WHO OWNS THE EARTH?
BY J. E. SPURR
Let us glance over the preceding studies one by one and see what
salient features each one contains.
THE FUEL MINERALS
=Petroleum= is of the utmost present importance and its future
importance will be even greater. Recently 98 per cent. of the world’s
production has been contributed by the following countries in this
general order of importance: The United States, Russia, Mexico, Dutch
East Indies, Roumania, India, Persia, and Galicia. It is believed that
the region around the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico will be of
increasing importance, as will also the Persian and Mesopotamian fields.
United States capital is supreme in the commercial control of the
petroleum industry in the Western Hemisphere; while British and
British-Dutch interests easily dominate the petroleum situation in the
Eastern Hemisphere.
Commercial control of petroleum is determined mainly through ownership
by operating companies of lands, leases, or concessions. State
ownership is rare, although in Argentina the petroleum industry is
owned and operated by the state. The British government controls by
direct ownership of a majority of the voting stock, the Anglo-Persian
Oil Co., which gives it a monopoly of the Persian field, through the
concession of an area of 500 square miles from Persia to the company,
and closes the field to the enterprise of the United States or other
nations; moreover through ramifications of this company, the British
government is extending its hold to other parts of the world.
In the _United States_ the commercial control of the petroleum industry
is in the hands of the “Standard Oil Group.” British and British-Dutch
companies in the United States control a production of about 11,000,000
barrels a year, out of a total of 335,000,000. In the important region
of Mexico, which now takes second place in production, the commercial
control is entirely in the hands of foreigners: American interests
control 65 per cent. and British and Dutch interests 32 per cent.
In the Eastern Hemisphere, the productive field of the _Dutch East
Indies_ is under absolute control of British-Dutch interests, the Royal
Dutch-Shell Syndicate. Prospecting licenses and concessions are granted
only to Dutch subjects and to Dutch companies, and this, with the
economic monopoly of the controlling British-Dutch interests, prevents
foreign enterprise.
The absolute and exclusive control of the great oil fields of _Persia_
and _Mesopotamia_ by the British government will be confirmed and
extended by the extension of the British Empire over those portions of
the Turkish Empire which she won by force of arms.
In _Russia_ the commercial control of the great petroleum industry
seems to be British, the predominant interests being British,
Franco-British, and British-Dutch (Royal Dutch-Shell Syndicate). The
principal producing areas in Russia are or were till recently under
British military control.
The production of _India_ (Burma) is entirely in British hands.
“The general policy of the British Empire seems to be to control all
oil development and restrict operations by foreign capital.” Such
restrictions by government regulations exist in Australia, Canada,
India, Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, Trinidad and other
colonies.
In the oil industry, then, we have a remarkable and striking division
of the world’s wealth between the two great Anglo-Saxon nations,
America and Great Britain. No mineral lends itself so readily as oil
to transportation and hence to commercial control. According to the
present production, American interests are largely in excess. However,
the British control of the great fields of the Eastern Hemisphere,
many of them only partly developed, together with her growing hold in
the Western Hemisphere, indicates the likelihood that the British grip
of the world’s oil resources and production may in the future become
predominant.
Striking phases of the situation are that in the case of Great Britain
the government and the oil monopolies are united, so that to all
intents and purposes the control being obtained is by the British
government direct; while in the United States the control is in the
hands of purely commercial interests, operating without the control,
assistance, or sympathy of the government. American companies may
not own and operate oil lands in the British Empire, in the French
possessions, or the Dutch colonies, but there are no American
restrictions on foreign ownership or operation.
The policy of Great Britain, furnishing her petroleum and oil bunkering
stations all over the world, and assuring her control of the seas, will
further immensely increase her already extensive world domination.
The United States has no such program of imperial expansion, but
she has her Monroe Doctrine, which is to a mild degree an assumed
protectorate over the Western Hemisphere.
=Coal.=--Next let us take up coal, among the most important of all
minerals--source of power, light, and heat, and smelter of iron
and other metals. Here again, as in oil, we find the United States
wonderfully endowed by nature. She is credited with reserves of
3,527,000 million tons out of a total 7,909,000 million in the world,
or practically half of the whole world’s supply. As the world’s coal
reserves are large, the high-grade varieties, so situated as to have
cheap transportation, are of most immediate importance. Great Britain
has such coal close to seaboard, and so, until the war, controlled
the export trade all over the world. The industries of America leave
her little coal for export, and her coal is farther from seaboard.
The efforts of Germany before the war to build up a coal-export trade
were hindered by the long rail haul; and these deposits are now being
handed over to France. Besides France, Great Britain, and the United
States, only Canada, Australia, and China have sufficient reserves
for extensive export trade. Of these countries, China is the one most
likely to increase exports, on account of nearness to the coast, and
good quality of coal.
Although the coals of the United States are not so close to the coast
as in England, they not only constitute by far the largest reserves, as
above stated, but are also most immediately available, owing to their
shallow depth and the good railway transportation facilities.
No natural substance is so universally used, and so necessary to every
individual, as coal, and hence every individual feels a natural right
to it, and believes that it should be available at a minimum cost.
This has resulted in several countries in the nationalization of the
coal industry, as in parts of Chile, Bulgaria, Prussia, and Australia.
In other countries, as in parts of the United States, the government
retains the ownership of coal lands, leasing them to private operators.
In England the present conditions point toward the nationalization of
the coal industry. In France the coal lands belong to the government,
which gives concessions for their operation, and receives a royalty or
rental and a percentage of the net earnings of the operator.
Although the United States is pre-eminent among the world’s
nationalities as regards coal, England has the advantage of having
adequate supplies scattered all over the world, in her colonies of
Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia, and
Borneo.
Unlike petroleum, coal is a mineral which does not lend itself readily
to control by commercial combination. The mining and marketing of coal
is a simple matter, requiring relatively little skill or equipment,
so that it is a business open to everybody; and the vast extent of
coal lands assures a multitude of owners. Therefore the effect of the
control of coal on the world’s commerce and history is almost entirely
a matter of political control. Organization among producers exists
in various countries, as in the case of the anthracite industry of
the United States, but this does not as a rule extend to a central
ownership, nor does it usually extend to foreign countries.
In coal, then, as well as in petroleum, we find the two dominating
nations are the great Anglo-Saxon powers, England and the United
States. The United States mines about 40 per cent., or two-fifths of
the world’s annual production, while the British Isles have produced
one-fifth of the production, making them second only to the United
States. In neither case have the respective governments in the past
attempted to control the mining and the sale of coal, but in England,
at least, it is likely that some form of joint control, participated in
by the government and the miners, will come.
The methods of mining necessary for maximum production of British
coal mines during the war resulted in putting the mines in such poor
condition that it will be a year or two before they can supply all of
the former British export trade. The demands of British workmen for
shorter hours (resulting in decreased production) will hinder still
further a resumption of large exports. One of the important phases
of this, to England and America alike, is the South American trade.
England has always supplied this market, but the United States will
probably do so for the present, and should take care to do so if she
desires South American trade, and on the commercial theory of the
Monroe Doctrine. Up till recently, the United States has exported by
sea only about 4 per cent. of her production, whereas England sent out
25 per cent. Our own expanding industries have provided an ample market.
Aside from America and England, there is no dominating factor in the
future control of the coal industry in the lands surrounding the
Atlantic Ocean. Germany was a strong factor before the war, but the
loss to France of the Saar coal district, and the possible loss, to
Poland, of the Dombrova field, in Silesia, will deprive her of her
importance; and the division among several nations of these resources
will prevent any one of them from becoming a world’s factor in the coal
trade.
In the lands about the Pacific Ocean, however, the most important
future factor is the coal fields of China. No country except the United
States has larger reserves of high-grade coal ready for development
and not far from ocean transport. It is likely that the Japanese may
attempt this development and the fostering of an export trade in the
Orient. The high-grade coals of the United States are remote from the
Pacific Ocean, and could only be available for Pacific trade by the
long route of the Panama Canal. It is not unlikely, therefore, that
Chinese coal may in the future be supplied to our own Pacific ports by
the Japanese at a less price than American coal can be put there, and
that through this development Japan may be able to dominate the Pacific
trade, as England has dominated that of the Atlantic and the Pacific in
the past.
THE STEEL AND FERRO-ALLOY MINERALS
=Iron.=--The iron supplies for the world’s consumption have been
obtained principally from four countries: the United States, Germany,
France, and Great Britain. More than one-third of the total production
has come from the United States, and of the American output about
85 per cent. has come from the Lake Superior district, which alone
produces annually over 30 per cent. of the world’s total. Next in
importance to the United States have been Germany and France, and about
80 per cent. of the production of these two countries has come from the
Lorraine fields on the border. The annual output of these fields has
been 25 per cent. of the world’s production, or nearly as much as the
Lake Superior district.
Linked with the coal industry as it is, no world-wide or even national
monopolies of iron ore have been attempted. The greatest single
commercial organization in the world is the United States Steel
Corporation, with a total annual capacity (in 1913) of over 17 million
tons of pig iron, or about half of the total American production. But
this organization is not a monopoly, and there are a large number of
powerful independent companies. In France and Germany no dominating
organizations have been noted. In England up to the time of the war the
iron industry was controlled by middlemen, and the manufacturers were
insufficiently organized. To meet this condition (page 86) the British
Board of Trade Committee advised a consolidation of iron interests.
Extension of commercial control by the dominant iron-producing nations
to the ore reserves and to the iron industry of foreign countries, so
establishing that commercial penumbra of empire which is so apt to
deepen into actual sovereignty, is, however, much more marked in the
case of iron than of coal, though less significant than in the case of
oil. The control by ownership of great iron fields in South America by
England and the United States, and the extension of Japanese control
of iron-ore reserves in China, are the most significant features of
this situation. In France, even before the war, Germany controlled over
one-third of the iron and steel business. With the passing of German
Lorraine to France, it is likely that much German capital will remain.
Japan has an iron and steel industry which, although small as compared
with that of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain, and the
other leading iron and steel manufacturing countries, is rapidly
expanding. Blast furnaces, steel-making furnaces, and steel mills are
being erected in Japan and in Korea, Manchuria, and China by Japanese
interests. Japan is still very far from supplying her own consumption
of iron and steel, which is a million and a half tons annually.
In brief, as regards the world’s iron and steel, the United States has
a greatly preponderant position, which it will tend to increase, with
the desirable tendency of drawing North and South America more closely
together. In Europe, France and Germany are oddly yoked in the control
of the second greatest steel industry in the world. In the future
great arena of the Pacific, Japan is patiently building up her steel
industry, with far-reaching Oriental vision. Coal mines and an iron
blast furnace are included in the German “rights” recently acquired by
Japan. Will Japan return Shantung? Did Germany return Alsace Lorraine?
In her forward-looking plans, Japan has two national rivals--England
and America. She has a vast fertile field to work in, except for these
(especially England)--all of eastern Asia. She has a great disorganized
nation which is no longer a rival--but a field whereon to feed and grow
stronger--Siberia and Russia.
In the train of steel, and next after the problems of coal and iron,
come a number of less-known and less-abundant metals--the ferro-alloys,
metals that alloy with iron to make steels of special hardness or
toughness, or with some other special quality. Relatively inconspicuous
as they are, they are indispensable in the industries.
=Manganese.=--Manganese is far more than a ferro-alloy. It is
essential in the manufacture of all open-hearth process and Bessemer
process steel, which make up 99 per cent. of the total United States
production, for it acts as a remover of the carbon which makes the
difference in quality between steel and cast iron. For this purpose it
is mixed with the iron in the form of alloys. One of these is high in
manganese--ferromanganese--and one low--spiegeleisen.
The principal manganese fields are those of Russia, India, and
Brazil, which are so large and readily available for exploitation and
transportation to markets that there is little prospect that they
will be displaced as the principal sources of the world’s supply for
many years. In contrast with the situation regarding other important
minerals, most manganese deposits throughout the world are owned by
residents of the countries in which they occur. This is due to the
superficial and irregular character of the oxide deposits (the only
ones as a rule of high enough grade to find a market) and the simple
nature of the mining and washing of ores, which does not require much
capital.
The United States is poorly provided with high-grade manganese ores,
and hence has always been and will always be a heavy importer. Previous
to the war, the supplies were mostly drawn from Russia and India;
and during the war from Brazil, in addition to an increased domestic
production under the stimulus of high war prices. England, France, and
Germany--in fact the whole industrial world--have the same sources of
supply. There is little necessity of sharp competition, leading to
commercial combinations, or of strict governmental control, since the
productive capacity of the principal deposits is very large, and far
exceeds the world’s demand for steel making.
=Chromite.=--Next in importance in the ferro-alloy group of metals
is chromium, found in nature on a commercial scale only as the oxide
_chromite_. Chrome is used extensively in the steel industry and the
leather industry--in the former for making a specially tough steel (and
also a refractory lining for iron furnaces); in the latter, for tanning.
Chromite is found in many countries, but in most (as in the United
States and Canada) in small and scattered deposits, easily exhausted.
