Show BUILDING OF AMERICA What has bas made the United Industrial nation 1 States a n great Affairs C. C K Leith In Foreign says mineral wealth has bas given to and Its Us great prominence America Ame says gays The world little appreciates tho the by minerals In our part played pt modern civilization Obvious as It ItIs ItIs itis Is that we live lI e In an age o of steel It ItIs ItIs itis Is hard to the enormous advance In production and con con- consumption consumption of the principal metals within the last few decades Pro Pro- Professor Protessor fessor Leith gives n a few lew ot of the most salient figures In the last twenty years ears the tho w world orld has exploit exploited ed more of its ils resources than In la all preceding history In the United States alone the per vcr capita con con- consumption consumption of ot metals has bas Increased fold fifteen in the tUo last fifty years Today roday the United States origin origin- originates originates ates about 40 per cent ot of the worlds world's mineral production Inci mc- Incidentally IncIdentally dentally the tho United States is per per- performing performing performing forming about 40 per cent o of the worlds world's work Herein lies one ono of ot the most Interesting facts of ot mod modern modem ern em civilization The enormous wealth of the American continent in the essential bulk materials has bas given to the United States the op op- opportunity opportunity opportunity of ot leading in tho the Indus indus- Industrial industrial trial development of the world It has has been estimated that the unit ot of production In the United States is 18 three thirty-three times that of ot China In other words China which still relies almost exclusively on man man- manpower manpower power to perform all manner of ot tasks Is altogether outdistanced by America which relies on machines to do much ot of the work ork that was formerly done do no by band hand One of ot the why hy this is possible Is because the United States has bas such large available deposits ot of the bulk minerals like lIko coal and Iron Thanks to their distribution around the e north Atlantic basin tho the na na- nations nations ions there situated dominate the world today When the late Brooks adams developed 30 0 years ago his theory that there Is a di di- direct direct direct relation between the control of ot large supplies of ot metals and the preponderance of ot world power he be was considered an academic speculator lator Ills prophecy that the United States owing to the development ot of its coal and iron resources was waa destined to become one of ot the tho most influential nations In world affairs was ignored And yet et the tho fact re re- remains remains re- re remains mains today that as Mr Leith re re- reminds reminds reminds minds us our present prosperity and strength are due not lot so much mucho to o the fortunes made during tho the world war as to the rapid develop develop- development development ment silent of ot tho the enormous natural re roo resources re- re resources sources ot of the tho country and their utilization in such a manner as a to derive from them the largest pos pos- possible possible sible amount of power Contrary to popular belief bellet the distribution ot of essential minerals Is far from uniform It Is this which at tho the same samo time gives preponderance to those nations having large supplies of coal and Iron and Intensifies the demand for tor other metals Unfortunately Unfortunately International friction has resulted despite the tho fact that the tho growing ever demand for has greatly increased commerce and so EO has bas been one of ot the tho forces binding closer together the com com- commercial commercial mercial Interests of ot the world orld |