150 BULLETIN 102, VOL. 1, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



upon the modicum of energy extracted; requii'es the imports of 

 materials which might be m.anufactured from the non-energy com- 

 ponents; holds back the development of latent possibilities in coal 

 products; besmears with dirt and smoke an untold wealth in civic 

 improvements.^ 



The production of petroleum involves a higher proportion of 

 waste than is found in coal mining and with far more serious conse- 

 quences, because the supply is rapidly approaching exhaustion. 



Less than half of the oil underground is raised to the surface, and 

 there is a gross overproduction which prompts the surplus to be waste- 

 fully used. The small-unit, competitive methods of mining followed 

 for the most part, are entirely out of adjustment with the occurrence 

 of the resom'ce. The migratory character of oil, imder these condi- 

 tions of exploitation, necessitates a hasty, careless extraction; 

 efficient engineering practice is impossible. 



The transportation of petroleum makes use of an extensive system 

 of pipe lines and is satisfactory. 



The utilization of petroleum is satisfactory in respect to the portion 

 fully refined; the rest, of com-se, is devoted to low and wasteful uses 

 to create an outlet for the surplus production. The by-product 

 possibilities held in petroleum have not been sufficientl}'- cultivated. 

 Fuel oil and crude petroleum are used rather extensively in place of 

 coal and hydroelectricity, but this is due to the general overproduction 

 of petroleum which makes this intrinsically more valuable substance 

 a temporary competitor. 



Only a small fraction of the water-i^ower resources of the country 

 is developed. This is due to the abundance of coal and oil, on the one 

 hand, and the high rate of interest demanded by capital in respect to 

 hydroelectric developments, on the other, with complications growing 

 out of pubhc sentiment and legal restriction as regards water-power 

 rights under Federal control. 



The transportation of hydroelectricity, so far as it is produced, is 

 satisfactory. The lack of a common-carrier system for the trans- 

 mission of electrical energy contributes to the undevelopment of 

 water-power sites by necessitating the generating project to provide 

 its own transportation. An analogous situation would arise if a 

 coal-mining project had to capitalize a private railway to its market. 



The utilization of hydroelectricity is satisfactory. Of course it is 

 underused, to the cost of coal and oil, but that goes back to lack of 

 production. 



1 The Prime Minister of England is quoted as saying: "In times of peace coal is the most important ele- 

 ment iu the industrial life of the country. In peace and in war King Coal is the paramount lord of industry. 

 It enters into every article of consumption and utility. It is our real international coinage. We buy goods 

 abroad — food and raw material. We pay not in gold, but in coal. In war it is lite for us and death for our 

 enemies. It not merely fetches and carries for us, it makes the material and the machinery which it trans- 

 ports. It bends, it molds, it fills the weapons of war. Steam means coal. Machine guns mean coal. 

 Cannon mean coal. Shells are made with coal. The very explosives inside them are coal. Then coal carries 

 them right in to the battle field and to help our men. Coal is everything to us and we want more of it to 

 win victory. Coal is the most terrible of our enemies and it is the most potent of friends." 



