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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 March 2019
It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of Poland's bituminous coal. It is her major natural resource and the most important single item in supplying foreign exchange. Coal provides the main source of industrial energy, and is the principal raw material for her expanding chemical industries and metallurgy. Coal mining overshadows her other mining and quarrying industries, constituting roughly two-thirds of the net material product contributed by the mineral industries to the net national product. Poland ranks as the fifth largest coal producer in the world.
1 Slowo Powszechne (Warsaw), September 9, 1955.
2 Barciński, F., Bogactwa kopalne Polski (Łódź, 1947), p. 5.Google Scholar Other estimates of the basins area range between 1,735 and 3,280 square miles. The following estimates by author are quoted in Lotkowski, W. H., “Geology of Polish Coal Deposits” (Unpublished manuscript. Mid-European Studies Center, New York, 1955)Google Scholar; Czarnocki, 1,735 square miles; Makowski, 2,085; Gaebler, 2,195; Michael, 2,220; Kukuk, 2,510; and Schmidt, 3,280.
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13 Computations are based on a crude estimate of the annual rate of increase of coal output. A trend line fitted to a production graph showed average increase of 3.5 percent per annum. The formula given below was applied to the figures given in text. The symbols represent: n—lifetime of reserves; R—estimated reserves; r—annual rate of increase of output; p—planned output in 1955.
14 According to classification of the American Society for Testing Materials, 1955; Book of ASTM Standards (Philadelphia, 1955), Part 5.
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19 Srokowski, op. cit., p. 223. The mine produced roughly 1.2 million tons per annum in the late 1930's. According to Deutsche Zeitung und Wirtschafts Zeitung, Stuttgart, October 13, 1951, the mine yielded 1.86 million metric tons in 1942; 1.6 in 1948; and 1.6 in 1950.
20 Srokowski, op. cit.; Rutkowski, op. cit., p. 357.
21 Zeitschrift für das Berg-Hütten und Salinenwesen in dem Preussischen Staate, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1857), p . 44.
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27 Pruszyński, op. cit., p. 17; Seraphim, P., Industrie-Kombinat Oberschlesien (Köln, 1953), p. 26.Google Scholar
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29 Ministerstwo Przemyslu i Handlu, Statystyka przemyslu wgglowego w państwie Polskim za rok 1927 (Warsaw, 1928), p. 1.
30 Ibid., p. 54; Ministerstwo Przemysłu i Handlu, Statystyka … za rok 1933 (Warsaw, 1934). p. 73.
31 Ministerstwo Przemysłu i Handlu, Statystyka … za rok 1935 (Warsaw, 1936), p. ix.
32 See Table IX.
33 The number of foreign coal enterprises was estimated by Dr. M. Fryde of Columbia University, the author of Kartele (Warsaw, 1934). The number of enterprises controlled by Polish capital is estimated from data given in Ministerstwo Przemysłu i Handlu, Statystyka … za rok 1937 (1938), pp. 4-16. According to Jackowski, A. (ed.), Ksifga gospodarcza Polski (Warsaw, 1939), pp. 18-19Google Scholar, the coal cartel embraced 32 enterprises, of which 10 were owned by the German, French, Italian, or Belgian capital, while some of the others were partly controlled by German shareholders.
34 Jackowski, op. cit., pp. 32-34.
35 Ibid., p. 17.
36 See Table VIII.
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38 United States War Department, Coal Mining Industry of Germany (Washington, D. C, 1944), pp. 107–108.Google Scholar
39 See Table IX.
40 Cf. Tables VII and VIII.
41 United States War Department, op, cit., p. 111.
42 Ibid., pp. 120-21.
43 See Tables VIII and IX.
44 Wszelaki, J., Fuel and Power in Captive Middle Europe (New York, 1952), p. 14.Google Scholar
45 See Tables VII and VIII.
46 Topolski, F., “Poland's Coal Industry,” Changing Epoch, No. 1 (1947), p. 5.Google Scholar
47 Ibid., p. 4.
48 Hubáček, op. cit., p. 64.
49 57 ,477,000 metric tons (Topolski, loc. cit.).
50 Topolski, op. cit., p. 5.
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52 Adopted in provisional form in September, 1946, and approved in the definitive form in July, 1947.
53 Output targets were subsequently modified to 67.5 million for 1948 and 74 million for 1949. Dziennik ustaw rzeczypospolitej Polskiej No. 19 (1948), p. 348; ibid., No. 26 (1949), p. 560.
54 Zauberman, A., “The Dilemma of the Polish Economy,” The World Today No. 3 (1954), p. 134.Google Scholar
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59 Gerschenkron, A., “Russia's Trade in the Postwar Years,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (Philadelphia, 1949), p. 89.Google Scholar
60 The 14.5 million tons could have been exported to Scandinavia at an average price of $14 per ton.
61 Finlands Officiella Statistic cited in Gerschenkron, op. cit., p. 96. Polish “political coal exports” were apparently a drop in the bucket as Russia produced 344.8 million tons of coal in 1946-47. Cf. Polezhajev, A., “The Development of Open-Cut Coal Mining in the USSR,” Bulletin of the Institute for the Study of the History and Culture of the USSR No. 6 (Munich, 1955), p. 40.Google Scholar
62 See Table XII, note (a). Cf. Zauberman, loc. cit.
63 Treaties and Documents cited in J. Dolina, “International Trade of Poland,” (Unpublished manuscript, Mid-European Studies Center, New York, 1955). 64 Trybuna ludu, May 3, 1955.
