THE SAAR VALLEY
ITS MINERAL WEALTH
FRENCH TRADITIONS
(H. Warner Allen, in the "Morning Post.")
The Saar valley was included by the Treaty of Paris in 1814) in French' Lorraine, but after the Hundred Days it was handed over to Prussia by the second Treaty of Paris in 1815. Prussia was already pursuing that policy of economic greed which led half a century later to 'the crime of 1870 and culminated in the war of Mi. At the beginning of tho nineteenth century tho value of the Saar coal 'mines was beginning to bo realised. Tho presence of coal in the region was kiiown as far back as the sixteenth century, and in the eighteenth century tho inhabitants went with a pickaxe to dig out such coal as they needed for domestic purposes from the points-where tho coal fields were nearest the surface. The Princo of Nassau-Sarrebruek, whoso estates, were practically surrounded by French territory, nationalised the coal mines, or, rather, took them for himself. , The French Government under Napoleon T undertook a .methodical .survey "f the basin, which was carried out by the French engineers of tho Ecole des Mines. Their efforts were closely watched by the ironmasters of AVestphalia, who were anxious to put an end to tho competition \vhich they had to face at Ihe hands of tho French metallurgist*!, and who afterwards saw in the Treaty of 1815 an excellent opportunity of denriving France of her supply of coal in that' region. A certain Boecking provided the Prussian diplomats with the necessary economic information, and, despite the violent protests of tho population, the valley ot the Saar was torn away from France. t . Gospel of Plunder,
In 1870 Germany, with the Saar coalfields in her hands, decided to rob France of the mineral wealth contained in Lorraine. At that moment tho full value of that wealth was not understopd, and the Germans had no idea that the great iron deposits which they were annexing cropped' out again beyond the new frontier in the Briey region. Even as it was; thoujjh the Briey basin possessed deposits richer than those of annexed Lorraine, the Germans had a great advantage in .their control of the coal supply of the region. In 1913 France consumed nearly 65 million tons of coal, ofwhich 21 million tons were imported'. Yet, despite this very considerable importation, France was unable to.work nearly half her production of iron ore. Oiit of nearly 29 million tons produced she. was compelled to export nearly nine million tons, of which about four.million tons were exported to Germany, and th° rest to Belgium. ; . .
The recovery of the mineral resources of Lorraine will double' the French production of ore, and, unless there is some more or less commensurate increase in the French coal supply, France will still bo to a great extent at tho mercy of the German- coalowners. ■ If one takes the forges.of the Department of Meurthe-et-Mosello. before the- war, one finds that they .consumed over four million tons of coke.' Of.this quantity 2,400,000 tons were imported from Germany on the most onOrous conditions. The competing metallurgists controlled' the coal mines, and they .were careful to see that the French forges paid an exorbitant price for the coal, without which they could do nothings to say nothing of the heavy transport charges. The Saar basin, if it becomes French, will at least compensate to a certain extent ,for the French handicap in the matter of coal, thou'gh this arrangement, would still leave immense riches in the hands of the coalowners of Westphalia. Coke Production. The Saar Valley produces coal of rather inferior quality. It can be used for domestic purposes and for t..jo manufacture of gas, but it is less valuable for the production of coke, and therefore less serviceable to the' metallurgist. None the less the Sanr field produces about one half of the four and a half million tons of coko required by the forges of the Saar itself and of annexed Lorraine. With the exception of two private-owned mines all the coalfields of the Saar are the property of the-Prussian Government,; so that they are peculiarly adapted to form.' a part of the indemnity the Allies will impose on Germany. In 1815 the French Government, though, it had surveyed the region, had given no concessions to pri-vate-firms, and Prussia, on taking over all the work accomplished by the French engineers, decided to keep the mines as national property. Since. 1905 these mines have brought in a yearly revenue of 11,000,000 marks, and- that although there has been no intensive production, as tho Prussian Government was unwiling to enter into competition with the Westplialian coalowners. The district is to-day extremely prosperous. , There is no sign of shortage of.the necessaries of life, and prices ore much lower than those prevailing in Lorraine. At Sarrebruek I' was informed that the population was living on its stocks, and that after a month there would be nothing; left to eat. In the meantime the inhabitants seem well fed and little worried about the future. Some Statistics. The following statistics concerning the Saaf Valley illustrate its industrial importance. It? coalfields have an area of about 380,000 acres, being rather larger than those of the Nord and Pns-de-Calais. Their communications are assured 'by. two main railway linos, one running east and west from Metz' to Mannheim,, via Sarrebruek;' the other north'and south from Treves to Sarrebourg, also passing through Sarrebruek. The transport of coal is fmrther facilitated by a remarkable canal system which is linked up with the iiarneEhine' canal! Tho most valuable mines are found in the neighbourhood of Sarrebruek. In 1913 seventeen million tons were' extracted from eighty mines, of ■which sixty in the Bhenish province were responsible for twelve and 1 a 'half million tons, while the mines loft, in Lorraine by the 1915 frontier only produced 3,800,000 tons; \
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 167, 9 April 1919, Page 7
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979THE SAAR VALLEY Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 167, 9 April 1919, Page 7
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