USE OF OIL IN THE WAR

Waikato Times, Volume 91, Issue 14167, 18 September 1919, Page 9

USE OF OIL IN THE WAR

PART PLAYED BY INDUSTRY. HOW VERDUN WAS SAVED. In the course of a speech in London recently, Mr Alfred G. Bedford, chairman of the board of directors of the Standard Oil Company, and late' chairman of the National Petroleum War Service Committee of the United States, said it would interest his hearers to know the part taken in the great struggle of war by the oil industry. He was ' thankful, beyond expression, that the great industry in which he was engaged had done its part, and that he was personally privileged to play a part, however small, in that period of the world’s history which had sounded the Death Knell of Despotism

and seen the triumph of representative institutions, with all that it meant to mankind. The result of the setting up of the National Petroleum Committee in the States had not only stimulated the production of oil and kept it in the most-needed channels, but also had (Co-ordinated transportation both on sea and land. Without profiteering, it had controlled prices, and had been the means of creating a most effective point of contact between the United States and her overseas allies, having provided the Allies with over 80 per cent, of their petroleum requirements. Mr Bedford, continuing, said he had recently returned from the battlefields of Prance and Flanders, and when at Verdun the method by which the French army was able to hold that fortress against almost overpowering attack was explained to him. That wonderful defence Was only made possible by the continuous stream of motor-lorries which for many months moved in a continuous file‘from Paris to Verdun, carrying supplies which were being exhausted with bewildering rapidity. He was told by the French that these motor-lorries could only move by virtue af the gasoline sent to them from the United States. He was informed that during the war the consumption of gasoline by the French armies alone had been about 35,000 tons a month. During the more strenuous days of the fighting in 1918 the Allied armies in France used 2000 tons of motor spirit every day. Some interesting figures now available as to the extent to which petroleum was now used by the British Navy. At the signing of the armistice 48 per cent, of the men-of-war of the British Empire used oil instead of coal upon which to run their engines. That meant, of course, that in the absence of petroleum 48 per cent, of the men-of-war would have been impotent. In October, 1917, some 200,000 tons of oil were shipped from American ports for the

Use of the British Navy Alone, and that amount was raised to 315,000 tons a year later. During the year 1918 about 2,029,000 tons of fuel oil were shipped from the Eastern American seaboard for the use of the Allied navies in Europe, and during the same period over one million tons of petroleum products were sent to the Allies, entailing the loading of over 500 tank steamers. Mr Bedford paid a high tribute to the splendid co-operation and courtesy shown to himself and his committee by the representative men sent from England during the war and the broad way in which they sought to assist them in solving the petroleum problems which were constantly being presented. But now that the war was oyer they were faced with the controversies of peace, and lie was sure they would all be deeply interested in after-war relationships. As an American who valued and appreciated the friendship of Great Britain and desired that the closest relationship should exist between the two great English-speaking nations of (he world, he was afraid that things might not go on ns peacefully and quietly as during the, war. It would rest largely, he believed, in the hands of the business men of the two countries as to what those relationships in the coming years should be. President Wilson spoke truly in an address recently delivered in Turin, when he said: '"The men whs do the busi-

ness of the world now shape the des-,. times of the W’orld, and peace or war is now, in a large measure, In the hands of those who conduct the commerce of the world.” It was how that commerce was to be conducted in the future that would determine the

Relations of England and America. Both countries were talking with enthusiasm of the great opportunity for foreign trade. Was the warfare of arms to be succeeded by an economic warfare, or should it be rather a fair competition, America asked no favour, but ■ equal opportunity. In the limited observations he had been able to make of the Peace Conference no one could be accused of excessive moderation in their demands, and he had seen evidences of desire for special privileges. Was that the spirit that was to govern or should they endeavour as business men so to conduct their trade that their competition should be one of efficiency and quality' and service, rather than chicanery, intrigue and destructive competition.