194 



NATURE 



[April 14, 192 1 



cent, thick, flat-lying seams of Yorkshire and the 

 steep-lying-, contorted, and crushed-up seams of 

 Belgium will illustrate this point, and will inci- 

 dentally bear tribute to the skill of Belgian 

 engineers and to the steady, hard-working powers 

 of the Belgian coal miners that have enabled 

 them to sustain competition with the odds so much 

 against them. Again, we have the advantage that 

 most of our important coalfields are within easy 

 access of the seaboard and of first-class harbours ; 

 had it not been for this fact, it is doubtful whether 

 our coal industry would have maintained its posi- 

 tion so long as it has done. 



The official estimate of the cost of production 

 of coal in this country for the last quarter of 1920 

 is 395. 9-82(i. per ton, exclusive of interest on 

 capital, amortisation, depreciation, and similar 

 book charges. There are at least three great 

 countries in the world — India, China, and South 

 Africa — where coal can be sold at 65. per ton, or, 

 say, about one-seventh of what it can be sold at in 

 this country at the pit's mouth. Seeing that these 

 three countries contain nearly one-sixth of the 

 total coal resources of the world, they are obvi- 

 ously formidable competitors potentially, and once 

 they have organised their means of transport so as 

 to distribute economically their - cheaply gotten 

 coal, it is surely obvious that our only chance of 

 holding our own is to reduce drastically the cost 

 of coal production in this country. No one needs 

 to be told that this end cannot be attained by 

 ceasing work and drowning out pits ; it can only 

 be the result of close, cordial, and unfettered co- 

 operation between miners, technologists, and em- 

 ployers, all directed towards securing the maxi- 

 mum possible output at the lowest possible cost. 

 Unfortunately, our output has been going down 

 steadily; for the last quarter of 1920 the average 

 for the kingdom was only 41- 15 tons per person 

 employed, and it is significant that South Wales, 

 where coal is perhaps more easily gotten than in 

 any of our other coalfields, is amongst the lowest 

 in the list. Let it be borne in mind that the above 

 quarterly rate of production corresponds to only 

 165 tons per annum; it, of course, includes a 

 strike period, but, nevertheless, we may contrast 

 this figure with 260 tons, the output per person 

 per annum in 1913 ; with 320 tons, the output per 

 ^person per annum for the decade 1883-92 ; or 

 even more startlingly with 768 tons, the output 

 per worker in the United States for the year 1917 ; 

 and it is surely clear that a properly directed effort 

 would enable us to produce coal at a far lower 

 pithead price per ton than that prevailing at 

 NO. 2685, VOL. 107] 



present without necessarily involving any very 

 serious reduction in the miners' wages. 



Again, it must be noted that our coal reserves 

 are comparatively unimportant. According to the 

 careful estimates made in 191 3, the world's known 

 coal resources amount to about 7,400,000 millions 

 of tons; of this quantity the United States holds 

 more than 3,^00,000 millions, or above half. 

 Great Britain's resources, which may be con- 

 sidered as fairly well known, are barely 190,000 

 millions, or, say, one-twentieth of those of the 

 United States. The entire British Empire is 

 credited with about 1,800,000 millions of tons, of 

 which by far the greater portion, or 1,230,000 

 millions of tons, is in the Dominion of Canada. 

 The coal in Great Britain constitutes, therefore^ 

 only about one-tenth of that in the British Empire. 

 Whilst these figures indicate clearly enough in 

 whose hands the ultimate control of the world's 

 coal supply must rest, they are perhaps less im- 

 portant as regards the near future, with which 

 we are at the present moment more directly 

 concerned, than is the relative producing capacity 

 of the world's chief actual producers. In this 

 respect Great Britain occupies a far more import- 

 ant position. In 1919 the United States produced 

 nearly 494 millions of tons, Gr^at Britain more 

 than 233 millions, and Germany 210 millions, these 

 three countries together being responsible for 80 

 per cent, of the world's output. Seeing that Great 

 Britain, with reserves amounting to only about 

 2\ per cent, of the world's total, is producing at 

 the rate of about 20 per cent, of the world's annual 

 output, it is manifest that we are encroaching 

 upon our reserves far more rapidly than anyone 

 else, and the supreme importance to us of not 

 parting with our chief national asset, save at a 

 fair profit, is self-evident. 



In this light the complete economic unsoundness 

 of the suggestion that the coal industry should 

 be subsidised out of the national funds becomes 

 glaringly evident, as it would amount to paying 

 the foreigner out of the pockets of the taxpayer 

 for taking from us the most valuable asset that 

 we possess. Cheap coal has been the foundation 

 of our national prosperity, and this prosperity will 

 last only so long as we can produce coal at prices 

 low enough to enable us to compete on fair terms 

 with other nations in the markets of the world. 

 Whenever we are no longer able to do this, our 

 national supremacy, our prosperity, and our in- 

 dependence, for which so many thousands have 

 sacrificed their lives, will have been lost for 



