Show Protect protecting i ng potash industry during the past few weeks hearings involving the future success or nonsuccess non success of the american potash industry have been held before the ways and means committee the discussions relating to the bill introduced trod in the house of representatives by representative joseph W fordney this bill provided that for the protection of the american potash industry a licensing system under the direction of the secretary of the interior shall be created under the provisions of the fordney bill for the first two years a price not to exceed per ton would be paid for american potash for the third year a price not to exceed per ton and for the fourth and fifth years per ton moreover it would be the duty of the secretary of the interior to ascertain from time to time the total potash needed to meet american consumption and secondly to estimate the total american production these estimates would determine the amount of foreign potash to 10 be imported for example if tiie secretary of the interior found that the total american consumption of potash for the year would be tons and the estimated production of potash in america tons he would under the provisions of this bill authorize the importation of tons of foreign potash imports of foreign potash foreign potash however could not be imported indiscriminately it could be imported only after all the domestic product had been bought up for example buyers wishing to import foreign potash would be required to exhibit a bona fide proof of purchase of american potash in order to get a license for purchasing foreign potash upon the exhibition of 0 this proof a license permitting the purchase of such amount of foreign potash as bears the same ratio to his purchase of the domestic product as the total estimated needed foreign potash to tobe be imported bears to the total american production that is if the american total needed potash was tons end nd the american product tons tons would be needed to be imported the ratio of the foreign potash needed to the american potash produced would be 3 to 2 consequently a buyer who cluid furnish proof that he had bought tons would be given a license to buy tons in this way there would be a market for the total amer isan product protection wanted an examination of the report of the hearing held before the ways and means committee reveals the fact that the potash producers do not wish protection at the expense of the consumer they ask protection for the domestic potash industry because even at the present stage it concerns fifteen states employs several thousand men is the sole industry of numerous thrifty towns and villages and pays upwards of of freight per annum to the railroads and is of direct interest and importance to users of fertilizer the industry has invested upward of chiefly since 1914 since the war cut off importation por tation of german potash and made experimental peri mental work in the development of domestic supply attractive to capital and necessary to national welfare according to the statement of arthur C harragin secretary of the american trona corporation of california apparently it is not the disposition of local potash producers to have enacted a high tariff so that a profit may be made at the expense of the consumer protection is wanted now so that a new industry may inay not be crushed by excessive importation of foreign potash after the industry has become thoroughly established protection would be more or less nominal industry has rapid growth one thousand tons in 1115 1915 tons in 1916 tons in 1917 tons tong in 1918 and a producing capacity of tons in 1919 said frederick W brown ex el secretary of the potash producers produce briefly brief association before the committee this is americas answer to germanos germanys Germ anys ts boast and a that she had a monopoly on potash meant to keep it that she had bad such a monopoly prior to 1914 is common knoll kno edge that she used her donop monopoly oly shrewd shrew ly and unscrupulously to stifle competition possible by selling below cost wherever a competitor appeared is perhaps not so well w known whether she shall regain ba apoll UP monopoly in years to come depends pro pa the opportunity given the american dubers to reorganize their war born business on a peace basis searches for potash previous to the world war the united states had depended almost to the extent of per cent upon the great potash resources of germany the largest in the world stated george otis smith director of the united states geological survey before the committee we were without domestic production some years previous to that in 1911 congress authorized the beginning of the search for domestic sources of potash the principal potash resources that have been discovered partly under this governmental stimulation and largely through the work of the citizens of the united states are possibly four the brines of the small lakes in western nebraska the alunite deposits in utah the kelp deposits along the pacific coast and the brines of searles lake in california last year in point of active production the nebraska lakes led with a production of nearly tons and searles lake with a production of nearly tons then we had as byproduct by product sources potash recovered from cement mills and blast furnaces molasses distillery waste bet sugar waste and even such waste liquors as come from wool washing local companas Comp anys history told A sketch of the liberty potash com banys history in which local capital is interested te rested was given by george D parkinson who is representing the company at the hearings before the ways and means committee the liberty potash company of salt lake city has erected a re auction plant at green river wyo at a cost coat or of for the manufacture of potash from what is known as or wyomingite under the sterling process and patents which it owns and controls the sterling process was invented and perfected by guy sterling a mining and chemical engineer two years ago mr sterling interested T W boyer a banker and other utah and wyoming men in the development of the hills of sweetwater county wyoming at a cost of a demon demonstration sti ration plant was erected to prove that the sterling processes could do commercially what had been done in the laboratories af after ter making numerous test runs at this demonstration plant which is of sufficient capacity to be operated on a commercial basis under the supervision of disinterested prominent engineers and government representatives ta tives mr theories were proved accurate the first unit of the main plant this plant is at green river was erected and ready to commence comm ence now fully equipped the war under built during operations it was the most adverse conditions in connection this plant it with the building of was also necessary for the company to build railroad and spurs at the cost of difficulties encountered labor and equipment said mr parkinson were very difficult to obtain at any price after investing thousands of dollars in machinery it was almost impossible to have it moved from the factories to green river the first power plant purchased by the company at a cost of was commandeered mande ered by the navy department to be used in their plant at bayonne N J this incident alone was the cause of postponing the completion of the plant for about six months A great deal of the machinery had to be imported from canada so it was until the signing of the armistice the company was exerting every effort and sparing no expense to commence the production of potash in quantity at the very earliest possible date the present plant is equipped to handle approximately tons of mix per day when four kilns kalns are in operation it is estimated that when this company gets to operating on the most economical basis at it can compete with prewar prices though probably on a more or less close margin at any rate this plant is erected ready for operation our investment is enormous and we have not been able to turn a wheel it is going to take us several years to get down to the most efficient basis the company finds itself in this position the consumers of potash in this country are not buying reports are coming to us that licenses are being issued for the importation of alsatian Alsa tion potash with no assurance as to what the limit in amount or prices will be or that the potash market will not be swamped with the german product at ruinous prices upon the conclusion of peace though the owners of this company foresaw that ultimately they would have to face foreign com competition now before they are even fairly started they face the situation of being choked by an influx of foreign potash deposits in wyoming there is enough potash bearing rock in sweetwater county wyoming to supply the prewar demand of the united states for potash for years according to the report of the united states geological survey it is estimated that there is in this deposit tons with an average potash content of 11 per cent the liberty potash company owns sufficient of these deposits to supply the normal demand of the country for years and there is still years supply lying available for others to work said mr parkinson the process of extraction is simple the material is mined with steam shovels it is then crushed and goes into a drier reagents are put in limestone and salt and this mix is heated in great rotary kilns kalns up to where the gases leave the kiln it is a process from the kilns kalns the gases are cooled and the product is caught in a bag house in the form of a fine white powder |