, 1921-05-29
THE CAUSE OF THE CONTENTION.

The territorial dispute between Poland and Ger
many in which Upper Silesia is the bone Of conten-
territory in question The Commerce Monthly is au-
thOrity for the statistics in the matter. Poland's fu-
ture export trade depends largely upon how the dis
pute over control is finally settled
The Importance to Poland of the inclusion or ex-
clusion of Upper Silesia is apparent 1t means the
difference between having to import more than half
of its normal coal requirements. and being one of the
most important coal-exporting countries of Europe.
Moreover, should the Silesian fields be ceded to Ger
many, the Poles believe that it will be difficult to
maintain an economic independence of that country.
II Poland possesses Upper Silesia, it can exchange coal
for the German manufactures and technical equip
ment needed for the development of its resources;
otherwise it will have to sell the major portion of its
exportable surplus in German markets in payment for
fuel and equipment
Coal is one of the most important Of Polands min
eral resources. The deposits lie in the Dombrowe-Si-
lesian basin covering 2,100 square miles and extend
ing into Poland, Czeeho-Slovakia and Silesia- The
Polish area proper includes over 700 square miles,
while the richest section with an area of over 1900
miles lies in Upper Silesia- The Silesian workings,
moreover, have been developed much further than
those of other parts of the basin. In no small degree
the future export position of Poland depends on the
manner in which control of this Upper Silesian terri
tory is settled.
The exploitabie coal reserves Of Poland have been
estimated at SO billion gross tons, as compared with
reserves in Upper Silesia of 81 billion tons. The coal
in the Polish area is of good quality and yields but lit
tie ash, but is not suitable for cooking, as is much of
the Silesian coal. Production in 1918 aggregated about
9,00o,0 900 gross tons of coal (ihcluding a small smount
of Ignite expressed in terms of coai) as against the
Silesian output of 42,5oo,ooo tons The coal con-
sumption Of Poland in 1913, including coke and lg-
mite in terms of coal, aggregated 19,13S,000 tonss so
that domestic production fell short of consumption by
approximately 100000 tons. OF this difference T.
100000 tons. or about t~wo-fifths Of total consump-
ton. was imported from Upper Silesia. This repre-
sents about 20 per cent. of Silesian coal exports. The
domestic consumption of coal in Upper Silesia approx
mated 10, 700. 900 tons.
As for Germany. the pre-war consumption Of siles
ian coal in territories now definitely German was
somewhat less than 100000 gross tons, or about o
per cent of the total consumption. of these territories,
which aggregated 1877, 900, 900 tons. Pre-war produc-
ton in the same areas texcluding production in the
Saar, Alsace-Lorraine and Upper Silesial aggregated
155, 100000 tons, including Ignite expressed in terms
of coal Should the Germans restore their production
to its pre-war level they would be able to meet the al
lied requirements of %, 100000 gross tens of coal
per annum, as fixed by the Spa agreement, and still
suffer relatively little impairment of supplies for do
nestle use Germany's position as a coal exporter,
however, would be very seriously impaired by the loss
of Silesian coal. M