Evening star., 1914-08-17
WAR TOOPENW WAY
TO j. S. PRODUCTS
Secretary Lane Foresees Pop
uIarity of the ''Made in
America" Goods.

world. and utilization OF the grea
mineral products of the country. which
are now little known. are advantage.
that will accrue to the United State:
from the War of the Nations" a.
seen by Franklin X. Lane, Secretary o.
the Interior.
"Of an Importance second only tt
that of the food supply" said Mr.. Lane
"is the supply of mineral products nee
cssary to meet the requirements o.
twentieth century civilization. The in
reference with manufacturing caused
by interruption of the flow of i'm
portations of many necessary raw mar
terials. may be overcome almost wholly
by development of neglected resources
In our own country.
The main difficulties to be overcome
are in the rearrangement of the dis
tribution system necessary to estab-
fishing this independence.
Agriculture and Minerals.
For the maintenance Of agriculture
for instance, We rely more and more
largely upon mineral fertilizers The
three essential plant foods are potash
nitrogen and phosphorus, the latter
used generally in the form of phos-
pilates. We have depended. with the
rest of the world, very largely upon
the mines of Germany for our supply
of potash salts. and war has cut off
this supply. but we have large deposits
OF potash in a California reserve which
can be Immediately opened and de-
veloped II bill now before Congress
Is enacted.
chile holds practical world monop-
oily OF the most readily available nitro
n re y,if
only the manufacture of agricultural
ierlllzers. but also of many kinds of
high explosives. has been made de-
pendent upon the Chilean supply of
nitrates We can draw nitrogen from
the air and fix it with lime by the use
or large and cheap electrical develop
ment as is done at Niagara Falls and
IN Norway. and all that is necessary
10 pave the way to this electrical de-
velopment is the passage by Congress
or the Ferris bill now pending. which
VIII make possible the utilization of
the great unused water powers of the
western states
The southern states have for years
largely supplied the world with phos-
phates but large part of this supply
has gone to Europe. and much of the
phosphates used in the western states
have been imported across the Pacific
We have some 100000 acres of phos-
phate lands in the west lying near the
smelters. from which is produced the
Suiphuric acid necessary to convert these
phosphates into form available for plant
food. and still there is no law by which
these phosphate deposits can be made
commercially available. although a bill
which would allow of their immediate
development has been favorabTy reported
by the public lands committee of he
House.
Power of Enterprise and Ambition.
you can depend upon American en-
terprise and ambition to make good when
II is given an opportunity. At present
these deposits and resources are locked
up out Of use To open them to use
when the supply from other countries is
cut off means to make american indus
tries using these materials independent
of the rest of the world Business men
will not neglect the opportunity to make
our industries safe from the interrupt
tons of war;
What other industries are there now
dependent Upon the products of other
countries which can be made independ-
cnt?" Mr.. Lane was asked.
The steel industry, for one he re-
Piled Manganese is of large importance
to this industry, and the largest supply
of ore comes from Russia and other
countries. We have great stores of man.
ganese in this country. which has been
what inferior in quality. To bring this
home supply into use means merely
adoption of methods for its publication.
which are known and can be successfully
used.
I'VE have depended largely upon the
island of Ceylon for the graphite used
in the manufacture of the crucibles in
which crucible steel for edge tools and
small firearms is made. European smell
ters using. in part, Chinese and Mexican
Of the worlds supply of antimony. which
Is used in the manufacture of type metal
and also incidentally. Antimony is easily
extracted from many low-grade ores
least seven states. Similar conditions
hold in the case of arsenic.
"A large tonnage of ferromanganese
alloys comes from Germany and Eng
land. 1t is only in the last ten years
that we have freed ourselves from Sicily S
monopoiistic control of the sulphur sup
ply. Flint pebbles are common and the
supply large enough In the United States.
but We have been depending upon the
chalk cliffs of England Denmark and
France.
Look to Government for Aid.
importers, consumers and manufac-
turers are making anxious inquiries as to
where they may find in the United States
supplies of crude materials to replace the
foreign supplies now shut off. This is the
opportunity Of the United States to free
itself from dependence of its industries
upon other countries and business men
are awakening to this fact. They look
to the government for aid in finding new
sources of material with which to keep
the factories open and in operation
When they have found the domestic sup
ply and begin its use, they will not re-
turn to dependence upon the foreign
supply.
The nations greatest natural resources
arc a part Of the public domain and
under the charge of the Interior Depart
ment. The geological survey has been
instructed to furnish upon request the
addresses of producers from whom buy
ers can supply their wants if the min
cral is produced at all in this country
or information regarding the localities
where reported deposits unde-
veloped.
Already the copper industry has felt
the injurious effect of war;" he said
''and production has been curtailed
While considerable copper is consumed
tive arts of peace furnish far better
world market for American copper thar
will the destructive art of war.
In the case of zinc, however, the eff.
feet of the European war is the op.
posite. The smelling centers of the
continent are in the zone of fighting
In Belgium, for instance. practically al
the zinc smelters lie along the line oil
attack chosen by the German armies
while in Rhenish Prussia. Austria-Hun
gary and Russian Poland the smelters
are likewise located where military
operations promise to be most active
1t is within the limits of probability