As regards the prices of coal and coke a question of primary im- portance to the national industry the position of France at the time of the war was that home coal at the pit-head cost about 40 % more than in England and 20 % more than in Germany. As about one- third of the quantity consumed in France had to be imported, the average price of coal, 19 fr. a ton, reckoning that of imports, was 2 fr. a ton (12 %) higher in France than in Belgium, 5 fr. (36 %) higher than in Germany and 7 fr. (60 %) higher than in England.
In the period following the Armistice the fuel problem was tem- porarily solved by the quantities of coal which Germany was compelled to deliver, and also by imports of coal from the United States, which became larger and larger as the supplies from Great Britain dwindled in consequence of miners' strikes and the necessity of stopping or limiting exports. In 1921 the position could only be regarded as uncertain, the supply of coal at reasonable prices to French industries being largely dependent upon the political rela- tions between France and Germany.
Iron. As the result of the war and more immediately of the invasion of the Briey district, the output of iron ore was at first much reduced. The figures are given in Table 13.
TABLE 13. Iron (in tons).
Output
Imports
Exports
1914 (second half) 1915 . 1916 1917 . 1918 .
370,000 620,000 1,680,000 2,034,000 1,572,000
701,486
271,159 627,604 507,908 118,610
4,828,591 (whole year) 94,863
74,56l 126,532
68,346
Imports of iron were chiefly from Spain and Portugal, and practically the whole of the exports to England.
In 1920 France produced 13,871,137 tons of iron ore, 23,145 workers being employed in the process. The figures for 1919 were respectively 9,430,000 tons and 19,558 workers. In each case the Lorraine output is included. Pre-war French territory produced 5,800,000 tons. The Lorraine contribution rose from 7,127,000 tons in 1919 to 8,074,989 tons in 1920, this quantity being still consider- ably below the pre-war level. In round figures, France and Lorraine combined were producing at the end of the year 1920 about 30,000,- ooo tons less than their pre-war output.
Steel. In 1913 France took fourth place on the list of steel-produc- ing countries, her output being 5,093,000 tons, or 6-8 % of the total. She imported 106,900 tons, exported 477, 300 and consumed 4, 722, 600. Out of the 5,093,000 tons 3,592,000 represented finished products.
The occupation of large tracts of the country by the enemy im- mediately reduced the steel output by about 60%, but a great effort was put forward to make good the loss. Many new steel-works were constructed, chiefly in the centre, and existing works modernized their plant so as to contribute as much as possible to the production of the steel so urgently needed for the manufacture of artillery and for other military purposes. The number of new steel-works thus brought into being by the necessities of national defence exceeded 250, with a total capacity of 1,900,000 tons. As many of these new establishments took the place of others which were either worn out or unsuitable to new conditions, the increase in the national output of steel was estimated at not more than 950,000 tons a year.
Other Minerals. Table 14 shows the output of ores other than iron during the second half of 1914 and the four following years.
TABLE 14. Output of Other Ores (in tons).
1914 (2nd half)
1915
1916
1917
1918
Gold Zinc, Lead, Silver Copper and Tin . Antimony Manganese . . Tungsten Iron Pyrites .
12,469 12,839 40 380 1,870 6,061 51,421
13,077 23,778 95 6,353 10,324 6,062 196,606
23,5i8 34,295 1,057 19,037 10,807 7,289 219,371
24,343 38,125
i,377 19,453 11,589 8,548 280,797
6,155 25,087 Bxi 10,020 9,871 7,414 260,310
France produces more bauxite ores, from which aluminium is ob- tained, than any other country. Her output in 1913 was 309,294 tons, of which she exported 65 per cent. The United States produced 213,605 tons, Great Britain 6,153 tons an d Italy 6,952 tons. Ger- many was dependent on France for 95 % of her imports of these ores. In addition, a large part of the French ores exported to Switzerland found its way to Germany in the shape of aluminium.
During the war the French output of bauxite dropped to 56,522 tons in 1915, advancing to 106,200 tons in ,1916 and 120,916 tons in 1917. In this period the United States made great strides and reached an output of 568,690 tons in 1917 nearly twice the quan- tity produced in 1915.
In regard to aluminium, France produced 13,500 tons, or 26% of the world's output (63,700 tons), in 1913. She exported about half this quantity. The production of aluminium was so greatly stim- ulated during the war that it rose from 63,700 tons in 1913 to 176,000 tons in 1917. This increase was of course chiefly due to metal- lurgical researches, which showed that aluminium could be adapted to many new uses. The curious alloy known as duralumin, which
automatically tempers itself in course of time, was one of the most remarkable results of these researches.
