Las Vegas optic. (East Las Vegas, N.M.) 1908-1921, 1913-12-29
ASKS CONGRESS TO ACT
RESOLUTION WILL BE PASSED
GIVING THE. PRESIDENT
AUTHORITY
is A VALUABLE REMEDY
WHILE AMERICA HAS THE ORE
IT is UNABLE TO PRODUCE
THE METAL

Washington, Dec. 29.-SecretaIy
Lane proposes to Withdraw all lands
Of the public domain suspected Of con
taining radium, that these precious
deposits may be secured for the gen
eral good and not become the subject
OF private speculation.
Mr. Lane outlined mis- plan today in
a letter to Chairman Foster Of the
house mines committee. urging imme-
diate passage Of a joint congress. .onal
resolution to empower President Will
son to make the Withdrawals. Investi-
gators of the geological survey have
located public lands believed to con
tain the precious substance now so
Invaluable in medicine.
BY the terms OF the proposed reso-
luton the secretary OF the interior
would be authorized to conduct ex-
plorations and researches with a view
to determining the pracrcability Of
developing from such ores a supply Of
radium and to provide for the mining
and treatment of radium- bearing ores
in such manner as would secure a
supply Of Eadium for the use Of the
government Of the United states and
the hospitals Of this country
Mr.. Lane points out that there are
only two grams OF radium at present
in the United States, 1t is valued at
S12O,OOO a gram All has been pro
cured from Europe.
"Threefourths of the radium pro-
duced in the world during the year
1912" says Secretary Lane, came
from American ores, yet we have, up
to this time, taken no steps whatever
to preserve for our own people this
invaluable metal, and our physicians
and hospitals are dependent on Eu-
ropean laboratories for such supplies
as they can procure and are subject
to whatever monopoly charge the Eu-
ropean laboratories demand for their
products"
In view of the known effectiveness
Of radium in the treatment OF cancer
and the difficulty now exercised in
obtaining it, Secretary Lane says that
as one person in every ten in this
country more than SO years OF age
suffers from cancer ait is difficult to
overestimate the necessity for secur-
ing Immediately as large a supply as
possible of this mysterious remedy
Continuing the secretary says:
''Radium is found in ores carrying
uranium and vanadium, which are
used extensively in the arts, and the
processes by which it is extracted are
secret.
"a process has been invented by
the chemists in our bureau Of mines
which promises, from the laboratory
experiments thus far made, to be sue
cessful. Under the endowment Of two
Americans, a building is now being
erected in Denver (Which, with its
equipment, will be opened for work
in the coming February, in which
an effort will be made to prove the
commercial possibility Of this Ameri-
can process. If successful, this pro
cess viii be given to the world, and
all Of the radium secured over and
above a small minimum win be the
property OF the United States and
will be put into the hands Of the
United States public health service
for public use.
Under all these circumstances, IT
seems to me that the only prudent
course that the United States can fol-
low is to Withdraw such Of its lands
as are supposed to contain radium
from public entry. This will guard
against these lands being taken up
by those who would not put them %
their highest and most beneficial use.
Ii would be inhuman to deprive other
nations Of access to our radium de-
posts If they alone are masters Of
the secret by which this mineral could