The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1911-02-04
The Potash Situation
Continued from page o.

MIR. Illusions statement that the
i law was imperative in order to con-
serve the potash supplies, is absurd;
4 the best mining experts OF Germany
4 are on record as having pronounced
the German kali deposits practically
4 inexhaustible. The German Govern
mens, moreover, has passed d law
prohibiting further borings for potash
the present production capacity ocln2
three times the entire worlds con
sumption.
Mr.. Huston further states:
The German law does not require
the formation OF any syndicate
But the mines find it more economl-
cal to sell through one agency
MIR. Huston adroitly omits to state
all the facts, that all the operating
mines are actually in the syndicate, ex-
cepting ,lJse which hold the Ameri-
can contracts. 1t is not surprising
that the mines find it more economical
to sell through one agency when this
agency is an iron-clad monopoly which
maintains prices III all markets OF the
world about 200 per cent. above the
cost o. production. For example, the
present syndicate price for muriate OF
potash in cargo lots is S3575 per ton,
delivered American ports, while the
cost OF production at the mines is
less than $40 per ton-equWalent to
Sis per ton delivered here-when op-
Grating to fuil capacity. The mines
holding the American contracts are
making large profits and ask for moth
ing better than to be allowed to full
fill these contracts at contract prices
without interference from the German
Government or the Kali Syndicate.
Mr.. Huston says:
From Mr.. Bradlev's remarks one
might be led to think that all potash
sent from Germany after the law was
passed was taxed $22 per ton
That statement is absolutely UNI
warranted from anything | have said.
have laid particular stress upon the
fact that the penalty tax falls only
upon the mines which overproduce
their alotments. and that this constr
tutes direct discrimination against
large American manufacturing and ag
,icu eSral intereS in consequence
OF the Americans having bought the
entire output o., two mines. This is
nation of the law comes in, far /.
contracts were made ten months be-
fore the law was passed
Mr.. Huston states that heretofore
the American Fertilizer Companies
did not sell the potash salts to
the farmers but used them in mixtures
and that the farmers could obtain but
fraction OF the potash they wished
to buy. and got that an unneccssar-
lily high price
Just the reverse OF that statement
expresses the facts. Fertilizer manu-
facturerS have always advertised and
quoted potash salts III their trade cir
culars and advertisements. and have
sold potash on a margin OF profit
hardly sufficient to pay the selling ex-
pcnSeS.
Equally misleading is the state
ment
That this condition OF affairs led the
Germans to discontinue sales to few
exclusive agents and to sell direct
through It's American corporation, the
German Kali Works
MIR. Huston is either ignorant OF
he facts, or deliberately conceals
hem Last January directors OF the
<ali Syndicate, Messrs kempner and
}ieman, made a written proposition
o the American Manufacturers offer
ng them the syndicate agency for the
ale OF potash salts i'll America, pro-
hded the manufacturers would sustain
he prices named by the syndicate, and
tradualy advance them to the farm
Us. That proposition was rejected /
tie Americans, and from that time to
the present the German Kali Syndi-
cie has done its utmost to de. anne and
iriure the American fertilizer indus
try, which has been the best customer
OF the Kali Syndicate in the world and
from which the syndicate has eXacted
enormous tribute for several decades.
The closing statement OF Mr. Illus
tons interview is:
Potash being derived from
source, is easily controlled, but the
German pan OF direct sale to evry one
in any quantity at a reasonable price
serves to prevent The manufacturers
from forming combinations in restraint
OF trade and for the exploitation OF the
farmers, and permits the ,armer to
secure his fertilizer material at rea-
5onable cost
statement when one considers the &C
tual facts; that no higher handed mon
opoly ever existed in the worlds his
tory than the German Kali Syndicate;
that it has controlled not only the pro-
duction OF potash, but also the prices
in all markets OF the world for the past
thirty years; that it is today exacting
from the farmers OF the United States
nearly $40 per ton for murate OF pot
ash, which does not cost over $40 per
ton to produce at the mines. equal to
SIS per ton delivered in America;
that it has obtained the passage OF an
imperial law whereby contracts held BY
American citizens are invalidated by
an arbitrary tax o. G. er 100 pei cent.
al rNc th> c, a.. PR.
MIR. Illusions statements are OF the
kind that may begule the German