Evening star., 1915-12-18
RICHES OF NATION
WAIT ONCONGRESS
Secretary Lane Urges DeveI-
0pment of Marvellous Ma
tionaI Resources.
WATER POWER ESSENTIAL
TO CONDUCT OF A WAR
Would Cheaper Food to People and
Provide High Explosives
for Defense.

In the development of the great
water power resources of the country
lies national independence, for the
starting of the water wheels will re-
suit In increased food supplies in time
of peace and an adequate supply of
nitrogen for explosives in time of war
according to statements of Secretary
Lane of the Interior Department in the
final section of his annual report made
public today.
The water power can be used, he said,
to develop electricity with which to
raise water to the dry lands and to
draw the nitrogen from the air. The
Secretary makes this comment in con-
nection with the discussion of the pro-
posed water power bill now pending in
Congress. He favors the so-called Fer
ris bill. which would lease the lands
for f1fty-year periods, and discusses
the arguments made against it.
Americas Marvellous Assets.
Describing an examination he made
to determine the assets of the country,
Secretary Lane said that with the ex-
ception of one or two minor minerals,
the United States produces every min
eral that is needed in industry, and this
can be said of no other country" After
pointing out the proportion of min
erals produced by the United States in
comparison with the rest of the world,
he said: I'VE can build battleship or
an automobile excepting the tires), a
railroad or a factory. entirely from the
products of American mines and
forests.
ITO replenish the soil we have phos-
phorus in abundance: potash is known
to exist in the deposits of Searles lake,
CAL which. however, is not yet COM
mercially available. and in alunite,
where it is combined with aluminium
and deposits of which are found in
several states. And nitrogen can be
extracted from the air by cheap hydro
electric power, as is now done in Ger
many. Norway and elsewhere. So that
we can feed the earth and keep it sus-
tanned" He said there is water power
that can be made to generate perhaps
as much as $4,000. 900 horsepower
The Secretary reviews the generosity
of the United States in giving away it's
resources and says there certainly was
no niggardliness displayed. But" he
continues, I'VE have now come to. a
point where it can be said that if Con-
gress will pass two bills now before it
of all its vast treasures in lands save
national forests and national parks
Calling attention to his internal de-
velopment program and the part of it
that was enacted into law, the Secre-
tary said that two measures contained
in it were not passed. These were the
water power bill. governing the use of
public lands for hydro electric develop
ment, and the other a general develop
ment bill. providing for practicable
method of disposing of oil. gas. coal.
phosphate and potash without danger
of monopoly or misuse.
Measures a National Necessity.
The country needs these bills, he con-
tinues, urgently, not as a matter of
mere local development. but as ma
tionaI necessity. The need for the gen.
eraI development bill is not difficult to
present. The lands of the Pacific coast
are being used intensely in some parts
and these lands call for fertilization.
One of the elements which must be re-
stored to the soil is phosphorus. This
Is native in most soils. but is needed
by all after long use. The orange
orchards of California and the apple
orchards of Oregon and Washington,
not to speak of others. draw heavily
upon the soil. And for it's replenishing
the orchardists are buying phosphate
rock in Florida, which is carried 5000
miles by water and then inland while
have under withdrawal nearly 5000, 900
acres of lands that are underlaid with
phosphate rock. There is no law to-
day under which this can be secured.
In Montana and elsewhere throughout
the west are smelters which produce
the suIphuric acid necessary for the
conversion OF this rock into practica-
BILE fertilizer. So that the development
of this industry waits only upon the
passage of a law which will put this
mineral at the command of those who
need it.
Gamble in Coal Lands.
Our coal lands are now subject to
sale at appraised values based upon
an estimate of the content of the land
This is at best an experts guess. and
converts each purchase into a gamble
both on the part of the government
and the purchaser. The bill does not
exclude this method. but supplements
II with simple provision by which
the purchaser. instead of buying at
hazard. may pay a royalty upon what
he produces. II gives the man of mod :
crate means an opportunity to secure
o mine"
The present method of disposing of
the oil and gas lands, the Secretary
saws. is plain msfit.' and extremely
wastefui. An absolute government. he
said would prohibit a barrel of oil
being used for fuel before every drop
of kerosene. gasoline or other inval-
liable constituents had been taken from
IL. Whatever the supply, he continues
II should not be allowed in it's crude
state to compete with coal as fuel and
the government should not promote
its being wasted by applying to IL
archaic laws under which waste is a
certainty.
Relief for Oil Operators.
He urges that Congress come to the
relief of oil operators who were vic
Tins of the oil land Withdrawals. He
would give these operators their lease,
upon paying a royalty to the govern
ment for the amount produced.
IF this were done" he says. lease.
could be made to all who were act
ually operating upon the land at thai
time. And il it is thought advisa BILE
there could be imposed higher roy
atty than would be called for unde,
the geneEal development bill | fee
that this is one of those situation.
= often arising in the life of the indtyid
ual and the state when IL is not wis,