The largest and most important sources of supply are in the French
colony of New Caledonia, in the South Pacific; in Rhodesia, in Africa;
in Asia Minor; and in the Ural Mountains, Russia. Up to 1830 the Ural
region supplied the world’s chromium; from 1830 to 1870, the Eastern
United States (Maryland and Pennsylvania) became the chief source;
from 1870 to about 1900 the scene of chief activity shifted to Asia
Minor; and since then New Caledonian and Rhodesian ores have occupied
the world’s markets. New Caledonian ore is produced with cheap labor,
and the deposits are near the coast; and the Rhodesian deposits are
large and rich. High prices during the war, due to lack of shipping,
brought about a great increase of production in the Pacific States of
the United States; but with a return to normal conditions this region
cannot survive competition, unless especially protected by legislation.
In normal times, the United States consumes more than one-third of
the world’s annual consumption of chromite, but depends upon foreign
sources--Rhodesia and New Caledonia. During the war, deposits of
limited extent in Brazil and Cuba were drawn on, as well as Canadian
and domestic ores. So far as developed, however, the Western Hemisphere
is relatively poor in chromite deposits. The chrome industry in the
United States is highly centralized, the Electrometallurgical Company
having an almost absolute monopoly of the ferrochrome industry, and
being probably the largest producers of ferrochrome in the world,
and the Mutual Chemical Company having a great preponderance in the
chemical chrome industry.
The chromite supply of the world is therefore at present essentially a
monopoly controlled by British-French capital, and the great supplies
occur in the colonies of England and France.
=Nickel.=--The position of nickel is rather unusual, in that workable
deposits are rarely met with, and deposits of great importance are
confined to a few places. The only really commercially important
deposits are those of Sudbury, in Canada, and of New Caledonia;
although small deposits of workable ore have been mined in Norway, and
nickeliferous and chromiferous iron ore occurs in Cuba.
The deposits of Sudbury are relatively far more important than
those of any other field. Therefore Great Britain (through Canada)
possesses by all means the largest and most important nickel deposits,
amounting practically to an exclusive control. Previously American
capital exerted a dominant commercial control over the nickel
industry, through its ownership of the largest ore reserves and its
control of smelting and refining plants in the United States. One of
these American companies has also the second largest holdings in New
Caledonia. The British government plainly has taken means to overcome
this commercial domination. A large company has gone into business at
Sudbury, in which the British government has the controlling interest.
The government has also brought about the transfer of the refining
operations of the International Nickel Company from New Jersey to
Ontario, so that the entire industry will be confined to Canada.
=Tungsten.=--The greatest tungsten-producing region is that of eastern
Asia; the region of the United States and Mexico second; that of
Bolivia and neighboring countries in South America third; and fourth
comes the province of Portugal, Spain, and Italy. There seem to be no
very large and concentrated tungsten deposits; and nearly all of those
worked give signs of being easily exhausted. There may be therefore a
world tungsten shortage in the future. Possibly Bolivia will prove to
be the most durable field.
As to the commercial control, it is entirely in British hands, and this
through the active policy of the British government. Actual control
is obtained through the ferrotungsten makers, to whom the ores go for
treatment. On this basis the commercial control in 1917 was: British
14,606 tons; American 9,479 tons; Japanese 1,165 tons; French 1,057
tons; and Germany 360 tons.
American capital controls the tungsten deposits within its own borders
and in Mexico, and is largely interested in Bolivia and China. Before
the war Germany controlled probably half the tungsten output, the other
half being divided among the United States, England and France. At the
present time, the control through ownership of mines and smelters is as
follows: Great Britain 54 per cent.; United States 35 per cent.; Japan
4 per cent.; France 4 per cent.; and Germany 1 per cent.
=Vanadium.=--Vanadium is an important ferro-alloy metal. Vanadium steel
has great toughness and torsional strength, and is used in automobile
parts, gun barrels, and the like. Chromium-vanadium steels have an
extensive market.
The largest and most important deposits of vanadium in the world are
in Peru, and until recently were controlled by the American Vanadium
Company (an American firm), which has a concession from the Peruvian
government. Otherwise the most important deposits are found in
southwest Colorado, and were till very lately controlled by the Primos
Chemical Company, of Pennsylvania. The American Vanadium Company had an
absolute world monopoly of vanadium products and ferrovanadium, until
the entrance into the field of the Primos company. Quite recently the
holdings of both these companies have been taken over by the Vanadium
Corporation, allied to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
=Antimony.=--Antimony has a relatively restricted use in peace-time,
but war creates (for the manufacture of shrapnel) a vastly increased
demand. Under normal circumstances the supply is far in excess of the
demand. China has long been the most important source of supply, and
is likely so to continue. France and Algeria are also producers, as is
Mexico; and other countries produce under the stimulus of high prices.
The United States, as well as Canada, has relatively small reserves
and normally small production. In the early part of the European war,
however, in 1915 and 1916, countries like Bolivia, Mexico, Australia,
the United States, Peru, Burma, and Spain contributed important
amounts; but none of these will be important factors at the usual low
prices.
Prior to the war, England was the chief antimony-smelting center of the
world. Ores from all over the world were there treated, and the British
brands were considered purer than others, and virtually monopolized the
world’s markets, including those of the United States. During the great
demand in 1915 and 1916, British interests completely controlled the
Bolivian industry. Until 1914 one of the principal English companies
held contracts for the production of the Wah Chang Company, the most
important antimony producers in China; but in 1914 this company
established an independent selling agency in the United States. This
tends to transfer the control of the antimony market from England to
China. With all her vast mineral resources, China has been able to
obtain an important position in the world’s markets with regard to but
few metals. Of these antimony is the most striking example. Since 1908
over 50 per cent. of the world’s total antimony production has come
from China.
=Molybdenum.=--The use of molybdenum in steel making is as yet almost
in the experimental stage, but it is likely to become important. It is
valuable in electric work.
Up to about 1916 practically all the molybdenum ore (molybdenite, a
sulphide of molybdenum) came from Australia and Norway. Shortly after
the opening of the war, the molybdenite in Canada became prominent;
and later the United States came to the fore as a producer. At present
the United States can probably produce as much if not more molybdenum
than all the rest of the world put together, principally from the great
newly discovered deposits at Climax, Colorado. Before this development,
Great Britain was the largest producer, in Australia and Canada. Both
the British and the Canadian governments have been much interested in
the development of the Canadian molybdenum, and the Canadian government
has built a mill for the concentration of the ores. Prior to the war,
the German-controlled American Metal Company, a branch of the German
“metal octopus,” obtained, through a subsidiary, a large share in the
control of the Climax deposits; and the Primos Chemical Company, which
had strong German connections before the war, produced ferromolybdenum
from ore from its own mine at Empire, Colorado. This, together with
the great interest taken by Germany and German capital in molybdenum
elsewhere, led to the rumor of attempted German control of American
molybdenum.
=Uranium.=--Uranium is valuable for the manufacture of special steel,
although only used in small quantities. It is of extraordinary interest
on account of its association with radium, both being obtained
principally from the minerals carnotite and uraninite (including
pitchblende). Radium is used in medicine, and for luminous paint.
The only regions which have yet produced large amounts of radium and
uranium on a commercial scale are in the United States and Austria. At
the present time the United States is producing several times as much
as all other countries combined.
=Zirconium.=--Zirconium is used in electric lighting, and experiments
have been made with zirconium steel. During the war it was at one time
thought to be of unusual value as a ferro-alloy. Zirconium occurs
in nature as the mixed oxide and silicate, baddeleyite, and as the
silicate zircon. The baddeleyite deposits, having a higher percentage
of zirconium, will probably become the chief source of the metal. It
occurs in commercial quantities only in Brazil. Zircon deposits are
found in Brazil, and also in India; and a deposit of minor note occurs
in the United States (Florida).
=Thorium and Mesothorium.=--With zirconium must be considered monazite,
a mineral which is the source of thorium and mesothorium. Thorium
nitrate is used in the manufacture of Welsbach mantles for gas burners;
mesothorium is a by-product of its manufacture from monazite, and is
a radioactive substance used as a substitute for radium in making
luminous paints and for therapeutic purposes. The zircon minerals
and monazite typically occur together in river or beach sands. Like
the zirconium minerals, monazite comes mainly from Brazil and India;
although it has in the past been mined successfully in the United
States, the industry is now extinct.
The thorium nitrate industry of the United States is closely controlled
by two companies, the American Welsbach Company, and the Lindsay Light
Company. During the war they furnished thorium nitrate also to England
and France, thus exercising a world-wide control.
THE MAJOR NON-FERROUS METALS
=Copper.=--The United States stands out predominantly as the world’s
great copper producer, producing in 1917 60 per cent. of the world’s
output. No other country produces one-sixth as much as the United
States. American capital controls (in part through control of refining)
78 per cent. of the world’s production.
Germany has been one of the largest consumers of copper, though not
a large producer. Because of this, German interests have in the past
secured a considerable control over copper supplies, as well as
those of lead, zinc, and other metals, through refining and selling
contracts with mining companies. Such control does not as a rule extend
to ownership of mines or smelters. Thus for many years companies
affiliated with the great German Metal Combine (Metallgeselschaft)
were influential in the copper business of the United States. There
were three of these companies in the United States, the American Metal
Company, L. Vogelstein & Co., and Beer-Sondheimer & Co. Recently the
first two have consolidated; and all were Americanized during the war.
The commercial control of the copper in the world, as based on
ownership of mines, is, in even figures: United States capital, 69 per
cent. (entirely in the Western Hemisphere); British capital, 13 per
cent. (in both hemispheres, but mainly in the Eastern); Japanese, 8
per cent. (entirely domestic); German, 6 per cent.; and French, 2 per
cent. It will be noted that of the present production three-quarters
comes from the Western Hemisphere (North and South America) and only
one-quarter from the rest of the world. It is probable that this is
a fair index of the relative wealth. The future production of South
America will probably increase more rapidly than that of North America,
which was earlier developed. It is necessary for the permanent control
of the copper situation by the United States that American capital
should continue to be foremost in the development of South America.
=Lead.=--The United States is the largest producer of lead in the world
and has large resources. Next to the United States, in the order named,
come Australia, Spain, Germany, and Mexico. Three powers--the United
States, British Empire, and Spain--produce 76 per cent. of the total;
and of these the United States and Great Britain produce 60 per cent.
The most striking feature about the lead industry is the fact that as
the German system of far-reaching commercial control under government
auspices--through smelting, refining, and selling--was destroyed,
this system was at once adopted by the British and French. In other
words, they found that the German plan had been so effective that they
not only blocked it permanently so far as their own countries were
concerned, but organized similar commercial-political combinations
which should not only take care of all their own lead business, but,
like the German organization, should reach out into other countries.
The German combination still remains active outside the territory of
the former Allies.
Of all the great lead-producing powers the United States is the only
one which does not possess a government-controlled lead monopoly.
Threatened commercial world monopolies of lead, as of other minerals,
have therefore, through the revival of nationalistic spirit due to the
war, given place to national-commercial monopolies by three powers
(Germany, France, and Great Britain), each intended to become as
world-wide as possible, and thus competitive with each other and with
the purely commercial organizations of the American lead industry.
In England this movement has taken the form of a British Metals
Corporation (covering not only lead but other metals). The British
Treasury is represented on the Board of Directors.
In France, the nationalist movement has resulted in the formation of
consortiums or trade monopolies for each industry, organized under
government auspices. That of the mineral industry is the Société
Minerais et Metaux. The official announcement states that this society
is organized under the auspices of the French government, in order
to group the French metal producers, operating both at home and
abroad, into a co-operative association for the purchase and sale of
metallurgical products.
In America, the principal commercial factor is the American Smelting &
Refining Co., dominating the market through its control of reduction
plants, although it controls directly only one-third the production.
=Zinc.=--Zinc and lead are commonly associated in mineral deposits,
so that their geological and geographical distribution is nearly
identical. Of the world’s production of zinc, the United States
produces 35 per cent., Germany 25 per cent., Australia 15 per cent.,
and Italy 5 per cent.
Up to the outbreak of the war in 1914, the position of zinc was extreme
among the metals, in that political control or state sovereignty
exercised only a minor effect upon the industry. “Economic factors,”
says our author, “made ineffective any control not international in
scope. A very large percentage of the zinc ores of the world were
transported from the country of production to another for treatment,
in some cases even being re-exported.” During the war, however,
political control was largely invoked to strengthen and restore
commercial control to the chief belligerent nations. This movement was
particularly marked in the British Empire, where there now exists,
as above noted in the paragraphs discussing lead, a joint political
and commercial control. Alien interests were eliminated by government
action, and the government retained a share in the control through
interests in marketing organizations or financial participation in
treatment works.
In the zinc industry, as in that of its closely associated metals,
copper and lead, the ownership or control of reduction plants, and
more particularly marketing organizations, have been more important in
determining commercial control than state sovereignty or commercial
ownership of mines. In recent years the marketing organizations became
world-wide and completely dominated the industry. The ambition of
German commercial interests to control the metal markets and resources
of the world was more nearly realized in the case of zinc than of any
other metal.
In France, as noted above in the case of lead, a government-controlled
metal marketing organization has been formed for the same
purpose--protection and advantage in competition. However, British
domination of the European zinc industry seems certain. Only the
American industry remains untouched by close organization under
government auspices. Should Germany lose Silesia, she will probably
become a small factor in the zinc industry. With so many doors closed
in her face by the British and French political and commercial
combinations, there should be governmental precautions taken by the
American Government that she should not re-establish herself in the
United States, nor so far as possible (following out to its logical
conclusion the Monroe Doctrine) in the rest of North and South America.
