Evening star., 1938-05-21

sage. Some of us sometimes have
thought that when the President
dWells at length on a document that
we are to have in typewriter form
within a few minutes, he may do SO
because he prefers. on this occasion,
not to have questions asked him about
other subjects But this is one mans
guess at another mans motive, it may
be quite wrong
Mr.. Roosevelt told us the facts con-
tanned in his message. That phos-
phate rock is found in only few
regions, America. Russia and some
British and French colonies; that in
America we have seven to eight bill
lion tons Of known rock. located chiefly
in the Rocky Mountain States and
Florida; that phosphate is essential
to agriculture. in order to keep land
fertile and prevent erosion; that,
therefore, it is desirable to have a
long term. l,000-year plan for con-
serving our phosphate deposits Hence.
he said, he was recommending TO
Congress that it set up a jpint COM
mittee to study the subject.
Human Interest Touch.
Accommodating Mr.. Roosevelt
told us how we could make this vital
but rather dull subject interesting to
our readers. We could add a human
interest touch to the story, he said.
Mr.. Roosevelt often thus practices
generous helpfulness to us by telling
us, in technical terms of our craft,
how our stories might best be written.
what the best headlines would be. and
what. in Mr.. Roosevelt's judgment,
would be the best lead" for the
story.
On this occasion. Mr.. Roosevelt
said, we could add human interest to
our story by dwelling on the relation
Of phosphate to life. Phosphate salts
are essential to human life and
health-children who do not get
enough phosphate in their food get
ricketts,. And there will be no phos-
phate in food unless the animals and
crops which compose that food are
raised on fields fertilized with phos-
phate. About this menace To human
life and health, Mr.. Roosevelt told us,
We could in our stories enlarge ad lib.
1t is new thought, he said-that
phosphate is essential to life and
that the supply of phosphate is limited,
Maybe so-there can be nothing
but good in adopting the Presidents
suggestion and conserving our phos-
phate supply. But 1 reflected that
these alarms about the exhaustion of
natural resources turn up once in
so often. I dimly remember running
across an old one in some research
I was doing. AS I recall. was going
| over bound volumes of periodicals.
! and newspapers of about the year
1910. That was just after the new
wheat lands in Canada were being
| opened up. So an eminent British
SCIENTIST think it was Sir William
| Crookes-was described as saying that
this was the last new wheat land in
the world. Alarmingly, Sir William
said that in Is years or so the world
might lack for bread. The time of
| doom is now Just about on us. And
in this present year and day. Secre-
tary of Agriculture Wallace is much
| troubled by the excessive quantity
Of wheat being raised. and is going
to pay farmers for raising less.
Wave of Concern.
| My recollection may be in error
and I may do injustice to the British
scientist. Perhaps some scholar or
other person may be able to identify
the episode and say whether my
memory of it is correct.
When I was a youth there was a
wave of excited concern about con-
servation of forests. recall a spokes-
man of imminent calamity on that
subject who, addressing group.
pointed somewhat terrifying finger
at me and said: This young man will
live to see the day when he will
eat from a concrete table and sit
on concrete chair"
I suspect that if President Roose-
velt had been speaking IS years
ago, and had been dwelling on nitrates
as today he dwells on phosphate, he
might have said the supplies of that
indispensable fertilizer were danger
ously limited I know little of chem
istry, but have vague impression
that methods of making artificial
nitrates have been perfected and can
produce unlimited quantities of nitrate
from the air as good as the natural
deposits.
However, let us not spoil Mr.. Roose-
velt's cry of alarm. 1t is just as well
To o1ooI Gn hn