| COAL PRODUCTION IN THE LEADING COAL-PRODUCING COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 |
| United States | 570,048,125 | 513,525,477 | 531,619,487 | 585,372,568 | 621,409,629 |
| Great Britain | 287,698,617 | 265,664,393 | 253,206,081 | 256,348,351 | 248,473,119 |
| Germany | 278,627,497 | 245,482,135 | 235,082,000 | ||
| Austria-Hungary | 59,647,957 | 30,896,388 | 28,558,719 | ||
| France | 40,843,618 | 29,786,505 | 19,908,000 | 21,477,000 | 28,960,000 |
| Russia | 35,500,674 | 27,820,632 | 13,622,400 | 13,266,760 | |
| Belgium | 22,847,000 | 15,930,000 | |||
| Japan | 21,315,962 | 21,293,419 | 20,490,747 | 22,901,580 | |
| India | 18,163,856 | 17,103,932 | 17,254,309 | ||
| China | 15,432,200 | 18,000,000 | |||
| Canada | 15,012,178 | 13,637,529 | 13,267,023 | 14,483,395 | 14,015,588 |
| Spain | 4,731,647 | 4,424,439 | 4,686,753 | 5,588,594 | |
| Holland | 2,064,608 | 2,333,000 | 2,656,000 | ||
THE COAL SHORTAGE
A rapid advance in coal prices was inevitable under war conditions of unceasing demand and diminishing supply. Says Mr. William Notz in an article in the Journal of Political Economy, June, 1918:
"The question of war-time coal prices offers many angles of interest. Everywhere prices have increased far above pre-war levels. Voluntary agreements on the part of producers and dealers to limit prices and profits have failed without exception. In all the leading coal-consuming countries of the world maximum prices had to be fixed sooner or later by government action. In every case the maximum mine prices are considerably above the average scale of prices obtaining in the years immediately prior to the war. In every country where maximum sales prices at the mines were fixed, liberal allowances were made for wage increases to mine workers. In Great Britain present maximum mine prices approximate 6s. 6d. above the average mine price which obtained during the year ending June 30, 1914. In the United States special mine prices have been fixed for each state, and in many cases also for certain coal fields within a state. The f.o.b. price for bituminous coal in Pennsylvania was in 1913 $1.11 and in 1918, $2.60. Anthracite increased to $4.00 ($4.55 for white ash broken).
"In Germany the total increase in mine prices of the Rhenish-Westphalian Coal Syndicate from the beginning of the war to January, 1917, approximated $1.25 per ton.
"While a certain degree of uniformity is noticeable in the rise in price levels for coal at the mines in the countries where maximum prices have been fixed, an entirely different picture presents itself if we compare the maximum retail coal prices obtaining under government regulations in different sections of the same country. In most countries the national coal controller has established a uniform maximum margin of profit for all retail coal dealers, while local authorities have fixed maximum retail coal prices for their communities. By reason of the fact that in establishing maximum retail consumers' prices allowances had to be made for increased handling expenses, freight rates, middlemen's profits, war taxes, etc., retail coal prices at the present time universally show a very heavy increase over pre-war prices."
FUEL CONSERVATION MEASURES
American Fuel Control had to grapple drastically with a situation of shortage so dangerous that a catastrophe might have been precipitated at any moment. Fuel Administrator Garfield issued orders for coal conservation of a most startling and unusual character. Factories east of the Mississippi were ordered shut down for five days beginning January 18, 1918. Monday, furthermore,
"was decreed a holiday for ten weeks on which offices, factories, and stores, except drug and food stores, must use only such fuel as is necessary to prevent damage. The order under which these restrictions were made, according to the Fuel Administration's statement to the press, was 'designed to distribute with absolute impartiality the burden,' and it added that the Fuel Administration 'counts upon the complete patriotic coöperation of every individual, firm, and corporation affected by the order in its enforcement.' We read further that the government aims to carry out its plan without 'undue interference with the ordinary course of business' and earnestly desires to 'prevent entirely any dislocation of industry or labor.'