"The value of our own potato crop in the United States last year was approximately $540,000,000 at the place of production, and yet the amount entering international trade was only $4,000,000. Our potato crop averages about 90 bushels per acre, that of European Russia 100 bushels; France 135 bushels; Austria 150 bushels; United Kingdom 124 bushels, and Germany 200 bushels and upward per acre, her large flavorless potato, grown chiefly for alcohol, having reached and sometimes exceeded 500 bushels per acre." FUEL CONTROL The coal industry was the one basic war industry. Food and munitions were dependent upon the coal supply. It is not necessary to elaborate this argument; it is patent to every one. The following table gives a view of the coal production of the most important countries: COAL PRODUCTION IN THE LEADING COAL-PRODUCING COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD ========================================================================= Country | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 -------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------- United States|570,048,125|513,525,477|531,619,487|585,372,568|621,409,629 Great Britain|287,698,617|265,664,393|253,206,081|256,348,351|248,473,119 Germany |278,627,497|245,482,135|235,082,000| | Austria-Hungary59,647,957| | | 30,896,388| 28,558,719 France | 40,843,618| 29,786,505| 19,908,000| 21,477,000| 28,960,000 Russia | 35,500,674| | 27,820,632| 13,622,400| 13,266,760 Belgium | 22,847,000| | 15,930,000| | Japan | 21,315,962| 21,293,419| 20,490,747| 22,901,580| India | 18,163,856| | 17,103,932| 17,254,309| China | 15,432,200| | 18,000,000| | Canada | 15,012,178| 13,637,529| 13,267,023| 14,483,395| 14,015,588 Spain | 4,731,647| 4,424,439| 4,686,753| 5,588,594| Holland | 2,064,608| | 2,333,000| 2,656,000| ========================================================================= THE COAL SHORTAGE A rapid advance in coal prices was inevitable under war conditions of unceasing demand and diminishing supply. Says Mr. William Notz in an article in the _Journal of Political Economy_, June, 1918: