DISCOVERY 



103 



Rhine. By its geographical position, Germany occu- 

 pies a situation comparable to that of Holland and 

 Belgium in relation to Central Europe, or to Liver- 

 pool, Cardiff, and Bristol in the comparison with 

 England. 



The war has led to a serious reduction of Germany's 

 area, population, and natural resources. The country 

 has lost the bulk of its iron ore and of its zinc, and also 

 vast quantities of coal and potash, to the victors. Still 

 Germany remains by far the wealthiest country in 

 Europe. She retains her level soil, excellent climate, 

 her central situation in Europe, and her excellent inland 

 waterways ; and, notwithstanding the loss of Upper 

 Silesia and of the Saar field, she retains her old pre- 

 eminence as a coal owner among the European nations, 

 as the following figures show ; 



Pig Iron Production 



Germany has still considerably more coal than the 

 United Kingdom, and the position of her coalfields is 

 most favourable. The greater one lies on the Rhine 

 and the lesser one in Upper Silesia. The manufacturing 

 industries habitually settle about the coal pits. The 

 Ruhr coalfield facilitates the coal export trade and 

 industrial exports across the sea and towards Western 

 and Central Europe, while the eastern coalfield is 

 particularly well situated with regard to Russia, the 

 East European countries and the Danubian lands. All 

 the Continental countries, excepting Poland, remain 

 comparatively poor in coal. The coal seams of France 

 in particular are thin and exceedingly irregular, which 

 means that French coal will remain scarce and dear 

 if compared with German coal. Moreover, while 

 Germany has most excellent coking coal, France has, 

 both in her old coalfields and in the Saar measures, 

 little coal suitable for iron smelting. Iron ore is 

 habitually conveyed to the coalfields for smelting 

 purposes. The iron ore of French Lorraine, Sweden, 

 and other countries, wiU continue to be sent cheaply by 

 waterways to the Ruhr coalfields to be smelted. Ger- 

 many seems likely to retain her old pre-eminence in 

 the iron and steel and engineering industries, as the 

 following figures, taken from the Iron_Trade Review 

 of Cleveland, Ohio, show : 



United States 

 Germany 

 Great Britain 

 France . 

 Belgium 

 Luxemburg . 

 Central Europe 

 Other countries 



United States 

 Germany 

 Great Britain 

 France . 

 Belgium 

 Luxemburg 

 Central Europe 

 Other countries 



Tons. 



30,600,000 



19,000,000 j 



10,260,000 1 



5,126,000 I 



2,428,000; 



420,000 



2,343.000, 

 6,517,000 



Tons. 



36,401,000 



6,500,000 



8,007,000 



3,275,000 



1,112,000 



685,000 



870,000 



3,786,000 



Tons. 



16,750,000 



7,500,000 



2,700,000 



3,200,000 



825,000 



960,000 



965,000 



3,060,000 



I 76,694,000 i 60,636,000 j 35,960,000 



Steel Production 



31,300,000 

 18,631,000 

 7,664,000 

 4,614,000 

 2,428,000 

 918,000 

 2,584.000 

 6,490,000 



42,100,000 

 8,000,000 

 9,057,000 

 2,915,000 

 1,216,000 

 590,000 

 1,225,000 

 3,218,000 



20,100,000 

 9,000,000 

 3,700,000 

 2,900,000 

 760,000 

 760,000 

 1,500,000 

 2,011,000 



74,629,000 68,321,000 40,731,000 



Before the war Germany produced approximately 

 as much iron and steel as all the other countries of 

 Europe combined, and more than twice as much iron 

 and steel as this country. In 1921 Germany's pre- 

 eminence in Europe was very nearly as great as it was 

 during the pre-war year. 



The prosperity of the manufacturing industries in 

 general, and of those industries in which coal is an 

 important factor, such as the engineering industries, 

 the chemical industries, earthenware, china, and glass 

 works in particular, depends very largely upon the 

 price of coal. In this respect Germany has an extra- 

 ordinary advantage over Great Britain, France, and 

 other countries in which coal is far more expensive than 

 in Germany. Coal prices are fixed from time to time 

 by the German Government. In December 1921 they 

 were established as follows for the principal qualities : 



The prices given are inclusive of the German coal 

 tax of 30 per cent., and the German t&.x on turnover. 

 At the time when these prices were fixed, the German 

 exchange was above M. 1,000 to the £. It follows 

 that German coal was to be sold at about los. per ton 

 at the pit's mouth. 



