The Coal Situation in the United States 



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'If iiiliiiiKile steps he taken to bring to bear all Ihr potential possil)ililit's of our 



i-i!sl coal and iron resources, in the irar of niiijlili/ machines driven 



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I'.y (' II A K' L !•: S U. \- A X 11 I S H 



I'li'sidi'ilt of llio I'liivcrsitv of Wisconsin 



OF ALL the count rios of the 

 world till' I'nited States is 

 iIk' rii-lu'st known in its coal 

 resources. Un October 10 the United 

 States Geological Survey sul)iiiitt('(l an 

 estimate that the tonnage of bitumi- 

 nous coal in the United States for the 

 year lOir would be 55-^,000,000 tons, 

 or 50,000,000 more than in 1916. This 

 is an increase of ten per cent, and as 

 compared with 1915, an increase of 

 about twenty-five per cent. For an- 

 thracite the increased production also 

 is estimated at ten per cent as com- 

 pared with last year. 



A survey of the situation made in 

 Xovember, however, indicates that the 

 excess of coal required during the year 

 1917-18, as compared with the previous 

 year, will be about 100,000,000 tons, 

 thus leaving a gap of 50,000,000 tons 

 between production and requirement. 



The great increase in the coal con- 

 simiption is due mainly to war neces- 

 sities. Munition plants running twen- 

 ty-four hours a day require from one 

 third to one half more coal than a year 

 ago. The demands for coal by the gov- 

 ernment, including the army and navy, 

 have increased by three hundred per 

 cent, or from 2,000,000 to 8,000,000 

 tons. The public utilities and indus- 

 tries of the country are asking for an 

 increase of coal by one third. 



The problem of closing this gap of 

 50,000,000 tons, between production at 



' From lectures given by President Van Hise at 

 Regulation in the United States during the World W 



the present rate and absolutely neces- 

 sary consumption, must be met by tak- 

 ing steps to increase the i)roduction, by 

 facilitating transportation, and by en- 

 forcing the most economical use of 

 available coal. Activities which arc un- 

 necessary for the maintenance of mili- 

 tary and economic efhciency will lune 

 to curtail their supplies as demanded 

 by the necessities of war. 



The work of the "Fuel Administra- 

 tion'" in the United States during this 

 winter of 1917-18 has been a ditlicult 

 one. The country is large. Problems 

 of transportation have been many. La- 

 ])or questions have been difficult of ad- 

 justment. What judgment shall be 

 placed upon the work as a whole can 

 be told only in retrospect; and not 

 even then, for we cannot know in the 

 comparisons of various possible meth- 

 ods of procedure, except by supposi- 

 tion, what would have been the difficul- 

 ties in the untried courses of action. 



We start with the fact that about 

 three j-ears ago, in consequence of the 

 war and the revival of industry, there 

 came an increased dniiand for coal. In 

 1915 the needs did not require the 

 maximum production of 1913; but the 

 demand during the winter of 191G-17 

 locally exceeded the available supply, 

 and there resulted hardship and indus- 

 trial difficulties, especially during the 

 latter part of the winter. With this 

 shortage went rapidly enhancing prices. 



the University of Wisconsin on "Conservation and 

 ar." 



