Evening star., 1943-01-10
Drainage Of Natural Resources
In i. S. Is Causing Anxiety
Belief Persists, However, That United Nations
Have Enough Raw Matrals to Win
War If Employed Efficiently
By Richard L. Stokes

Harbor was the belief that Providence
had blessed the United States with in
exhaustible natural resources. The
country has been at war for only 13
months, but the fury with which its
material wealth is being ransacked has
already perturbed the Government s sci
entific agencies. In contrast to military
and political departments, these branches
do not think in terms of wishful specifi-
cations or diplomatic deals. BY profess
sion, to quote w. S. Gilbert, they are
men of taste exact for faultless fact
Injured to long-range vistas, such ex-
perts are alarmed over the drainage of
metallic and mineral stores which is
reflected by multiplying expenditures.
In 194l the outgo for defense was $13,-
100000 900. War disbursements scared
to s52,5OO 100000 in 1912. The estimate
for 1943 is in excess of 100000 900 900.
Chairman Donald NJ Nelson of the War
Production Board predicted recently
that manufacture of armament goods
in the current twelvemonth will surpass
that of 1912 by tWo-thirds. He defined
1912 as the year of the battle of facilities,
which was won: and promised that 1943
would bring victory likewise in the battle
of materials.
If so, the triumph may be a Pyrrhic
one, it is declared because of the head
long greed with which Mars is rif1ing
the Nations material stocks and rum
maging into elements formerly despised,
like clay and even sand. On the pre-
sumption that World War II will con-
tinue several years and that depletion
of this country's natural reserves Will
accelerate rather than decline, the fol-
lowing questions, of portentous slgnltl-
canoe for the destiny of the American
people, are now being raised:
Is the United States headed toward
an economy of scarcity, which will re-
place its historic economy OF abundance?
Must RECOMMENDATION of materials be-
come national policy in time of peace
as we'll as war?
Will there be a leveling down OF
American wage and living standards,
with a proportionate levellng up OF
such standards in countries from which
essential supplies are imported?
Is a revolution in our trade and tariff
systems bound to follow?
Will the United States, out of its own
resources, ever again be able to fight
a big-time war?
Rather than accept a have-not status
would the American people turn to i'm
perialism?
Vital Metals Near Exhaustion.
On the verge of exhaustion or serious
impoverishment, according to scientists
in the Department of the Interior, are
the domestic stores of materials having
such ultra-vital comhatant Importance
as lead, zinc, mercury and iron, Tor
which there are no substitutes; as well
as copper, bauXite and petroleum. Al
ternatives for the last three are known,
but they are either at a primitive stage
of development, eXorbitant in cost or
relatively inefficient.
Zinc is indispensable in die casting
for electrical batteries, for galvanlZlng
iron and steel against rust and as
component of brass. Smelling facilities
are adequate, but the Nations zinc de-
posits have attained what mineralogists
describe as "old age" Because of ore de-
pletion, output is expected to begin
tapering off in 1914 In the hope of
stimulating production, price premium
of 2a4 cents a pound was instituted last
February. No increase of output re-
suited, but probably decline.
Pronounced also tc be approaching
decrepitude are American deposits OF
lead, found chiefly in the tri-State area
which centers ABOUT Joplin, Mo. At
current rates of consumption, supplies
are thought to be available for no more
than five years 1t is regarded as doubt
full whether lead production in the
United States will ever again equal that
of pre-war figures. In fact, despite a
price premium of 234 cents a pound, the
rate of output in 1912 fell below that of
l94l. Recoveries from scrap decreased
10 per cent.
However lead was the one important
metal in which a critical shortage did
not exist at the end of 1912 Thanks to
increased imports, but mainly to restric-
tions on civilian use, the Government
has been able to accumulate sizable
stockpile, which is considered adequate
at the moment for military needs. In
November the favorable outlook brought
a slight easing of restrictions on the en-
ployment of lead in building and other
products The chief military uses of this
metal are for ballast and storage bat
teries in submarines, projectiles for small
arms ammunition, tetra ethyl lead in
gasoline, babbit metal, pigments and
cable coverings used in Signal Corps
communications.
Mercury, an essential component of
decorating powders, attained its peak OF
domestic production 60 years ago, and is
expected to begin its ultimate decline
during the present year. Output has
been quickened, and eventual exhaus-
ton hastened, by price of 1892 flask
which was set by the Metals Reserve
Co. Before 1899, the figure ranged from
$40 to $40 flask. The worlds principal
sources of mercury are Spain and Italy
the latter an enemy country. The United
States has stood third. During its OPEN
ing war year, this country disbursed
S752l, 900 for mercury in Canada, Mexico
and South America.
In 1912 the United States mined ap-
proximately 1OOoOOOOO tons of iron ore
Of which 930000OO tons came from the
Lake Superior region alone. The total
volume is to be pushed up to 110,00O,0OO
tons during 1943. 1t is estimated that
the country's deposits of high-grade iron