TITLES AND ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS 101 



SOME PROBLEMS OF INTERNATIONAL READJUSTMENT OF MINERAL 

 SUPPLIES AS INDICATED IN RECENT FOREIGN LITERATURE 



BY ELEANOR A F. BLISS ^ 



iAl)st7^act) 



One important reason for the recent war was the commercial and industrial 

 supremacy of Germany. In "Germany's Commercial Grip on the World" Hau- 

 ser shows the conditions that were potent factors in causing the war: First, 

 the sudden rise in German industry, which has necessitated the organization 

 of a drastic cartel system to combat the dangers of unlimited competition en- 

 tailed by overproduction; second, the further relief of this overproduction by 

 means of foreign "dumping," and, third, the temptation to stabilize a some- 

 what shaky financial foundation by the accession of foreign capital. 



The "Future of German Industrial Exports," by Herzog, .sets forth the means 

 by which Germany proposes after the war to regain her former commercial 

 position. Certain German industries that are indispensable to some foreign 

 countries are to be placed under State protection in such a way that it may be 

 possible without killing the industry to place an absolute embargo on its mar- 

 ket in any foreign country which has shown injurious discrimination against 

 Germany. In post-war commercial treaties Herzog demands, in addition to an 

 open door for German trade, all kinds of special provisions operating to the 

 benefit of German trade in order that it may be safeguarded in every possible 

 way. 



Comparison of the production of the United States, Great Britain, France, 

 and Germany in the five most important minerals, namely, coal, iron, copper, 

 lead, and zinc, shows that the United States leads in all five, while Germany 

 and Great Britain divide the control of production among the three European 

 nations. The United States, by means of her large imports, holds the dominant 

 industrial control of raw materials, but among European nations Germany, by 

 means of her imports, has acquired the foremost place in all except the lead 

 industry. 



France was handicapped by her deficiency in mineral resources. By the 

 restoration of Alsace-Lorraine she will obtain 75 per cent of Germany's output 

 of iron ore, but will still be deficient in coke to treat these ores. De Launay, 

 in "France Allemagne," calls attention to the fact that France can not obtain 

 that coal from Great Britain on account of the cost of transportation and that 

 it must be drawn from Germany. Iron and steel must be exported to Germany 

 because France has not the necessary coal to work them up into finished prod- 

 ucts, even if she should acquire the Saare coal district. Special provision 

 must, therefore, be made to admit French iron and steel into Germany duty 

 free. 



MacFarlane, in "The Economic Basis of an Enduring Peace," suggests the 

 expropriation of the Westphalian coal fields, but acknowledges that by the loss 

 of her iron ore and coal Germany would be completely wrecked as an indus- 

 trial power and that undue industrial supremacy would accrue to France. He 

 suggests that Germany be given control of Turkey in Asia in order that she 

 may draw from the mineral resources of Asia Minor sufficient raw material to 

 preserve her industries. 



Introduced by C. K. Leith. 



