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Show Western Mining Industry Faces Crisis; Congressional Aid Is Only Hope tor Survival tion so that it might compete in a world market against low-cost foreign production. Certainly j no reasonable minded person could possibly endorse such a policy. The second misconception is that a shortage exists in these nonferrous metals. However, production and consumption data show no present shortage in the world supply of copper, lead and zinc. Hence, on . a world price, our domestic industries, indus-tries, consuming these nonferrous nonfer-rous metals, have an ample supply sup-ply for all foreseeable needs. The present curtailment by domestic do-mestic mines will not materially alter this situation in the near future, barring a national emergency, emer-gency, since every single ton of available foreign copper, lead and zinc is being, and will be, moved to the United States, to secure the dollar exchange so desperately needed by these forign countries. Our exports of these metals are almost nil, while our imports are increasing most significantly. Given sufficient suffi-cient time, this situation can eliminate a major portion, if not all, of our domestic nonferrous j mining industry, resulting in the : elimination of almost one mil- lion jobs. The third misconception is that our foreign policy demands that we open our doors to these foreign imports so that the world may secure, through access to American markets, a full economic eco-nomic recovery, even though it may eliminate some segments of the domestic economy. The facts are that we cannot depend upon these foreign sources of supply in any national emergency and must, therefore, provide for an adequate supply of these critical and strategic metals and miner- als from domestic sources. This can mean only that we must maintain a sound and healthy domestic mining industry. Certainly, Cer-tainly, our foreign policy and the attendant agreements never anticipated the sacrifice of entire en-tire industries to world recov-; recov-; ery; at least, such intent was never suggested to the American people by our government. I do not believe that intent actually exists today; good Americans '. cannot accept such a philosophy, i The fourth and final miscon-' miscon-' ception is two-fold: (a) That the i stockpile needs, as defined by : Congress, should be filled by (Editor's Note The recent precipitous decline in the price of copper, lead and zinc has resulted in the closing of all mining operations in the Milford Mil-ford area. Some 85 mine and mill workers have been dropped from payrolls and the resulting impact upon the economy of Milford has been very pronounced. As a service serv-ice to readers of The News, we have asked James D. Williams, operator of the Harrington-Hickory Harrington-Hickory mine, to give his views on what has happened and what future improvement in this critical situation may be expected.) By JAMES D. WILLIAMS Lay-offs due to mining and railroad curtailments during the past 60 days have amounted to 115 men in the Milford area, of which 85 were miners and 30 were railroaders. The significance signifi-cance ol this total becomes apparent ap-parent when compared with a normal average of gainful employment em-ployment in Milford of 450 men. Thus, the closing of all mining operations has reduced our wage earners by some 20. The import im-port of this mining shut-down on Milford business may be readily read-ily appreciated from the fact that monthly payrolls in the amount of $25,000 have been lost. The full impact of this has been somewhat cushioned by temporary employment offered by the state highway construction construc-tion to the west on U-21 and the potato planting in the Milford Flats. It is estimated that some 60 unemployed men received temporary work on these projects, proj-ects, but both were concluded last week, resulting in the same unemployment as previously outlined. out-lined. This problem calls for immediate im-mediate and concerted action by the mining operators, businessmen, busi-nessmen, county and city officials offi-cials and all citizens of the community. com-munity. In order that 'an intelligent intel-ligent approach be made in this matter, certain basic 'facts must be evaluated and that is what I shall attempt to do. Many misunderstandings exist today regarding the position of the nonferrous mining industry. Certain facts must be admitted and accepted, however painful at the moment, if we are to establish es-tablish a logical approach to s permanent solution. First oi these misconceptions is that oi I metal prices. No one single foreign purchases and thus retain re-tain and conserve our domestic supply for future needs, and (b) That in periods of national emergency we can supply our requirements of these metals from domestic sources which have been conserved by mine shut-down and curtailment of production. The fallacy of the first assumption should be apparent ap-parent at the first glance. In operating underground mines you do not conserve by shutting down. Such a procedure almost always results in the loss of ore because of flooding and caving. The miner-like method of conservation con-servation is to maintain normal production while intensifying development and exploration. Development adds to known ore reserves while exploration at-temps at-temps to find new ore-bodies I which may be developed into additional ad-ditional ore reserves. This is the true method of conservation. It is accepted by every segment of the mining industry, large and small. Acceptance of the second assumption as-sumption can only lead ultimately ultimate-ly to national disaster. Underground Under-ground mining is a highly technical tech-nical and diversified operation requiring modern equipment and highly skilled crews. Years not months are required to company or combination