raised in the former year was 3016 tons in Moselle, and 60 tons in Lot. On the other hand, the following departments, 13 in number, from which coal was not obtained in 1836, have since been made to yield. that mineral-some of them in comparatively considerable quantity. This quantity may not appear very considerable to those who are accustomed to the magnitude of mining operations in this country; but the importance of the beginning thus made will not be undervalued, if we consider that of the 30 coal producing departments, in 1836, the aggregate quantity yielded by 22, or 11-15ths of the whole number, was less in that year than the quantity thus newly produced in the above 13 departments in 1841, and that the 20 of those 22 departments in which coal mines were worked in that year then produced very nearly double the quantity they had yielded in 1836. The total quantity of coal, anthracite and lignite, raised in 1841 amounted to 3,410,200 tons. In 1814, the produce of all the coal mines in France was only 665,610 tons. This quantity was about doubled in 1826, the produce in that year having been 1,301,045 tons. In the following ten years this increased quantity was nearly doubled, the quantity raised in 1836 having been 2,544,835 tons. The increase during the last five years to which the statements reach has therefore been 34 per cent. ; but if computed upon the produce of 1814, the difference between 1836 and 1841 amounts to 130 per cent. The increase during the whole period of 27 years has been 412 per cent. The quantities raised in each of the years above named, and the increase obtained between each period, have been as follows: The number of coal mines in work during 1841 was 256, showing an average production of 13,321 tons per mine. The average production in 1836 was only 9863 tons. The number of workmen employed in raising various kinds of coal in France in 1841 was 29,320, of whom 22,595 worked in the mines. The average quantity raised to each person employed was 116 tons, being the same quantity as in 1836, when the number of persons employed was 21,913. The value assigned in the official documents to the the cost of each ton amount in 1836 to 11s. 3d., produce makes and in 1841 to only 7s. 91d.; the average value raised by each workman, which in 1836 amounted to 657. 9s. 10d., had therefore fallen in 1841 to 45l. 1s. 5d., or nearly one-third. There are no means afforded for ascertaining in what proportion this saving has resulted from economy in the working, or from diminished wages or profits. In whatever manner the saving may have arisen, it is, however, an important fact, that the cost of production has in so short a space of time as five years been reduced to so great an extent as 30 per cent., without preventing the continued extension of this branch of employment. We have no means whereby to ascertain correctly the quantity of coal raised in this country, but there are good grounds for believing that it is at least ten times the quantity that was raised in France in 1841. From Parliamentary documents we know that the quantities shipped coastways from one port to another in Great Britain and Ireland, in 1841, was 7,649,899 tons; the quantity exported to British colonies and foreign countries in the same year was 1,848,294 tons; together, 9,498,193 tons. But we know that for all great manufacturing purposes-smelting, casting, and forging iron and other metals, for glass-making, in the potteries, in our cotton, woollen, flax, and silk factories-coal is used which is produced on the spot, and is therefore not included in any account of shipments. It has been estimated that in our iron-works alone the consumption amounts to 6,877,000 tons yearly; and it will not be thought unreasonable to assume that a like quantity is used in all the other great branches of manufacture which are carried on among the various coalfields. It was ascertained by a deputation from the body of coal owners of Durham and Northumberland, who were sent through the kingdom for the purpose of making the inquiry in the year 1816, that the quantity of coal distributed by canals and other modes of inland communication from the coal-fields of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire, to the east, west, and south of the kingdom, amounted to 10,808,046 tons; and there can be no doubt that at this time the quantity thus distributed must be much greater. These quantities amount to more than 34,000,000 of tons; and as the number of persons of all ages and both sexes employed in coalmines in Great Britain in 1841 was found to be 118,233, it follows that the average quantity raised by each person is 253 tons, or about 120 per cent. more than the average quantity raised by each person from the coal-mines in France. The use of coal in France is not limited to the supply obtained from the mines of that country. Considerable and constantly increasing quantities are yearly imported from Belgium, from the Rhenish provinces of Prussia and Bavaria, and from England. The quantity so imported in 1814 was 165,345 tons; in 1826 it had reached 505,180 tons; in 1836 it had further advanced to 999,452 tons; and in 1841 the quantity imported was 1,619,160 tons. Of this last mentioned quantity the importations were :— On the other hand, some small quantities of coal are exported from France; but those shipments have never reached 