Show WAR MINERALS PRODUCERS at the twenty second annual convention of the american mining congress to be held in st louis november 17 to 21 inclusive the national conference of war minerals producers will hold a session in which every producer is invited to participate in commenting upon the burdens and losses certain branches of the mining industry have been called upon to bear because of conditions immediately following the i signing signi ng of the armistice the american mining congress has issued a circular letter to ore producers which says in part enormous losses the enormous and distressful losses sustained by the men who responded to the nations call for help when war material was necessary resulted in the calling of a national conference of producers of war minerals in the city of washington D C december 1918 for the purpose of asking relief through legislation As a result of this conference there was passed by congress a war minerals R relief el lef bill limited to the payment 0 of f 8 5 00 toward claims which might be accepted by the secretary of the interior as resulting from investments legitimately incurred under the conditions above named in the passage of the bill all war minerals except manganese pyrites tungsten and chrome were eliminated from consideration era tion and further no effort was made to establish the original war minerals bill upon an operative basis since the passage of the so called relief bill and an attempt to administer the same under a special commission appointed by the secretary of the interior the attorney general of the united states has handed down an interpretation of the measure the terms of which have been so construed as to practically eliminate 75 per cent of the claimants who laid their cases before the government vast resources opened up the activity of the government in encouraging cou raging prospecting for and the development of f minerals and mr metals atals previously considered impossible of commercial development resulted in the opening up of vast storehouses of manganese ous iron pyrites chrome graphite and many other substances of vast importance both in war and peace the delay in making operative the war minerals bill which would have allowed the government to participate in the development of these substances prevented the bureau of mines from carrying out a well organized program of government encouragement made impossible the completion of agreements and encouragement promised to the war minerals producers by the agents agent of the government and eventually through the signing of the armistice resulted in such a chaotic condition through the failure of the various government war agencies to coordinate their efforts that the men who sacrificed time and fortunes in responding to the governments appeal found them themselves sele facing an unfortunate condition of col collapse laPs and failure for which the government disclaimed any responsibility we can be independent the remarkable success of the concerted conceited invest hinves and investigations developments ments has shown to the nation that we can ca be commercially and politically independent inde pende of many of the substances vital to american amena industry and absolutely necessary for the ei either carrying out of successful warfare offensive or defensive r ig 10 some of the war minerals can never neve produced profitable commercial upon a must only basis and the mining of the same be under some method of government govern men co operation but many of the substances call permanently be mined and marketed upon a pa profitable basis with proper government govern me the go co operation looking to the protection protections protect ioni of 0 market inabet irom from importations produced under foreign conditions need for education the uses of the various war mine minerals rais and the value of the same to the people of the united states are very little understood either by the congress of the united states by the industries most interested or by the people at large and therefore the american mining congress invites you to attend and participate in the national conference of war minerals producers at the place and date above named |