The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-11-05
UNITED STATES
 CHIEF SOURCE
 OF GOAL SUPPLY
More Than Half Resources of World Located in
 America.

AIIlcE1Cds
 That the United States will soon 1 become the chief source of coal SUD- 1 ply for other nations of the world is i the belief expressed in the November i issue of Commerce Monthly, the mag l azine of the National Bank of Con- l merce in New York.
 1 It is pointed out that this coun- 1 try, although it produces more than ] half of the worlds coal, has in the 1 past left the export trade domination i in this commodity to England, whose 1 deposits are but a small percentage of 1 ours England, however, with pro- l duction dwinding as a result of the i war and her labor unrest, seems in i eVitably bound to yield place to us. ] More than half of the total coal l resources of the world are located in i the United States During the past 1 ten years, production of coal in the 1 United States has developed remark i ably, showing in 1918 an increase of ] g per cent. over the average produce l tion during the five years 1919 to l 1913. The most rapid increases in l production have taken place in Illi- 1 nois and West Virginia, the output 1 of the former of these states for l 1918 being 31,O0O,0O0 tons and of l the latter 2400O,O00 tons over the 1 1909 to 1913 average.
 Pennsylvania increased her bitum- l inous output 22,000,000 tons as com l pared with her average of 1909 to i 1913 and anthracite production for
 1918 was 100000 tons over the | average for the same period.
 While American coal production in | 1918 broke all records, output for | l that level. If the present rate of out l put Is maintained, anthracite produc- ton will be about 76, 100000 tons and i bituminous production 432,OOO,0OO
 tons, a total sos, 900, 900 tons, the low 1 est production since 1915. It is be- 1 lieved that anthracite production is l adequate, but at the present time i+ l is not possible to determine whether l or not the country faces an actual
 shortage of bituminous coal during l the coming winter.
 ''The acute problem is not, however, | the domestic but the international
 coal situation. The present coal short | age in Europe Is due to many causes | chief among them being shortage of l labor, reduction in hours of work, and l more than all, a general state of in | dustriaI unrest and organization as l a result of the war.
 These factors have all contributed | to an enormous increase in the cost 1 of production, variously estimated at
 from 75 to 150 per cent, over the 1 cost of production in 1913. Prior to
 the war, the coal importing countries
 of Europe were supplied by Great l. Britain, Germany and, to a small ex- | tent, by Belgium. Although Germany was bound
 under the Peace Treaty to deliver 43,- 000 900 tons of coal to France in the l next six months, she was not able to furnish this amount and the require l ment was reduced to 20.000,000 tons, | Belgian coal production is proceed ing at a satisfactory rate. Her small 1 exports, however, are not a large fac | tor in meeting the European situa-
 ton. Great Britain has been the l worlds grea test exporter of coal both
 in the form of coal for bunkerage
 and exports in the strict sense.
 British production which in 1913 | was 2S7,00o,00o gross tons, decreased
 to 228, 100000 tons in 1918. Sir Auck- | land Geddes, president of the Board | of Trade, states that for the twelve 1 months beginning July 16, 1919, when
 the min seven hour day came into
 effect, the production of British coal l will be approximately between 214,- 900, 900 and PIT, 100000 tons. Even Ii
 the amount of coal retained for home
 consumption were kept down to 196,
 000,000 tons, the strictly rattoned
 basis basis of 1918, there would be
 available for export only about 20,.
 100000 gross tons.
 Not only is the ability of Great
 Britain actually to produce coal fol
 export and ship bunkers curtailed
 but the price of coal is now so higt
 there as to open the field to all com
 petition, and especially to competi
 tion from the United States.
 Although the foremost coal pro- ducing nation, our exports of coa
 have never been large. In the five pre-war years, 1909 to 1913, our ex, ports averaged only about 5000 ,o0t tons, the greater part of which wen to Canada. Whether in the immed fate future we are able to supply the coal which Great Britain cannot fur, nish will depend partly on our ability to increase bituminous coal produc eion, that being the kind primarily needed both for export and for shiI bunkers. It will also depend on ob taining adequate tonnage. Whatever the outcome of the present situation it seems inevitable, however, that 1T time the United States will assume 1T the coal export trade and in the business of bunkering ships, the posi- ton to which her coal resources en title her"