The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1945-04-06
OPINIONS OF
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SHALL IRON BE MASTER
OR SLAVE?
Iron is the basic element in al
large scale industries, without it
world civilization in it's present form
could not exist; England because Of
it's easily accessible iron ore and Goa
| became an industrial giant and dom
inant world power. United States
blessed with an abundance of iron and
coal, leads all nations in its Industrial
output and, as a consequence, is the
most powerful nation an earth.
While iron is an essential part OF
heavy industry and no nation indus
trially could get along without it, the
iron-age being definite milestone in
the worlds progress, it is also fairly
we'll distributed throughout the world
with three outstanding centers OF
abundance: Mount Magnitnaye, Mes
abb Range and Kiruna mine above the
Arctic Circle close to the Baltic Sea
in Sweden.
Gold had been discovered in Cali
fornia and later in Montana, the West
was open for settlement after the Civil
war, the overland travel by way of
horse and OK team was too slow, be-
sides the country was in dire need
of, all kinds of machinery and steel
implements creating an intense hunt
for iron ore amply rewarded by the
discovery of different ranges contain
range itself containing an estimated
1,205, 213,395 long tons in 1888, putting
the United States way ahead of other
nations in the production of iron and
steel; so much so that we had enough
scrap ron to amply supply Japan's
war machine bent on world adventure.
At this time 1888 German and
Luxembourg yearly output of iron ore
was 29,408,812 tons, quite sufficient
for her peaceful needs but not enough
for her frantic re-armament program
already started. She needed more
iron for har chin, orinoc +;oor +o,,I1c
and Stuka divers by which she in
tended to conquer the world. Iron
ore from Spain and Africa was vul-
nerable to blockade so she arranges
to take 1000 of Sweden's Kiruna ore
as well as ball BEARINGS and other
steel armament material in exchange
for grain, coal and oil badly needed
by Sweden She stood to win an all
out war and lost, but why?
In 1928 Mt Magnitnaya, barren
region in southwest ST.
IBERIA was given second priority next
to the Dnieper hydro-electric power
development. After a careful survey
it was estimated that the mountains
high grade iron ore measured I'D to
1,935,000,000 long tons, the largest
single iron deposit in the world Kuz-
netsk coal basin with an estimated
400, 000,000,000 tons of anthracite coal
was 1,240 miles farther into Siberia
an ideal combination if with a double
tracked electric trailway making the
worlds largest combine "the UraI
Ausnetck combine.
At one end the second largest steel
plant, next to Gary, Indiana; at other
end containing the largest chemical
works in the USSR, possibly in all the
world. Without this combine the
5oviets could not have changed the
worlds history at Stalingrad, could
10 thave produced the worlds out
standing artillery, the XIV tanks and |
he flying tanks (Stormoviks), the |
anks able to knock out Hitler's best |
tanks and break through |
ny fortification Hitler has so far been
BILE to erect.
Iron properly used in labor-saving
nahcinery can create an abundance
or all; improperly used it spells I'M
Employment even threatens the fabric
f civilization itself.
A. E. ANDERSON.
BUTTE, Mont, March 20, 1915.