The Washington times., 1916-07-13
the NICKEL PROBLEM OF GER
.,s. MANY ~

Inc submarine mefchantman now
lying at Baltimore wants to carry
home q cargo in considerable part
Of nickel; and she probably will not
get that privilege, for an interest
ing set Of reasons.
Nickel Is almost entirely produced
in the Cobalt region Of Canada, and
in the islands Of New Caledonia, In
the south seas, which are French
possessions. II is the only known
metal which, a. an alloy Of steel, will
produce that toughness necessary in
weapons or machinery parts that
must Withstand very high pressure,
explosions, etc. About all the steel
manufactured nowadays, save only
structural steel, is alloyed with
nickel.
The Germans need nickel in max
ing cannon, parts Of engines, and the
like. They have no domestic supply,
and from the very beginning Of the
war wiseacres have said that the
lack Of nickel would be one Of the
first serious economic weaknesses
developed in the central empires.
A small amount Of. nickel is recov-
cred by American copper miners as
a byproduct Of copper; but it is un-
important.
Highly important, on the other
hand, is the fact that Americans
own the nickel mines in Canada, and
that, after reducing the ores to mat
te-the sulphate Of nickel-they
ship this matte to this country to be
refined. These same interests are
allied with the French owners Of the
New Caledonia mines, from which II
has been customary to send the ores
to Belgium for that process which
makes the matte; then the matte ID
shipped to the United States for the
last refinement. This way-statior
business, via Belgium, was neces'
sary because our tariff imposes
duties on nickel ores, but not or
matte.
When war started, the British
Canadian, and French authoritie:
took immediate. steps to prevent
nickel getting to Germany. Tht
American refiners were required t.
give most absolute guarantees that
if their supplies Of matte were t.
continue moving from Canada. the!
would not sell an ounce Of nickel 81
that it could possibly get to Ger
many.
Nickel, despite that 1t is well-nigl
a precious metal in such a time a
the present, is the one metal that ha
not risen in price since the war start
ed. This is because Of its odd status
The International Nickel Compan.
dominates the business, and is al
American corporation. But the sup
plies all come from French and Cana
dian territory; SO the American con
cern, lest it might get into the ba
graces Of those countries, has bee
careful to keep prices within moder
alton. Nickel is now worth from 4
to so cents a pound, and Is com
monty understood to have been sol
to the allied governments at price
much less than this.
1t will be nice question, whethe
the Deutschland can get her nickt
cargo aboard. Seemingly the mets
has been bought up by Germa
agents, despite the stringent effort
to keep them from getting it; an
, now the diplomatic agencies are PR
, testing against its shipment. tn
. alice could easily enough depriy
this country Of nickel, if they foun
it necessary in order to prevent il
, transportation to Germany.
So serious is the need for nick
. in Germany, that recently all coins
, which nickel is used as a toughenin
alloy have been called in and ire
ones substituted for them. tt
nickel alloy is being extracted fro
the old coins to use in steel making