| Show effect of war on our mineral resources washington D C august 16 A dirt direct benefit to the united states from the european war will be its effect in making the people of this country realize to a greaber extent the value of its mineral resources said franklin K lane secretary of the interior in an interview today it to Is entirely possible to so utilize these re sources and expand our industries that the label made alade in america will become familiar in our own foreign markets mineral products important of an importance second only to that of the food supply said mr lane is the supply of mineral products necessary to meet the requirements oF of twentieth century civilization one of the first effects of the war has been to make us realize the interdependence ter dependence of nations in the matter of food supply most alost of the countries now at war are dependent upon importation of foodstuffs and we have cause for self con in the united states that we are to able to feed ourselves what we possibly Bibly have not so fully realized is that we are nearly as independent in the possession of essential mineral resources and that the interference with manufacturing caused by interruption of the flow of importations of many necessary ray materi materials alg may be overcome almost wholly by development of neglected resources in our own country do you mean mr lane was asked that the united states can make itself independent of the rest of the world in its manufactures independent of the world very largely asserted the secretary the main difficulties to be overcome ara in the rearrangement of the distribution system nee necessary essary to establishing this independence business is established along certain well marked channels and usually follows the line of least resistance resi tance it has been easier and perhaps cheaper to import mineral products and materials from other countries than to go to the trouble and expense of developing our own resources of the same nature forced to the latter course by suspension of commerce with other countries I 1 believe that american enterprise and energy will almost at once turn to the development of the native resources rather than permit production to lag and supply to be diminished in any industry mineral fertilizers for the maintenance of agriculture lor for instance we rely more and more largely upon mineral fertilizers the three essential plant foods are potash nitrogen and phosphorous the latter used generally in the form of phosphates we have depended with the rest of the world very largely upon the mines of germany for our supply of potash salts and war has cut off this supply but we have large deposits of potash in a california reserve which can be immediately opened and developed if a bill now before congress to make these supplies available is enacted chile holds a practical world monopoly of the most readily available nitrogen in its great nitrate beds and not only the manufacture of agricultural fertilizers but also alao of many kinds of high explosives have been made dependent upon the chilean supply of nitrates nitra teg if this supply should be cut off a new supply would have to be found or manufactures and agriculture would suffer fortunately this new supply is at hand we can draw nitrogen from the air and fix it with lime by the use of large and cheap electrical development as is done at niagara falls and in norway and all that Is necessary to pave the way to this electrical is the passage by congress of the perris ferris bill now pending which will make possible the utilization of the great unused water powers of the western states phosphates in the west the southern states have for years largely supplied the world with phosphates but because of the distribution system a large part of this supply has gone to europe and much of the phosphates used in the western states have been imported across the pacific we have some acres of phosphate lands in the west lying near the smelters shelters sm elters from which is produced the sulp sulphuric hurle acid necessary to convert these phosphates into form available for plant food and still there is no law by which thes phosphate deposits can be made commercially available although a bill which would allow of their immediate development has been favorably reported by the public lands committee of the house of 0 representatives and is awaiting the approval of the house and senate will these resources be developed if these laws are passed the secretary was wa asked of course they will he replied you can depend upon american enterprise and ambition to make good when it is given an all opportunity at present these deposits and resources are locked up out of use to open them to use when the supply from other countries is cut off means to make american industries using these materials independent of the rest of the world and business men will not neglect the opportunity to make our industries safe from the interruption of war we are now experiencing ien cing what other industries are there now dependent upon the products of other coun treis which can be made independent mr lane was asked impetus for steel industry the steel industry for one he replied pl 1 ed manganese is of large im importance ce to this industry and the largest supply of ore comes from russia and other countries with which commerce is now paralyzed there are large deposits in south america which have not been developed but it is not even to go so far away as that we have great stores of manganese in this country which has been largely untouched because it is somewhat inferior in quality to bring this home supply into use means merely adoption of methods for and can call its purification which are known be successfully used and then we can continue making manganese steel without regard re to foreign wars or sources of material matena there are other international contributions we have ha V e d though in the steel industry largely upon the island of ceylon kanuf a for the graphite used in the for steel of the crucibles cruci bles in which crucible made or edge tools and small firearms is shelters smelters sm elters to take another metal european using in part chinese aid and Alex mexican lean ores 0 the much of 0 have in late years furnished used in h is 10 use which worlds supply of antimony manufacture of type metal and also the g medicinally war has paralyzed the production of antimony in england at newcastle and prices have gone up antimony however is is easily extracted from many low grade ores which we have in great quantities in at least seven states and there is no reason why we should not make this extraction and be of other countries both as to supply and prices similar conditions hold in the case of ar A large tonnage of ferromanganese alloys comes from germany and england it is only in the last ten years that we have freed ourselves from Sic ilys monopolistic control of the sulphur supply flint pebbles are common and the supply large enough ellough in the united states but for such an ail apparently unimportant product as these used in the fine grinding of cement and ores we have been depending upon the chalk cliffs of england denmark and france ores and mineral freight depend almost wholly upon the tramp steamer a carrier of foreign parentage now the tramp steamer has taken to cover and all