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Show WILL DEVELOP OUR INEiJESOURCES War in Europe Likely to Result in Opening Up of Deposits of Potash By International News Service WASHINGTON' Aug 16 The war offers to the Tin ted States the oppor tumty of freeing itself from any de pendence upon fore gh conntr es not only in i the import of foodstuffs but also of mineral products declared Secretary of the Jnter or Frankl n K. Lane toaay What we have not fully real zed is that we are nearly as Independent in the possess on of essential mineral re sources as m foodstuffs and that the nterference w th manufactur ng caused by interruption of the flow of impor tations of many necessary raw mate r als, may be overcome almost wholly by development of neglected resources m our own country The ma n d ffieult es to be over come are m the rearrangement of the dist but on system necessary to estab 1 shlng th s independence We have depended very largely up on the mines of Germany for our supply of potash salts and war has cut off this supply but we have large depos ts of potash m a Cal f orn a reserve wh ch can be immed ately opened and devel oped if a b 11 now before congress to make these suppl es available is en acted We can draw n trogen from the air and f x it with 1 me by the use of large and cheap electrical development as is done at Niagara Falls and n Nor way and all that s necessary to pave tlfe way to this electrical development is the passage by congress of the Ferr s b 11 now pend nf; wh ch will make pos s ble the util zat on of the great unused water powers of the western states We have some 3 O00 000 acres of phosphate lands in the weBt lying near the smelters from wh ch is produced the sulphuric acid necessary to convert these phosphates into form ava lable for plant food |