The Washington herald., 1914-01-13
Fight ON RADIl|M
CONTROLPEyDlNG
Trust Will Try to Prove
Embarrassing Obstacle to
Government Ownership.
OPPOSED TO COLORADO
Question Of Advisabiity of Plan to
Be Put Up to Secretary
Lane Tomorrow.
OPPOSED TO COLORADO

There is every indication that there will
be big fight over Secretary of Interior
Lanes project for the segregation OF
radium-bearing lands. Forces for and
against withdrawal Of public ore lands
containing carnotite and. pitchblend be-
gan to line up yesterday.
Two bills treating with the radium
question were introduced. Representative
NJ. d. Foster. of Illinois, introduced bill
instructing the Secretary Of Interior to
! furnish information to Congress as TO
what lands should be withdrawn. He also
believes in appropriating money enough
for the government to make exhaustive
surveys. with a view to the possible de-
velopment of radium lands by the gov
| ernment. Representative Scott Ferris. Of
Oklahoma. introduced a similar bill.
Mr.. Foster said regarding his bill that
although the entire radium output Of the
| world was controlled by ten companies.
| four-fifths Of the raw material was OBJ
tained from American mines, and that
despite our great output of crude ore, We
had but two grams of the highly refined
material. Mr.. Ferris desires vanadium
and uranium deposits in Alaska to be
withdrawn.
A radium trust" has appeared upon
the scene. This factor will prove a seri-
Gus obstacle for those advocating segre-
cation. Nearly every bit of our radium
ore is in Colorado mines. Colorado men,
bers of Congress stand opposed to Secre-
tary Lanes plan for withdrawal. They
are supported by Colorado State officials
and private interests who have exploited
the carnotite fields in that State extern
sively.
- Argument of Colorado.
Joseph NJ Flannery. of Pittsburgh. told
members Of Congress yesterday that Sec
retary Lanes statement that the United
States is dependent upon European labor
atories for its radium is erroneous. He
said his concern could manufacture one
grain OF radium a month. and that their
output for the next two years has been
contracted for by Americans.
Tomorrow the entire Colorado delega-
ton will call upon Secretary Lane in the
hope of persuading him that the with
drawal policy should not be pursued. II
they are unsuccessful they will make
their next fight in the public hearing
which will be held on the subject by
the House Committee on Public Lands.
Then they will carry their fight to the
floor of Congress il necessary. Repre-
sentative Edward T. Taylor. of Colorado.
said last night:
IF Secretary Lane and the Federal
government will let the West alone in
connection with this radium. the miners
will find all the radium there is and will
produce it. If they don't let us alone,
they will stop the production OF radum,
make IL scarce, and shoot the price up to
the skies. II the Secretary OF the In
terror lets things stand as they are there
will be between 1880 and 1000 prospectors
looking for radium in the West within
the next ninety days When a demand
for a mineral is established it will be
supplied by miners and prospectors II IL
can be found. The withdrawal of radium
lands will destroy private enterprise.
Prospectors and miners will not attempt
to locate radium ore when agents of the
government are going to grab its prop
critics as soon as he has definite results.
Also, the government will be put to the
enormous expense Of going into the min
ing business
To Quiz Lane Tomorrow.
Representative Taylor is going to ask
this question of Mr.. Lane tomorrow:
DO you realize that men will not go
prospecting merely for the sake of hav-
ing what they find seized by the govern |
ment as soon as the government finds out
what it is. and IL the incentive is denied |
prospectors are you going to employ /
couple OF Thousand men to minutely |
search the ore fields of ColoradoT'
Secretary of Interior Lane has decided |
to appear before the House Public Lands |
Committee when it meets some time dur
ing the next two weeks. He has extern |
sive data prepared by the Bureau of
Mines special laboratory in Denver. Mr.. |
Lane has had several conversations with |
DR.. Howard A. Kelly, the radium wizard |
of Johns Hopkins, in Baltimore. Mr.. |
Lane is acting partially on the advice
of DIR. Kelly.
The Secretary will also present to the
committee the results of two years ex-
perimental work by DR.. Kithil and DR..
Moore, who. working for the government
have discovered and perfected a new and
simple method of extracting radium from
uranium. which is found only in the