Although most of the concessions in the Alsatian potash field had been granted to German interests, the development was started by Alsatians, and two of the concessions are in French-Alsatian ownership. These have not been and probably will not be altered, unless they are to enter some voluntary combination.
An agency for the sale and distribution of the Alsatian potash has been arranged in the United States, and for the present at least the product is coming in direct competition with the salts from the older German mines.
Spain.
—The potash deposits recently discovered in the provinces of Barcelona and Lerida, of Cataluña, in eastern Spain, are subject to special regulations of the Spanish government. A large area of concessions already granted to private interests covers a considerable part of the field outlined by exploratory borings. Operations on these concessions are permitted, but the state reserves the right to subordinate the exploitation to the interests of the country, and impose special conditions in favor of the consumption of the potash produced in Spain. Recently, unexplored state lands have been opened, by royal decree, to bids for exploration and lease. The scheme follows in general the plan of governmental control of the German potash industry. According to it, all concessions for the working and sale of salts are subject in many details to governmental control. Among other conditions, working must be continuous save in certain exempted circumstances; the state shall fix annually the home and export prices, as well as the maximum and minimum quota for each mine.
Other Countries.
—Before the war, the Austrian potash syndicate, which consisted of the Austrian government and a group of capitalists, controlled the deposits near Kalusz, in Galicia. No specific governmental regulation is reported for the minor operations connected with the production of potash in other countries.
SUMMARY
More than 90 per cent. of the potash handled in the world’s commerce is used as a fertilizer. The rest is used as a chemical in various industries, chief among which are the manufacture of matches, certain kinds of glass and soap, and the better grades of black powder. The uses specifically mentioned in this paragraph are essential, as no satisfactory substitutes are known.
Up to 1914 practically all of the potash used in the world came from the deposits in northern Germany, which are substantially inexhaustible. Next in importance are the deposits of Alsace, which contain enough potash to meet the world’s present demands for almost 300 years. Other resources are known in Spain, Galicia, Abyssinia, the nitrate beds of Chile, and in deposits in the United States, but it is too early to predict with assurance what part they will play in the expansion of the potash industry.
Germany will no longer be able to maintain a world monopoly of the potash market. The passing of control of the important resources in Alsace from Germany to France foreshadows competition from recognized adequate sources of supply. There are many other possibilities, the mere potentialities of which are sufficient to restrain any tendency to unreasonable extortion by those who control the German fields. Moreover, attention has been so directed to the desirability of developing independent sources, and so much able technical talent is now being devoted toward bringing successful issue from the many undertakings in progress, that it is very unlikely that this country, or any other, will in the future be dependent on one or two arbitrarily handled monopolies.