Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-03-20

same rate, the whole eighty thousand millions
will have been exhausted. A
The deeper the supply lies the more the ex-
pense oflabOr, machinery, ventilation, pump
ing out the water, accidents, &C., is enhanced !;
and that enhancement Of price will check con-
sumption. The Economist says: ait is pre-
" cisely this imminent enhancement ofpries, and
" not ultimate exhaustion, that we have to
" dread for it IS this enhancement which Will
" limit our rate Of progress, and deprive us OF
a." our special advantages, and our manutactu-
" ring supremacy. Let US see, little in de-
"a tail, the nodats OpTaRdi. The difficulty of
"a working and raising coal increases rapidly as
,s the mine grows deeper or as inferior mines
:. have to be worked, the heat grows more in
"a suppOrtable, the shafts and passages longer,
{" the danger greater, the ventilation more cost
" ly, the quantity Of water to be kept out or
G. got out more unmsnageable. A very short
period may raise engine and smelling coal
" from IS. to los. per ton. Now, cotton
mill of ordinary size will often use for its steam
" power eighty tons. of coal per week. This,
at S., is FL 900 per year at los. per tonit is
a e. 900. But the cotton mill is full of ma
" chinery and one great element in the cost OF
"a this machinery is the coal used in smelling
" and working the iron Of which the machinery
"a is made. The railroads which bring the
"a cotton to the mill, and take the cali
% CO and yarn back to the place Of exporta-
/. ton, are made Of iron, and worked by coal
" So are the steamboats, which bring the cotton
" to our shores and expOrtthe yarnto Germany.
" The cost of carriage, therefore, which is avery
" large item in the contingent expenses of our
" factories, will be greatly increased, both d.
81 rectly and indirectly, by rise in the price of
a" coal. An advance in that price from five
" shilings to ten shillings per ton, may be esti-
" mated to be equivalent to $4,000 year
" on the working cost of good cotton mill !;
" that is, as compared with the present state of
" things, and as compared with foreign coun-
" tries, every manufacturer would havea burden
" Of e., 900 a year laid upon him, and would
" have to raise the cost of his goods to that ex-
" tent How long could he continue to compete
with his rivals under this disadvantage, or, lit
& would be more correct to say, with his pres
q ent advantage taken away from him And how
" long would coal continue to be supplied even
" at ten shillings ton |"
The two prospective dilemmas which threaten
the future manufacturing pre-eminence of
Great Britain are first the exhaustion of the
available supply of coal; second the enhanced
expenses which will attend operations deeper
under ground. To attempt further economy
in the use of coal is not believed to be pos
3ible. If less coal were used less business
would be done, less shipping would be en-
ployed and fewer fabrics would be exported.
A check upon the consumption Of coal would
be a check upon manufacturing and CON-
mercial progress. To attempt TO make the
a hundred years, would be to give up the,
supremacy now enjoyed by her. There appears
TO be no remedy for these prospective troubles.
The experiment of economy has been tried, and
it is said that in smelling irOn-ore twO-thirds
less coal is used, and in working steam engines
one-half less, than formerly. All the
economics have been introduced that are prac-
ticable. The expectation of coal cannot be
stopped without throwing half the shipping
trade into confusion by depriving it of its bal
last trade. Nor can the catastrophe be averted
by the importation of coal. Coal is the bulkiest
of all articles of trade in proportion to its
value, and the cost of carriage would entail an
element in the price of manufactures that could
not be borne.
The coal fields of Great Britain are estimated
at 5,4OO square miles in extent, while those of
the United States are estimated at 10000
square miles. Of lS6, 100000 of tons now an
nually raised throughout the world, Great Bri-
tain produces $4,000, 900 and the United States
only 2O,OOO,OOO. Our coal is better and more
accessible than that of Great Britain. In some
places, says the Economist, the cost at the pits
mouth, even now, is two shillings per ton in
America, against six shillings in England. The
same magazine adds gloOmily-"As soon as
" America is densely peopled, to America
" must both our coal and iron supremacy, and
q all involved therein, be transferred for the
" United States are, in these respects, i'm
90 measurably richer than even Great Bri-
d" tain"