Evening star., 1947-03-23

divide and must soon start oa tbs
scure deposits becomes urgent.
Blind" drilling and wildcatttns
have grown expensive and unprofit-
able. Geology emerges more and
more as an essential guide, through
maps of the earths rock formations
on scale of at least one inch 10 .
mile.
Strange and sad to remark. tho
United States has never troubled
itself to prepare such charts foe
more than 10 per cent Of its afea.
In a geological sense, enormous
tracts may be declared never to havs
been mapped at all. These expanses
include considerable part Of Mains
and of the South Appalachian
region, as well as huge territories in
Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico,
Montana. Oregon and Washington.
To complete the task, it is main
tanned, 30 years and $780, ,000 900
would be required.
Fortunately the United States Is
plenteously gifted with the two basic
materials of armaments and peace
time welfare. These are coal and
iron. Our resources of bituminous
coal are the greatest in the world.
and are enough, according to some
estimates, to last 4.300 years at the
prewar rate of mining. we are
believed to possess 63 900, ,000, 900 tons
of submarginal iron ore, the utiliza-
ton of which will depend on tech-
biological advances. There are also
large "submarginal and highly spec
ulative" reserves of bauxite, man.
ganese. molybdenum and vanadium
Sufficient, perhaps, for the next
100 to 500 years.
Congress Said BUY at Home"
During the last Is years, despits
intensified exploration, petroleum
discoveries have failed to keep pacs
with depletion. The discovery Of
metalliferous ores has been de-
clining at an alarming rate for half
a century. Recent production has
been largely due to the application
of new chronological methods to
deposits known for years. Most Of
our copper is yielded by mines
which were operating before 1900.
The date was 1916 for the most
recent major metal district brought
into production. This was the Tri-.
State lead and zinc area.
Future troubles of the National
Security Resources Board may be
judged from the gauntlet run by
the Army and Navy Munitions
Board. Commonsense appeared to
dictate that our domestic resources
should be conserved and a stockpile
built up from materials obtained
abroad. But Congress, harried by
ruthless lobbies, directed the board
whenever possible to buy Amer
ican." 1t also defeated q proposal
to admit stockpile compouents
tariff free. Moreover it opened UP
first claim on surplus war stocks to
private industry.
In order to accomplish it's long
range job, the National Security
Resources Board will need to be
vested with extraordinary powers.
1t will have to coordinate activities
of such departments as War, Navy
and Interior, the last OF which has
policy making ambitions of its own
in the field of natural resources. Ii
will be compelled to work hand in
glove with the State Department. in
the field Of foreign trade. Finally,
1t will often be in conflict with a
congressional majority having a
tradition of tenderness toward pri-
vate interests. The board chairman
is to be civilian, with a cabinet
members stipend of $4,000 a year,
He will earn every nickel Of it.
printed by Arrangement With st. Louis
Post-Dispatch