Holiday week. Number of mines working full time reduced by observance of the holiday. Week of miners' election day. Many union mines closed on that day.

Many mines in union districts shut down on Apr. 2 in observance of the Eight-Hour Day. & Many mines shut down Aug. 10 in tribute to the late President Harding.

Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Percent

• Holiday week. Number of mines working full time reduced by observance of the holiday.

NUMBER AND OUTPUT OF PRODUCERS AS DISTINCT FROM MINES

The foregoing statistics represent the number of mines or openings. The number of producing companies is of course much less, because the largest companies operate dozens or scores of mines. No count was made of the number of companies in 1923, but Table 54, analyzing the returns for 1920 for the bituminous-coal industry, may be taken as approximately representative of conditions in 1923. In this table each corporation, partnership, or individual reporting production to the Geological Survey has been classified by the size of his total output. The year 1920 was selected for this analysis because the market conditions in that year were such as to call into active operation all the producing enterprises. Of the 12,122 producing enterprises reported as contributing to the supply of bituminous coal in 1920, 1,440 were country banks (a number that doubtless would have been larger had it been possible to ascertain them all) and 4,405 were wagon mines shipping by rail. The commercial producers proper numbered 6,277. Among them were 795 companies,

FIGURE 44.-Relative number of large and small bituminous-coal producing companies in 1920, and number of mines and tonnage which they control. Note that the figures represent not mines but companies, and that no account has been taken of intercorporate holdings or affiliations, each corporation being treated as a unit. Wagon-mine producers are included

individuals, or partnerships that produced less than 2,000 tons each. The aggregate contribution of these 795 shippers was 838,000 tons, only 0.15 per cent of the total output. Yet these producers were sufficiently well established, in spite of their small tonnage, to be classed by the Geological Survey as "commercial" or "local commercial," as distinct from the mushroom-like wagon mines. At the other end of the scale were 4 companies that produced 5,000,000 tons or more each. These 4 companies operated 213 mines and contributed 40,505,000 tons to the supply of the country. Between these two groups were ranged the rest of the commercial shippers.

In the preparation of these tables each corporation reporting to the Geological Survey has been treated as a unit, and no account has been taken of the interlocking ownership or interests of these companies. The tables therefore understate the degree of concentration of ownership in the bituminous-coal mining industry. Such financial affiliation or community of interest is of course common, not merely among the largest companies, but also within the smaller groups producing from 50,000 to 500,000 tons a year.

TABLE 54.-Bituminous-coal producers in 1920, classified by size of output

Detailed tables, showing for each State the number of producing companies in each size class, the number of mines operated by them, and their production will be found in Mineral Resources for 1922, Part II, pages 535-544.

By excluding the wagon mines, a comparison of the size of the producing corporations in 1920 and in 1905 is made in Table 55. It indicates that during the 16 years 1905 to 1920 the number of large and small commercial companies had been increasing at about the same rate. This table, like Table 54, counts each producing corporation as a unit regardless of possible affiliations.

TABLE 55.-Trend of size of producing bituminous-coal corporations, 1905 and 1920 [Data include commercial and local commercial producers only]

In sharp contrast to the wide dissemination of ownership in the bituminous coal-mining industry the production of anthracite is concentrated in the hands of a few companies. The following analysis of the returns of 1920 is in general representative of conditions in 1923. As before, the table treats each corporation as a unit without regard to interlocking ownership or interest. Were it possible to combine accurately the several producing interests the degree of concentration of ownership would appear much greater.

TABLE 56.-Anthracite producers in 1920, classified by size of output

TABLE 57.—Anthracite and bituminous-coal producers in 1920, classified by size of

. The unit used in this tonnage classification is the net ton of 2,000 pounds for bituminous-coal pro ducers, and the gross ton of 2,240 pounds for anthracite producers. This difference is offset by the large percentage of the anthracite output that is required for mine fuel.

VALUE OF COAL PRODUCED

DEFINITION OF VALUES REPORTED

The value given in this report is the amount received at the mines f. o. b. cars, less selling expense, and the average value per ton is the average amount received, obtained by dividing the total value by the number of tons sold or produced. Coal used at the mine, coal coked by the producing company, and coal used in some other industry by