Note that in the zinc industry, as well as in every other industry,
Japan is rapidly expanding, and having reached the limit of her own
resources, her field of growth is in Korea, China, and Siberia.
Japan’s present zinc-smelting capacity is greater than her domestic
consumption, and much greater than the domestic ore supply; and ore is
imported from China, Siberia, Indo-China, and Australia.
=Tin.=--Tin belongs to a group of minerals that are classifiable
together by the fact that they are not of widespread distribution,
but are found in really commercial quantity only on a few spots
of the globe, and yet are absolutely necessary for our industrial
civilization. Such also are chromium, platinum, potash salts, nitrates,
and nickel. Of this political-commercial group, tin is an important
member. It is noteworthy of this group that the United States is not
the lucky holder of the first prize in any of these cases. In the case
of chromium, it is mainly the French and British colonies, of platinum
it is Russia and Colombia, of potash salts it is Germany, of nitrates
it is Chili, of nickel again the British and French colonies, and in
the case of tin it is southeastern Asia and Bolivia.
The United States produces less than one-fifth of 1 per cent. of its
requirements, and its control of foreign tin resources through mine
ownership is negligible. On the other hand, the United States consumes
over half the tin of the world, and is the largest manufacturer and
distributor of tin products. The tin-mining and smelting industry of
the world is dominated by Great Britain.
Tin is used in the manufacture of tin plate, in solder, brass, and many
other essential uses, and no satisfactory substitute is available. In
war as well as peace, tin cans are as necessary as rifles. Aluminum
is the most likely possible substitute for tin in containers, and the
United States controls the aluminum industry. About 68 per cent. of
the tin is produced at present from southeastern Asia and neighboring
islands, 21 per cent. from Bolivia, 4 per cent. from Nigeria and South
Africa, and 3 per cent. from England. The Bolivian production will
probably tend to increase.
=Mercury.=--Mercury, or quicksilver, is a mineral of some importance,
although by far not in the class of the last four discussed above. It
is useful for drugs and chemicals; as a detonator for high explosives;
as a pigment; for treating gold and silver ores; and for many other
uses. The greatest quicksilver deposits in the world are in Spain. The
United States comes second. The important Idria mine, near Trieste,
formerly Austrian, but at last accounts in possession of Italy, takes
third place. The production from the rest of the world is small. Spain,
Italy, and the United States, therefore, divide the production and
the control through state sovereignty. The great mine of Spain, the
Almaden (the greatest in the world), is also owned and worked by the
Spanish government. The Spanish government contracts, on the basis
of competitive proposals, with the successful bidder for the sale
of quicksilver for a term of ten years. For a number of successive
periods, the contract has been awarded to the Rothschilds of London. By
this arrangement the market is controlled in London; and during the war
the sale was taken over by the British government. The control of the
marketing of the product of this mine enables those in control to fix
the price of quicksilver in the world’s markets.
=Aluminum.=--An important metal at present, and one bound to be
eventually still more important, is aluminum. While one of the
principal constituents of all rocks, in the form of silicates, its
release from that combination is so difficult that it has not been
solved on a commercial scale. Since there is much more aluminum
than iron in the earth’s compounds, however, there will never be a
shortage, if cost is disregarded. Commercial aluminum is manufactured
from the oxide, bauxite. Bauxite is also used directly as an abrasive
and also as a refractory. The largest bauxite deposits are controlled
politically by the United States and France, with the British Empire in
a favorable prospective position. The aluminum works of the world are
controlled by Great Britain, France, and Germany, and also Switzerland,
Italy, and Norway. The aluminum industry of the United States and
Canada is practically in the hands of one company, the Aluminum
Company of America, which also holds interests in South America and
other countries. The French producers of aluminum have effected a
central organization through the incorporation of a selling company,
L’Aluminium Française. The British Aluminium Company is the sole
producer in England, and controls the Irish deposits.
THE NON-METALLIC MINERALS
=Emery and Corundum.=--Abrasives are essential and important in the
industries. Chief, perhaps, in the group of natural abrasives are
emery and corundum, which are superior in hardness to other abrasives
such as quartz, tripoli, garnet, and pumice. They are used in grinding
and polishing metals--chiefly iron and steel--and glass. Commercially
important deposits of emery and corundum are located in the
Appalachian region of the United States, on the islands of the Grecian
Archipelago (especially Naxos), in Asia Minor, India, Madagascar, and
South Africa. There is little control other than that inherent in state
sovereignty.
=Magnesite.=--Magnesite is a mineral of some importance, used mainly
in metallurgical operations and as a refractory material for lining
furnaces; also for the manufacture of a cement for flooring. Magnesite
is not a rare mineral, and deposits are widespread. Productive and
commercial deposits are located in the United States (California and
Washington), Canada, Mexico (Lower California), Venezuela, Austria,
Germany, Spain, Greece, and other countries. Not rare enough to be the
subject of great combinations, the interesting international feature of
the trade is that which centers in the United States. Until recently
large magnesite deposits were not known in the United States, but in
the last few years vast deposits have been developed in California
and Oregon. Previous to the war, the deposits of Austria were mainly
drawn on by consumers in the Eastern United States, and during the war
Canadian magnesite was mainly used. American firms own considerable
interests in the deposits in Austria, and probably in some of those in
Canada, Mexico and Venezuela.
=Graphite.=--Graphite is used for crucibles for steel and brass making,
for foundry facings, pencils, shoe polish, as a lubricant, etc.
Crystalline graphite only is used for crucibles. The supply of this
for American consumption was one of the problems of the war. Of the
crystalline graphite deposits, it is believed that those of the French
colony of Madagascar will, on account of their richness--if competition
is free--supplant American and German deposits; the deposits of Ceylon
are regarded as on the wane. Amorphous graphite will probably come
from Austria, Mexico and Korea. The deposits of the United States are
extensive but of low grade.
=Mica.=--Mica is an essential mineral, especially in electrical work.
One of the commonest minerals of nearly all rocks, it becomes valuable
only when it occurs in crystals or sheets of large size, which are of
comparatively rare occurrence, being found only in certain pegmatite
dikes. India, Canada, and the United States produce about 98 per cent.
of the sheet mica of the world. Brazil, Argentina, and the former
German East Africa are becoming important. India produces 65 per cent.
of the total world production; the United States only 15 per cent.
Brazilian mica is expected to be of much greater importance in the
future than in the past, although India will doubtless retain its
position as the most important producer.
The British Empire controls 75 per cent. of the sheet-mica production.
Before the war, Germany had obtained a large measure of commercial
control in Indian mines, and by virtue of her dominant position in
the electrical industry, threatened to control the mica market of the
world. The United States is now the largest consumer; but as the
important development of the electrical industry in England during the
war places it in the position formerly occupied by Germany and Austria,
it requires a larger supply of the mica from India, and this may lead
to a permanent British control. London is the distributing center for
Indian mica, and London prices regulate the market. During the war
Indian mica was controlled by the British government and allotted to
the Allied nations at fixed prices. A permanent British monopoly of the
mica market can probably best be obviated by the development of the
Brazilian field by American electrical manufacturers.
=Asbestos.=--Asbestos is an essential mineral, on account of its
incombustibility and insulating qualities, together with its fibrous
structure, which enables it to be spun or woven into ropes and
fabrics; and on this account it has a wide and varied use. There are
mineralogically three kinds of asbestos--chrysotile, crocidolite, and
anthophyllite--the last being, as a rule, of non-spinning quality.
Chrysotile is the most valuable commercially: crocidolite, or blue
asbestos, will not bear high temperature like the other varieties,
and on account of its low fusibility is useful for electric welding.
Therefore, the main asbestos problem centers about the deposits of
high-grade chrysotile, especially as the supplies of anthophyllite
asbestos are abundant, and with its restricted uses, ample for an
indefinite period. The most important deposits of chrysotile asbestos
are in Quebec, Canada, but large deposits are also worked in Russia and
Rhodesia.
The United States is by far the largest manufacturer of asbestos
products in the world, but produces only a small fraction of the
necessary materials. The presence of the deposits in Canada, however,
provides the American industry with an ample supply. British companies
hold exclusive control of the production of South Africa, Australasia,
and Italy: of these, South Africa includes the Rhodesian deposits
of chrysotile, which are among the most important in the world.
Altogether, the British Empire is in a dominating position, controlling
about 88 per cent. of the annual asbestos production of the world and
approximately 70 per cent. of the estimated reserves. Canada is in the
lead of all countries, supplying about 85 per cent. of the world’s
production. Should the British policy as to other mineral industries be
carried out in the case of asbestos we may expect action on the part of
the British or Canadian government to transfer the center of asbestos
manufacture from the United States to Canada or England.
THE FERTILIZER MINERALS
We have above touched on four great groups of minerals--the fuel
minerals, the steel and ferro-alloy minerals, the major non-ferrous
minerals, and the non-metallic minerals. Next comes a group by
itself--the fertilizer minerals or elementary substances, chief among
which are phosphate rock, potash, nitrates, and sulphur and sulphuric
acid. All of these appear essential to the re-invigorating of the soil
as successive crops are removed, and so to securing a permanency of its
original productivity.
=Phosphate Rock.=--Phosphate rock is a natural substance which is used
mainly as an ingredient of fertilizers, being finely ground and used
directly. Large quantities are also used for making phosphoric acid and
phosphorus, the latter being used in matches, etc. Phosphate rock is a
bedded or sedimentary deposit containing phosphate of lime; phosphate
of lime also occurs as nodules in stream beds. Another type of deposit
commonly classed as phosphate rock is the porous coral or limestone
of tropical islands, permeated with phosphate leached from guano. The
phosphate rock deposits of present commercial importance are located
in the United States, Algeria, Tunis, and Egypt, the United States
possessing by far the largest reserves. The United States has also the
largest industry of production. Politically the principal deposits are
controlled by the United States, France (Tunis and Algeria) and Great
Britain (Egypt). The commercial control of the deposits of the United
States is mainly in the hands of Americans, although German and French
interests own some of the hard-rock deposits. The deposits of Algeria
and Tunis are controlled by two companies, one British and the other
Italian. Germany will be without a source of supply under her own
control now that her colonies have been forfeited.
From the above it will be seen that there is no probability of a world
control or monopoly of phosphates. The United States is in a position
to command the market unless nationalistic legislation in the various
countries is enacted to protect and advance their own industries.
=Potash.=--Potash is a most important fertilizer, over 90 per cent.
of all potash used being so employed, the remainder going into the
manufacture of explosives and glass, and into the chemical industry.
Up to 1914 practically all the world’s supply of potash came from
the great natural rock-salt deposits of Stassfurt, Germany. Next in
importance come the deposits of Alsace, containing sufficient to
supply the world’s present demands for 300 years. Large undeveloped
deposits exist in northeastern Spain. Germany made active practical
use of her natural potash wealth in erecting a government monopoly,
which supplied the world. This advantage was made much of in her plans
for further political and commercial conquest, and in the writings of
the vainglorious Teutons. In potash, they openly boasted, they had an
all-powerful commercial weapon which would oblige other nations to
supply in exchange raw materials such as Germany needed, as cotton and
copper from the United States. With her political collapse, however,
her commercial potash monopoly has also gone. The vast deposits of
Alsatian potash have gone to France, and while German potash may still
perhaps be produced and sold more cheaply, the Alsatian deposits will
act as a check. A commercial combination between the two, and including
the Spanish deposits, is, however, not at all out of the question.
Potash is one of the commonest elements in the earth, and in the United
States there is an abundant supply but it is largely in the form of
silicates, and so more difficult and expensive to extract than from the
soluble natural salts of Germany.
=Nitrates.=--Nitrates are essential in an extraordinary degree, in
various ways: as fertilizer, and so essential to food and life; as
the source of ammonia, and therefore necessary to the modern system
of food refrigeration; as an essential ingredient in explosives, and
thus indispensable for the national defense. Just as potash is one
of the commonest elements of the earth, so nitrogen is one of the
commonest elements of the air, of which it constitutes four-fifths. It
should not, therefore, be hard to get; but to isolate it and catch it
in usable form--in technical terms, to “fix” it--is difficult, slow
and expensive. Nature has not done much toward “fixing” nitrogen in
her mineral supplies; and although it is constantly being “fixed” in
animal and vegetable organisms, it is largely soon returned to the
atmosphere as ammonia or in other forms, or, being in the form of
soluble salts, is leached from the soil and carried away, either to
be transformed again to the atmosphere, or, rarely, to be accumulated
under arid conditions by evaporation into mineral deposits. For some
hitherto unexplained reason, only in Chili have mineral deposits of
importance thus been formed; and the Chilean deposits have till lately
supplied the world, giving Chile even a far more exclusive position as
regards nitrates than was held by Germany as regards potash; but there
has never been any monopolistic control of the Chilean nitrate supply.
Besides this mineral source, and the obtaining of nitrogen from the air
by fixation, important sources of fertilizer nitrogen are contained
in organic matter--refuse vegetable or animal remains, or animal
excreta--and also from coal, as a by-product of coke manufacture.