kinds of ocean freight especially low grade freight will be held up and its carriage almost entirely suspended during the war will this suspension mean disaster to our industries not disaster but interruption not disaster but inevitable interruption to some extent replied mr lane it means that suddenly materials upon which great industries depend must be obtained from other sources importers consumers and manufacturers are making anxious inquiries as to where they may find in the united states supplies of crude materials to replace the foreign supplies now shut 0 off this is the opportunity of the united states to free itself from dependence of its industries upon other countries and business men are awakening to this fact they look to the government for aid in in finding new sources of material with which to keep the factories open and in operation when they have found the domestic supply ond and begin its use they will not return to dependence upon the foreign supply and thereafter good or bad times in the united states so far as the maintenance of industries I 1 is s concerned will be more independent ot of foreign complications what is the government doing to aid 1 industry in these matters resources on public domain I 1 all it can do under present laws ra plied the secretary the nations nation ps greatest natural resources are a part of the public dord domain aln and under the charge of the in i perlor department the annual reports on je athe the mineral sources resources se of the united states P published by the united states geological survey for the last thirty years contain not only statistics of yearly production of all cOrIner commercial cial minerals but also useful facts regarding the occurrence exploitation and application in the arts and sciences of the mineral wealth of the country the geological survey has been instructed to fur nish upon request the addresses of produce ers from whom buyers can supply their wants if the mineral is produced at all in this country or information regarding the localities where reported deposits are undeveloped in some instances large deposits remain undeveloped simply because ot the fact that distance from market has given to the foreign sources of raw material with the lower ocean freight rates an advantage over domestic producers ship shipping pint by rail what immediate effects upon mineral industries may be expected from the war got mr lane was asked conditions favorable for zinc already the copper industry has felt the injurious effect of war he said and production has been curtailed while considerable sid erable copper is consumed in the munitions of war the constructive arts of peace furnish a far better world market for american copper than will the destructive art of war in the case of zinc however the effect of the european war is the opposite the smelting smelling sm elting centers of the continent are in the zone of fighting in belgium for instance practically all the zinc smelters shelters sm elters lie along the line of attack chosen by the german armies while the prussia austria hungary and russian poland the smelters shelters sm elters are likewise located where military operations promise to be most active it is within the limits of probability to expect a loss of a half million tons in the foreign production of zinc or nearly half the worlds output with beneficial effect upon the recent overproduction over production in the united especially as affording the opportunity to export zinc and galvanized iron products to south american countries which market has hitherto been only in part utilized by our exporters enlarged market for oil fuel oil has a large use in naval war fare of today yet the tying up of the big tank steamers on both the atlantic and pa cefis seaports is already embarrassing the oil producers of this country who depend so largely upon the export trade in all the forms of petroleum crude and refined on the other hand russia our strongest rival in oil production must suffer more complete and longer interruption of exports which should tend to the market for our oil the supply of cheap foreign barytes has prevented the development of many good deposits of that mineral but with the consumers on the atlantic seaboard already looking for domestic supplies some of the southern mines should be reopened to supplement the outputs of those already in operation bad for ores the closure of the european market leaves but one buyer for the radium ores of colorado and utah which is decidedly to the disadvantage of the miner had the legislation introduced in congress been promptly enacted the united states government would probably have been buying these ores at this time we should make coal tar while the united states leads in coal mines continued the secretary the six european nations now at war happen to be the six next largest coal mining countries producing together over half the worlds coal interference both the mining and the commerce of these nations must necessarily increase the demand for our coal at least in the neutral countries of the world and coat coal is our one resource about which there need be no present anxiety the united states is now producing 40 per cent of the worlds supply of coal and the reserves yet to be drawn upon exceed so far as known those of all the rest of the world combined it is not generally known however to what an extent we have been depending upon europe principally germany for many of the chemical products derivable from coal and which we have been permitting to go to waste in the most reckless manner coal tar obtained in the manufacture of coal gas and of coke in retort ovens is capable of producing hundreds of chemical products but the chemical industries dependent upon coal tar as a raw material 1 I have had little development in the united states our imports of coal tar products in 1913 were valued at at initiating points and when they reached the ultimate bon consumer sumer probably cost double that amount if the present war continues any length of time the american consumer will have to do without aniline colors and dyes certain drugs and numerous other coal tar products or the american manufacturers rs will undertake to supply these essential commodities which have hitherto carried the label made in germany the panama canal the panama canal is opened in time in ways bolivia for instance to help us many is one of the greatest tin producing countries in the world but its heaviest ex have been to europe and the untied states has been getting its supply of materials for the manufacture of tinplate and tin alloys from london and liverpool with the suspension of european eu industry and the opening of the canal thiera is no good reason why we should not no step in bring tin ore to this country and manufacture it would this change of supply mean higher prices in this country not necessarily replied mr lane during the period of transition from one supply to another and the initial development of new sources of material cost ot of production might possibly be slightly enhanced but with a new production and distribution trib ution system wholly domestic once established there is no reason why prices should be higher and no reason why fluctuations tuat ions in prices in other countries should so affect our industries or prices of our products to home consumers 0 |
