July 8, 1920] 



NATURE 



5^9 



(o) The character and extent of the technical and 

 other developments which had taken place during the* 

 war, with special reference to the steps taken for the 

 development of munitions output. 



(h) The present condition of plant and machinery. 



(c) The prospects of these areas either as com- 

 petitors with or markets for British industries. 



(d) The developments in fuel economy in the steel 

 trades of these areas. 



The reports furnished by the Commissions were 

 printed in the first instance as confidential docu- 

 ments by the Ministry of Munitions, but have 

 now been made public. That of the Commission 

 which visited Lorraine and the Saar Valley is the 

 more complete and interesting- in that it throws 

 lig-ht on the possibilities of development of the 

 iron- and steel-producing area, which, as a result 

 of the war and the Peace Treaty, has passed from 

 German to French ownership. 



The view of the Commission is that the acquisi- 

 tion by the French of these areas should be of 

 advantage to British industries on the whole, and 

 that while France may become a competitor with 

 Britain in so far as her surplus steel production is 

 concerned, taking- the place of Germanv to some 

 extent, it will not be until the destroyed works have 

 been reconstructed and full production has been 

 reached in a period which it estimates at from 

 three to five years. As a result of the war, France 

 has replaced Germany as the possessor of the 

 largfest iron-ore supplies in Europe, her reserves 

 having- been increased by more than 2,000,000,000 

 tons, making- them now about four times those 

 of Germany. Before the war they were approxi- 

 mately the same. 



Whereas France's production of pig- iron in 

 1913 was about 5,000,000 tons, with her new pos- 

 sessions in Lorraine and the Saar Valley she is 

 in a position to produce 11,000,000 tons annually. 

 Prior to the war German steel makers frequently 

 complained of the difficulty of obtaining- adequate 

 supplies of foreign ores, and this is regarded by 

 many as one of the chief causes of the war, since 

 they hoped thereby to obtain possession of 

 France's ore reserves. The Commission states 

 that whereas in 191 3 Germany produced 

 27,000,000, and France 21,000,000, tons of iron 

 ore, it estimates future production to be in the 

 ratio of Germany 7,000,000 to France 42,000,000 

 tons. It would appear that outside France 

 Germany can expect to obtain ore only from 

 Sweden or Spain, but as both these countries 

 are actively developing their steel industries they 

 will probably not have very much to spare. 



With regard to coal, however, France's posi- 

 tion is by no means so satisfactory. Her pre-war 

 production was about 40,000,000 tons, and her 

 consumption 60,000,000 tons, the balance being 

 obtained from Great Britain, Belgium, and 

 Germany. 



The control by France of the coal of the Saar 

 Valley area is estimated to enable her to produce 

 twice the tonnage obtained from the Valenciennes 

 district. This would mean an addition of 

 17,000,000 tons to the annual output, which nearly 

 NO. 2645, VOL. 105] 



meets the deficit. The Commission states, how- 

 ever, that the ideal of the French iron and steel 

 makers in the Lorraine area at the present time 

 is that means should be devised whereby a re- 

 ciprocal business may be done with Great Britain 

 by their supplying basic pig iron in exchange for 

 furnace coke or coking coal. If the anticipated 

 output of oven coke in this country is realised 

 there should be some to spare, but the difficulties 

 of transport, transhipment, etc., and the resultant 

 breakage are serious factors to be considered. 

 Possibly the solution of the present problem may 

 be found in the erection of coke ovens in Lorraine 

 close to the furnaces, and in the production of coke 

 on the spot from a mixture of Saar coal and 

 Durham coking coal. The supply of the lattef 

 cannot take place until better and cheaper means 

 of transport are available. 



The Commission states that France dreads the 

 present position of dependence upon Germany 

 for coke supplies, since, although the Peace 

 Treaty gives her control of the Saar Valley coal-- 

 field for, at any rate, fifteen years, the fact 

 remains that under existing conditions the works 

 must have coal or coke from Westphalia for their 

 blast furnaces. The coke obtained from Saar 

 coal is apparently unsatisfactory, so that so long 

 as this position continues French industry will 

 remain to a great extent at the mercy of the 

 Germans, a position the French are, naturally, 

 most anxious to avoid. It is true that Germany 

 will want iron ore from Lorraine, but she will not 

 be so entirely dependent upon this one source of 

 supply as the Lorraine works will be upon Ger- 

 many for coke, unless some means are provided 

 to enable them to obtain coke from elsewhere or 

 to produce what they need from Saar coal and 

 imported coking coal. 



Various schemes for improved transport are 

 under contemplation by France. The construction 

 of a canal to Dunkirk from the Briey district 

 known as the " Canal du Nord et de I'Est " has 

 been under consideration for a long time. This 

 would take at least five years to complete, and is 

 -not generally favoured by the French steel makers 

 in Lorraine owing to the enormous cost of con- 

 struction and the great diflSculties to be overcome 

 in cutting it through the densely populated indus- 

 trial areas of Northern France. The scheme most 

 favoured is that known as the canalisation of 

 the Moselle from Coblenz to Thionville and 

 thence to Metz, coupled with free navigation of 

 the Rhine to Rotterdam or by canal from the 

 Rhine to Antwerp via Maastricht. Either of these 

 schemes, it is considered, would be much cheaper 

 and more quickly operative than the canal to 

 Dunkirk. The estimate of the cost of the Moselle 

 Canal scheme would be between 15,000,000^. and 

 20,ooo,oooZ., and it is calculated that the con- 

 struction could be completed in three years. Plans 

 for this scheme are in the hands of the French 

 authorities. The strong feeling in favour of this 

 scheme to enable reciprocal business to be done 

 with Great Britain is accentuated by the treatment 



