The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1914-08-21

| - ~ Jul lllNuSlllCSs
Not disaster, but inevitable inter
Tupuon to some extent" replied Mr..
Lane. 1t means that suddenly ma
terlals upon which great industries
depend, must be obtained from other
sources. Importers, consumers and
manufacturers are making anxious in
qulrles as to where they may find in
the United States supplies of crude
materials to replace the foreign sup
Plies now shut off. This is the oppor-
tunlty of the United States to free
itself from dependence of its indus
tries upon other countries, and bust
ness men are awakening to this fact.
They look to the government for aid
IN hnding new sources of materials
with which to keep the factories open
and IN operation. When they have
found the domestic supply and begin
ITS use, they will not return to de-
pendence upon the foreign supply,
and thereafter good or bad times in
the United States. so far as the main
tenance of industries is concerned,
will be more independent of foreign
complication"
What is the government doing to
aid industry in these matters?'
All it can do under present laws"
kreplied the Secretary. "The nations
greatest natural resources are a part
OF the public domain, and under the
charge of the Interior Department,
The annual reports on the mineral re-
sources OF the United States publish
ed by the United States Geological
Survey for the last thiryt years, con-
tam not only statistics of yearly pro-
ductlon OF all commercial minerals.
but also useful facts regarding the oc-
currence, exploitation and application
IN the arts and sciences of the mineral
wealth OF the country. The Geological
Survey has been instructed to furnish
upon request the addresses of pro-
ducers from whom buyers can supply
their wants if the mineral is produced
at all in this country or information
regarding the localities where pro-
duced or localities where reported
deposits are undeveloped In some
instances large deposits remain I'M
developed simply because of the fact
that distance from market has given
to the foreign sources of raw material
with the lower ocean freights an adj
vantage over the domestic producers
shipping by rail"
What immediate effects upon min
eral industries may be expected from
the war"
ALREADY the copper industry has
felt the injurious effect of war;" he
said, "and production has been cur
tailed. While considerable copper is
consumed in the munitions of war, the
constructive arts of peace furnish a
F., haf tor r~-1I all
copper than will the destructive art
of war. In the case of zinc, however,
the effect of the European was is the
opposite. The smelling centers of
the Continent are in the zone of fight
ing. In Belgium for instance prac-
tically all the zinc smelters lie along
the line of attack chosen by the Ger
man armies, while in Rhenish Prussia,
Austria Hungary, and Russian Poland
the smelters are likewise located
where military operations promise to
be most active. 1t is within the limits
of probability to expect loss of half
million tons in the foreign produc-
ton of zinc of nearly half the worlds
output, with beneficial effect upon the
recent reproduction in the United
States, especially as affording the OPP
portunity to export zinc and galvan-
lied iron products to South American
countries. which market has hitherto
been only in part utilized by our ex-
porters.
Fuel oil has a large use in naval
warfare of to-day, yet the tying up
of the big tank steamers on both the
Atlantic and Pacific seaports is al
ready embarrassing the oil producers
of this country who depend so largely
upon the export trade in all the forms
of petroleum, crude and refined. On
the other hand, Russia, our strongest
rival in oil production, must suffer
more complete and longer continued
interruption of exports, which should
tend to enlarge the market for our
OIL"
"The supply of cheap foreign bar
ytes has prevented the development
of many good deposits of that mineral
but with the consumers on the At
lantic seaboard already looking for
domestic supplies, some of the south
ern mines should be re-opened to sup
plement the outputs of those already
in operation"
"The closure of the European ports
leaves but one buyer for the radium
ores of Colorado and Utah, which is
decidedly to the disadvantage of the
miner Had the legislation introdue-
ed in Congress been promptly enact
ed the United States government
would probably have been buying
these ores at this time"
while the United States leads in
coal mines" continued the Secretary,
"the six European nations now at
war happen to be the six next largest
coal mining countries, producing to-
gether over half of the worlds supply
of coal. Interference with both the
mining and the commerce of these
nations must necessarily increase the
demand for our coal at least in the
neutral countries of the world. And
coal is our one resource about which
there need be no present anxiety. The
United States is now producing &c
per cent of the worlds supply of coal
and the reserves yet to be drawn up