| Show MANGANESE MINING INDUSTRY GROWS TWENTY FOUR STATES NOW PRODUCING by W B allen alien ordinarily the layman does not comprehend compre liend the relationship tion ship of manganese to his country s prosperity in times of peace and its absolute necessity in a period of war for it is not only essential in the production of steel but it is lik likewise e indispensable in the manufacture of war materials prior to the world war the united states was dependent for the bulk of its supply of manganese upon european producers and the cutting 6 off of this source of supply incident to the entanglement of nations gave b impetus to the movement to develop the manganese resources of the united states true there had been in the ante war period a limited amount of manganese produced in several states but this production only totaled 2635 tons in 1914 four years later however when the foreign supply was almost cut off the production of domestic mines reached tons and it was realized that with proper encouragement the deposits of manganese in the united states could be developed to an extent which would relieve american industries from their dependency on foreign supply estimated reserves in various sections of the united states surveys were made in an effort to estimate the manganese reserves and capital became interested in minor developments in the absence of a definite understanding as to the extent of these reserves there was necessarily a timidity on the part of capitalists and this timidity existed until it was shown that the reserves indicated approximately tons of five to thirty per cent ore with extensive quantities of high grade ore running above thirty five per cent in metallic manganese in its natural state however it was appreciated that the development of these reserves would be possible only if congress would give such protection to the industry as to enable it to compete in domestic markets with foreign ores and a concerted movement nio was made by manganese producers to enlighten al the lawmakers as to the possibilities of manganese production so impressed was congress with these possibilities that in the tariff act of 1922 a duty of one cent per pound on the manganese content of manganese ore or concentrates in excess of 30 per cent metallic manganese was embodied in the act this meant a tariff of 1020 per ton on 50 per cent ore or only sixteen cents a ton cost in the manufacture of steel development increases following the enactment of this protective measure manganese development began bean be an on a scale which bids fair f air to t make ake it one of the primary minin mining gir industries in the united states employing millions of capital and thousands of men me and adding untold wealth to a large number of states un less ss the industry is crippled or killed by adverse legislation or a repeal of the comparatively small protective measure which has been an incentive to manganese development in the post war period a group of american amer ican capitalists sec sectored cured tired concessions from the russian government for the mining ining 11 and marketing of russian ores and this group real zing ng that domestic development would restrict foreign demand inaugurated a movement for the repealing of the preset ent tariff using propaganda ganda at variance with the facts and discounting counting the estimated reserve of domestic manganese to further urther their interests inhere ats in the foreign supply statements unfair so 0 o palpably unfair were some of the statements made in n furtherance therance of this propaganda that the american man producers realized that a operative cooperative co effort was necessary to combat the distorted claims of the foreign concessionaires cession aires and give the american people a fair and unbiased statement of the manganese industry that the american manganese producers association was organized in washington D C on august 2 with J carson adkerson of woodstock va a nationally known mining engineer and a pioneer in manganese development in virginia as president mr adkerson is general manager manager of the hygrade hy grade manganese company of woodstock which will soon be producing tons yearly of ore running above 45 per cent manganese anese the election of mr adkerson as president was a recognition of his untiring efforts in bringing infringing about the present protective duty on american ores and the successful termination mi nation of his efforts to organize the manganese producers of america many states on board richard H brown president of the manhattan electrical supply company of new york is chairman of the board of directors of the association john H cole president manganese development company anaconda montana first vice vice president albert J seligman president of the butte montana copper and zinc company treasurer and H A of the domestic manganese and development company of new york secretary the board of directors includes manganese b operators from the states of utah virginia washington montana west virginia minnesota georgia arkansas california and alabama the directorate indicating the area in which manganese is now being mined in commercial quantities organization to aid there is nothing antagonistic P in the organization in its attitude towards related in industries dus tries and the primary purpose of the association is to stress the vital importance of manganese in the economic life of the nation and to bring to the minds of the american people the necessity for f fostering Z its development to the end that the united states will in time of peace and in the exigencies of war have a supply of this metal adequate for its needs and sufficient for emergencies without the hazards which dependency on foreign production necessarily incur the association will cooperate with federal and state officials in every effort to ascertain the extent of manganese deposits in america and lend its aid in the develop development me nt of the industry the ramifications of manganese development and their bearing on national life were indicated at the washington meeting by the attendance of representatives from the united states bureau of mines united states geological geo survey united states tariff commission great railroad of war in addition to mineralogists systems and the department and geologists of international repute |
