3,000,000 tons of rough lignite in addition to an
amount converted into 21,000,000 tons of briquette. This amount of
lignite, however, was required in Germany before the war _in addition
to_ the quantities of coal assumed above. I am not competent to speak on
the extent to which the loss of coal can be made good by the extended
use of lignite or by economies in its present employment; but some
authorities believe that Germany may obtain substantial compensation for
her loss of coal by paying more attention to her deposits of lignite.

[48] Mr. Hoover, in July, 1919, estimated that the coal output
of Europe, excluding Russia and the Balkans, had dropped from
679,500,000 tons to 443,000,000 tons,--as a result in a minor degree of
loss of material and labor, but owing chiefly to a relaxation of
physical effort after the privations and sufferings of the war, a lack
of rolling-stock and transport, and the unsettled political fate of some
of the mining districts.

[49] Numerous commercial agreements during the war ware
arranged on these lines. But in the month of June, 1919, alone, minor
agreements providing for payment in coal were made by Germany with
Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland. The amounts involved were not large,
but without them Germany could not have obtained butter from Denmark,
fats and herrings from Norway, or milk and cattle from Switzerland.

[50] "Some 60,000 Ruhr miners have agreed to work extra
shifts--so-called butter-shifts--for the purpose of furnishing coal for
export to Denmark hence butter will be exported in return. The butter
will benefit the miners in the first place, as they have worked
specially to obtain it" (_Koelnische Zeitung_, June 11, 1919).

[51] What of the prospects of whisky-shifts in England?

[52] As early as September, 1919, the Coal Commission had to
face the physical impracticability of enforcing the demands of the
Treaty, and agreed to modify them as follows:--"Germany shall in the
next six months make deliveries corresponding to an annual delivery of
20 million tons as compared with 43 millions as provided in the Peace
Treaty. If Germany's total production exceeds the present level of about
108 millions a year, 60 per cent of extra production, up to 128
millions, shall be delivered to the Entente and 50 per cent of any extra
beyond that, until the figure provided in the Peace Treaty is reached.
If the total production falls below 108 millions the Entente will
examine the si