192 



EEPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. — ^1916. 



BrilislL OiUputs of Coal 1870-1914. 



Coal Production i)i Great Britain — Quinquennial Averages, 



1870 to 1914 — Millions of Tons per Annum. 



The second feature is the phenomenal growth of our export trade, 

 which, during the past sixty years, lias increased something like twenty- 

 fold, hotli as regards the quantities and the values of coal exported. 

 Moreover, its value relative to other values exported has, during the 

 same period, increased fourfold, until at the outbreak of war it con- 

 stituted about 10 per cent, of our total export-ed values. We were then 

 actually transacting over 70 per cent, of the total sea-borne coal trade 

 of the world. It must, however, be borne in mind that a considerable 

 proportion of the exported coal supplies the needs of our mercantile 

 marine. 



Another circumstance which demands attention is the fact that the 

 proportion of the coal raised annually in the United Kingdom which 

 is exported has been doubled within the past thirty-five years, trebled 

 within half a century, and is still increasing. Three factors have 

 operated in producing this result. One is the proximity of the finest 

 coalfields to our ports, another is the increased demands for coal from 

 Europe and South America, while a third has been the phenomenal 

 growth of om- mercantile marine. 



The foregoing figures for the total outputs of om* mines by no ' 

 means represent the real rate of depletion of our available coal reserves. 

 A vast amount of usable coal is left behind in the mine because, 

 under present individualistic conditions, it does not pay to bring it to 

 the surface. A larger profit on the capital of a colliery company can 

 often be earned by working the better classes of coal and leaving the 

 less valuable grades underground. According to figures issued in the 

 Eeport of the 1905 Eoyal Commission on Coal Supplies, this wastage 

 amounted to nearly 25 per cent, of the total raised in the larger coal- 

 fields. The question of checking this wastage by finding out in what 

 ways the less valuable grades can be turned to good account commer- 

 cially is one of supreme national importance, and the Committee desires 

 to draw special attention to it. Much of the coal now left behind in 

 the mines ought to be converted into useful forms of energy and 

 products for public purposes, and one of the most important aspects 

 of the fuel- economy problem in Great Britain is the devising and 



