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TABLE 69.-Anthracite imported, 1919-1923, by countries and districts, in net tons-Continued

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In considering exports the trade of the United States with Canada must be distinguished from that with other countries. Except for the small shipments to Mexico the coal trade with other countries is sea-borne. It is relatively new, fluctuating, and at times speculative. It varies with the buying power of other countries and more particularly with the prices at which European coal is available for export and with the freight rates prevailing for ocean transport. The trade with Canada, on the other hand, is stable and of long standing.

TRADE WITH CANADA

Thus exports to Canada recovered promptly from the strike of 1922. From 10,836,000 tons in the strike year the exports of bituminous coal to Canada rose to 16,854,000 tons in 1923, the largest in any year since the war. Shipments of anthracite to Canada in 1923 were 4,989,000 tons, a figure much in excess of the quantity for 1921 and not far from the average for 1919 and 1920.

The absence of coal deposits in central Canada and the longstanding character of the export movement from the United States to Canada lay a heavy obligation upon the coal trade of this country to continue the movement. Canadian consumers have shared with those of the United States the inconveniences resulting from strikes and car shortages on this side of the boundary, and it is not surprising that the frequent occurrence of these disturbances has awakened among Canadians a desire to be less dependent upon outside sources for their fuel supply. The high-rank coals of Canada are confined

to the maritime provinces on the east and British Columbia on the west. A great stretch of central Canada is without coal of any grade, but in the prairie provinces are found enormous reserves of low-rank bituminous coal and lignite, which ultimately may supply some of the markets in the interior provinces now fueled with American coal. For the present and for many years to come, however, the needs of Canada must be treated as no less pressing than those of the several States in framing any emergency program for the production and distribution of coal. The budget of the United States Fuel Administration during the war provided shipments to Canada in the same ratio to estimated requirements that was allotted to the individual States, and the Canadian Government cooperated by imposing the same regulations upon consumers in Canada that were in force in the United States. Again, in the distribution of fuel after the strike of 1922, the program adopted for anthracite placed Canada on the same basis as the several States.

SEA-BORNE EXPORT TRADE

In contrast to the trade with Canada, which proceeds through well-established channels over the same transportation routes and largely from the same producing fields year after year, the sea-borne export coal trade of the United States is beset by many uncertainties. In pre-war years it averaged about 4,000,000 net tons a year. The war at first stimulated but later curtailed exports as the activity of the submarine cut deeply into the world's supply of shipping. In 1919 the off-shore exports were 8,050,000 net tons. In 1920 the export demand was unprecedented, and our sea-borne exports reached the enormous total of 22,059,000 net tons. The next year,

in the face of a world-wide industrial depression, they dropped to 9,541,000 tons and would have dropped still lower but for the fact that for three months exports from the United Kingdom were suspended by a strike in that country. The great strike of 1922 dealt the seaborne export trade a staggering blow. The total dropped to 1,475,000 net tons. The after-effects of the strike continued to handicap the export trade during the first quarter of 1923. Prices continued relatively high until the following spring. The occupation of the Ruhr by the French temporarily revived the overseas demand for American coal, and for four months-April to July-the offshore shipments averaged over 500,000 tons a month (Table 74). Prices, however, declined rapidly in the last half of the year, and in December offshore exports amounted to but 243,000 tons, or at the rate of 2,800,000 tons a year. A contributing cause of this decline in the export trade was the competition of fuel oil, which continued to replace coal for vessel fuel in 1923 and invaded many of the markets formerly reached by American coal.

Practically all our sea-borne exports consist of bituminous coal rather than anthracite, and the trade is largely confined to Hampton Roads, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Charleston. New York plays little part in the export trade proper but is one of the leading bunkering ports for vessels engaged in foreign commerce.

TABLE 70.-Bituminous coal exported, 1919-1923, by countries, in net tons" [Compiled from the records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce]

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• Amounts stated do not include fuel or bunker coal loaded on vessels engaged in the foreign trade, which aggregated in 1919, 8,223,862 tons; in 1920, 10,485,639 tons; in 1921, 8,463,220 tons; in 1922, 4,614,632 tons; and in 1923, 5,093,024 tons.

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TABLE 70.-Bituminous coal exported, 1919-1923, by countries, in net tons—Con.

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TABLE 71.-Bituminous coal exported, 1919-1923, by districts, in net tons [Compiled from the records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce]

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TABLE 72.-Anthracite exported, 1919-1923, by countries, in net tons
[Compiled from the records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce]

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