oi companies com-panies control or set the market price for copper, lead and zinc in the United States today. All such metal is sold on the world price which reflects the law of supply and demand on a worldwide world-wide basis. Collateral with this is the fact that the world price ' does reflect average world production pro-duction costs, including, among 1 other factors, world labor costs. In other words, when domestically domestic-ally produced metals compete with foreign produced metals on a world market, American mine labor, in the absence of high protective tariffs, must compete directly with foreign labor i whose average world-wide standard stand-ard of living is far below his. If this competition is to be successful, suc-cessful, the American miner must inevitably accept a lower standard of living, which, as a practical matter, means a considerably con-siderably lower wage scale. Current Cur-rent estimates, by a large segment seg-ment of our western mining industry, in-dustry, indicate this reduction to be from $1.96 to $2.50 per day and reversion to the 40-hour week. Such a decrease would amount to a wage reduction of ; about $100 per man per month - on a current basis. Thus indirectly indirect-ly the American miner would ' subsidize domestic metal produc- re-establish production from idle mines. During this idle time no development de-velopment and exploration will have been done, equipment becomes be-comes obsolete and skilled operating oper-ating crews are irrevocably lost. In an mergency, time becomes the vital element and it is this very precious, factor which is consumed in rehabilitating underground un-derground mining, From the. foregoing it may appear ap-pear that the problems of the nonferrous mining industry are of such magnitude as to defy solution. This" however, is not the case. The correction of these conditions is relatively simple if we accept the premise that a strong and active mining min-ing industry is good insurance insur-ance for our American way of life; that it is vitally necessary for a strong America in times of world emergency, arid, finally, that it fills an important part in our normal domestic economy. The present National Stockpile Stock-pile Act provides the foundation founda-tion upon which to build a healthy mining industry; pres-(Continued pres-(Continued on Page Four) Mining Industry Faces Crisis Continued from Page Onei ent legislation before the Congress Con-gress can provide the additional framework to complete the overall over-all structure of a sound national nonferrous mining policy. Several Sev-eral bills are before Congress for mine assistance the Engle bill in the House and the O'Ma-honey O'Ma-honey bill in the Senate. These two bills approach the problem from a somewhat different basis, but either bill would fill the needs of the industry. It is my opinion that congress should select se-lect the one most suited to national na-tional needs, and for that reason I do not recommend one in preference pref-erence to the other. This legislation legis-lation would permit the responsible respon-sible agency of the government to purchase metals for the stockpile stock-pile at prices in excess of market, mar-ket, conforming to the price -"cessary to maintain a profit- Si able operation. It would also provide funds for exploration and development of new ore under contract with the government. govern-ment. The exploration and development develop-ment provision of Senate Bill 2105, sponsored by Senator O'Mahoney of Wyoming, Senator Hayden and McFarland of Arizona, Ari-zona, and Senator Malone of Nevada, Ne-vada, most effectively fills the needs of mining in this area. During the war, major emphasis was directed toward production for immediate war needs. Manpower, Man-power, as well as equipment and supplies, were channeled into production with the result that exploration and development were neglected. Toward the close of the war this unbalanced situation was recognized by the government and a development premium was added to the pro duction premiums. However, before this program could become be-come really effective, it was allowed al-lowed to terminate on June 30, 1947. It must be recognized that private funds simply are not available for mine development. The risk is very great in mining, the metal markets uncertain and the tax structure most unfavorable. unfavor-able. Venture capital has completely com-pletely withdrawn from this type of speculative investment. Many of these risks are inherent in mining, but nevertheless, mining min-ing is essential to our economy and must be maintained, as a national policy. The logical solution so-lution at this time and under present conditions must, of necessity, ne-cessity, be legislative. This fact is recognized by many major operators and is the only hope of the small independent operator. The passage of such legislation will afford the mining operators in this area their first real opportunity op-portunity of setting up integrated integrat-ed production and development schedules covering a period at least three years in advance. Such .planning brings stability to the mining industry and to the communities in which it operates. op-erates. Finally, what would the passage pas-sage of legislation, on behalf of mining, mean to our community? Based upon a survey made last Monday, it would mean the employment em-ployment of at least 110 men as soon as the act became operative, oper-ative, and about 40 additional withink a period of three to six months after. This would add between $30,000 and $40,000 per month in payrolls and materially mater-ially decrease unemployment in this area. Milford would be assured as-sured of important deep mine development which could easily result in the establishment of a permanent metal mining industry indus-try of significant local and national na-tional importance. |