The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-24

such regulations may be fntel1gently carried like the regulation of mining of coal now privately owned. can be prop erly determined only by careful investi- gation, study and experience.
 We now approach a phase of the problem in which the responsibility and duty of the public itself requires con sideration equally with the responsibility and duty of private owners of coal mines.
 pr. Holmes.
 "The case for the public has been stated by pr. J. A. Holmes of the technological branch of the United States geological survey in his discussion of the conserva- tion of mineral resources at the White House conference in May. 1908. Dr. Holmes expresses himself substantially as follows:
 |" These resources which have required countless ages for their accumulation, which, when once exhausted. are not re- produced, and for which there are no known substitutes, must serve as a basis for the future no less than the present welfare of the nation. No human agencies, no present owners of these resources have contributed toward their accumulation or to their intrinsic values. In the highest sense, therefore. they should be regarded as property held in trust or for the use of the race rather than for a single gem eration, and property for the use of the nation rather than for the benefit of the few individuals who may hold them by the right of discovery or purchase.
 " Measured in terms of the needs of a great and rapidly growing nation, the mineral resources of this country are limited in quantity.
 There are no recurring supplies, no recreation with the seasons, and the ex- haustion, whea once accomplished, is a permanent exhaustion.
 Measured in terms of the life of the nations, at the present increasing rate of consumption and waste, we will, while the nation is yet in it's infancy exhaust permanently resources intended as the es- sential basis of the welfare of all suc- ceeding generations. To shirk this re- sponsibility with the claim that these succeeding generations will discover other unknown resources for their use is illog- ical and unwarranted
 The right of the present generation to use efficiently of these resources what it actually needs carries with it a sacred obligation not to waste their precious heritage
 ' The right to profit in the mining and subsequent use of our mineral resources does not carry with it the right to de- stroy the birthright of generations yet uuDOinJ III OIQtT LudI we or lOQdY may obtain more readily and more cheaply the products we need for present use.
 Hartman on Transportation.
 |. H. Hartman, the great railroad de- veloper, operator and owner, quite one of the best informed men on this subject In tho world today, was unable to attend the American Mining congress at Pitts burg. He sent, however, one of the most practical and interesting6papers presented to this important gathering. Many of the propositions have an original touch and some of the statistics are at least presented in new and highly interest Ing connection.
 Summarizing he pointed out that the total tonnage reported by the interstate commerce commission as originating on American railways in 1906 was S20, 0,000, 600 tons. Of this the crude products of the mine, including both coal and other min erals, aggregated more than 435, 900 900 tons or 53 per cent of the total. In addition to this the railroads hauled for their own use about 100,0O0,000 tons of coal dur ing the year, or 275,000 tons each day In classifying the mine products transported by the railroads, measuring the tonnage by that originating on each road, 1t is found that the largest of these products Is bituminous coal, of which 206,000 900 lOHS were trdnSpOrleu uurlnS l3Ob. The other products were anthracite coal, near ly 60,0O0,000 tons; coke, S3, coo, 900 tons ores, 690o0,o00 tons; stone, sand and other like articles, 5S,000,000 tons; miscellaneous mineral products, 100000 tons.
 "As rule" said MT. Hartman, "the mine products are more constant in their production than any other large item of freight. As will be seen from the figures given, coal is by far the largest single item; and while the production of coal varies from year to year, only nine times since the beginning of our records of coal mining in the United States QS1D has the production of any one year been less than that of the preceding year. the greatest falling off recorded being a drop of 12,- 000,000 tons in 1894 from the production of 1893. On the whole. the increase in production has been so rapid and mar vicious that on one of the important coal handling railroads dhe Baltimore and ohio). the coal transported during each of the past several decades has equaled