Republican farmer., 1918-04-19
MAKE COUNTRY
 INDUSTRIALLY
 INDEPENDENT Object of Bill Favorably Reported in House to En- courage Production.
ORES, METALS, AND MINERALS NECESSARY
Government to Control the Supply and Distribution
 and Fix Prices.

"asnlngton, April 17---To make the United States independent of the world during war time bv encourage ing the production of ores. metals ana minerals necessary for the se- curity and defense of the country largeIy Imported in the past, is the purpose of a bill favorably reported today to the House. The measure is lntenced also to enable the govern nent to conserve the supply, control the dlstr1olbtion and, if necessary, to TX the price of those materials
 Approved by the Secretaries of War, Navy and the Interior, the bill was introduced by Representative Foster, or Illinois, and was reported by the House Mines committee which has conducted hearings on the subject. MT. Foster is chairman of that con- mittee.
 Practically every man who ap- peaTed before the committee endorsed the bill,' the committee reported. Your committee believes that, if proper encouragement is given the producers 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 civi! life.
 We know that our country is now short on pyrites which is so necessary for making sulphuric acid. Pyrftes 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 suFphuric acid annually to meet our needs in the manufacture of munitions.
 Manganese is another very inn portant mineral necessity in the mak- ing of steel. We now export this from Brazil and, by the proper de- velopment of our own mines, we be- lieve a sufficient amount may be ob- tained at home for our own use. We use in this country about ten thou. sand tons of arsenic and produce about six thousand so that we are 40 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 chromium 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 l in this country. Colorado has a con- } siderable quantity and it's full devel- opment should be encouraged. Texas f and Louisiana have large amounts of ) sulphur and probably the purest in the world.
 ''All these minerals are necessary in 7 war and the government ought to s have the right to control them if it is deemed best for the prosecution of the l war and our industries at home. This g bill provides that the government may l guarantee a fixed price for two years S so that the operator and producer t may be assured of a profit affording a reasonable price for fixed time. e It is believed that we cannot get a k full production of some of these min- A erals and metals without this guaran- n tee.
 Il Pope Yeatman of the War Indus 6 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 ernment should see that an equitable distribution is made, also be able to control the prices wherever it is nec-
 essary.
 Food Administrator Hoover strong. Ily endorses this bill.
 "No governmental body at this time
 has authority which can be exercised
 to stimulate domestic production and 1 to control the distribution and use
 of these supplies. In this bill broad |, powers have been given to the Presi- = dent and one can readily see thai
 such must be the case in time of wal
 so as to meet the different conditions ,f as they may arise. The bill provides , for authority to encourage the pro ~ duction of these necessaries; fix the , price and conserve the supplies, pro.
 vide an equitable distribution ant
 direct the utilization and also to pre-
 vent the manipulation, speculation ol
 any unfair profits and high price! ,1 that may come when our imports art -- short and our domestic resources no IT fully developed.
 I4 Tt is imperative that this bill should = be enacted into law at the earlies ~ date in view of the cutting off O ships from foreign trade. It would b, :, unfortunate in the prosecution of thi '" war if the government should be sud .- denly deprived of these supplies. w
 should be independent of the world i 5 possible in war time"