Previous to the war, Germany anticipated being deprived of Chilean
nitrate by developing fixation and by-product processes, through which
she supplied herself during the war. Other countries have not been so
thorough. During the war, the danger of the United States being cut off
from supplies of Chilean nitrates by the German submarine campaign,
led to the Government projecting and starting four large and expensive
plants for nitrogen fixation. They were unfinished when the war closed.
About five-eighths or less of the nitrogen consumed has been from
various organic sources, including the by-production from coke making.
By-product nitrogen in the United States is estimated at around
one-eighth of the entire supply. The remaining three-eighths has been
furnished largely by Chilean nitrates.
THE PRECIOUS METALS
=Gold.=--In the group of precious metals, gold is of the most
importance, mainly as the time-honored and unreplaceable measure of
value and medium of exchange. This position it has sometimes shared
with silver, but no country has ever refused to thus recognize gold.
Gold is found all over the world, but the British Empire produces
60 per cent. of it, while the United States produces 20 per cent.
Political and commercial control are nearly identical in the case of
gold, which is easily reduced to the metal state and thenceforth passes
current, requiring no selling agencies. Due to the commerce brought on
by the war, the United States now has a larger gold reserve than any
other nation.
=Silver.=--“Silver,” says our author, “is used both for money and in
the arts, the former use being the more important and more essential.
In some countries, especially those producing silver in large amounts,
it is the money standard, either alone or with gold. In other countries
on a gold standard silver is used for subsidiary coinage. In India and
China it is used for the settlement of foreign trade exchange balances.”
In countries with elaborate financial systems, where paper currency is
freely accepted, as in the United States and Europe, it is not such an
essential money metal; but in other countries it directly replaces and
conserves gold. On this account silver is not an article of luxury,
but an essential. The coinage of silver increased in Europe as the war
progressed, and was essential in bringing supplies from the Far East to
the battle fronts. While the normal annual silver production is around
159,000,000 ounces, the demand during 1918 exceeded 500,000,000 ounces.
Silver production adds to the stock of money, increases confidence
in financial conditions, and furnishes, with and subsidiary to gold,
a basis for credit. About half of the world’s silver output is as a
by-product of the production of other metals, notably lead and copper;
and accordingly the production of silver is largely independent of the
price.
Of the world’s total silver production, over 80 per cent. comes from
the mines of the Western Hemisphere. For many years Mexico was the
leading producer, until all its industries became disorganized by
revolution. The United States, always a close second, is now in a
leading position. Canada, Central America, and South America are
important. In the Eastern Hemisphere, Australia is the leading producer.
The principal silver deposits of the world are controlled politically
by the United States, Mexico, and Great Britain, these three
controlling 85 per cent. of the total production in 1913.
=Platinum.=--Platinum is controlled chiefly by Russia, being produced
otherwise in important quantity only in Colombia. American interests
predominate in Colombia. Before the war there was an interlocking of
the interests of the platinum refiners of the United States, Germany,
and Great Britain, with the German influence very marked.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.--The control according to political sovereignty
(territorial ownership) of the world’s mineral production.
(_Facing page 540_)
POLITICAL CONTROL (TERRITORIAL)
IRON 1913
191,978,750 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 37% BRITISH EMPIRE 11% FRANCE 14% LORRAINE 10% REST OF
GERMANY 6% AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 3% SPAIN 6% RUSSIA 5% ALL OTHERS 6%
COAL 1913
1,478,000,000 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 39% BRITISH EMPIRE 26% FRANCE 3% GERMANY 21% AUST.-
HUNGARY 4% ALL OTHERS 7%
PETROLEUM 1917
502,980,600 Barrels
UNITED STATES 67% BRIT. EMP. 2% RUSSIA 14% MEXICO 11% ALL OTHERS 6%
COPPER 1917
1,604,472 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 60% BRIT. EMP. 8% JAPAN 8% CHILE 5% CENTRAL POWERS 3%
ALL OTHERS 13%
ZINC 1913
1,095,686 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 32% BRITISH EMPIRE 6% FRANCE 7% BELGIUM 30% GERMANY 28%
ALL OTHERS 7%
PIG LEAD[191]
1,371,900 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 45% BRITISH EMPIRE 13% FRANCE 2% SPAIN 11% GERMANY 14%
AUST.-HUNGARY 2% ALL OTHERS 13%
GOLD 1917
425,486,400 Dollars
UNITED STATES 19% BRITISH EMPIRE 64% RUSSIA 4% JAPAN 2% ALL OTHERS 11%
SILVER 1913
223,127,000 Ounces
UNITED STATES 30% BRITISH EMPIRE 23% CENTRAL POWERS 3% MEXICO 32% ALL
OTHERS 12%
NICKEL 1913
32,016 Short Tons BRITISH EMPIRE 85% FRANCE 11% HUNGARY 2% ALL OTHERS
2%
GRAPHITE 1913
139,283 Short Tons
BRITISH EMPIRE 22% FRANCE 6% ITALY 9% GERMANY 9% AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 39%
JAPAN 8% ALL OTHERS 4%
MERCURY 1913
4,725 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 16% ITALY 23% SPAIN 33% AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 21% ALL OTHERS
5%
TIN 1917
137,199 Short Tons
BRITISH EMPIRE 50% NETHERLANDS 14% BOLIVIA 21% CHINA 8% ALL OTHERS 9%
MANGANESE 1913
2,607,483 Short Tons
BRITISH EMPIRE 35% RUSSIA 55% BRAZIL 5% ALL OTHERS 5%
POTASH 1913
1,247,992 Short Tons
GERMANY (STASSFURT) 93% GERMANY ALSACE 5% ALL OTHERS 2%
TUNGSTEN 1917
26,783 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 17% BRITISH EMPIRE 34% CEN. POW. 1% JAPAN 7% BOLIVIA 16%
CHINA 6% ALL OTHERS 19%
PLATINUM 1913
267,233 Troy Ounces
RUSSIA 93% COLOMBIA 6% ALL OTHERS 1%
SULPHUR 1916
1,100,000 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 65% ITALY 23% JAPAN 10% ALL OTHERS 2%
ASBESTOS 1913
158,016 Short Tons
BRITISH EMPIRE 87% RUSSIA 12% ALL OTHERS 1%
Prepared by: John E. Orchard,
Assistant Mine Economist,
U.S. Bureau of Mines, May 1, 1919
[191] _Recent_]
[Illustration: FIG. 24. The control, according to commercial or
financial ownership of the world’s mineral production.
(_Insert following Fig. 23_)
COMMERCIAL CONTROL (FINANCIAL)
(Percentages are Estimated)
IRON 1913
191,978,750 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 37% BRITISH EMPIRE 12% FRANCE 11% GERMANY 27% AUST.
HUNGARY 3% ALL OTHERS 10%
COAL 1913
1,478,000,000 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 35% BRITISH EMPIRE 24% FRANCE 3% GERMANY 21% AUST.
HUNGARY 4% ALL OTHERS 13%
PETROLEUM 1917
502,980,600 Barrels
UNITED STATES 72% BRITISH EMPIRE 9% NETHERLANDS 75% GERMANY 2% ALL
OTHERS 10%
COPPER 1917
1,604,472 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 69% BRITISH EMPIRE 13% FRANCE 2% GERMANY 6% ALL OTHERS
10%
ZINC 1913
1,098,686 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 32% BRIT. EMP. 6% FRANCE 12% BELGIUM 10% GERMANY 34% ALL
OTHERS 6%
PIG LEAD[192]
1,371,900 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 49% BRITISH EMPIRE 17% FRANCE 13% GERMANY 15% ALL OTHERS
6%
GOLD 1917
425,486,400 Dollars
UNITED STATES 23% BRITISH EMPIRE 63% FRANCE 6% CENTL. POWERS 1% ALL
OTHERS 7%
SILVER 1913
223,127,000 Ounces
UNITED STATES 52% BRITISH EMPIRE 33% GERMANY 10% ALL OTHERS 5%
NICKEL 1913
32,016 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 51% BRITISH EMPIRE 39% FRANCE 6% GERMANY 4%
GRAPHITE 1913
139,283 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 11% BRITISH EMPIRE 25% FRANCE 4% ITALY 7% GERMANY 10%
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 36% ALL OTHERS 7%
MERCURY 1913
4,725 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 16% BRITISH EMPIRE 35% ITALY 11% GERMANY 13% AUSTRIA-
HUNGARY 21% ALL OTHERS 4%
TIN 1917
137,199 Short Tons
BRITISH EMPIRE 67% FRANCE 1% GERMANY 1% NETHERLANDS 14% CHILE 11%
BOLIVIA 7% CHINA 7% ALL OTHERS 2%
MANGANESE 1913
2,607,483 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 4% BRITISH EMPIRE 31% FRANCE 3% GERMANY 17% AUSTRIA-
HUNGARY 2% RUSSIA 36% ALL OTHERS 7%
POTASH 1913
1,247,982 Short Tons
GERMANY (STASSFURT) 93% GERMANY (ALSACE) 5% ALL OTHERS 2%
TUNGSTEN 1917
26,783 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 35% BRITISH EMPIRE 55% FRANCE 4% GERMANY 1% ALL OTHERS
3%
PLATINUM 1913
267,233 Troy Ounces
UNITED STATES 4% BRITISH EMPIRE 2% FRANCE 74% RUSSIA 15% ALL OTHERS
2%
SULPHUR 1916
1,100,000 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 65% ITALY 23% JAPAN 10% ALL OTHERS 2%
ASBESTOS 1913
158,016 Short Tons
UNITED STATES 24% BRITISH EMPIRE 64% CENTRAL POWERS 10% ALL OTHERS 2%
Prepared by John E. Orchard
Assistant Mine Economist
U.S. Bureau of Mines, May 1, 1919
[192] Recent]
=Who Owns the Earth?=--The answer to our inquiry at the head of
this chapter, “Who Owns the Earth?” is therefore answered by these
summaries, and is further set forth in the accompanying charts, one
showing political (or, rather, in this case, strictly territorial)
control, and the other commercial control, Figs. 23 and 24. As based
upon the territorial and commercial control of the fundamental
minerals, it appears that the earth is owned by the two great
Anglo-Saxon nations, the United States and the British Empire: the
former by destiny and good fortune and without political plan or
policy, in that such a vast store of mineral wealth was found in the
great sparsely populated wilderness of America which it occupied;
the latter through the imperial policy of Britain, developed through
hundreds of years by the need of extending commerce and the flag into
far-off lands to supplant the slender resources of its own limited
islands. Of the two, the United States is rather in the lead, and
possesses and controls more of the world’s mineral wealth than any
other nation; but Great Britain is a close second.
Rapid changes occur, however, in these days, and the future must be
inspected. The imperial policy of expansion and increasing political
control has become a tradition and an instinct with Great Britain; she
learned since the loss of her American colonies to give full autonomy
to her more intelligent colonies, so that she strengthens her dominion
thereby, and persistently goes on her way putting more and more of the
earth under the British flag. The wealth and resources of the United
States being so far greater than its necessities, foreign problems have
resolved into occasional questions of self-protection; and from this
condition a directly resulting theory has sprung, of non-interference
in the rest of the world. Like China, we declare ourselves apart from
the world, and simply ask to be left alone, in consideration of which
we agree to leave the world alone. Our Monroe Doctrine as originated
is part of that theory--we wanted the world to leave all the Americas
alone, but took no responsibility for the Americas otherwise--a selfish
and one-sided position.
The manner in which we cling to this doctrine is stupid and
ineffective: while we have conceived of it only as applying to
military or political encroachment, we have overlooked the modern
phase of commercial conquest. Thereby we gain the suspicion of our
Latin-American neighbors, who accordingly welcome more gladly European
or Japanese rather than American capital; and thus we encourage the
very encroachments we have thought to prevent. We should either abandon
the Monroe Doctrine entirely, or define it also in terms of political
control.
Therefore, as regards our great industries, and, more specifically, our
mineral industries, we have never had any definite policy; our troubles
and problems were purely internal, and the Government’s efforts were
largely directed to preventing such solidarity of any one industry that
its power should be too great, although American organizing genius
first successfully developed these colossal business combinations,
rising without government support. England, too, and France, with
their democratic traditions, tended to resist the overwhelming power
of great business organizations, as leading to the destruction of
equal opportunity and threatening the power of the state. It remained
for Germany, pressing impudently toward the conquest of the world, to
see the advantage of combining the powers of the state with those of
business monopolies, as a means of regulating industry at home and
overpowering other nations. Thus the old question of the union or
separation of Church and State becomes one of Business and State.
The success of this plan of German penetration was most clearly and
disagreeably brought home to the British mind, as well as to the French
and the American perception, by the war, and during the war England
took under government control her mineral industries more definitely
and systematically than did we. Moreover, perceiving the success of
the German system as a means of penetration and as a method against
competitors, she has adopted it, there being a striking tendency to
put her key industries under syndicates, unions, cartels, or trusts
controlled directly by the state.
A system of state socialism thus takes the place of the freedom of
individual competition. As regards the mineral industries, much the
same action has been taken by France. But in America, dropping all the
problems and half-learned lessons of the war, we return to the _status
quo ante_. If this difference continues, it is certain that British
control of the earth--whereby we mean its minerals--will eventually
preponderate. As far as we are concerned, we should perhaps rather see
it in the hands of Great Britain than of any other power, but must we
not decide upon our own course as a rich and populous nation of an
increasingly close-packed but seething and yet unorganized globe?
