ON FUEL ECONOMY. 



189 



51-8 



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CANADA GT3RITA1N AUSTRALIA 



Percentages of Woeld's Total Coal Eeserves. 



The fact that the available reserves of coal in Great Britain only 

 amount to about one-fortieth, whilst those of the whole Empire do not 

 amount to more than about one-fourth, of the world's estimated total, 

 is one which ought to be brought home to everyone responsible for tlie 

 economic development of our national and imperial resources, especially 

 in view of the fact that the United States, whose competition in the 

 immediate future will probably be much more severely felt than ever 

 before, possesses more than half the estimated world's coal, and that 

 also in regard to the two prime considerations of quality and cost 

 of production she probably compares favourably with Great Britain 

 and the Empire. 



Moreover, it may be pointed out that in the United States both the 

 Government and the University of Illinois have, for some years past, 

 conducted numerous important chemical investigations and large-scale 

 trials upon the character of the principal American coal seams and 

 their adaptation for various economic ends, and that, in consequence, 

 American manufacturers have at their disposal much more complete 

 and systematic information about their country's coal resources than 

 is at present possessed by their British competitors. Also, the United 

 States Government, which is continually extending its policy of the 

 conservation of its natural resources, has already taken legislative 

 steps to prevent the premature exploitation of the coalfields of Alaska. 



