The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-30
LANE PROPOSES To
WITHDRAW LANDS
CONTAINING RAD|UM
Would Secure Precious De-
p0sits for Public Good
and Not Private
Speculation

Washington December 29.-Secretary
Lane proposes to withdraw all lands Of
the public domain suspected of contain
ing radium that their precious deposits
may be secured for the public good and
not become the subject of private specd-
laton.
Mr.. Lane outlined his plan today to
Chairman Foster of the House mines com
mittee, urging immediate passage of a
joint congressional resolution to empower
President Wilson to make Withdrawals.
The Secretary told Chairman Foster
that unless federal action We're taken
promptly there was danger that valuable
lands might become involved in private
speculation.
Investigations of the geological survey
have located public lands believed tc
contain radium now so valuable in med
icine. BY terms of the proposed reso-
luton the Secretary of the Interior
would be authorized to conduct explora-
ions and researches with a view to de-
termining the practicability 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 best secure a supply of ra-
dunn for the use of the government and
the hospitals in this country"
Secretary Lane points out that there
are only two grammes of radium at
present in the United States.
S120,000 a Gramme
1t is valued at $120.000 a gramme.
All has been procured from Europe.
"Three-fourths of the radium pro-
dueed in the world during the year
coz frfA,
American ores, yet we have up to this
time taken no steps whatever to pre-
serve for our own people this valuable
chemical and the physicians depeEd
upon European laboratories for such
supply as they can procure and are
subject to whatever monopoly charge
the European laboratories demand"
In view of the known effectiveness
of radium in the treatment of cancer
and the difficulty now experienced in
obtaining it, Secretary Lane says that
as one person in every 10 in this coun-
try more than so years old suffers from
cancer, "it is difficult to overestimate
the necessity for securing Immediately
as a remedial effort as large a supply
as possible"
Further the report says:
"Radium is found la ores carrying
uranium and vanadum which are used
extensively in the arts md processes by
which 1t is extracted re secret. A pro-
cess has been invented by the chemists
in our bureau of mines which promises
from the laboratory experiments thus far
MADE to be successful
Under the endowment of two Ameri-
cans building is now being erected III
Denver which with it's equipment will be
opened for work In the coming February
in which an effort will be made to prove
the commercial possibility of this Amer
lean process.
"If successful the formula will be given
the world and all radium above a small
minimum will 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 1t seems
to me that the only prudent course that
the United States can follow is to with
draw such of it's lands as are supposei
to contain radium from public entry. This
will guard against these lands being
taken up by those who would not put
them to their highest and most bene-
fetal use. 1t would be inhuman to de-
prive other nations of access to our ra-
dunn deposits if they alone We're masters
of the secret by which this mineral could
be secured and it is believed that there
is a sufficient amount of carnotite ana
pitchblende already in private ownership
in this country to permit of continued
European experimentation and produc-
ton.
THE people of the United States shoul1
be entitled to protection against the ex-
haustion of this resource and it's exclusive
control by the scientists of other lands