Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1918-01-24
TO ATTAIN STABILITY
IN TRADE IRON
George n. Hull, Veteran Producer and
Noted Expert, Offers a Timely
Suggestion. .

In a report on prevailing conditions
n the ron and steel trade, Mr.. George
II. HUI. the noted iron authority, made
lie Ioilowing suggestions, which are
publis led in a recent is ue Of the Odd
Lot Ee.iew:
"Ine German Government is appar.
emily tie only government which has
sraspet the great truth % the prepon-
Aeialns liuDortance OF iron in juXtapo.
SitlOn 20 Coal as the basis of military
power. That great trenchmun, VI.
Andre LsDon, III q rcceni interview
said that Grrmlny's most energetic
effort 4 been devoted TO cunceailng
this gluat truth evidently with a VIC"
OF gathering into her power all the
coal and iron lands OF her neighbors
before those neighbors realized this
great t! 9TH. ii. Andre Lebon makes il
quite pain that ii England had realiz.
ed the Importance Of iron control SUI.
nciently to have taken a hand in the
treaty Of 1870 and prevented Germany
from taking Alsace-Lorraine coal and
iron fields from France, Europe would
never have dripped with blood in this
war, for Germany ncvcr would have
mad the coal and IRON He makes 1t
equally plain that if at the end Of the
present war Germany is able to retain
the coal and iron fields of Alsace Lor-
raine and belgium, she will be
powerful than the United States in
war making pOtentialites. and the mo.
ment this occur she will at once com
mence 10 prepare for conquest of the
United States
1.-The United States has grown to
be the greatest pig iron producer in
the world. With her great wealth and
chronic condition Of unpreparedness
for war, she should be the largest hold
er Of reserved stocks OF | g/iron, out
of which the materials for national de.
Tense might be quickly created. In.
stead OF this, such laws as the Nation
and State possess. which could have
influence in this matter. tend to
keep the reserve stock Of pig iron at
the lowest possible ebb. Some Of the.
states actually tax any surplus stocks
of pig iron which are held in store
more than twelve months. In other
States storage stocks Of iron are sub
ject to legal annoyances which In some
cases have become 40 burdensome
that the carriage of reserve stocks In
those States has had to be abandoned.
"The business of the United States
for the ninth time within the last
eighty years is being hampered and
delayed in consequence OF a famine In
pig iron. In times Of peace these de-
lays have resulted in the loss Of mil
lions OF dollars to the business OF the
country: in time of war they must nee
essarily prolong its duration and thus
add enormously to the loss of human
lives. The violence of these pig iron
famines can be appreciated by the pro-
nounced effect they have had upon Its
price during their existence. During
the mildest ones price has advanced
more than 200 per cent. During the
most violent ones 1t has gone up from,
800 to 400 per cent. Pig iron. which
sold at 50 per ton in Pennsylvania In
1897, is now selling for $50 per ton.
During the Civil War iron advanced
to $50 per ton. No n can estimate
how much more severe the present
famine may become or how much It
may weaken our effectiveness In the
war II our Government does not take
definite steps TO- remedy the evil,