The figures of the increase of iron and steel production previously referred to are an index of Germany's industrial growth.
The proportionate increase of Germany's steel output is vastly greater than that of any other country and has reached one-half of that of the United States, with its immeasurably greater deposits.
Of known supplies of coal, it is calculated that Germany's coal will last over 1,000 years; that of France 500 years and that of the United Kingdom only 300 years. Of known iron de posits, the calculated amounts are: Germany, 3,878,000,000 tons ; France; 3,300,000,000 tons; United Kingdom, 1,300,000,000 tons and the United States 9,855,000,000 tons.f Germany's share of the. European supply is 32.3 per cent and of the world's supply 17.3 per cent. Her pig iron and steel output is only slightly less than one-fourth of the world's total output.
The increase in production in all countries shows the great strides of modern industry all over the world. The present figures show an activity and volume of business that makes the world of a generation ago seem poverty-stricken by comparison.
In the production of coal and lignite Ger many has made progress almost as great as in steel and iron. The comparative figures are as follows: ducing 2,500,000,000 cubic metres of gas (as compared with 325,000,000 in 1877), having a value of 375,000,000 marks ($93,750,000), with by-products having a value of 83,300,000 marks ($20,825,000).
In addition to iron, steel, coal and coke, Germany has other highly important mining industries which have made immense advances in the past generation.
The great increase in the production of coal is an index of the growth of Germany's indus tries both actually and in proportion to her population; the increase per capita is a demon stration of the intensification of her industrial activities.
The total value of Germany's mined coal in 1887 was 351,300,000 marks while in 1911 it was 1,756,100,000 marks, an increase of 400 per cent. The United States, which was consider ably behind Britain, is now far in the lead while Germany has almost equaled Britain and now produces one-fifth of the world's total output of coal.
In coke production Germany has substan tially passed Great Britain.
The increase in mining output thus, of more • than sixfold, is due very considerably to the numerous new chemical and technical processes which have made it possible to recover ore values that would otherwise have remained un obtainable. In 25 years the total value of the direct products of German mining have in creased from 700,000,000 to 2,000,000,000 marks and this vast augmentation of wealth has transformed Germany from one of the poorest to one of the richest of countries.
In the consumption of copper Germany has a long lead over Britain and compares favor ably with the United States and is growing much more rapidly than either.
Germany thus produces one-quarter of the world's coke and is increasing her production at a far more rapid rate than are the other countries. In coke by-products the increase is far more rapid and reflects the important de velopment of Germany's chemical industries.
In addition to her supplies of tar used in chemical industries Germany imports large quantities of tar from the United States which serves to conserve her supplies of raw material. Her gas industry in 1910 consumed coal to the value of 120,000,000 marks ($30,000,000), pro It will be seen that the consumption of cot ton as compared with the number of spindles is much larger in the United States and Ger many than in Britain. This does not mean that the consumption per spindle is necessarily greater, but rather that more cotton is used for purposes such as the manufacture of explosives than for weaving. The industrial use of ex plosives has greatly increased in recent years, especially in the United States, where less than 1 per cent of the output of explosive fac tories is devoted to the military purposes of the national government.
The superiority of Germany in brewing is rather in the number of breweries than in the volume of the brew.