Our statesmen, newspapers, and financiers proclaim to the world that we
intend to take the lion’s share of the world’s shipping and commerce.
England says nothing, but puts her government directly behind her own
industries, while the American Government still holds aloof from them.
Nationalism has been revived in Europe, and especially in England and
France, as the result of the struggle to prevail against the intense
German nationalistic spirit, which all but subjugated a world drifting
comfortably into internationalism. It is conceivably a step backward, a
reversion, but what attitude shall America take? The British and French
nationalism need not disquiet us so much as that of the Japanese, still
more intense and purposeful, and working with the same German tools
(not invented in Germany, but in America, but, like most German arts,
successfully copied and utilized), now adopted by England and France
in self-defense. America also has had a rebirth of nationalism, quite
necessary in the existing state of affairs.
As the case now stands, the United States largely predominates in
the petroleum industry, with 71 per cent. of the world’s production
in 1917; England, far behind, is in a way to overtake us with giant
strides under her new system. In the basic necessities of coal and
iron, the United States also leads. The second place in the steel
industry, held by Germany, was presumably lost as a result of the war,
and probably passes to England, already second in coal and with her
iron industries in charge of a government-controlled syndicate for
purposes of protection and expansion.
In copper, the United States is far away in the lead, with England a
long second, and in lead, also, with half the world’s production, with
England second. Before the war England and Germany were about tied for
second place, and the latter was rapidly drawing ahead through her
state-controlled commercial methods; but the war will set her back
greatly. In zinc, the United States had the greatest production (32 per
cent.) before the war, slightly more than Germany (28 per cent.), but
German methods gave it the preponderance of actual commercial control.
The result of the war will restore the commercial supremacy to the
United States, and the importance of England will increase. In silver,
the United States now leads in production and in both territorial
and commercial control, and, by her commercial control over Mexican
production, controls one-half of the world’s output, with Great Britain
a strong commercial second, having nearly 40 per cent. of it.
In the production of the important mineral, sulphur, the United
States is far in advance of the world, with 65 per cent. of the
world’s production in 1916. Italy is second, Japan third, and England
is practically unrepresented. Phosphate rock is dominated, both
territorially and commercially, by the United States, but there are
other supplies for England, and France has abundance in her own
territory. Vanadium is commercially controlled by the United States,
although territorially by Peru. Molybdenum has very lately come to be
controlled by the United States, with Great Britain, formerly first,
now second. In uranium and radium the United States also has first
place, with Austria a long second. The aluminum industry is strongest
in the United States, although very important also in France.
In the following, however, Great Britain has control: the important
“key industry” of tin, where her territorial control is one-half and
her commercial control absolute, whereas the United States is not
represented; in the important nickel industry, by territorial control
of 80 per cent., and by a commercial control that is now probably
predominant over the strong American interests, as a result of an
active government policy; in tungsten, where she controls territorially
the greatest production (34 per cent.), and where she has commercial
supremacy, controlling 54 per cent. (1917), the United States being
second, with a commercial control of 35 per cent. (although its
territorial control is only 17 per cent., about equal to that of
Bolivia).
In manganese, Russia nominally leads, with 36 per cent. commercial
control (55 per cent. of the world’s production in 1913); but under
present conditions the effect is to give England the lead, with
the United States in a position of minor importance. In chromium,
Great Britain and France control through a syndicate, in which the
British interest is in the majority, and the United States occupies
a subordinate position with regard to both these countries. In gold
production the British Empire controls 63 per cent.; the United States
23 per cent. In graphite in 1913 the British Empire was second to
Austria-Hungary. It will now take the first place, and the United
States will be a competitor. In asbestos, the British Empire produces
87 per cent. and controls commercially 63 per cent. of the world’s
total, the United States being negligible in production, but second in
commercial control (of Canadian asbestos). Mercury, territorially, is
mainly in the hands of Spain, but the industry is actually dominated
by England, under selling arrangements. Antimony has long been
controlled by England, but control may revert to China, which means the
possibility of its becoming Japanese. Mica, essential for electrical
work, is controlled by Great Britain.
Only a few minerals remain in which most of the industry is not in the
hands of either the United States or England: potash, formerly a German
monopoly, and now divided between Germany and France, with Germany
likely predominant; and mineral nitrates, in Chilean territory, with no
marked national commercial control other than that of Chile.
Both America and England are strong in their grip on the world’s
mineral industries--England much stronger than before the war and with
a freshly set purpose to expand. A combination of these two countries
would amount to a practical world control of minerals, and, with
France, a little stronger control. This much for the present, but
uncertain quantities loom shadowy, in the destiny of Russia, the future
of Asia, and the progress of Japan. Japan is intently embarking on a
course toward the domination of Asia, politically and commercially.
Her present position is not so significant as the consideration of
her rapid progress, the knowledge of the rich field in which she is
to work, and a study of her militaristic methods, which remind one of
those of Germany. Japan holds to no ally that will not (temporarily)
aid her in her forward march, and in the weakness of Russia, China, and
Korea she sees her opportunity. The war to her was an unmixed blessing.
She took no chances, and seized enormous advantages.
There are three great figures of nations which seem to have been
destined to be, in these times, of critical importance to the United
States: in the past Germany; in the present, Great Britain; in the
future, Japan. The German question was settled in the only possible
way; for England the only sane solution is a closer-knit alliance; and
for Japan, watchfulness and friendly intentions.
INDEX
Africa
Asbestos in, 394
Bauxite and aluminum in, 350
Chrome in, 114
Copper in, 246
Copper, exports to United States, 249; copper production, 246, 249
East Africa
Mica in, 383
Emery and corundum in, 359
Gold in, 473
Magnesite in, 368
North Africa
Copper in, 248
Phosphate in, 405
South Africa
Gold in, 473; gold, financial control, 488
Mica in, 384
Tin in, 323
West Africa
Copper in, 248
Gold in, 474
Alaska. See United States.
Algeria
Antimony in, 185
Iron ores of, 71
Lead in, 273
Phosphate in, 406
Zinc in, 303
Alloys
of antimony, 172; of chrome, 109; of manganese, 90; of molybdenum,
191; of nickel, 129; of platinum and iridium, 506; of tungsten, 142;
of vanadium, 163; of zirconium, 210
Alsace. See France and Germany.
Petroleum control in, 16
Potash control in, 418
Aluminum (bauxite)
Changes in practice, 349
Chapter on, 349
Aluminum
Control of aluminum, commercial, 352; in France, 353; in
Germany-Austria, 354; in Great Britain, 353; in Italy, 354; in
Norway, 353; in the Guianas, 353; in the United States and Canada,
352
Geographical distribution, 350; in Africa, 350; in Australia, 350;
in China, 351; in South America, 350; in the United States, 350; in
Europe, 350; in India, 350
Summary, 354
Uses of, 349
Works, capacity, 352
World’s output, 351
Antimony
Alloys of, 172
Chapter on, 172
Geographical distribution, 173, 174, 175; in Africa, 185; in
Algeria, 185; in Asia, 182; in Australia, 186; in Austria and
Hungary, 179; in Bolivia, 178; in Borneo, 182; in Canada, 177; in
China, 182, 183; in Europe, 179; in France, 179; in Germany, 180; in
Great Britain, 180; in India, 184; in Indo-China, 184; in Italy,
181; in Japan, 184; in Mexico, 177; in North America, 176; in Peru,
179; in Portugal, 182; in Russia, 182; in Serbia, 182; in South
Africa, 185; in South America, 178; in Spain, 182; in Turkey, 184;
in the United States, 176
Position of England, 187; position of France, 188; position of
Germany, 188; position of Japan, 188; position of United States, 187
Production of world, 186
Recent industrial conditions, 188
Summary, 189
Uses of, 172
World situation, 530
Argentina
Copper in, 245
Petroleum control in, 16
Asbestos in Africa, 394; in Asia, 394; in Canada and Newfoundland,
393; in Europe, 393; in Italy, 393; in Mexico, Central and South
America, 393; in the United States, 391
Anthophyllite, in United States, 392
Changes in practice, 389
Chapter on, 388
Chrysolite, in United States, 391
Control in Canada, 398; in South Africa, 398; in United States, 397
Control, political and commercial, 397
Future changes, 395
Geographical distribution, 391
Geological distribution, 389
Position of Great Britain, 399; position of the United States, 399
Substitutes for, 389
Summary, 400
Uses of, 388
World situation, 537
Asia
Antimony in, 182
Asbestos in, 394
Chrome in, 115
Coal in, 27
Copper in, 253
Emery and corundum in, 358
Gold in, 471
Graphite in, 374
Iron in, 74-77
Magnesite in, 368
Manganese in, 99
Mercury in, 341
Monazite in, 217
Petroleum in, 9
Phosphate in, 406
Tin in, 319, 323, 327, 329, 330
Tungsten in, 149
Zinc in, 303, 305, 306
Asia Minor
Chrome in, 115
Magnesite in, 368
Mercury in, 341
Australasia
Asbestos in, 395
Chrome in, 111
Copper in, 249
Gold in, 474
Lead in, 268, 269
Manganese in, 101
Nickel in, 134, 135
Phosphate in, 406
Tin in, 325, 326, 329
Tungsten in, 149
Zinc in, 302, 303
Australia
Antimony in, 186
Bauxite and aluminum in, 350
Coal position, 31
Copper, production in 1917, 250
Gold in, 475
Gold, political and commercial control, 490
Iron in, 80
Lead in, 268
Lead, commercial control, 282
Lead position, 288
Magnesite in, 368
Manganese in, 101
Mica in, 384
Molybdenum in, 191; molybdenum, commercial control, 197
Platinum in, 514
Radium in, 207
Tin in, 325
Tungsten, future of, 149
Uranium in, 207
Zinc in, 302; commercial control, 311
Austria
Copper in, 258
Lead position, 290
Magnesite control, 369
Mercury in, 340
Radium resources, 206; uranium resources, 206
Zinc in, 305
Austrian Empire
Chrome in, 118
Mercury in, 340
Austria and Hungary
Antimony in, 179
Iron, political and commercial control, 70; iron position, 87
Manganese in, 96
Balkan Peninsula
Chrome in, 118
Bauxite
Chapter on, 349
Geographical distribution, 350
Geological distribution, 350
Uses of, 349
World control, 351
Belgian Congo
Copper in, 246, 247
Manganese in, 101
Belgium
Coal in, 24, 26
Iron position, 87
Lead in, 276; lead position, 290
Manganese in, 96
Zinc position, 313
Bolivia
Antimony in, 178
Copper in, 245
Lead in, 276
Silver in, 498, 501
Tin in, 328; tin control, 333
Tungsten in, 150
Zinc in, 306
Borneo
Antimony in, 182
Manganese in, 101
Bowles, Oliver
Chapter on Asbestos, 388
Brazil
Chrome in, 120
Coal position, 31
Gold in, 470, 480
Iron, control, 78
Manganese in, 94
Mica in, 383
Monazite in, 217; monazite, commercial control, 218, 219, 220
Zirconium in, 212, 213; zirconium, political control, 213
British Empire. See Great Britain.