50,000 tons in one year. The quantities of this description of fuel, so important for all manufacturing processes, and so indispensable for some, that remained for use in the kingdom in the years already cited were, in round numbers, as follows :- The import duties on coal were diminished in 1834 from one uniform rate of 15 francs per ton to 3 francs, 6 francs, and 10 francs per ton, depending upon the district into which it is brought by sea; while the duty on importations by land was reduced from 3 francs to 1 franc and 1 franc 50 cents, such reduction being from 33 to 80 per cent. upon the former rates. The quantities imported have, since this reduction, increased to the extent of 130 per cent.; but, concurrently with this increase, the internal production has been augmented to the extent of 65 per cent. Iron. The increase which has taken place in this branch of mining industry since 1836 is not nearly so great as the increase that has attended the production of mineral fuel; for which result we may in great part account by the fact, that the iron trade in France has not been subjected to any diminution of fiscal protection, but continues to be hedged round by high and, as regards many qualities of the metal, prohibitory duties. There were in 1836 twelve districts in which the making of iron was prosecuted in France. Including both smelting works and works for making bar-iron, there were in those twelve districts 894 distinct establishments. In 1841 the number of distinct establishments was increased to 1023. There were smelting works in 59 different departments, and in 20 other departments the making of pig and bar-iron from ore elsewhere produced was carried on; so that there were only 7 departments throughout France in which one of those two branches of the iron manufacture was not prosecuted. These 7 departments were: 1. Basses Alpes. 2. Hautes Alpes. 3. Creuse. 4. Gers. 5. Haute Loire. 6. Lozère. 7. Vendée. In some departments the quantity of iron made was inconsiderable. In Cantal the value of the metal produced was only 1280 francs, or 51. 4s.; and in each of 13 other departments the value in the year did not reach 5000l. One half in value of all the iron made in France in 1841 was produced in the following 9 departments, which are here placed in the order of their productiveness, viz. : 1. Haute Marne. 2. Moselle. 3. Côte d'Or. 4. Loire. 5. Nièvre. 6. Ardennes. 7. Cher. 8. Haute Saône. 9. Meuse. Including with those 9 departments the like number which follow, placed also in the order of their productiveness, viz. : 1. Seine, 6. Vosges, 8. Dordogne, it 2. Doubs, 3. Gard, 4. Saône et Loire, 9. Indre, appears that 5-7ths in value of all the iron made in France is produced in 18 departments, and that the remaining 2-7ths are distributed among 61 departments. The greatest value was in 1841 produced in the department of Haute Marne, and amounted to 11,983,744 francs, or 479,3497., which sum was divided among 86 establishments placed in 41 different localities; some of which establishments are said to have been in operation so early as the beginning of the 17th century. The value of iron and steel made in the various departments of France, which amounted, according to the returns of the Government inspectors, to 4,975,424/. in 1836, is stated by those officers to have amounted in 1841 to 5,671,5827., showing an increase in 5 years of barely 14 per cent. The value assigned to a given weight of the produce has during the same time been reduced at the rate of 84 per cent. The 12 districts in which iron is produced are thus distributed according to the official documents : 5th. Group of the South-east. Isère-Vaucluse-Drôme. 6th. Group of the North-east .{ 7th. Group of Champagne 8th. Group of the Centre Ardennes-Moselle - Meuse-Nord-Bas Rhin Haute Marne-Côte d'Or-Meuse-Vosges- Nièvre-Saône et Loire-Cher-Allier-Loiret. 9th. Group of the South-west.{Landes- Gironde - Basses Pyrénées — Lot et Fields Garonne. 10th. Group of the Coal Fields) Nord-Pas de Calais-Oise-Seine-Seine et of the North Oise. 11th. Group of the Coal Fields Loire · Aveyron — Ardêche 1 Rhone. Gard-Isère 12th. Group of the Pyrenees and Ariège-Pyrénées Orientales — Aude — Haute Garonne Tarn- Basses Pyrénées- Hautes Pyrénées-Corse. Corsica The grouping in the foregoing arrangement is somewhat different from that adopted in the returns of 1836. The actual and relative importance of each group may be seen from the following figures: The following figures present the number of workmen employed in the different divisions of the iron manufacture, and the value created in each of those divisions in 1836 and in 1841:— The value assigned to each form or product of the manufacture in the French official accounts, is, when converted into English weight and money : Per Ton. Bar Iron Per Ton. £22 18 10 6 5 15 13 1 These prices, so exorbitantly high when compared with the cost of production in England, must result in great part from the less efficient application of labour in France, and partly also from the higher cost of fuel in that country. Measuring the production of the two countries by the quantity of ore converted into pig iron, it appears that in Great Britain we make 4 tons for each ton made in France, while the number of persons employed for the purpose is positively greater in France than in England, viz. :— 47,830 I In Great Britain 42,418 |