The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-06-01
UPPER SILEsIA VITAL TO
POLAND's EXPORT TRADE

Poland's future in export trade de-
pends largely upon how the present
dispute over control Of Upper Silesia
is settled, it is pointed out by the
National Bank of Commerce in New
York in its June number Of Com
merce Monthly.
The importance to Poland of the
inclusion or exclusion Of Upper Slle-
sia is apparent, says Commerce
Monthly. 1T means the difference be-
tween having TO import more than
half Of its normal coal requirements,
and being ore of the most important
coal exporting countries Of Europe.
Moreover, should the Silesian fields
be ceded to Germany. the Poles be-
lieve that it will be difficult to main
tain an economic independence OF
that country. If Poland possesses
Upper Silesia, it can exchange coal for
the German manufactures and tech
nical equipment needed for the de-
yelopment 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 tho most important
cf Poland's mineral resources, &C
,>ording to the bank which adds:
The deposits lie in the Dombrowa-
Silesian Basin. covering 200 square
miles and extending into Poland.
Czecho- Slovakia and Silesla. The
Polish area proper includes over 700
square miles, while the richest SEC
ton with an area of over l,2b0 miles
lies In Upper Siles.a. The Silesian
workings, moreover, have been de-
yeloped 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
territory. is settled.
1.-The e.ploitable coal reserves OF
Poland have been estimated at 52 bill
lion 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 little
ash, but is not suitable for coklng,
as is much Of the Silesian coal. Pro
:duction in 1913 aggregated about ~
OO0, 900 gross tons OF coal inc' 'u1ing
a small amount of ignite expressed
in terms Of coaD as against the Sill
esian output of 42.500,00 tons. The
coal consumption OF Poland in 1913,
including coke and Ignite in terms
of coal, agga gated 1s,13S,o0o tons,
so that domestic production fell
short of consumption by approx
mately 10,O0O,100 tons. OF this diff
ference 100000 tons. or about two
fifths of total consumption, was i'm
ported from Upper Silesia. This rep
resents about 90 per cent. Of Slieslan
coal exports. The domestic consump-
tion Of coal in Upper Silesia approx
mated l3,100.O00 tons.
AS for Germany, the preW-ar con-
sumption of Silesian coal in terrltor-
les nov definitely German was some
what less than l2,300,000 gross tons
or about per cent OF the total con-
sumption of these territories. which
aggregated l37.9G0,0 ,00G tons. Pre-
war production in the same areas (eX-
Guiding production in the Saar, Al
sace-I.orraine and Upper Silesla) az
gregated 55.660,000 tons. including
hgnite expressed in terms OF coal.
Should the Germans restore their pro-
duction to its preWar level they
would be able TO meet the allied re-
uuirements of %, 500 900 gross tons
of coal per annum. as fixed by the
Spa agreement. and still suffer rela-
! t: cely little impairment OF supplies
for domestic use. Germany's position
az coal exporter. however, would
be very seriously impaired by the loss
of Silesian coal.