British Guiana
Gold in, 480
Petroleum control in, 17
Bulgaria
Iron in, 77
Lead in, 276
Burma
Lead in, 274; lead position, 289; lead smelters, 283
Petroleum in, 15
Tungsten, future of, 149
California
Chrome in, 119
Gold in, 466
Magnesite in, 365
Mercury in, 342
Platinum in, 513
Canada
Aluminum control in, 352
Antimony in, 177
Asbestos in, 393; asbestos control in, 398
Chrome in, 118
Copper, commercial control, 238
Emery and corundum in, 358
Gold in, 468
Iron, commercial control, 73
Lead in, 273; lead position, 289; lead smelters, 283
Magnesite in, 365
Manganese in, 94
Mica in, 382
Molybdenum in, 193; molybdenum, commercial control, 197
Nickel in, 133
Petroleum control in, 16
Phosphate in, 405
Platinum in, 513; platinum ownership, 518
Pyrite in, 452
Zinc in, 306
Cape Colony, Africa
Asbestos in, 394
Copper in, 248
Gold in, 473
Central America
Chrome in, 120
Copper in, 239
Gold in, 469; gold control, 485
Petroleum in, 17
Chile
Coal position, 31
Copper control, 241; copper, commercial control, 242; copper, United
States control, 243
Iron, control, 78
Manganese in, 96
Nitrate ores, 423; nitrate, outlook for, 441
Sulphur in, 458
China
Antimony in, 182
Coal position, 31, 47
Copper in, 255
Gold in, 473; gold, financial control, 488
Iron position, 88
Lead in, 273
Mica in, 384
Petroleum control in, 17
Silver position, 504
Tin in, 329; tin control, 332
Tungsten, future of, 149
Zinc in, 306
China and Manchuria
Iron, control of, 74
Chrome (chromite)
Alloys of, 109
in Australasia, 111
Chapter on, 109
Chief producing countries, 528
Commercial control of, 111-114; in France, 125, 126; in Great
Britain, 124; in the United States, 122, 123, 124
Control, commercial and political, 127
Geographical distribution, 111, 112
Geological distribution, 110; in Africa, 114; in Asia, 115; in Asia
Minor, 115; in the Austrian Empire, 118; in the Balkan Peninsula,
118; in Brazil, 120; in Canada, 118; in Central America, 120; in
Colombia, 120; in Cuba, 120; in Europe, 118; in Greece, 118; in
India, 117; in Japan, 117; in Macedonia, 118; in New Caledonia, 111;
in North America, 118; in Rhodesia, 114; in Russia, 117; in Serbia,
118; in South America, 120; in Turkey, 115; in the United States,
119; in Venezuela, 120
Position of France, 125; of Germany, 126; of Great Britain, 124; of
leading nations, 121; of Russia, 127; of the United States, 122
Production of, 113
Uses of, 109
World situation, 528
Coal
Asia and Australia, statistics for, 53
Changes in practice, 23
Chapter on, 22
Commercial control, 33
Control in Germany, 35; in Great Britain, 36; in the United States,
36, 37
Control, political, 33
Domination by Great Britain and the United States, 525
Europe, statistics for, 1913, 49, 50
Exports, and imports, 1913, 52, 53, 54
Geographical distribution, 25
Geological distribution, 23; in Africa, 26; in Europe, 24; in North
America, 24; in South America, 24
Imports, 1913, 52, 53, 54; in the United States, 524
Position of Australia, 31; of Brazil, 31; of Chile, 31; of China,
31, 47; of France, 46, 47; of Germany, 30, 46; of Great Britain, 30,
44; of Italy, 47; of Japan, 47; of Russia, 47; of South America, 31;
of United States, 43; of world, 32
Production, 1913, 49, 50, 51; production of principal countries, 26;
production of world, 27, 28; future production, 32
Reserves of world, 28
Situation as effected by World War, 39, 40, 41
South America, statistics for, 1913, 52; trade, probable changes in,
42
Summary of control, 524
United States, statistics for 1913, 49
Uses of, 22
Colombia
Chrome in, 120
Petroleum control in, 17
Platinum in, 512; platinum ownership, 517
Copper
in Africa, Katanga district, 246, 249
Chapter on, 223
Control, business, 225; control, geographical and financial, 224; in
Canada, commercial control, 238; in Chile, commercial control, 242;
United States control, 243; in Cuba and the Caribbean, commercial
control, 239; in Europe, control of, 257; control, summary, 531, 532
in Europe, production, 257
Geographical distribution, 227; in Africa, 246; in Argentina, 245;
in Asia, 253; in Australasia, 249; in Cape Colony, 248; in Chile,
241; in China, 255; in Europe, 256; in Germany, 258; in India, 256;
in Japan, 253; in Korea, 255; in New South Wales, 252; in North
America, 228; in Northern Africa, 248; in Norway, 256; in Peru, 244;
in Portugal, 256; in Queensland, Australia, 251; in Rhodesia, 248;
in Russia, 258; in South America, 241; in Southwest Africa, 248; in
Spain, 256; in Sweden, 256; in Tasmania, 252; in the Transvaal, 248;
in the United States, 228; in Venezuela, 245
in Japan, production and exports, 253
in Mexico, commercial control, 239
in Peru, commercial control, 244
Reserve of world, 226
in Russia, production, 259; reserves, 259
Summary of, 260
in United States, control by German interests, 232-235; control
through ownership of mines, 228; control through ownership of
smelters and refineries, 230
in United States, leading financial groups, 228, 229
in United States, ore reserves, 236
in United States, ownership and capacity of refineries, 231
in United States, porphyry copper reserves, 236
United States, shipments from Africa, to, 249
World situation, 531
Corbett, C. S.
Chapter on Nickel, 129
Cornwall
Tin in, 327
Corundum and Emery
Chapter on, 356
Uses of, 356
World situation, 535
Costa Rica
Manganese in, 94
Petroleum control in, 17
Cuba and the Caribbean
Copper, commercial control, 239
Cuba
Chrome in, 120
Iron control in, 71
Manganese in, 94
Nickeliferous iron in, 135
Pyrite in, 452
Cyprus
Pyrite in, 451
Czecho-Slovakia
Iron ores, 70
Lead in, 272
Dub, George D.
Chapter on Graphite, 372
Dutch East Indies
Petroleum control in, 14
Tin in, 329
Eddingfield, F. T.
Chapter on Iron, 55
Egypt
Lead in, 275; lead position of, 289
Manganese in, 101
Petroleum control in, 16
Phosphate rock in, 406
Zinc in, 306
Emery and Corundum
Chapter on, 356
Control, commercial, 360; control, political, 360
Future developments, 359
Geographical distribution, 357
Geological distribution, 357; in Africa, 359; in Asia, 358; in
Canada, 358; in Europe, 358; in the United States, 357
Position of England, 361; of France, 361; of Germany, 361; of Japan,
361; of the United States, 361
Production of, 362
Summary, 361
Uses of, 356
World situation, 535
England
See Great Britain.
Europe
Antimony in, 179
Asbestos in, 393
Bauxite and aluminum in, 350
Chrome in, 118
Coal in, 24-26
Copper in, 256
Copper production and control in, 257
Emery and corundum in, 358
Gold in, 470
Iron in, 57-60
Lead in, 269, 271
Magnesite in, 366
Manganese in, 96
Mercury in, 339
Petroleum in, 8, 9
Phosphate in, 405
Pyrite, exports and imports in, 258
Silver in, 498
Tungsten, future of, 151
Zinc in, 303, 305
Ferguson, H. G.
Chapter on Antimony, 172
Chapter on Graphite, 372
Ferro-Alloy Minerals, 526
Ferromanganese, 90
Fertilizer Minerals, 537
Florida
Phosphate rock in, 403
France
Aluminum control in, 353
Antimony in, 179; antimony position, 188
Chrome position, 125
Coal position, 46; coal control, 36
Copper control in Chile, 243; copper control in Mexico, 240
Emery and corundum position, 361
Gold position, 492
Graphite position, 377
Iron-ore production, 1911-1913, 65; iron, political and commercial
control, 64; iron position, 86
Lead in, 274; lead position, 290; lead smelters, 283
Manganese in, 96; manganese position in, 107
Mica, position of, 386
Molybdenum position, 198
Nickel position, 141
Petroleum position, 19
Phosphate rock in, 405
Pyrite in, 450
Tin position of, 335
Tungsten, control of, 156
Zinc, commercial control, 313
Fuel Minerals, 522
Gale, Hoyt S.
Chapter on Potash, 411
Galicia
Petroleum control in, 15
German Austria, lead in, 272
Germany
Antimony in, 180; antimony position of, 188
Chrome position, 126
Coal control, 35; coal position, 30, 46
Copper in, 258; copper control in Australasia, 250; in Chile, 243;
in Mexico, 240
Emery and corundum position, 361
Gold position, 492
Graphite position, 377
Iron position, 84; iron, political and commercial control, 63
Lead in, 270, 271; lead position, 289
Magnesite in, 367
Manganese in, 96; manganese position, 107
Mercury in, 340
Mica position, 387
Molybdenum position, 198
Nickel position, 141
Petroleum control in, 518
Potash in, 412; potash control in, 417
Radium in, 207
Tin position of, 335
Tungsten control, 159
Uranium in, 207
Zinc in, 301; zinc, commercial control, 311; zinc, position of, 313
Germany, Austria and Hungary
Pyrite in, 450
Gilbert, Chester G.
Chapter on Nitrogen, 421
Gold
Australia, control of, 490
Chapter on, 462
Control, commercial, 477; control in Central and South America, 485;
in China, 488; in India, 487; in Japan, 487; in Siberia, 486; in
Siberia and Russia, 485; in South Africa, 488; in United States and
Canada, 479; control, political and commercial, 478; control,
political, 476; control, financial in world, 480-483; future changes
in distribution, 476
Geographical occurrence, 464; in Asia, 471; in Australasia, 474; in
Australia, 475; in Central America, 469; in China, 473; in Europe,
470; in India, 471; in Japan, 472; in Korea, 472; in Mexico, 469; in
New Zealand, 475; in North America, 464; in Rhodesia, 474; in
Siberia, 471; in South Africa, 473; in South America, 469; in United
States, 464; in West Africa, 474
Geological occurrences, 463; in Mexico, financial control, 484; in
Transvaal, financial control, 488, 489
Position of France, 492; of Germany, 492; of Great Britain, 491; of
Japan, 492; of Russia, 492; of United States, 491
Production in world, 480-483; production of world 1880-1917, 465,
466
Rhodesia, financial control, 489
Summary, 493
Uses of, 462
World situation, 540
Graphite
Chapter on, 372
Control, political and commercial, 375; future developments, 374
Geographical distribution, 373
Geological occurrence, 373; in Madagascar, control, 375
Position of England, 377; of France, 377; of Germany, 377; of Japan,
377; of the United States, 376
Production of, 378; production, world capacity, 373
Summary, 377
Uses of, 372
World situation, 536
Great Britain
Aluminum control in, 353
Antimony in, 180; antimony position, 187
Asbestos position, 399
Chrome position, 124
Coal control, 36; coal position, 30, 44, 525
Control of minerals, 542
Copper control in Mexico, 240
Emery and corundum, position, 361
Gold position, 491
Graphite position, 377
Iron, political and commercial control, 66; iron-ore production, 66;
iron position, 85
Lead in, 272; lead position, 288, 289; lead smelters, 283
Manganese in, 97; manganese position, 106
Mica position, 386
Molybdenum position, 198
Nickel position, 141
Petroleum interests in Mexico, 14; petroleum policy, 523; petroleum
position, 18
Radium resources, 207
Silver market control, 503
Sulphur in, 458
Tin in, 319; tin control, 332; tin position, 335
Tungsten, control of, 154
Uranium resources, 207
Zinc in, 305; zinc position, 314
Greece
Chrome in, 118
Emery in, 358
Iron in, 73
Lead in, 273; lead smelters, 283
Magnesite in, 367
Manganese in, 97
Grout, Frank F.
Chapter on Coal, 22
Chapter on Graphite, 372
Guianas, The
Aluminum control in, 353
Gold in, 470
Hall, Durand A.
Chapter on Antimony, 172
Chapter on Mica, 380
Hanover
Petroleum control in, 16
Harder, E. C.
Chapter on Chromium, 109
Chapter on Iron, 55
Hess, Frank L.
Chapter on Tungsten, 142
Hewett, D. F.
Chapter on Manganese, 90
Hill, James M.
Chapter on Bauxite and Aluminum, 349
Chapter on Platinum, 506
Chapter on Tin, 317
Holland
Tin control, 332; tin position, 335
Hungary
Iron position, 87
Lead in, 276; lead position, 290
Mercury in, 339
Hyder, Frederick B.
Chapter on Lead, 261
Chapter on Zinc, 294
Idaho
Lead in, 266
Phosphate in, 404
India
Bauxite and aluminum in, 350
Chrome in, 117
Copper in, 256
Gold in, 471; gold, financial control, 487
Iron, control of, 75
Manganese in, 99
Mica in, 383
Monazite in, 217; monazite, commercial control, 220
Petroleum control in, 15
Tin in, 327
Zinc in, 306
Zirconium in, 213; zirconium, political control, 214
Indo-China
Coal in, 24
Zinc in, 305
Iridium
Uses of, 506
Iron
Chapter on, 55
Control, commercial, 61; control in Austria and Hungary, 70; control
in India, 75; control in Japan and Korea, 76; control in Cuba, 71;
control in France, 64, 65; control in Newfoundland, 71; control in
Russia, 68, 69; control in United States, 61, 62, 63; control,
political, 61
Four chief producing countries, 526
Geographical distribution, 57
Geological distribution, 55; iron in Australia, 80; in Brazil, 78;
in Bulgaria, 77; in Canada, 73; in Chile, 78; in Cuba, 71; in
Czecho-Slovakia, 70; in Greece, 73; in Italy, 72; in Jugoslavia, 71;
in Mexico, 79; in Newfoundland, 71; in New Zealand, 80; in Norway,
72; in Poland, 77; in Portugal, 77; in South Africa, 80; in Tunisia,
71; in Turkey, 77
Iron-ore and pig-iron production and movement, 1913, 60
Ore reserves in United States, 61
Pig-iron manufacture, statistics, 59
Position of Austria, 87; of Belgium, 87; of China, 88; of France,
86; of Germany, 84; of Great Britain, 85; of Hungary, 87; of Japan,
88; of Russia, 86; of the United States, 82
Production of the world, 1910-1917, 58
Italy
Antimony in, 181
Asbestos in, 393
Coal position, 47
Iron ores of, 72; iron, commercial control, 73
Lead in, 272; lead position, 290; lead smelters, 283
Manganese in, 97
Mercury in, 339
Petroleum control in, 17
Pyrite in, 450
Sulphur in, 453
Zinc in, 303
Japan
Antimony position, 188
Coal position, 47
Chrome in, 117
Copper in, 253, 254; copper production, 254
Emery and corundum position, 361
Gold in, 472; gold, financial control, 487; gold position, 492
Graphite position, 377
Iron control, 76; iron position, 88
Lead in, 275; lead position, 291
Manganese in, 100, 101
Molybdenum position, 198
Petroleum control in, 16; petroleum position of, 20
Pyrite in, 452
Silver position, 499
Sulphur in, 457
Tin in, 330
Tungsten control, 156
Zinc in, 303; zinc position, 314
Java
Manganese in, 103
Jugoslavia
Iron ores, 71
Katanga district, Africa
Copper in, 246, 249
Katz, Frank J.
