Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-01-25
Fight in Congress to Open on the
Government Plan to Withdraw
Rich Mineral Lands in Colo
RADIO to Help Cancer Victims.
Product Is Shipped to European
Countries, Price Having Been
Raised to $4,000 a Gram by
Foreign Physicians, Is Charge.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24.-Tn Con-
sress there has begun a stupendous
battle to save the lives Of the $4,000
persons who are dying annually Of
cancer.
The Federal Governments proposal
to withdraw lands owned by the
United States containing .raium
bearing ores will be bitterly con-
tested by Colorado, which enjoys a
practical monopoly Of the radium
bearing ores of the world.
Colorado seeing profitable field
for exploitation, will demand the
right to extract the radium from the
carnotite ores, and to sell the precious
metal which DR.. Howard A. Kelly
says works like million surgeons
Knives" to Europe.
Two hundred persons, according to
Federal experts, are dying every day
in the United States of cancer.
Surgeons of the Public Health Ser
vice assert that one-half gram of ra-
dunn will save one human being ev-
cry day in the year.
Despite these facts, Colorado insists
upon the right Of dispOsing of the
carnotite ores upon a purely COM
mercial basis.
Europe Raises Price.
Europe already has offered the
Standard Chemical Company, Of
Pittsburg, the only manufacturers of
radium in this country, an increase of
so per cent over the present market
price of $4,000 a gram.
DR.. Howard A. Kelly, of Baltimore,
and DR.. Robert Able, Of New York,
will appear before the joint Senate
and House Committee on Mines and
tell of the marvellous cures brought
about through the use Of radium. DR.
Kelly will offer formally to surrender
the 1900 milligrams of radium now
in his possession to the Government
II Congress approves the measure
introduced by Representative Fowler,
Of Illinois, for the withdrawal of the
radium- bearing ores from the public
domain.
Colorado's Congressional delegation
will be on hand to oppose the Fowler
measure.
Question of Life and Death.
Secretary Lane defines the issue in
these words:
The issue is believed to be one Of
life and death to hundreds of thou
sands, and / believe the American
people will strongly support any
broad gauge policy that aims to ex-
tract from lands now actually in pub
lie ownership sufficient American ra-
dunn for American hospitals, that
thus the poorest patients may secure
promptly the treatment now neces-
sarily limited to the selected few.
AT present those who have radium
are forced to the awful alternative Of
selecting between the patients on
whom it may be used"
Representative Martin d. Foster, of
Illinois, chairman of the House Com
mittee on Mines and Mining, to-day
appealed to the country to support the
Governments plan to set aside and
mine some of the radium- bearing
lands in Colorado, to provide the hos
pitfalls of the United States with ra-
dunn for the treatment of cancer and
other malignant diseases. Represen-
tative Foster is a practicing physi-
clan.
The United States, although hav-
ing almost a world monopoly of the
radium- bearing ores, has less ra-
dunn for the treatment of it's hun
dreds of thousands of sufferers from
cancer than any prominent country
OF Europe" said Mr.. Foster.
Some of those who are opposing
the withdrawal of the land declare
that suffering humanity will not be
deprived of this great boon IL private
parties exploit these ores. We can
only judge from what has happened.
II was less than a year ago that the
Bureau of Mines made the discovery
that tons and tons of this precious
fadium- producing ore had been ship
ped from Colorado to Europe, and
mat no radium had ever been made
IN the United States.
We shipped this wonderful carno-