Norwich bulletin., 1922-07-29

A continued cessation of coal pro- .duction would not be extremely dis l astrous to the United States, as the l English mines are operating and sup plies can easily be found elsewhere. 1 Turning to England for a supply of coal would not be any considerable hardship upon the industries along the Atlantic coast although it might result in higher prices to industries which are situated at interior points, writes V. G. Iden, in New York Jour nal of Commerce The bituminous coal fields of the United States are found generally in the Appalachian range. From that territory it is shipped to the industries of the East and over the lakes to the industries of the west.
 The western coast is dependent chiefly upon Alaska for coal. The is- lands of the Pacific and Asia produce little if any of the commodity. There fore, generally speaking the territory which is now supplied with coal from The region affected by the strike could easily be supplied WIlh coal from En- gland. The only difficulty encounter ed is the extra charge for hauling.
 English coal, it is reputed can be delivered at Atlantic ports at approx imately $750 a ton. This has been prior to now higher priced than the domestic commodity. Within the past few weeks, however, there have been some experimental shipments of coal from England. This will increase as the demand exerts itself.
 English Exports DoubIed-English exports Of coal during 1921 totalled 24,660,242 tons, or approximately D. | 000,000 tons a month. English exports | during the first five months of 1922 l have been as follows:
 January, 4,020,935; February, 4,014.- S34; March, 5,2o1, 1,2S5; April, 4,O96,- 57S; May, 5,057,23O
 From these figures it is apparent that the English exports are about l double wNlt they were last year. 1 This is undoubtedly true, but it re- suits from the fact that France has been buying more coal of England. | And England has, furthermore been called upon to supply largely the for i eign consumers of coal who prior to this obtained their supplies from the
 United States. The substitution of English coal in these latter instances has made it possible to conserve our own supplies.
 But aside from this, according tc
 authorities who have only recently | returned from England, the British
 mines could ship the United States
 several million tons of coal without
 any undue strain being exercised. The
 prime reason English coal has not
 been imported prior to this is due te
 the speculative nature of our owr
 market. So long as there is no dirt
 necessity for foreign coal the Am
 erican dealers could easily break any
 weuld-be importer. The disorganiza
 tion of our own industry is there
 fore more likely responsible for thu
 present condition of our coal marke
 than the economic factors warrant.
 Coal for Domestic Uses-Contrar,
 to popular conception, the production stocks of bituminous coals in the Unit ed States are not lower for domes
 tic uses than they have been in year
 previous. While it is generally accept
 ed as a fact that the production o ] bituminous coal has been falling of rapidly and while the curtailmen : brought about by the strike is onl too evident, there has been a curtail ment of coal exported more than suf } ficient to offset any curtailment c ? production in this country. In othe words, the production of bituminou s coal to this date in the United State l has not been curtailed nearly S
 much as has been the tonnage of tn coal we have exported this year t
 date. Therefore, it is but reasonabl
 to figure that the bituminous coz available for domestic consumptio u has to this date this year been greate = = than in previous years.
 According to the official figures pro y vided by the geological survey, de partment of the interior, the produC r ton Of bltuminous coal in the Unite