Chapter on Emery and Corundum, 356
Korea
Copper in, 255
Gold in, 472; gold, financial control, 487
Lead
Changes in practice, 262
Chapter on, 261
Control in Australia, 282; in Mexico, 282, 283; in Spain, 282
Control, commercial, 277
Control, commercial, of pig-lead output, 287; in United States, 279
Control, political, 277
Control through trade combinations, 283, 284, 285, 286
Consumption, 1913, 278
Geographical distribution, 264; in Algeria, 273; in Australia, 268;
in Belgium, 276; in Bolivia, 276; in Bulgaria, 276; in Burma, 274;
in Canada, 273; in China, 273; in Colorado, 267; in Czecho-Slovakia,
272; in Egypt, 275; in France, 274; in German Austria, 272; in
Germany, 270, 271; in Great Britain, 272; in Greece, 273; in
Hungary, 276; in Idaho, 266; in Italy, 272; in Japan, 275; in
Mexico, 271; in Missouri, 265; in New South Wales, 268; in Poland,
270; in Peru, 274; in Portugal, 276; in Queensland, 269; in
Rhodesia, 276; in Russia, 275; in Siberia, 275, 283; in Southwest
Africa, 273; in Spain, 269; in Sweden, 276; in Tasmania, 269; in
Tunis, 272; in Turkey, 273; in the United States, 265; in Upper
Silesia, 270; in Utah, 267; in Western Australia, 269
Geological occurrence, 263
Position of Australia, 288; of Austria, 290; of Belgium, 290; of the
British Empire, 288; of the British Isles, 289; of Burma, 289; of
Canada, 289; of Egypt, 289; of France, 290; of Germany, 289; of
Hungary, 290; of Japan, 291; of Spain, 291; of the United States,
287
Lead-silver smelters, Mexico, 282; lead-silver smelters, United
States, 281
Production, 1913, 264, 278; production, future changes, 276
Smelted in 1913, 278
Smelters in Burma, 283; in Canada, 283; in France, 283; in Great
Britain, 283; in Greece, 283; in Italy, 283; in Turkey, 283
Summary, 291
United States, financial groups, 281
World situation, 532
Macedonia
Chrome in, 118
Madagascar
Graphite control, 375
Magnesite
Chapter on, 363
Control, political and commercial, 368; control in Austria, 369;
control in the United States, 368
Geographical distribution, 364; in Africa, 368; in Asia, 368; in
Australia, 368; in California, 365; in Canada, 365; in Europe, 366;
in Germany, 367; in Greece, 367; in Mexico, 366; in North America,
365; in South America, 366; in the United States, 365; in
Washington, 366
Geological occurrence, 363
Summary, 370
Uses of, 363
World situation, 536
Malay Peninsula
Tin in, 319; tin production, 1917, 321
Manganese
Changes in practice, 91
Chapter on, 90
Control, commercial, 103; control, political and commercial, 103
Geographical distribution, 93, 104; in Africa, 101; in Asia, 99; in
Australasia, 101; in Australia, 101; in Austria and Hungary, 96; in
the Belgian Congo, 101; in Belgium, 96; in Borneo, 101; in Brazil,
94; in Canada, 94; in Chile, 96; in Costa Rica, 94; in Cuba, 94; in
Egypt, 101; in Europe, 96; in France, 96; in Germany, 96; in Gold
Coast of West Africa, 101; in Great Britain, 97; in Greece, 97; in
India, 99; in Italy, 97; in Japan, 100; in Java, 103; in Mexico, 94;
in New Zealand, 101; in North America, 93; in Panama, 94; in the
Philippine Islands, 101; in Portugal, 97; in Russia, 97, 98; in
South Africa, 101; in South America, 94; in Spain, 99; in Sweden,
99; in Tunis, 101; in Uruguay, 96
Geological distribution, 91, 92
Position of England, 106; of France, 107; of Germany, 107; of the
United States, 106
Principal sources of, 527
Production of, 102
Summary, 108
Uses of, 90
World situation, 527
Mercury
Changes in distribution, 343
Changes in practice, 344
Chapter on, 337
Control, commercial, 346; control, political, 345
Geographical distribution, 339; in Alaska, 341; in Asia, 341; in
Asia Minor, 341; in Austrian Empire, 340; in California, 342; in
Europe, 339; in Germany, 340; in Hungary, 340; in Italy, 340; in
Mexico, 343; in Nevada, 343; in North America, 341; in Portugal,
340; in Russia, 341; in Serbia, 341; in South America, 343; in
Texas, 343
Geological distribution, 338
Summary, 347
Uses of, 337
World situation, 535
Mesothorium
Uses of, 216
World situation, 531
Mexico
Antimony in, 177
Coal in, 28
Copper in, commercial control, 239
Gold in, 469; gold, financial control, 484
Iron, control, 79
Lead in, 271; lead, commercial control, 282, 283
Magnesite in, 366
Manganese in, 94
Mercury in, 343
Molybdenum in, 195; molybdenum, commercial control, 197
Petroleum, commercial control, 14
Pyrite in, 452
Sulphur in, 458
Tungsten, future of, 151
Zinc in, 305
Mica
Changes in practice, 381
Chapter on, 380
Control, political and commercial, 385
Future developments, 384
Geographical distribution, 383; in Australia, 384; in Brazil, 382;
in Canada, 382; in China, 384; in East Africa, 382; in India, 382;
in South Africa, 384; in the United States, 382
Geological distribution, 382
Position of Germany, 387; position of Great Britain, 386; of France,
386; of the United States, 386
Substitutes for, 381
Summary, 387
Uses of, 380
World situation, 536
Minerals
World control of, 541
Missouri
Lead in, 265
Zinc in, 298, 300
Molybdenum
Chapter on, 191
Control, commercial, 197; in Australia, 197; in Canada, 197; in
Mexico, 197; in Norway, 197; in United States, 197
Control, political, 196
Geographical distribution, 191, 199; in Australia, 191; in Canada,
193; in Mexico, 195; in North America, 193; in Norway, 191; in the
United States, 193
Geological distribution, 191
Position of France, 198; of Germany, 198; of Great Britain, 198; of
the United States, 198
Reserves, 196
Summary, 200
Treatment of ores, 196
Uses of, 191
World situation, 530
Monazite
Chapter on, 216
Control, commercial, 218, 219, 220, 221
Control, political, 218
Geographical distribution, 216; in Brazil, 217; in India, 217; in
the United States, 216
Geological distribution, 216
Position of the United States, 221
Treatment practice, 218
Uses of, 216
Moore, R. B.
Chapter on Molybdenum, 191; Chapter on Monazite, Thorium, and
Mesothorium, 216; Chapter on Vanadium, 163
Morocco
Iron ores, 71
Phosphate in, 406
Morris, H. C.
Chapter on Zirconium, 209
Nevada
Mercury in, 343
New Caledonia
Chrome in, 111
Nickel in, 134; nickel, commercial control, 139
Newfoundland
Iron ores, 71
New South Wales
Copper in, 252
Lead in, 268
Platinum in, 514
Tin in, 326
Zinc in, 302
New Zealand
Gold in, 475
Iron in, 80
Manganese in, 101
Petroleum control, 17
Nickel
Alloys, 129
Changes in practice, 130
Chapter on, 129
Commercial control, 138
Control, commercial, in New Caledonia, 139; in Sudbury district,
Canada, 138, 139
Control, political, 138
Future of, 136
Garnierite and lateritic type deposits, 134
Geographical distribution, 132; nickel in Canada, 133
Geological distribution, 131; in Norway, 134; in United States, 134
Position of France, 141; of Germany, 141; of Great Britain, 141; of
the United States, 141
Production, 136
Sudbury district, Canada, 133
Sulphide type deposits, 133
Veins, 135
World situation, 528
Nickeliferous iron, Cuba, 135
Nigeria
Tin in, 323
Nitrates
By-product, outlook for, 443
Fixation, outlook for, 442
Ore deposits in Chile, 422
Summary, 444, 445
World situation, 539
Nitrogen
Ammonia fixation, 437
Arc fixation, 437
Atmospheric, 421
Bacterial fixation, 439
By-product compounds, 434
Chapter on, 421
Consumption for fertilizers, 435
Control, commercial aspects, 433; general aspects, 425
Cyanamid fixation, 438
Cyanide fixation, 438
Fixation compounds, 437
Geological distribution, 421; in carboniferous deposits, 425
Natural compounds, 434
Nitride fixation, 438
Organic, 424
Outlook for, 440
Production statistics, 426; production, world developments, 428
Recent developments and changes, 439
Sources, 427
United States, developments in, 430
Uses of, 421
Utilization cycles, 427
World situation, 431
Non-ferrous Metals, 531
Non-metallic Minerals, 535
North America
Antimony in, 176
Chrome in, 118
Coal in, 24, 25
Copper in, 228
Gold in, 464
Iron in, 57, 61, 62, 63
Magnesite in, 365
Manganese in, 93
Mercury in, 341
Molybdenum in, 193
Petroleum in, 5-8
Silver in, 501
Tungsten, future of, 150
Northrup, John D.
Chapter on Petroleum, 1
Norway
Aluminum control in, 353
Copper in, 256
Iron ores, 72
Molybdenum in, 191; molybdenum, commercial control, 197
Nickel in, 134
Pyrite in, 449
Orchard, John E.
Chapter on Gold, 462
Oregon
Platinum in, 513
Osmiridium
in Canada, 513; in Colombia, 512; in the United States, 513
Osmium
Uses of, 506
Paine, F. W.
Chapter on Copper, 223
Chapter on Silver, 495
Palladium
in Canada, 513
in platinum ores, 510
Uses of, 506
Panama
Manganese in, 94
Petroleum control in, 17
Penrose, R. A. F. Jr.
Chapter on Radium and Uranium, 201
Peru
Antimony in, 179
Copper in, 244
Lead in, 274
Tungsten, future of, 150
Vanadium in, 165
Zinc in, 307
Petroleum
Changes in operating and refining practices, 4
Chapter on, 1
Control, commercial of, 11, 12; in Alsace, 16; in Argentina, 16; in
British Guiana, 17; in Canada, 16; in China, 17; in Colombia, 17; in
Costa Rica, 17; in Dutch East Indies, 14; in Egypt, 16; in Galicia,
15; in Hanover, 16; in India, 15; in Italy, 17; in Japan, 16; in
Mexico, 14; in New Zealand, 17; in Panama, 17; in Persia, 17; in
Trinidad, 16; in Venezuela, 17; in the United States, 12, 13
Control, political, 9
Future developments, 6
Geographical distribution, 6
Geological distribution, 5
Policy of Great Britain, 523
Position of France, 19; of Germany, 19; of Great Britain, 18; of
Japan, 20; of the United States, 17
Production of, 10
Substitutes for, 3
Summary, 20
Summary of control, 522
Uses of, 3
Persia
Petroleum control in, 17
Philippine Islands
Manganese in, 101
Phosphate Rock
Changes and developments, 408
Chapter on, 402
Control, commercial, 408
Geographical occurrence, 403; phosphate in Africa, 405; in Algeria,
406; in Asia and Australasia, 406; in Canada, 405; in Egypt, 406; in
Europe, 405; in Florida, 403; in France, 405; in Idaho, 404; in
Morocco, 406; in Siberia, 406; in South America, 405; in South
Carolina, 403; in Tennessee, 404; in Tunis, 405; in the United
States, 403; in Utah, 404; in Wyoming, 404
Geological occurrence, 402
Position of leading nations, 409; of the United States, 409
Summary, 409
United States reserves, 404
Uses of, 402
World situation, 538
Platinum
Chapter on, 506
Control, commercial, 517; control of Canadian platinum, 518; of
Colombian platinum, 517; control by Germany, 518; by the United
States, 519
Control, political, 516
Control through ownership of mines, 517
Control through ownership of reduction plants, 518
Crude analyses of, 509; purity of, 509
Future changes in distribution, 515
Geographical distribution, 507, 510; platinum in Alaska, 514; in
Australia, 514; in California, 513; in Canada, 513; in Colombia,
512; in New South Wales, 514; in Oregon, 513; in Russia, 510; in
Spain, 515; in Tasmania, 514; in the United States, 513; in
Washington, 514; in Wyoming, 514
Geological distribution, 508
Production of world, 1909-1917, 508
Russian control, 516; Russian ownership, 517
Sources of crude, 1909-1917, 511
Summary, 521
Uses of, 506, 507
World situation, 519, 540
Poland
Coal in, 49, 50
Iron in, 77
Lead in, 275
Zinc in, 304
Portugal
Antimony in, 182
Copper in, 256
Iron in, 77
Lead in, 276
Manganese in, 97
Mercury in, 340
Pyrite in, 448
Tin in, 330
Tungsten, future, 151
Potash
Alsatian control, 418
Changes in commercial practice, 415
Chapter on, 411
Control, commercial and political, 417
Geographical distribution, 412; in Germany, 412; in the United
States, 414
Geological distribution, 415
German control, 417
Nature of, 411
Production of world, 1917, 416
Spanish control, 419
Summary, 419
Uses of, 411
World situation, 538
Precious Metals, 540
Pyrite and Sulphur
Chapter on, 447
Control, commercial, 460; control, political, 459
in Europe, exports, and imports, 258
Geographical distribution, 448; in Canada, 452; in Cuba, 452; in
Cyprus, 451; in France, 450; in Germany, Austria, and Hungary, 450;
in Italy, 450; in Japan, 452; in Mexico, 452; in Norway and Sweden,
449; in Russia, 450; in Spain and Portugal, 448; in the United
States, 451
Substitutes for, 448
Uses of, 447
Queensland (Australia)
Copper in, 251
Gold in, 475
Lead in, 269
Tin in, 326
Tungsten in, 148
Quicksilver
Chapter on, 337
See Mercury.
