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Show Expects Little Relief by ; War Minerals Measure Engineering and Mining Journal Discusses Question Ques-tion of Surplus Supplies at High Cost; Regards Bill Mischievous. I With the conditions, artificial and necessary, nec-essary, existing in warfare and industry. It was inevitable that tome people should be caught with surplus supplies upon the termination of the war, says the Engineering Engi-neering and Mining Journal. Statements published last week of immense quanti-tifp quanti-tifp of clothing, blankets, etc, in the ihanda of our war department exhibited the general state of affairs to be found In governmental warehouses, and in the case of governments such an accumulation accumula-tion was precautionary and unavoidable. A similar or analogous position was to be expected with many branches of private pri-vate business tiiat were supplying the governments. Tlie sudden advent of the armistice prevented any general anticipatory antici-patory curtailment of production and reduction re-duction of stocks. There was bound, therefore, to be .serious losses incurred by persons caught long of the market, carrying supplies at high cost that immediately im-mediately became unsalable, or erecting plants for new production that would have no opportunity to produce and return the money risked in them. Among the ma.ior metals, fortunately, the houses were fairly clean. The copper producers had no stock of refined, though they held a good deal of blister. However, How-ever, they profited on their stocks when the market rose in 1915, and they will neither excite nor expect any great sympathy sym-pathy if they lose on them in 1919. The lead producers were In a similnr position. posi-tion. The zinc producers had some accumulation, accu-mulation, but they had been carrying it and trying to get rid of it for a year. The tin producers were bare, but tin consumers wrere long through reckless overbuying -earlier in the year. The tin merchants generally got out of the market, mar-ket, on . general principles, last spring, when the price was highest. Rare Metals Affected. 'in some of the ores and minor metals, on the other hand, the situation Is quite d liferent. In tungsten everybody producers, pro-ducers, importers, smelters and manufacturers manufac-turers appears to be overstocked. At a meeting held by representatives of these inlerests last week they drew very long faces. Similarly do the producers ot chrome ore and manganese .ore feel aggrieved. ag-grieved. Some of these people are imploring im-ploring governmental relief, hoping to get it under the mischievous war minerals bill that was signed on October 5. 1918. The purpose of that bill was to stimulate stimu-late the production of some of these minerals min-erals that were supposed to be in scant supply. As things turned out, no artificial artifi-cial stimulus was necessary. ' It is claimed, however, that government officials offi-cials made promises that led people into making investments for production on which they have lost, or are going to lose, money, and, therefore, ought to be indemnified. in-demnified. Let us examine how much merit -there Is in this contention. The war minerals bill was the baby, born in 1917, fathered by some well-meaning but rather hysterical hys-terical gentlemen in the department of the interior. They secured the presidential presiden-tial indorsement, making it an administration adminis-tration measure, and thereby disarmed friendly, experienced criticism to a large extent. They said, "We have got to have such legislation in order to win the war." Their critics, therefore, could only say. "We think you are mistaken, tut the administration ad-ministration is responsible for the conduct con-duct of the war. and if it must have this j legislation, so be it": and their efforts j were therefore conhned to framing the j bill in the least harmful way. In the : prolonged, hearings on tlie bill in con- I gress it was said emphatically by numerous numer-ous advisers that the hiph prices for I chrome ore. manganese ore, etc., would i be such a natural stimulus of production that there would soon cease to be any i shortage of them, and that opinion was : expressed repeatedly in this paper, in I which there was extensive discussion of , the subject. We deprecated severely the legislation from the beginning. . Demand Soon Filled. j Now. as far back as last summer the markets for these minerals began to exhibit ex-hibit an easier tone. Long before the bill was passed it was clear that there was no particular need for it except to give authority to the government to spend more of the people's money. The bill was signed and became a law on October j 5. Within ten days thereafter the war industries board issued notices that the j supplies of manganese ore, chrome ore and pyrites had become so ample that people were advised not to enter upon 1 further investments for their production. ' Considerably before that the situations in the respective markets had become so easy that no one of any market-sense could have been under any Illusion. if, therefore, any officials in the bu- : reaus made promises or held out hopes o! assistance to producers or adventurers, not only did they go counter to competent advice, but also they did what they had no authority to do. For they did not even know that a law would be enacted, or, if so. what it would be. The house had passed a bill. The senate had struck out everything after the enacting clause and written in a totally different bill. The two bodies had to go Into conference over the matter, and it was near the end of September before it was settled. It is true that high officials of the government gov-ernment asked certain concerns to enter upon plans for producing some substances, sub-stances, giving- no guarantees and making mak-ing no promises, but appealing only to their patriotism. Some of these concerns were so induced to expend large sums of money for which they have had no return, re-turn, and they will neither get nor expect any. They took a business chance of making large profits, influenced more or less bv the spirit of patriotism, and, having hav-ing lost, say nothing about it. The United States Steel corporation took exactly ex-actly the same chance, uninfluenced by any motives of patriotism, when it built the great Donora zinc smeltery in 1915-16. 1915-16. Other adventurers who bulJt zinc works later lost more or less of their principal when the market declined. There has been nothing unusual in taking such commercial risks during the last four vears. But if the unnecessary and belated be-lated war minerals bill were made the vehicle of reimbursement for anybody, the people would be right in protesting against such misuse of their money. At the conference in Secretary Lane's office, of-fice, November 27, no assurances were given, but it was said that the opinion of the attorney general would be obtained respecting the legality of using the appropriation ap-propriation carried by the war minerals bill as a sort of Indemnity fund. |