France has very little copper ore, and the output of her colonies has been insignificant. The principal mines, 'Ain Barbor and Ak- haides, both in Algeria, produce about 5,000 and 2,000 tons a year respectively. French metallurgists, however, have been very suc- cessful in transforming the crude metal into the finished and half- finished forms of copper and brass required by various industries.
The war deprived France of 95 % of her copper, through the en- forced stoppage of the foundries at Givet (Compagnie Francaise des Me'taux) and Briache-St.-Vaast (Pas-de-Calais). Measures were immediately taken to meet the deficiency. Large foundries were built, among them being one, under the control of the Ministry of Munitions, having an annual capacity of 15,000 tons of bars and 20,000 tons of sheet brass and copper. Considerable extension was given to the electrolytic process of copper-refining, which, before the war, was represented only by two or three small establishments with a total annual output of 2,400 tons. France now (1921) has three large electrolytic copper-works, at Pauillac (Gironde), St. Tour and Le Palais, with a total production of 25,000 tons.
The net result of the war was a smaller increase in the output of metallic copper, due to improved processes, and a very large in- crease in sheets, bars, wires and tubes. The capacity of the French foundries in 1919 was estimated at 170,800 tons a year of sheet copper and brass, as compared with 31,600 tons in 1913, and 151,000 tons of bars as compared with 21,300 tons in 1913. This production being considerably in excess of home requirements and export possibilities, the return of peace entailed a reduction in the French foundries, especially those producing sheets and bars. Their future appeared to be in trie production of aluminium, especially as France possesses large quantities of the ores from which this metal is ob- tained, whereas the copper smelters are dependent on Japan for most of their raw material.
France produces very little lead ore. Before the war she was im- porting about 40,000 tons a year, of which 60 % came from Algeria and Tunis. During the war the Tunisian mines were greatly de- veloped as the result of military requirements, and it was estimated that, with peace conditions fully restored, French foundries would be able to reckon on an annual supply of 135,000 tons of ore, representing 80,000 tons of the metal.
The zinc ore produced in France in 1913 amounted to 51,000 tons, and more than three times this quantity was imported; but about half the imports came either from French colonies or from mines controlled by French companies. As in the case of copper, the French zinc smelters do a great deal of transformation work. France, for instance, used to send Belgium twice the weight of sheet zinc she received from Belgium in the form of raw material. The new works erected since the war are expected to give an annual output of 30,000 tons.
Timber. As 18-7% of French territory consisted of forest land, the supply of timber before the war was considerable, the last annual estimate being 7,912,000 cub. metres, exclusive of firewood. It was nevertheless inadequate, to home requirements, and in the same year 1,560,000 tons were imported. The coal-mines in northern France, for instance, derived only one-third of their pit props from their own country, the other two-thirds being imported from Russia and Scandinavia. The war made serious inroads on the national reserves. The enemy held 600,000 ac. of forest land, which became exhausted if not entirely destroyed. The whole war zone comprised 800,000 ac. of forest land, which will have to be replanted to a large extent. It was estimated that France would have to import 5,000,000 or 6,000,000 cub. metres of timber a year for five or six years after the war, quite apart from the requirements of the devastated re- gions, which were put at 10,000,000 cub. metres.
Motive Power. The motive power produced in France, March 1906, the latest date for which general statistics were available in 1921, was estimated at 3,550,000 H.P., of which 2,604,000 was produced by steam-engines, 773,000 by hydraulic power, and 173,000 by other mechanical means. These figures comprise all agricultural, commercial and industrial establishments, public services and sta- tionary engines used by railways, tramways, etc., but not railway locomotives, steamboats or motor-cars. Between 1901 and 1906 the total energy produced by steam-engines increased from 1,761,000 to 2,604,000 H.P., an increase of nearly 48 per cent. Water-power increased from 575,000 to 773,000 H.P., or 34 per cent.
At the same date there were 13,432 locomotives and 198 motor- driven tractors, representing a total development of about 7,000,000 H.P. on railways and tramways. Exclusive of the navy, there were 1,784 steam-propelled vessels engaged in maritime or pleasure traffic, and 1,169 steam-propelled vessels used for internal naviga- tion. Their total development was estimated at 1,202,000 horse- power. There were, according to the taxation returns, 31,286 motor-cars, developing 337,106 H.P., and 31,863 motor-cycles, de- veloping 60,000 H.P.
The total production of motive power in France in 1906 thus approximated 12,150,000 horse-power.
About 55,000 waterfalls were utilized for the production of power, 53,300 of these being on non-navigable watercourses and 1,700 on navigable rivers and canals. Omitting temporarily un- utilized or abandoned waterfalls, the number actually utilized may
