POLITICAL CONTROL

As will be seen from [Table 62] and [Figure 10], Great Britain controls politically over 50 per cent. of the tin output of the world, in that her political influence is absolute in England, Africa, Australia, and all of her colonial possessions on the east side of the Indian Ocean; and there can be little doubt that the strong British policy with regard to the eastern colonies is also potent with respect to Siam and China.

Fig. 10.—Political control of tin deposits and tin smelters, based on estimates for 1918.

Holland controls the tin output of the East Indian island colonies, in which there are smelting works that seem capable of taking care of most of the ore mined. Holland consumes little tin herself and has approximately 16 per cent. of the world’s supply at her disposal. Prior to the war Holland was a large distributor of tin, but during the war tin from her colonies was sent direct to America and England, the largest consuming countries.

China has a rather feeble political control of the output of the Yunnan tin mines, but as that part of her production which reaches the rest of the world is exported through French territory, largely through English middlemen, her actual control is not particularly great.

Siam controls some important tin fields. The very strong British influence on the Malay Peninsula, coupled with the fact that the Siamese ore is smelted in the Straits Settlements, seems to indicate that British policy will largely dominate the tin-mining industry of Siam.

Bolivia, using little tin and producing nearly a quarter of the world’s output, is really the only considerable producer that can act more or less independently. Her mines are mostly controlled by Chilian-Bolivian capital and she has the world for a market. It would seem that Bolivian barilla might be smelted locally, but as Bolivia has no fuel, the tin smelting capacity of Bolivia amounts thus far to almost nothing. Her nearest market at present is the United States, but the future will show whether Bolivian ore will continue to be smelted in the United States, as during the past few years, or will be sent to England and Germany, as before the war.

The relation of political control of tin deposits and tin smelting is shown in the following table, and diagrammatically in [Figure 10].

Table 62.—Political Control of Tin Deposits and Smelters Based on Estimates for 1918

CountryControl of
tin deposits,
annual output
(metric tons)		Percentage
of
world output		Control of
tin smelters,
annual capacity
(metric tons)		Percentage
of
world capacity
Great Britain 59,90045.5 88,30057.3
Holland 20,20015.2 16,00010.2
China 12,000 9.3 12,000 7.4
Siam  8,600 7.0
Bolivia 28,00021.3  2,700 1.6
Germany...... 16,00010.2
France......  1,500 0.7
America...... 18,00012.4
All others  2,000 1.7    500 0.2
Total130,700 154,000