UNITED STATES IMPORTS OF LEAD, UNITED STATES IMPORTS OF ZINC, AND COMBINER UNITED STATES IMPORTS OF LEAD AND ZINC

EXPLANATION OF PREVIOUS GRAPHS

1. "United States price" is E. & M. J. quotation for prime western zinc, East St. Louis, and common lead, New York.

2. "World price" up to the time trading was resumed on the London Exchange are the official maximum delivered prices fixed by the British Ministry of Supply. Since trading resumed on the London Exchange, prices are daily quotations from the American metal market.

3. Imports of metal per month were obtained from Mineral Industry Surveys. United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Mines, for zinc imports; and from the American Bureau of Metal Statistics for lead imports.

Important

When using these graphs, particularly with respect to "world price" it should be remembered that this is the official British Ministry of Supply price and not actual quotations for foreign metal sold in American markets. Spot checks from E. & M. J. will generally show that other foreign quotations will be higher than British Ministry of Supply during periods of high prices and lower than British Ministry of Supply during depressed prices.

Concerning this problem of obtaining quotations for foreign metal the following discussion is taken from the February 1951 issue of E. & M. J.:

"Because of the large imports of nonferrous metals, the editors of Engineering and Mining Journal sent an inquiry to a representative list of large and small mine operators and smelting companies to ascertain if it would be generally desired to include imported metal in our quotational basis, or to publish separate quotations for imported metal.

"In the replies, an overwhelming majority insisted that the present quotations should be retained. A considerable portion asked for separate quotations for foreign metal. However, because our quotations on the major metals rede actual sales, we can only publish them when the parties to transactions will give us the tonnages and prices. In our efforts to institute quotations for forein metal sold in this market, we were refused the data on sufficient tonnages to mai it possible to publish truly representative quotations."

SOURCES OF STATISTICS

Mineral Industry Surveys, United States Department of Interior; Bureau d Mines (for Monthly Zinc Imports).

Year Book, American Bureau of Metal Statistics (for British Ministry of Supply and United States prices of lead and zinc).

Lead Imports of the United States, American Bureau of Metal Statistics (for foreign lead imported into United States).

American Metal Market (for London lead and zinc prices since trading resumed on October 1, 1952 for lead and January 1, 1953 for zinc).

Engineering and Mining Journal (for British Ministry of Supply lead and zine prices in 1952).

Engineering and Mining Journal, December 1948 (for United States ceiling plus-premium price under Premium Price plan).

The CHAIRMAN. The next witness will be a representative of the United Steelworkers of America, CIO.

I am just going to appeal to all of the witnesses. I am trying to be generous with time. We have 26 witnesses, and it means sitting here for a good many long hours unless we can shorten some of the presentations.

I intend to give everybody full leeway, but I know you can help by sometimes reading a little faster. Of course, I have no control over questions. I want everybody to have plenty of opportunity to ques tion, but I will appreciate your cooperation.

If you will please give your full name and address, and the capacity in which you appear, and also present your associates, with their ful names and the capacity in which they appear, we will be glad to hear

you.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE W. HAYCOCK, SUBDISTRICT DIRECTOR, UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA; ACCOMPANIED BY MATT LEAHY, PRESIDENT, LOCAL UNION, PARK CITY, UTAH, AND HENRY WALL, FINANCIAL SECRETARY, LOCAL UNION, EUREKA, UTAH

Mr. HAYCOCK. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee: My name is George W. Haycock. I am a subdistrict director of the United Steelworkers of America. The principal jurisdiction of my office includes Utah and Nevada.

I have with me on my left, Matt Leahy, who is president of the local union at Park City, Utah; and on my right, Henry Wall, financial secretary of the local union at Eureka, Utah.

I want to thank the members of this committee for the opportunity of presenting evidence to you concerning the problems of the people working in the lead and zinc industry in connection with your consideration of H. R. 4294. My testimony generally will be limited to problems covered by the lead and zinc provisions of H. R. 4294 and our experiences in this industry in Utah, where I was born and have lived all my life.

At the outset, I want to say that the insecurity of people in Utah connected directly or indirectly with the mining of nonferrous metals, especially lead and zinc, has now reached such proportions that unless adequate immediate relief is forthcoming in one way or another, they will have to try to seek other employment. Unfortunately, such other employment is not available in the vicinity of these mines, and the only alternative would be a mass migration after years of living in this area. Although this condition is most serious in our particular area, it exists in virtually all of the lead and zinc mining and smeltering areas in the United States.

Attached to this statement of mine are a number of letters and other communications from a cross section of the people in this area regarding the problem. I should like to quote from a few of these.

The county attorney of Wasatch County, Utah, has this to say: Wasatch County has a population of slightly over 5,500 people. In times of full operation of the mines in this area, there are about 300 Wasatch County men employed at the Park Utah mine at Keetley, Utah, 125 Wasatch County men employed at the New Park Mine at Keetley, Utah, and about 100 employed at the Silver King Mine at Park City, Utah. At present the Park Utah and Silver King mines are closed down. This has deprived about 400 Wasatch County men of employment for a period of many months, and I assume unless something is done to buttress the metals price structure, this unemployment will continue indefinitely in the future.

The total effect of the present lead-zinc price structure is that between onefourth and one-fifth of the present working population of the county has been deprived of employment. The future potential effect of this upon our tax revenues, employment, and the entire financial condition of the county is most serious. For those reasons, we are deeply concerned over the present lead-zinc prices and most anxious for steps to be taken to improve this situation.

The mayor of Park City, Utah, states:

Park City Council in regular session assembled this 16th day of April 1953, after approximately 12 months of shutdown by our major mining companies, namely, the Silver King Coalition Mines Co. and the Park Utah Consolidated Mines Co., has placed this community in dire circumstances from an economic point of view. Today we have approximately 1,000 persons who have been dependent upon mining directly or indirectly in this community.