Show Britain's Hand Seen in Tin Smelter Deal By RICHARD WALDO and GABRIEL 4 ABRIEL NEW YORK YORK The The erection of a plant by the United States government government govern govern- ment for the smelting of tin here herewith herewith herewith with an annual capacity of tons has several backstage angles worth recording This column re recently re- re centy reported the contract made by the owned federally Metals Reserve Reserve Re Re- serve company with Bolivian and Chilean interests insuring a steady stream o of supplies to feed Iced this new smelter Aside from the fact that this move puts the government of the United States among the biggest metals dealers and smelters in the world it trespasses on a field that has lias been traditionally in British hands Hence when the plan was first discussed it encountered considerable con con- opposition from across the water One of the jokers is that der fuehrer's bombing raids gave weight weight weight-to to the American proposal and lInd helped to smooth the path In fact opposition has now turned into full cooperation Ernest V. V Pearce manager of Williams Harvey Co operators of the largest tin refinIng refining ing plant in England will England will assist in inthe inthe inthe the new project here Ostensibly this is being done at the request of Don Simon Patino president of the big Patino Mines one of our chief chief prospective suppliers The New York trade is curious to know just what Mr Pearces Pearce's status with the Metals Reserve company will turn out to be Some suspect it it may foreshadow union now with the British tin refining industry How much the English position has been taken into consideration is evident from reports that the Metals Reserve company has agreed to release to the United Kingdom as much as tons of tin yearly and lInd to consider requests for larger amounts if required Should the British take advantage of this it may mean that the new hew ew government government govern govern- ment plant can run only at something something some some- thing less than 50 per cent of its capacity Thus unless additional far eastern supplies are obtained obtained- there is not much more to be had hadIn hadIn hadIn In South America our America our own defense effort so far as tin is concerned may be seriously impeded |