under Lord Rhondda soon after the latter accepted the position of controller of food. In the arduous and successful work of that office he took his full share. He became president of a consumers' food council in Dec. 1917, so that the office might keep in regular touch with the needs of the public. When Lord Rhondda died, in June 1918, he succeeded him to the general satisfaction. He gave special encouragement to the creation of national kitchens, the number of which had grown by the end of Aug. to over 600, and he set up in Sept. inside the Ministry a food council to consider questions of policy, and to coöperate with other bodies dealing with the food problems of the Allies. In consequence of the decision of the Labour party to terminate its support of the Coalition Government he resigned office in Nov. just before the general election. At the beginning of the session of 1910 he was elected vice-chairman of the party, and he took a considerable share in debate, speaking with a moderation and appreciation of the standpoint of other classes not always manifested by Labour members. At the trades union congress in Sept. he made a strong speech against the policy of “direct action,” pointing out that Labour could capture the political machine if working men were sufficiently united and sufficiently active, but that threats would only throw back their cause and set all other classes against them. But a year later he acquiesced in the establishment of a Labour council of action, and in the threat of a general strike in case of any military or naval intervention against the Soviet Government of Russia. In 1921 he was chosen chairman of the parliamentary Labour party.
COAL (see 6.575). In 1910 the world output of coal, including lignite and anthracite, may be estimated to have been 1,160 million metric tons, and it reached 1,342 million tons in 1913. The rapid growth in the production of coal up to 1910 is indicated by the fact that in the period 1894-8 the average quantity raised each year was only 604 million tons, or about one-half the quantity raised in the year 1910. In the five years 1874-8, 285 million tons were raised each year on the average, or about one-fourth of the quantity raised in 1910.
The output of coal in 1913 was subsequently exceeded but once up to 1921, viz. in 1917, when 1,345 million tons were raised, and the dislocation in the production of coal caused by the World War is seen from the following estimates of output during the years 1910-20, prepared by the United States Geological Survey Department:—
Estimated Quantity of Coal Raised (Million metric tons) Percentage of 1913
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920
1,160 1,189 1,249 1,342 1,205 1,196 1,296 1,345 1,331 1,158 1,300
86 89 93 100 90 89 97 100 99 86 97
The effect of the war, however, was chiefly felt in Europe, as the following comparison of the output of coal in the years 1913 and 1920 shows:—
Continent Output of Coal in Increase (+) or Decrease (−) in 1920
1913 1920 Quantity Percentage
Europe America: North America: South Asia Africa Australia and Oceania
Million metric tons
730.0 531.6 1.6 55.8 8.3 15.0
597.5 601.3 1.7 75.8 11.8 11.9
−132.5 + 69.7 + .1 + 20.0 + 3.5 − 3.1
−18.1 +13.1 + 6.2 +35.8 +42.2 −20.7
World 1,342.3 1,300.0 − 42.3 − 3.2
The aggregate loss of output in Europe during the years 1914-20 was nearly equal to the quantity raised in the year 1913, or considerably more when allowance is made for the normal rate of expansion prior to the war. From the position of a continent self-contained in regard to coal supplies and able to furnish no inconsiderable part of the requirements of the navies and merchant fleets of the world, Europe had temporarily become dependent upon outside sources of supply. In 1920 coal was obtained chiefly from North America, but small quantities from South Africa, from China, from Australia and from Spitsbergen found their way to Europe.
While the output of coal in Europe in the year 1920 diminished by nearly one-fifth when compared with that of 1913, partly owing to reductions in the hours of labour and partly to labour disputes, the number of workpeople employed at coal-mines increased in the principal countries of Europe by about one-seventh. And after the conclusion of the war the question of the “nationalization” of the coal-mines (see Nationalization) became a subject of more or less acute controversy in the chief producing countries of the world.
The immense coal resources of the world were but imperfectly realized up to 1910, and knowledge with regard to them was greatly increased as a result of the Twelfth International Geological Congress held in 1913 at Ottawa, for which a monograph on “The Coal Resources of the World” was prepared. From this the following summary is taken:—
Continent Lignites and sub-Bituminous Coals Bituminous Coals Anthracite and semi-Anthracite Total
Europe America: North America: South Asia Africa Australia and Oceania
Million metric tons
36,682 2,811,902 4 111,851 1,054 36,270
693,162 2,239,682 31,398 760,098 45,123 133,481
54,346 21,842 700 407,637 11,662 659
784,190 5,073,426 32,102 1,279,586 57,839 170,410
World 2,997,763 3,902,944 496,846 7,397,553
The coal raised during the 11 years 1910-20 amounted to 13,771 million tons, or one-fifth of 1% of the estimated reserves. It should, however, be added that no deduction has been made in framing these estimates for coal which was not mineable, nor for the loss of coal in working. A large part of the coal included will be raised with great difficulty and the loss in mining will also be great.
United Kingdom
For at least half a century prior to the outbreak of war the production of coal in Great Britain increased at a substantial, if unequal, rate annually. But after the year 1913 this movement was arrested and during the three years 1918-20 the output of coal was only equal to the quantity raised in the years 1902-4. Estimated on the experience of the period 1871-1900 the output of coal in 1918-20 should have been not less than 300,000,000 statute tons per annum.
After the conclusion of the war the number of persons employed at coal-mines was greater than at any previous date, and in 1920 was 50% greater than in the year 1903. The hours of labour of those employed below ground, it is true, had been twice reduced since that year. An 8-hour shift from bank to bank (equal to more than 8½ hours per man on the average) was introduced in 1909-10, and a further reduction to 7 hours per shift was effected in July 1919. No general change was made in the hours of labour of surface workers until Jan. 1919, when a maximum 49-hour week was established. In July of the same year this was reduced to 46½ hours per week, or a total reduction of 4½ to 11½ hours per week over the whole period.
Prior to the introduction of the 8-hour shift below ground the annual rate of output was 285 tons per person employed, and the normal rate of output subsequently appears to have been some 20 to 25 tons less. In the year 1920 the output of coal per person was 191 tons, or about 200 tons, making allowance for the effect of the national strike of coal-miners in that year.
With the shrinkage in the supply of coal there had been a serious increase in its selling price. Between the years 1910 and 1914 the average selling price at the pit rose from 8s. 2d. to 10s. per ton. During the war the selling price was gradually raised, and it stood at 20s. 11d. per ton on the average in 1918. This was due partly to the increased cost of timber and stores, but
