New Britain herald., 1918-04-15
PRODUCTION Of
ORE ENCOURAGED
Bill Reported to House May Help
TO Win War

Washington, April 15.-po make the
United States independent of the world
during war time by encouraging tho
production of ores, metals and min
erals necessary for the security and
defense of the country, largely i'm
ported in the past, is the purpose of
a bill favorably reported today to the
house. The measure is intended also
to enable the government to conserve
the supply, control the distribution
and, if necessary, to fix the price of
those materials.
Approved by the secretaries of war,
navy and the interior. the bill was in
trduced by Representative Foster of
Illinois, and was reported by the house
mines committee which has conducted
hearings on the subject. Mr.. Foster
is chairman of that committee.
Practically every man who ap-
peared before the committee endorsed
the bill' the committee reported.
Your committee believes that, if pro-
per encoura cement is given the pro-
ducers of these products, most of
them can be developed in our own
country for our needs for the army
and navy and for necessities in civil
life.
No Pyrites From Spain.
I'VE know that our country is now
short Of pyrites which is SO necessary
for making sulphuric acid. Pyritos
have been imported from Spain and
ships have been necessary to carry
this important ore. They must now be
relieved. We can develop our own
supply of pyrites and we should do so.
It will require about nine million tons
Of sulphuric acid annually to meet our
needs in the manufacture of munitions.
Manganese is another very i'm
portant mineral necessary in the MAX
ing of steel We now import this from
Brazil, and by the proper development
of our own mines, we believe a suff1-
cient amount may be obtained at home
for our own use. We use in this
country about ten thousand tons of
arsenic and produce about six thou
sand SO that we are forty per cent.
short Of normal use. Much of this
article is now being wasted which
should and We believe could be saved
If looked after and a stabilized price
fixed.
'There are large importations OF
Chom1um at present. BY proper de-
velopment we can secure all that is
necessary for the needs Of our own
country.
Tungsten Is necessary In making
hardened steel and it is believed that
a sufficient quantity can be secured
in this country. Colorado has a con-
siderable quantity and it's full devol-
opment should be encouraged. Texas
and louisiana have large amounts of
sulphur and probably the purest in
the world
Necessary for War.
"All these minerals are necessary
i'll war and the government ought to
have the right to control them if it
is deemed best for the prosecution of
the war and our industries at home
This bill provides that the govern
nent may guarantee a fixed price for
two years so that the operator and
producer may be assured of 8 profit !
affording a reasonable price for a |
fixed time. It is believed that we can |
rot get full production of some of |
these minerals and metals without |
this guarantee.
Pope Yeatman Of the war indus |
tries board says consumers are al |
ready trying to control and to get |
hold Of all the importations. This /
should not be permitted and the gov !
eminent should see that an equitable
distribution is made and also be able
to control the prices wherever it Is
necessary.
Food Administrator Hoover strong
~ endorses this bill.
mo governmental body at this
time has authority which can be ex-
crcised to stimulate domestic pro-
duction and to control the distribu-
ton and use Of these supplies In !
this bill broad powers have been
given to the president and one can
readily see that such must be the
case in time OF war so as to meet
the different conditions as thew NAV
arise. The bill provides for author
ity to encourage the production of
these necessaries; fix the price and
conserve the supplies, provide an
equitable distribution and direct the
utilization and also to prevent the
manipulation, speculation or any, nm
fair profits and high prices that NAV
come when our imports are short and
our domestic resources not fully de-
veloped."
1T is imperative that +b; hiu