Coal and iron are the backbone of industrial civilization, and should be considered first in any attempt to analyze the ownership and control, as between nations, of the world’s mineral resources. Kin to coal in growing importance, however, is the lighter, fluid and volatile mineral substance, petroleum, whose significance is vast and as yet not wholly defined. More easily transportable than coal, and yielding refined products whose explosive action in internal-combustion engines furnishes greater power in proportion to weight than was once deemed possible, petroleum and its products, apart from their immense direct economic importance, may, in the automobile, the submarine, and the air plane, and through numerous other applications, control strategically, from a nationalistic standpoint, the more inert foundations of civilization. Moreover, the use of crude petroleum as fuel, especially for ships, is of the most vital importance in these days of greater competitive plans for expanding world-wide commerce, and establishing the strength and ready efficiency of navies. Great maritime nations must have, for their oil-burning ships, oil-bunkering stations under their own control in all parts of the world where they wish their commerce to dominate, and their navies to protect their interests efficiently. The recognition by certain strong and aggressive nationalities of this critical factor has brought about a situation that is perhaps unparalleled in the mineral history of the world. Coal and iron have always been decidedly static as to control--they have remained largely under the supervision and direction of the countries in which they occur. Transportation costs, the conjunction of iron and coal deposits, and other factors have prevented these minerals, in spite of their vast importance, from being fully used as a world commodity. By contrast, petroleum is coming to be universal, like gold, in its acceptance and applicability; but, unlike gold, it is essential in the highest degree to the advance of modern civilization. The fluidity of this mineral, its consequent amazingly cheap transportation and handling by pipe lines, the completeness with which it can be utilized, all combine toward making it in the future the crucial factor of commercial and of political control. Moreover, this fluidity of form and ease of application facilitate the control of petroleum by vast commercial organizations, like the Standard Oil of America, and others in various parts of the world; and even make its world control feasible and probable. Recognizing this tendency, many nations, like England, France, Holland, Argentina, and Mexico, have taken steps looking toward a partial nationalization of their petroleum resources, in order to protect themselves against foreign commercial aggression in this particular. England has gone farthest in this direction, and has reached and is reaching out aggressively into other countries to