“An attentive examination of the question proves that, in the actual state of industry, sulphur and pyrites have nothing to fear from each other.
“Several industries, especially the manufactures of sulphuric acid, do not require pure sulphur in the free state; they find it more economical to extract that contained in metallic sulphures, especially in iron pyrites. On the other hand, it is well known that extracting pure sulphur from the sulphures and manufacturing sulphuric acid from pure sulphur are practically impossible; the former could never contend against the Sicilian mines, nor can the latter rival the cheap produce of pyrites. As the uses of the two are different, so will be their sources of supply; and it is hard to believe that any change of price can cause concurrence between the two.[215]
“A fair proof is the concurrent development of both articles. Between 1832 and 1872 the produce of the Sicilian mines has quadrupled; and this was exactly the time when pyrites began to be used, and successfully took their place in the manufacture of sulphuric acid.
“These considerations should silence the arguments which contend for the abolition of export duties upon sulphur, in order to make it compete with pyrites. The State draws an annual revenue of some two million lire (2,000,000 francs = £80,000); and it cannot be expected to yield so legitimate a source of income, until at least assured by competent persons that the impost is a weight upon, and a damage to, Italian industry and commerce.”
To this very fair report Mr Consul Dennis adds: “I have no notion that the supply of Sicilian sulphur is nearly exhausted; more deposits are known than can be worked. There are many spots in the heart of the island which abound in the mineral, but it must lie useless, for as yet there are no means of conveying it to the coast for shipment. The export of sulphur has been increasing greatly, it is true, from 100,000 tons (= £400,000) in 1855 to 200,000 (= £1,000,000) in 1871, but the export is regulated rather by the demand in foreign markets than by the supply. The large quantity made from iron pyrites of late years in many European countries has, of course, much lowered the demand on Sicily. In 1871 the quantities fell to 180,000 tons (= £956,000), but in 1872 they rallied to 192,000 tons. This quantity was thus distributed:
| Great Britain and her colonies took | 46,418 | tons[216] |
| France, | 41,699 | ” |
| United States, | 21,846 | ” |
| Germany and Austria, | 22,348 | ” |
| Italy and the East, | 47,160 | ” |
| Russia, | 1,526 | ” |
| Spain and Portugal, | 8,236 | ” |
| Other countries, | 3,008 | ” |
| Grand total, | 192,241 | ” |
“I should remark that the quantities stated above are from the official returns of the custom-house; they are probably understated to the extent of 25 to 50 per cent., few exporters declaring the full quantity or value, and the Doganieri having scant interest to verify the declarations. The amount exported last year (1873) was probably not much under 300,000 tons.
“The great rise of prices in the necessaries of life of late years, and the increased demand for labour, consequent on the construction of railways, harbours, and other public works, have doubled the price of sulphur in Sicily. But when the network of railways with which it is proposed to intersect the island is completed, when the country roads are laid out to feed them, and when the ports of Girgenti, Licata, and Catania, are enlarged and deepened, so as to accommodate vessels of large size, then it will soon be ascertained what treasures of sulphur Sicily still contains.”
In conclusion I would observe that this age of national armies and bloated armaments is not likely to allow decline in the use and the value of sulphur, and that nothing can be more unwise than to rely upon a single source of supply, Sicily, which might at any time be closed to us by a Continental war.
Richard F. Burton.