amount of pricecutting during mild weather. If people have no coal at 5 p in. they will not mind the dirty shoes of the coalman, ,even if he has to carry it over a kitchen floor that has just been cleaned.
A coal merchant in Staffs. says that he cannot allow my "fairy tale" of coal selling to pass unchallenged, and has never 'seen the trade painted so rosily in his
30-years' experience. would like this gentleman to understand this: Coal selling to the public, even in these competitive times, is simple when you know how. It is just a matter of salesmanship. A coal salesman must have guts. I know only too well that the coal trade is packed with men who have not the flair for talking a casual customer, who asks if you have a bag of coal to spare, into taking a ton on the spot, but there are some who have, and they .are the -folk who are getting the plums. whilst those who are quickly discouraged when they strike a bad patch, have to be content with -the crumbs.
Whether your critics agree with my views on coal selling or not, they will, from their own business ex
perience, agree that the limn is not yet born who will ' be able to please everybody. I realize that if I sat down and answered a thousand queries on the topic I dealt with I should still tread on some fellow's corns, and leave a nasty taste in quite a few mouths, because they read the article with a prejudiced mind, and I have a shrewd idea of the cause.
The bulk of those in the retail coal trade to-day who are dissatisfied with the conditions that obtain in various areas have only themselves to blame. One of the bugbears ol the trade is petty jealousy. It is everybody for himself. There is no organisation worthy of the name, because the Federation officials have yet to learn how to cater for the needs of the rank and file-, and the majority of the retail coal merchants has yet to realize that its true emancipation lies in 100 per cent. organization. It will not be until the retailers get within reach of that percentage that they will be able to compel the colliery owners and the railway companies to toe the line,
In the old days, when best classes of house coal were retailed at 10d. per cwt.—in the days of the old beam and chain, before coal had to be put up in hundredweight sacks—the coal merthants used to do the best they could one for another, and if one had a breakdown, help would soon be forthcoming. Let a coal lorry laden with coal break down to-day, and the one in charge will see his rivals racing by with a smile. The one in trouble knows it is not much use beckoning competitors to stop to give him a hand. No, before they would give a. comrade in the same line of business a tow they would see him walk three miles to a garage.
ThePurpose of the Article.
I am not that way. That little article, which seems to have brought down wrath on my head, was written, not with my tongue in my cheek, but with a sincere desire to help and encourage those who find the going harder than they thought it would be.
That there is scope to make money in the retail coal trade will not be denied by anyone who knows the trade thoroughly. 1 could name firms that have not been long in the trade, but have done over 200 tons weekly the second winter they were at it. They did not cut prices; they simply applied modern methods.
The C.U.C. (Coal Utilization Council) has been trying to Show Federation members how to sell coal for the past two years, but apathy still reigns supreme.
B.J.T.
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