The age-herald., 1902-02-10
The French Market is BeCOm- ing a More Valuable One
 Every Year
ADVICE TO RAILROAD CO.'S
As the Case Stands America is In the Mediterranean Coal Business, But There. is Always an
 1.-The Solution.

" ndleNeE du6ClS llle COdl lGddt liiuSl be of interest to Alabama, and some facts, observations and suggestions found in a recent communication sent to the state department by MT. Robert P Skin- ner, consul-general at Marseihes, will prove of exceptional interest because MT. Skinner covers the ground quite thorough ly showing as he does the ability of American operators to ship coal to France. The consul-general says:
 "The Marseiles market becomes a more valuable one every year, the tendency of the established lines being to frequent this port for the purpose of coaling, and the total annual requirements having doubled within the last three or four years. There Is also a prospect of SUD- plying the Swiss market from this port, and to that end the Paris, Lyons and Mediterranean Railway Company has pre- pared a tariff reducing the rate from Marseilles to Geneva from IA francs ($2.70 to Il S5 francs C$2 .2S) per ton. This tariff requires the sanction of the minister of commerce before 1t can become effective, and for some unknown reason this sanc- ton has not yet been obtained. If the lower rate Is adopted, 1t Is moderately certain that a very considerable interior business will be done in consequence.
 The American Voyage.
 Except for the troublesome question of return cargo, it would be easy to as- sert that the American voyage. including delays for loading and discharging, being one-third longer than the Cardiff voyage. requires in fairness a rate only one-thfrd more than that of the latter the longer time at sea being perhaps overcome by the advantage of cheaper fuel. In prac- tice. the American exporter is at present paying more than this one-third and there never was fair ground for the for mer difference, which ranged from Is to 12s ($1 70 to g.. 92) Whether general rates be high or low something like l. 000 900 tons of foreign coal must be laid down annually in Marselles, and the fiuctuaton in the relative rate from Car diff or Baltimore will largely determine the proportion of American trade in this region.
 Standard navigation coal from Cardiff is today selling at 22s $5.34 in Marseilles. It costs 12s $2 .92) at Cardiff or 13s ($3.16) with the export tax included. American competing coals are being sold here at discount of Is Sd (36 cents). Experience and prejudice or whetever the controlling causes have been, have set this margin
 as measure of comparative quality.
 
 be sold low enough to cover the higher
 freight charge and a persistent prejudice becaUse Of quality. The items average now from 4s to 5s. In other words, it
 must be sold, quality for quality. at f. O. b. prices dangerously near Ss or perhaps
 s. (S1. .94 or 2.19), and every cent under
 these figures represents the advantage
 which our dealers have in the Mediterran- | can market at present.
 American Coal.
 we have sold 1S4,797 tons of Ameri- can coal in Marseilles during eleven
 months of 1901, against 941,11 tons of
 British coal. It gave entire satisfaction l I have before me a letter from Worms
 and Company, the heaviest single im- porters, in which they say:
 "Our importations of American coal
 during the year will approximate 100000 tons. The principal companies to which we have sold it regularly are the Penin- suar and Oriental Steamship Company, | the British India Steam Navigation | Company the Nippon Yushen Kaisha | Steamship Company and the Messageries | Maritimes Steamship Company. They have all declared themselves very well | satisfied with the quality of the fuel.' "As the case stands dependent as we are upon foreign ships, we are in the heulI6TTdnedn cOdl lTdut, anu we .CdD probably remain, but there is always an "if.' If, as at the height of the war ex- citement we must again pay 21s. $5.10
 while Cardiff pays but los. or 12s. $2.43 to $29D it Is obvious that we can not cut our f. O. b. prices to that extent That we could pay that enormous freight at
 one time was only because the f. O. b, prices at Cardiff were well over twice
 what they are today. Thus, while req sonable business policies encourage faith in the permanency of our Mediterranean coal trade under existing conditions, the mere memory of freight rates once paid is standing menace.
 The Only Guarantee.
 II have always contended, and still maintain, that our commerce in coal can be guaranteed only by the land transpor-
 tation lines engag ging in the ocean-carry-
 ing trade. Even a very small fleet of col
 Hers controlled by the coal roads would
 provide. a steadying influence of inesti- | mable value. 1t may be doubted whether | the owners of colliers are losing anything l today, in spite of their cry of distress. | They have been enjoying abnormally high | prices and the years of plenty have been | followed by a year of famine. Business | is dull everywhere except in the United l States, and even there the freight fur | nlSnerS are reIuSlnS 10 Snlp, hoping Tor better times abroad. In shipping circles,
 gradual stiffening is anticipated soon. 1 As an independent proposition, the crea- | ton of a fleet of coal carriers-particu- l arly if they should be of modern type capable of loading and discharging promptly-seems favorable, and, contem- plated as an enterprise of one of the sea-
 board coal roads, it is not only attrac- tive, but almost an imperative require-
 ment. The foreign market is the only thing that will guard the mining com | panies from stagnation, in the event of dull domestic trade. The threatened l through bill of lading from the mine to | the consumer abroad is one of those moral | influences that is today holding down the | level of ocean freight rates. A gentleman | largely interested in foreign transport | enterprise tells me that every Atlantic | carrying company is shortening sail with | a view to this contingency. He says: "The American railroads are so i'm | partant in themselves and drain such vast | producing areas, thus contributing the bulk of east-bound freight that they can | not afford to remain in any sense depend- nt upon reign navigation companies to take these goods to market Whether .ncY Duy lis out and run our ships for their own account, or secure legislation which will lead to the construction of a purely American fleet, 1t amounts to the same thing in the end. The railway com panies can stand hard times as well as the British shipowner, and when the good times come their stockholders will pocket he profits. instead of ours. The throueh bill of lading would simply leave Is with