65 According to News from Behind the Iron Curtain No. 7, (1955), p. 19, Polish exports to Germany during January l-June 30, 1955 are to include 5 million dollars worth of coal.
66 Muszkiet, T., “Główne problemy rozwoju górnictwa weglowego w planie piecioletnim,” Gospodarka planawa No. 4 (1955), p. 1.Google Scholar
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68 Trybuna ludu, loc. cit.
69 Ibid.
70 The lag of coal output behind the over-all output of Poland's industries may be illustrated by comparing the official index of gross industrial production compiled from Secomski, K., Analiza wykonania planu trzyletniego (Warsaw, 1950), p. 37 Google Scholar, and Statistische Praxis, No. 2 (1955), p. 26, with an unweighted index of coal output (Cf. Table X).
It should be noted that the index of industrial production is biased by application of inflated price weights. While similar manipulation with price weights would increase the rate of growth of the coal index, its lag would still reflect the normal process of relative cheapening of basic producers’ goods in a rapidly industrializing country.
71 Figures for 1937 and 1949 are computed on the basis of population estimates given in Concise Statistical Yearbook of Poland 1938 (Warsaw, 1938), p. 19, and United States Department of Commerce, The Population of Poland (Washington, D. C, 1954), p. 122 Google Scholar. The 1954 figure was reported by Trybuna ludu, loc. cit.
72 Trybuna ludu, loc, cit.
73 See Table XV.
74 Bierut, B., Plan szeicioletni (Warsaw, 1951), p. 164.Google Scholar
75 Trybuna ludu, March 15, 1954.
76 Głos pracy, June 28, 1954.
77 An index of industrial real wages compiled from official announcements given in the Trybuna ludu, December 20, 1948; ibid., March 12, 1954; and Zycie gospodarcze, No. 4, (1955), p. 153, shows an increase between 1949 and 1953. However, the author's index of average monthly industrial wages based on indices given in Zauberman, A., “The Soviet Cheap Labor Area in Europe,” Eastern Quarterly, No. 3-4 (1953), pp. 38–39 Google Scholar, and Regent, A., “Place i koszty utrzymania w Polsce,” Zagadnienia Polskie No. 1 (1955), pp. 114-16Google Scholar, shows a considerable decline in the same period.
78 As the benefits of the Miners’ Charter of November 30, 1949 in addition to the coal issues and other non-wage elements, raised the real weekly wages of Polish coal miners in 1950 by 15-25 percent above the industrial average (Cf. “Uchwaja Rady Ministrów,” Przeglqd górniczy No. 12, [Katowice, 1949], pp. 1187-90; and Ferski, A., Organizacja placy i prac II, [Warsaw, 1951], 9, 22)Google Scholar, it is possible to assume that they were roughly equal to the average real weekly wages of Polish industrial workers in 1938 (author's index, supra). Expressed in 1953 U. S. dollars, these wages amounted to $19.50. ( Statystyczny, Główny Urzad Polskiej, Rzeczypospolitej, Mały rocznik statystyczny 1939 [Warsaw, 1939], pp. 236, 265, 274Google Scholar; United States Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States 1954 [Washington, D. C., 1954], p. 330 Google Scholar). The hourly wage rate of 26 cents is based on the author's index of real wages. It is adjusted to the differences in the number of working hours per week, as given in Główny Urzd Statystyczny, op. cit., p. 265, and computed from Twarowski, Z., “Wzmóc walke o wzrost wydajnosci pracy w Kopalniach wegla kamiennego,” Gospodarka plarowa, No. 8, (1955). p. 8.Google Scholar Non-Polish wage rates as given in International Labor Office, Year Book of Labor Statistics 1954 (Geneva, 1954), pp. 171, 173, 176Google Scholar, are also expressed in 1953 U. S. dollars.
79 Uchwala Rady Ministr6w, loc. cit. Further wage increases were granted in September, 1954. Trybuna ludu, September 3, 1954.
80 Zauberman, “The Dilemma of the Polish Economy,” The World Today No. 4, (London, 1954), p. 77.
81 Carlton, R. K. (ed.). Forced Labor in the “People's Democracies” (New York, 1955) pp. 242-25Google Scholar; Mid-European Studies Center, New York, Forced Labor files, 1953-54.
82 See Table XIII. Twarowski, op. cit., pp. 9-10, attributes the recent decline in productivity to workers’ dissatisfaction with inferior machinery and the resulting resistance to mechanization, to the inadequate political indoctrination of workers, to managerial disregard of workers’ welfare and the resulting high rate of labor turnover, and to inadequate wages of technical and supervisory personnel.