Radium
Chapter on, 201
Future prospects, 208
Geographical and geological distribution, 203; in Australia, 207; in
England, 207; in Germany, 207
Ores of, 202
Production, United States, 205
United States resources, 204
Uses of, 201
Ransome, E. L.
Chapter on Mercury, 337
Rhodesia (Africa)
Chrome in, 114
Copper in, 248
Gold in, 474; gold, financial control, 489
Lead in, 276
Rhodium
Uses of, 506
Rice, George S.
Chapter on Coal, 22
Roumania
Petroleum control in, 15
Russia
Antimony in, 182
Chrome in, 117
Chrome position, 127
Coal position, 47
Copper in, 258
Copper production and reserves, 259
Gold control, 485; gold position, 492
Iron ore reserves, 68; iron, political and commercial control, 68
Iron position, 86
Lead in, 275
Manganese in, 97, 98
Mercury in, 341
Petroleum control in, 13
Platinum in, 510; platinum control in, 516; platinum ownership, 517
Pyrite in, 450
Tin position, 335
Zinc position, 315
Ruthenium
Uses of, 506
Serbia
Antimony in, 182
Chrome in, 118
Mercury in, 341
Shale-Oil
Future of, 4
Siam
Tin control, 333
Tin in, 329
Tungsten in, 148
Siberia
Gold in, 471
Gold control, 485, 486
Lead in, 275, 283
Mercury in, 341
Phosphate in, 406
Silesia
Lead in, 270
Silver
By-product, proportion of output, 498
Changes in practice, 500
Chapter on, 495
Chinese and Japanese position, 504
Coinage, 496
Control, by England, 503
Control, commercial, 500
Control, financial, 501
Control, political, 500
Control, territorial, 501
Control through relations to consumers, 503; control through trade
combinations, 502
Control through ownership of mines, 500
Control through ownership of reduction plants, 501
Future changes in, 499
Geographical distribution, 498, 499
Geological age of deposits, 497, 499
Production, in world, 498
Rich mines, proportion of output, 498
Summary, 504
Uses of, 495
World situation, 540
South Africa
Antimony in, 185
Asbestos, control in, 397
Coal in, 24, 25, 26
Gold, financial control, 488
Gold in, 473
Iron in, 80
Manganese in, 101
Tin in, 324
Zinc in, 306
South America
Antimony in, 178
Asbestos in, 393
Bauxite and aluminum in, 350
Chrome in, 120
Coal position, 31
Copper control, 241
Gold in, 469; gold control, 485
Magnesite in, 366
Manganese in, 94
Mercury in, 343
Phosphate in, 405
Tungsten, future of, 150
South Carolina
Phosphate in, 403
Southwest Africa
Lead in, 273
Spain
Antimony in, 182
Copper in, 256
Iron, political and commercial control, 67
Lead in, 269; commercial control, 282; lead position, 291
Manganese in, 99
Platinum in, 515
Potash in, 419
Pyrite in, 448
Tin in, 330
Tungsten, 148
Zinc in, 304
Spiegeleisen, 90
Spurr, J. E.
Chapter by, 522
Chapter on petroleum, introduction to, 1
Steel and the Ferro-Alloy Minerals, 526
Stockett, A. W.
Chapter on Potash, 411
Stone, R. W.
Chapter on Magnesite, 363
Chapter on Phosphate Rock, 402
Sulphur
Changes in practice, 459
Geographical distribution, 453; in Chile, 458; in Italy and Sicily,
453; in Japan, 457; in Mexico, 458; in the United States, 455
Position of the principal powers, 461; position of the United
States, 461
Sulphur and Pyrite
Chapter on, 447
Control, commercial, 460
Control, political, 459
Substitutes for, 448
Uses of, 447
Sweden
Copper in, 256
Iron, political and commercial control, 69
Lead in, 276
Manganese in, 99
Pyrite in, 449
Zinc in, 305
Tasmania
Copper in, 252
Lead in, 269
Nickel in, 134
Platinum, in, 514
Tin in, 325
Zinc in, 303
Tennessee
Phosphate in, 404
Texas
Mercury in, 343
Petroleum in, see United States
Sulphur in, 455
Thorium
Chapter on, 216
Uses of, 216
World situation, 531
Tin
Chapter on, 317
Control, commercial, of mines, 333; of smelting, 334
Control, political, 332, 333
Geographical distribution, 319, 320; in Africa, 323; in Australia,
325; in Austria, 331; in the Belgian Congo (Katanga), 331; in
Bolivia, 328; in the British Empire, 319; in British Nigeria, 323;
in China, 329; in Cornwall, 327; in the Dutch East Indies, 329; in
Germany, 331; in India, 327; in Italy, 331; in Japan, 330; in the
Malay Peninsula, 319; in New South Wales, 326; in Portugal, 330; in
Queensland, 326; in Russia, 331; in Siam, 329; in South Africa, 324;
in Southwest Africa, 331; in Spain, 330; in Tasmania, 325; in the
United States, 330
Geological distribution, 318
Position of France, 335; of Germany, 335; of Great Britain, 335; of
Holland, 335; of Russia, 335; of the United States, 335
Production of world, 1913-1918, 321; producing localities of the
world, 320; production, future changes, 332; production in the Malay
Peninsula, 322
Uses of, 317
World situation, 534
Transvaal, Africa
Copper in, 248
Gold, financial control, 489
Trinidad
Petroleum control, 16
Tungsten
Alloys of, 142
Changes in practice, 143
Chapter on, 142
Control, commercial, 152; British control, 154; French control, 156;
German control, 159; Japanese control, 156; United States control,
156, 159
Control, political, 152
Future of Asia, 149; of Australia, 149; of Bolivia, 150; of Burma,
149; of China, 149; of Europe, 151; of Mexico, 151; of North
America, 150; of Peru, 150; of Portugal, 151; of South America, 150;
of the United States, 150
Geographical distribution, 146
Geological distribution, 145
Production, 147, 148, 152
Substitutes for, 142
United States imports, 157
Uses of, 142
World situation, 529
Tunis
Iron ores in, 71
Lead ores in, 272
Manganese in, 101
Phosphate in, 405
Turkey
Chrome in, 115
Iron in, 77
Lead in, 273
United States
Aluminum, control of, 352
Antimony in, 176; antimony position, 187
Asbestos in, 391; asbestos control, 397; asbestos position, 399
Bauxite and aluminum in, 350
Chrome in, 119; chrome position, 122
Coal control, 36, 37, 524; coal position, 43
Control of minerals, 542
Copper, control of, 228
Copper control in Chile, 241-243; in Mexico, 239
Copper in, 228
Copper shipments from Africa, 249
Emery and corundum in, 357, 358; emery and corundum position, 361
Gold in, 464; gold control, 477, 478; gold position, 491
Graphite position, 376
Iron, political and commercial control, 61
Iron-ore reserves, 61; iron position, 82
Lead in, 265; lead, commercial control, 279; lead, financial groups,
281; lead position, 287; lead-silver smelters, 281
Magnesite in, 365; magnesite control, 368
Manganese position, 106
Mica in, 383; mica position, 386
Molybdenum in, 193; molybdenum, commercial control, 197; molybdenum,
position of, 198
Monazite in, 216; monazite, commercial control, 218-221; monazite
position, 221
Nickel in, 134; nickel position, 141
Nitrogen developments in, 430, 432
Petroleum position, 17
Phosphate in, 403; phosphate position, 409
Platinum in, 513; control of platinum, 519
Potash in, 414
Pyrite in, 451
Radium resources, 204
Silver in, 498, 501
Sulphur in, 455
Tin in, 330; tin position, 335
Tungsten control, 156, 160; future of tungsten, 150; imports of
tungsten, 157; tungsten, proposed tariff, 161
Uranium resources, 204
Vanadium in, 166
Zinc in, 297; zinc, commercial control, 309; zinc position, 313
Zirconium in, 213
Uranium
Chapter on, 201
Future prospects, 208
Geographical and geological distribution, 203; in Australia, 207; in
England, 207; in Germany, 207
Ores of, 202
Production, Austria, 206; production, Europe, 206; production,
United States, 205
United States resources, 204
Uses of, 202
World situation, 531
Uruguay
Manganese in, 96
Vanadium
Alloys of, 163
Changes in practice, 164
Chapter on, 163
Control, commercial, 165, 170
Control, political, 170
Future developments, 170
Geographical distribution, 165, 169; in Arizona, 166; in California,
166; in Colorado, 166; in Peru, 165; in the United States, 166
Geological distribution, 165
Position of leading nations, 170
Uses of, 163
World situation, 529
Venezuela
Chrome in, 120
Copper in, 245
Gold in, 470
Petroleum control in, 17
Washington
Magnesite in, 366
Platinum in, 514
White, A. G.
Chapter on Pyrite and Sulphur, 447
Who Owns the Earth?
Chapter by J. E. Spurr, 522; Who owns the earth? 541
World Control of Minerals, 541
Wyoming
Phosphate in, 404
Platinum in, 514
Zinc
Australia, commercial control, 311
Changes in practice, 295
Chapter on, 294
Control, commercial, 308; in Australia, 311; in France, 313; in
Germany, 311; in the United States, 309
Control, political, 308
Deposits of world, 298
Geographical distribution, 297; zinc in Algeria, 303; in Australia,
302; in Austria, 305; in Bolivia, 306; in Canada, 306; in China,
306; in Egypt, 306; in France, 304; in Germany, 301; in Great
Britain, 305; in Greece, 304; in India, 306; in Indo-China, 305; in
Italy, 303; in Japan, 303; in Mexico, 305; in New South Wales, 302;
in Peru, 307; in Russia, 304; in South Africa, 306; in Spain, 304;
in Sweden, 305; in Tasmania, 303; in the United States, 297
Geological distribution, 296
Germany, commercial control, 311
Industry in 1913, 299
Position of Belgium, 313; of Germany, 313; of Great Britain, 314; of
Japan, 314; of Russia, 315; of the United States, 313
Production, 1913, 299; future changes in production, 307
Summary, 315
United States, commercial control, 309
Uses of, 294
World situation, 533
Zirconium
Alloys, 210
Baddeleyite or brazilite, 211
Chapter on, 209
Control of, 213,
Geographical distribution, 211; in Brazil, 212, 213; in India, 213;
in the United States, 213
Geological distribution, 211
Production, 215
Refractory uses of, 209
Summary, 215
Uses of, 209
World situation, 531
Zircon, 212
Transcriber’s Notes
Depending on the hard- and software used to read this text and their
settings, not all elements may display as intended. Some of the
tables may be illegible on small screens or in narrow windows.
Spelling, capitalisation and hyphenation as used in the source
document (including the errors and inconsistencies in company,
geographic and proper names, titles of publications, etc.) have not
been corrected or standardised, except as mentioned under Changes made
below. Results of calculations in tables are given in this text
as they appear in the source document, even though they appear to
contain occasional calculation and/or rounding off errors or are
based on incomplete or contradictory data.
Page 50, Table 7, table row Austria: the remark in the last column
may be better suited for the row Hungary.
Page 278, Footnote [132] Percentage of mean of totals used in a
and b: a and b refer to the columns with footnotes [130] and [131]
respectively.
Pages 508 and 510, Tables 72 and 74: these tables are (almost)
identical in the source document as well.
Changes made
Tables and illustrations have been moved out of text paragraphs;
footnotes have been renumbered sequentially and moved to directly
under the paragraph where they are referenced.
In several of the tables data have been aligned more consistently
than in the source document. Some tables have been split or otherwise
re-arranged to fit the available width. These tables have been split
so that it is straightforward to recombine them into single tables.
Some obvious minor typographical and punctuation errors have been
corrected silently.
Page ix: Platinum, by James H. Hill changed to Platinum, by James M.
Hill.
Page 35: Dorfmund changed to Dortmund.
Page 45: Alden changed to Aden.
Page 50, Table 7: References to page 49 (Austria, Hungary) replaced
with “above” cf. other entries.
Page 148: footnote anchor [78] inserted in table heading.
Page 224, Table 35: column header Western Hemisphere moved to
separate row; row Total Eastern Hemisphere: values 1,113,000,
212,750, 98,000, 31,000 and 125,000 moved to row World Total.
Page 278, Table 53: first column Per cent. under Primary pig lead,
Smelter production (values 0.2, 4.5, etc.) considered to be intended
as second column under Imports, Recoverable lead content of ores and
concentrate.
Page 432: ... and the latter in, exhaustibly available ... changed to
... and the latter inexhaustibly available ....
Page 509-510: Footnote anchor [186] inserted after both occurrences
of IO₃.