In addition to the export trade proper, the United States supplies by sea a small tonnage to the Territories of Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico. As shown in Table 75, the movement to Alaska is relatively steady but that to Hawaii and Porto Rico fluctuates within wide limits. In 1923, 34,000 net tons was shipped coast wise to Alaska, 25,000 tons to Hawaii, and 49,000 tons to Porto Rico. The competition of fuel oil is suggested by the marked decline in the movement to Porto Rico. As late as 1917, 125,000 tons was shipped to Porto Rico, or five times the figure for 1923.

TABLE 75.-Shipments of coal to Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico, 1910–1923, in

net tons

[Compiled from records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce)

WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF COAL From the information thus far available, the world's production of coal in 1923 appears the greatest on record. The total output, according to the official figures for the principal countries supplemented by preliminary returns for certain others from which more accurate data may later be obtained, is 1,360,000,000 metric tons. This is 4,000,000 tons more than the accepted figure for 1917, and 18,000,000 tons more than the accepted figure for 1913.

It is indeed significant of the economic disorganization wrought by the war that the output five years after the armistice should still be barely what it was before the war broke out, because normally the world's production of coal increases by leaps and bounds. In the 20 years preceding 1914 the average annual increase was 38,000,000 tons. Even with allowance for the big increase in the production of petroleum and the substitution of fuel oil for coal, it is apparent that the normal growth in the world's consumption of energy has been retarded by the war.

A feature of the changes brought by the war was a shift in the relative importance of the principal producing countries. The leadership of the United States became even more apparent as the production of Europe gradually declined. From 38.6 per cent of the world's total in 1913, the share of the United States rose to 46.3 per cent in 1918, and even in `1923 it was nearly 44 per cent.

The great event of the year 1923, however, was the occupation of the Ruhr by the French and Belgians and the consequent paralysis of the chief source of German production. From 129,964,000 tons in 1922 the output of bituminous coal in Germany dropped

to 62,316,000 tons in 1923. The output of lignite, though less affected by the occupation, also declined. The stoppage of shipments from the Ruhr greatly increased the demand for coal from other sources. The output of Great Britain, in particular, was stimulated and rose to 280,430,000 metric tons, an increase of nearly 30,000,000 tons over 1922 and the largest figure recorded since the war began.

The following table has been compiled from the official reports of the several countries, supplemented by trade information, by W. I. Whiteside, under the direction of B. L. Johnson. The unit of measurement is the metric ton of 2,204.6 pounds, which can best be remembered by the American reader as roughly equivalent to the long or gross ton. The term “coal" as used by the Geological Survey includes lignite, and the production for the world is simply the total of the quantities reported, no attempt being made to reduce the statistics for inferior coals to an equivalent tonnage of coals of higher rank. Where possible, however, lignite is shown separately.

TABLE 77.—Coal produced in the principal countries of the world, 1920–1923

[In metric tons of 2,204.6 pounds)

12, 163,804 3, 249, 105

2,117 1, 251, 541 84,675, 512, 161,779

$24, 154 1,164,033 23,000 • 13,050

157, 630 2,685,467 22, 922, 340

12,347, 251
16, 265,
37, 682,335

861, 435 62, 316, 134 118, 784,997 9, 192, 275

125,000 7, 709, 775

173, 700 953, 480 5,595, 478

54, 185 36, 269, 032

153, 565 2, 521, 303 114,504, 300 5,971, 446

394, 258 340, 942 419, 569

280, 430, 369

4,001, 265 19,955,000

279, 973

322, 994 19,973, 285

1,056, 921 30, 417, 012

3,562 65,000 173, 422 560,000

620 10, 810, 827

10,887, 991 10, 966, 621 10, 346, 572
1, 127, 727

10,646, es
970, 087 973, 903
76, 640

1,077, 686 67, 543

70, 349 614, 632

82,014 603, 618 660, 113 469, 436 476, 341 445, 480 (9) ( )

88, 948 1,095, 718 1, 212, 665 1,032, 310 1,873, 296

1,158, 25 1, 838, 131 1, 887, 637 58, 888

2,001, 450 39, 445 ()

(0) 1, 319, 700,000 1, 134,600,000 1, 225, 500,000 1,359, 900,000

• Estimate included in total.

Includes small quantity of asphaltite.
• Exclusive of output of State of Falcón (about 8,000 tons), for which estimate is included in total.

d Includes for January to May entire output of Upper Silesia, for June to December output of only that
part of the province allocated to Germany.
• Includes output for June to December of that part of Upper Silesia allocated to Poland.

Output of Russia in Asia included with Russia in Europe. • Exclusive of lignite (annual production about 200,000 tons), for which estimate is included in total. . Based on incomplete data.

PRODUCTION OF COAL BY STATES

FORM OF PRESENTATION In the foregoing pages are presented the general statistical facts of 1923 for the coal" industry as a whole. It remains to give the detailed figures of production by States and counties.

As the detailed statistics are useful chiefly for reference, they require no extended comment. The figures for a given area, how

a ever, can be used more intelligently if they are considered in the light of the market conditions prevailing in that area for the year. For this purpose a series of charts are interspersed with the tables showing for most of the States the trend of production in each month of 1923 and how it compares with the level of the five years preceding

The form of these charts will be clear from a glance at the one for Alabama (fig. 45). It will be seen that the background of the chart is divided into two blocks. The larger block, at the right, covers 1923. The smaller block, at the left, covers the five years 1918 to 1922. To show so long a period it is necessary to make a change in the time scale, and so in the 1923 block each division represents a month, while in the five-year block each division represents the average for a year. Now, to compare periods of unlike length some common denominator is necessary, and the best one to use is the average output per working day. By this means it is a simple matter to compare not only years with months, but also short months like February, which would otherwise show an artificial downward jag, with long months like March. Thus the heavy black line of daily production starts at an average of 62,000 tons in the war year 1918, drops to 50,000 tons in 1919, recovers slightly in 1920, falls to 41,000 in the depression year 1921, and in 1922, when the strike closed the union mines, rises to 60,000 tons. In January, 1923, the daily average was running 72,300 tons, or considerably above the general level of any of the five years preceding. This high rate was maintained without a break until December.

The Alabama chart also shows the trend of spot prices of minerun coal f. o. b. mines as quoted by Coal Age. Prices are represented

. by the light dash line. The average price for the year 1919 as a whole (quotations for 1918 are not available) was $2.64; for 1920, as a whole, the average was $5.12, though during certain months of that year much higher prices were touched. In 1921 prices dropped to the level of 1919, and in 1922 they receded still further. In 1923 the line of price starts at $2.40 in January, rises slightly in February, and declines gradually thereafter to $1.90 in the last four months of

The charts for the other States are drawn in the same way but with a certain exception. Because Pennsylvania's output is so much greater than Maryland's, for example, it is not feasible to plot them on the same scale. Hence, one scale has been used for the large States-Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia--and a different scale for the remaining smaller States. The scale for the small States is about seven times that for the large States, and to warn the reader of the difference the scale used is conspicuously posted in the upper right corner of each diagram.

In Tables 78 and 79 are given the figures of average daily production and spot prices plotted in this series of charts.

a

the year;