83 Bayer, M., “Zagadnienia inwestycji w przemysle weglowym,” Przeglqd technicmy (Warsaw, 1946)Google Scholar, Congressional Issue, p. 82.
84 A recapitulation of data given in Minc, B., “Plan inwestycyjny na rok 1949,” Gospodarka planovia No. 1, (1949), pp. 32–33 Google Scholar; Secomski, K., “Nowe kierunki polityki in westycyjnej i ich wplyw na wzrost dobrobytu ludnosci,” Ekonomista Nos. I-II, (1954), pp. 90–92 Google Scholar; and Secomski, K., “Planowanie inwestycji w Polsce ludowej w swietle prawa proporcjonalnego rozwoju gospodarki narodowej,” Gospodarka planowa No. 7, (1954), p. 10 Google Scholar, results in the following index of centralized investments (in 1953 prices):
85 Centralized investments per worker in coal mining rose from 1,800 “post-1950 reform” zlotys in 1948 to 6,600 in 1952, while the over-all industrial average rose from 1,100 in 1948 to 5,100 in 1952. Cf. Mine, loc. cit.; Secomski, Gospodarka Planowa, loc. cit.; and Table XIII.
86 United Nations, Economic Survey of Europe in 1048 (Geneva, 1949), pp. 52–53 Google Scholar, expresses Poland's gross investments in 1938 U. S. dollars and gives comparable data for Great Britain and France. The method of calculation for Poland was not specified, and it appears that primary sources given in the appendix were misused. Recapitulation of figures with data given in United Nations, Quarterly Bulletin of Coal Statistics, No. 1, (1955), p. 8 Google Scholar, and in Table XIII, results in the following gross investment figures for 1948 (in 1938 U. S. dollars):
87 Blauth, I., “Aktualne zagadnienia mechanizacji górnictwa weglowego,” Gospodarka planowa No. 3, (1955), p. 5.Google Scholar
88 Lesz, M., “Zadania budownictwa górniczego,” Zycie gospodarcze, No. 31, (1953), p. 1225.Google Scholar
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91 Lesz, loc. cit.; Blauth, loc. cit.
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93 Przeglqd gorniczy, No. 7-8, (1947), p. 577; Dziennik ustaw rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, No. io, (1950), item 102; Olszewski, J., “Zmiany w strukturze organizacyjnej przemyslu weglowego,” Przeglqd gorniczy, No. 4, (1950), pp. 218-21.Google Scholar
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95 See Table XVI, note (c).
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109 Augustowski and Blass, op. cit., pp. 87-88.
110 Trybuna ludu, October 16, 1954.
111 Ibid., December 3, 1954. 112 Muszkiet, op. cit., pp. 1-5.
113 Slowo powszechne, September 9, 1955.
114 Radjans'ka Vkrayina (Kiev), July 6, 1955; ibid., July g, 1955.
115 Try buna ludu, May 26, 1951. It is worth noting that according to A. A., “Przemysl naftowy w Polsce,” Zagadnienia Polskie No. i, (New York, 1955), p. 121, the petroleum reserves of the Ustrzyki Dolne area are very meager.
116 A compilation based on: Planovoe khozjajstvo (Moscow), May, 1954; Neue Zitrcher Zeitung (Zurich), April 3, 1954; Trybuna ludu (Warsaw), February 6, 1954; Ghih-chih Chou Ts'e (Peking), September 16, 1954; Rude Prdvo (Prague), February 4, 1954; Magyar Gazdasdgkutato Intizet (Budapest), November 15, 1954; Trud (Sofia), May 2, 1954; Sctnteia (Bucharest), February 11, 1954; Bulletin Statistique (Saigon), December 1954; StatisMki godilnjak 1954 (Belgrade), December, 1955; The New York Times, June 9, 1955 (output of North Korea); United States Department of States, Office of Intelligence Research (output of Outer Mongolia); and Radio Tirana, November 28, 1954, shows that all Communist countries produced 766,678,000 metric tons of coal in 1953. The combined mine output of anthracite, bituminous coal, brown coal, and lignite of the individual countries amounted to (in 1000's metric tons):
117 In the late 1940's Poland supplied the bulk of coal imported by the Soviet Bloc. According to Laskowski, T., “Rola g6rnos4a,skiego zagl?bia weglowego w obudowie europy,” Przeglqd techniczny, Nos. 1-2, (1949), p. 25 Google Scholar, Poland delivered about 90 percent of the coal imported by Bulgaria, Hungary, and Roumania, and about 60 percent of that imported by Czechoslovakia and Eastern Germany in 1947. (Cf. Dewar, op. cit., passim.). Author's examination of several more recent studies on intra-regional trade in the Soviet Bloc (see unpublished foreign trade studies listed in the Report of the Mid-European Studies Center [New York, 1955]), shows that only Poland exported appreciable quantities of coal during the 1950's (Cf. Gryziewicz, S., Polish Fuel and Power in the Soviet Economic Sphere [New York, 1954], p. 5).Google Scholar