Show THE CONTROL OF RADIUM the committee on mines and mining of the house of representatives having reported favorably the bill providing for government control of the production and manufacture of radium and hearings having been recently held in the senate on similar bills the situation has cleared in the house to the extent that the following is now recommended om mended for passage that all deposits depos of pitchblende or other ores containing radium in sufficient quantities for extraction in lands belonging to the united states and the lands containing same shall be subject to exploration occupation and purchase under the mining laws upon cout that said radium bearing ores shall be exclusively sold and delivered to the united states as hereinafter provided and all said ores hereafter mined from lands the title to which is now in the united states and which were not located under the mining laws of the united states and or of the states wherein the same are situated prior to the fifteenth day of january 1914 shall be so sold and delivered and the exclusive right of the united states to purchase and receive said ores from the owners of such ores their lessees lessels and assigns together with the right of the united states to annul and void any patent issued for such lands because of failure to develop and mine such ores with reasonable diligence shall be expressly reserved in any and all patents which may hereafter be issued etc the full text of the bill is published elsewhere in this issue at the recent house hearings facts were brought out which have a definite nite bearing on this legislation the bureau of mines has an arrangement with the national radium institute whereby the latter will profit greatly from the operations of the government should it go into the manufacture of radium as this bill authorizes the hearing brought out that the said national radium institute is dr howard kelly of baltimore and dr james douglass ofner of new york that they knew of no process for getting out radium and that the government had none when then may we expect the government to start the production of radium if it has taken the two producing companies which are in the field in the united states today from one to three years to develop a process when may we expect government red tape to allow the production of radium from government plants if the government wishes to aid in the industry why does it not enter the field in open competition with those who have already spent large sums of money in pio no its position is so weak that it must prevent its competitors buying any ore from lands located after january of this year and thus gradually preclude their getting ore later when they shall have treated ore now available if the government competed fairly with those pioneers it would buy ore in the open market and give the mine owner and prospector a chance to sell in a competitive market As it is irrespective of conditions the ore will be sold at a fixed price made by the government if you dont like the price and could get more elsewhere get out of the business abandon your claims and try some other occupation also just what is gained by this affiliation of government bureau with so called national radium institute and what guarantee have we that this institute is the legitimate object of the governments solicitude and paternalism are there not branches of the government which could apply the radium without bringing in private parties and private philanthropists to aid in the work and reap the benefit Is the government too poor to undertake the whole work alone this whole question is in an unsatisfactory condition in the absence of authentic reports on the hearings on the bill in question now before the senate committee we are unable to give the opinions of those who have testified news newspapers p apers reports however indicate considerable opposition and it appears to us that there is little occasion for the passage of 0 f the bill if the government must interfere in the matter let it do so in fair and open competition with the honorable gentlemen now making radium drumlin in this country and justify its position before the country |