It is certain already that the structure of the international aluminium industry will be more affected by the war than any other metal trade. Even should the war end in 1942, the world's annual production capacity for aluminium will exceed 1,000,000 metric tons, of which the greatest expansion has been made on the European mainland and in the United States and Canada, From 1927 to 1929, the last boom years, world production of aluminium amounted to 490,600 and 282,100 metric tons, respectively. To find markets for the double supply since 1937, when war-plane production absorbed a huge tonnage, requires careful planning. Not only development of new uses, but also reduction of the price of aluminium for increase in competitive strength is needed. Fortunately, the general trends of engineering favour the widest use of special aluminium properties, so that aluminium research has great possibilities, For the third time since the beginning of the war, the British coal industry has been asked by the government to change the tempo of its output. At the start of hostilities, coal production showed an annual rate of 230,000,000 tons. In the early months of the war, 270,000,000 tons were aimed at, for obtaining adequate supplies for France and the Scandinavian and Mediterranean countries, Last Spring, most of the export markets were lost and the output was reduced to 200,000,000 tons, Steps now have been taken to produce an additional 25,000,000 tons.
An increase of 12% per cent, is needed to supply the greater war requirements, for accumulation of substantial reserves in consuming centres and to prevent a shortage next Winter. The first two war Winters brought a considerable coal shortage to certain British districts, though in the second Winter only householders suffered.
The British Government is trying to prevent a repetition of the shortage by early planning, Extension of production is causing labour and transport problems, The labour problem is being solved by the introduction of the "essential work order" in the coal industry. This prevents workers from leaving the industry and mine owners from dismissing workers. It also guarantees workers a weekly minimum wage and regular employment.
The workers' union, after rejecting compulsion early in April, now have accepted the order, Transport regulation has improved considerably by agreement of the government and the coal distributors for an immediate turn-around of coal cars, The British Government at present is examining increased use of canal shipping for coal and the reduction of passenger railway services on certain days in order to run more coal trains, Unless enemy action interferes, the government's plan has good chances of success, for the annual capacity of the British coal industry exceeds the planned production of 225,000,000 tons by more than 100,000,000 tons.
There is an idea around that the gold standard has done pretty well until the last ten years. but history doesn't bear it out! In only two out of the last eight centuries have peaple been content to leave it alone. Sir Isaac Newton, the man who watched the apple drop and figured out the law of gravitation, fixed the mint price of gold in England around 1700 and people stood for it until 1931; but these are the only two centuries in English history when people have been willing to let the standerd alone. It hasn't had even that good a record in this country.
One of the reasons for the American Revolution was the effort of English merchants to impose hard money on the colonies. and one of the reasons for the writing of the Constitution was a rebellion of farmers up in Massachusetts who objected to a hard money law passed by Boston.
One of the side-skirmishes that led te the Civil War was the effort of Alabama and Mississippi planters to set up unsound-paper-money banks; for nineteen years after the Civil War the country refused to go back to the gold standard. and got along on greenbacks; ten years later the silver movement broke out; during the World War we had to suspend gold payments, and fifteen years after it wes over we suspended them again—end they're still suspended. We never had that much trouble with any other standard of weight or measure.
Last year we imported $4.750,000,- 000 worth of gold. That was more. in dollar value. then the total of all our imports and exports of everything else put together. It was four or five times the value of all the airplanes we hope to export to England this year, and nearly 100 times the value we'll probably export in cotton.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.