New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-26
By CARL SNYDER
Author of American Railways Is
Investments, etc.


Investments, etc.
vF YOU journey through the lone
nine barrens of New jersey
Il YOU may ride past thousands
nnon thousands of acres now prac-
ticallv untouched by human hands.
uore is land within hundred miles
or so of the metropolis Of America
ond vet YOU may purchase it IN al
most unlimited quantities at 50 or
$40 an acre; and practically no one
NOT even the superiority Italian
has found a way to make it profit-
able even at this price. 1t IS oiih-
o,,1+ 20 imagine that these desert
wastes were a half century ago the
eunport of a considerable popu!a-
ton and, earlier still, the scene OIL
Americas principal iron industry.
In these pine wastes there are IN
Vulnerable boys, and in these Dogs
tbere was an iron bearing muck OF
sufficient grade to make 1t pront-
able TO work. Years since these Dogs
were abandoned because OF the
cost and especially because IN the
Great iron-bearing ranges Of Min
ncsota and Michigan it has been
rossible to uncover vast quantities
Of iron ore. so to speak, for the
trouble Of shovelling 1t.
What is true of the pine barrens
&c true of many other parts OF the
atlantic littoral. In other parts OF
Jersey and over New York state
and through New England you viii
find abandoned ovens and blast fur
naces in considerable number; some
Of their ruins are extremely plct-
uresaue. And here and there you
will find some of these old IRON
mines still worked. But their total
production is scanty.
Iron Enough
Forever
At the present time, as every one
l-rows there is a worldwide dearth
Of iron. Why is it that these ola
iron mines are not brought into
activity again, and why should pig
iron now be selling at more than
three times its average, or what is
called normal, price for the years
Immediately preceding the war! 1t
is not because of the lack OF iron.
The iron of the earth is, for all
practical human concerns, INFINITE
in quantity, for the simple reason
that To the best Of our knowledge,
this little ball on which we live Is
made largely Of iron. Instead Oh
mining millions Of tons Of this very
precious metal, without which our
modern industries could not exist, 1t
would probably be possible to NINE
billions of tons without prospect OF
exhausting it within hundreds or
thousands Of years.
The whole question is simply one
Of human labor. The lack OF iron
NOW is not due to lack of material,
Int literally of hands to handle It,
Nothing more. And it does not take
. very wise man to see that all you
have 10 do in the world to get all
tho iron that could possibly be
needed is to put a sufficient price on
the iron to pay wages that would
draw workers from every other in
custry. And that, to some extent, is
what the war has done. The only
reason that the total of production
is not two or three times what 1t
was before the war, instead of about
90 per cent greater, is that no one
has believed that these prices would
last long enough to make it profit
able to open up new or old fields or
to enlarge present facilities. If you
could guarantee these prices for
three years the iron industry could
command almost unlimited capital
and, having this, an almost unlim-
tied number of workers.
Now, let US take quite different
field. Some years ago, in New Eng
land, / had occasion often TO talk
to the old farmers. | remember one
DAY saying to one Of them: 81 don't
see a great deal Of wheat grown in
this section"
"0h, no." replied the old man;
"they can raise wheat out in them
there Dakotas so cheap that we
can't afford 10 raise it here"
"How about corn? don't see
much Of that, either"
"0h, no. Out in Ioway and Hi
nigh they can beat us all hollow. No
USE"
"Well, this ought 70 make fine hay
fields at least"
"Oh, yes; but you know they can
bale that stuff now and ship il in
here for heap less than we can