Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1919-01-18
CONDITIONS OF NEW
 MINERALS INDUSTRY

At the meeting of the manganese producers last week in Washington resolutions were passed, representing the opinion of delegates from P stat es, that the spirit and intent of the Minerals Control Act should be car ried out as a matter of justice. The Secretary of the Interior was asked to render final decision as to what might be done, and in response to a committee appointed to ascertain his views he explained that he felt that further legislation was necessary to give him full warrant to act under the changed conditions. He suggest ed that the Minerals Act be amended so that it might be applied for the h- quidation of losses incurred by the producers of the war minerals.
 It is fact that millions of dollars have been spent by patriotic men in this country in the erection of plants for the production of potash and in developing other mineral resources, trusting in the faith and honor of the United States Government, and that under no circumstances would they spend dollar on these enterprises in the face of the foreign competition which would have prevented such in dustries being developed profitably. They were urged and persuaded by many government agencies, including the Department of the Interior, to use strenuous efforts to provide these es- sentials for the nation,and it was un- iversally understood that they would be protected by the War Minerals Bill that was then pending. How can the Administration explain it's shortcom- ing if this obligation is not frankly and honestly met?
 America should be made industrial ly independent. The collapse of these industries, now that they have been called into being, would exert a dis couraging influence upon the people. It is necessary that they should be recompensed for the money they have lost, but back of that lies a patriotic effort for the national welfare that should meet with evidence of appreci- ation, and the only way to do this is to sustain the industries. It was stat ed at the meeting by MT. Lord of the Department of Labor that a test of national strength is the ability to meet any emergency throug h cooperative effort, and that these responses by the mining people of the country should not be neglected by the Gov ernment. The industries were entit- led to chance to do their part for the future development of the country, and the Government was in duty bound to see that they had that chance. When the resources of Am erica had been shown, in any instance, to be inadequate, it was time to see about importations to make good the deficiency. That applies to any in dustry. We do not want state socia- lism, but protection to the productive power of the country is not socialism; it is the protection to opportunity for private effort in order to make our selves self-sustaining. It might seem, in narrow view of self-interest, to some of the larger industries that they are being benefited by having cheap foreign raw materials accessible, but in the end they were preventing the growth of the country and of other industries that would make combin- ed demand that would more than off set the advantage of little reduction in the first cost of portion of their supplies.
 As one means or insuring balance of protection and encouragement of the related industries MT. Lord insist ed that it was as important that there should be unity of action among the owners of the mines as among the employees. Organization of the metal industries for mutual help would react advantageously upon every phase of the work. It would inspire confidence among the workers and facilitate CO., operation for the highest industrial ends; it would terminate that kind of competition that makes the operators the easy victims of their own systems through the effort to crab the market away from others. In this system are the elements of self destruction that create panics and prostration of bus mess. A sane protective policy can be developed only by association of the interests that constitute the com mercial strength of the country, and such association should have power to direct and regulate, and not merely to pass resolutions that depend upon the initiative of some one outside to make them effective.