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The same general strictness should be required in labeling explosives as are required in labeling poisons.

Under the second classification it is a notorious fact that the per centage of light, heat and power derived from the present manner of converting our resources into commercial value are infinitesimal compared with what might be derived through scientific methods. The possibilities in this regard in the matter of electricity, the consumption of coal and lignites are too vast to permit of detailed discussion by me.

Under the third classification, there is the possibility of the ultimate discovery of vanadium, the most precious and valued of all alloys in the making of steel. When we import it we pay to the enterprising gentlemen who have discovered it in other countries $10,000 per ton. For want of knowledge we do not produce it, but many believe we shall at no distant future date.

Radium, the rarest of all minerals, a government of small area but of a scientific turn of mind has developed, and today when we make known our needs of it, we must beg practically every atom of it from Austria, which has also a virtual monopoly of its associate mineral, uranium.

We have discovered in this country many of the same minerals and geological characteristics that mark the vicinity of these precious minerals in Austria, and it is believed by many that with a bureau continuously investigating the properties and potentialities of these minerals and the elements surrounding them the discovery of the more precious ones will follow.

Your great work is still in its infancy, but in the prosecution of your researches and experiments I know of no surer way of insuring success in solving the perplexing problems that now baffle the miners of the land, to prevent the destruction of human life, to conserve the known resources of the nation and promote the development of new elements of enrichment than to be animated and inspired by that spirit of undaunted courage and never-ending hope which has marked the whole enchanting story of that prince of the world's great adventurers-the American miner.

The word "fail" never found a lodging place in his lexicon, whether he was leading the hosts of civilization from where the waves sobbed on the shores of the Atlantic to where the winds moaned their miserere in the wilderness of the Alleghanies; whether he was breasting the current of the Mississippi or blazing the white man's pathway through virgin forests to the lead mines of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin; whether he was trailing across the plains to the Rockies or from the snowstorms of the mountains to the sun-kissed hills and valleys of the Golden Gate, where his dreams at last came true; where his sacrifices and successes, his tribulations and his triumphs made fiction commonplace in the presence of fact; baffled the poet and compelled the world to recognize a new standard of values in manhood as well as money.

With such an example to inspire there need be no fear of failure by those who follow in his footsteps.

MR. TAYLOR: Before turning over the gavel to your honored president, I wish to state to those who have the advance programs that they will find upon them a list of the various committees in connection with the Congress, and if there is anything which you desire, which you do not know where to secure or find out about, if you will make your wants known to some member of these committees, he will endeavor to supply your needs.

I now turn the gavel over to your president, a man who needs no words of introduction from me, Honorable J. H. Richards of Boise, Idaho. (Applause.)

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It seems that the committee on program have arranged that I should, in a measure at least, respond to the generous welcome which has been extended to the delegates and mem

bers of this session of the American Mining Congress. You can readily understand the embarrassment that one in my position would feel in coming after the gentleman whom you have just heard; but in all sincerity I will say that I am willing to come after such men because I naturally fall into that slot.

We have had demonstrated to us here this morning that this section of our great country not ony produces the greatest industrial development the world has ever seen, but is producing the greatest men the nation has ever beheld also, and they extend to us the ideas which propel us on, and the ideas that rule this nation today and set in action those forces that accomplish the purposes of men, and as we gather here from the north and the south and the east and the west, we come to this great industrial center with a message of good. We hope by the exchange of ideas here, by the great mining experts of the nation that we may be able to set in motion those intelligent forces which will lift the pall of mourning from the broken hearts of the miners' homes, and let in the light of hope that intelligence and science can reveal to them and give them confidence in coal mining in the future. It is these ideas which propel us on, and make the measure of good that we would do in this world. We come here from all over this broad land to sit for a few hours at the feet of these great giants of industry at Pittsburg. They are constructive geniuses that we find here. Put a man from Pittsburg anywhere in this great country and he goes to work to construct an empire. Bring your Kuhns out into the great valleys and deserts of Idaho, and there they replace the wild animals which have for ages occupied those deserts with happy childhood, homes, temples of worship, and temples of learning by reclaiming the desert. Drop other men from Pittsburg out into the State of Idaho and they develop the great mines like the Trade Dollar; and not satisfied with that victory they harness the great Snake river to the wheels of industry and lift a part of the burden of toil from the shoulders of the miners. Not satisfied with that, such men as your Guffeys and Barnsdels from this great state go to building railroads and interurban lines. So they are sent to that empire that is being builded out there. And when I listened to the Chancellor of the University of Pittsburg-and he and I were young men together, and to a large extent our hopes were cast in the same mold-I find that he is called back here from the great West to construct and demonstrate to this state the highest fruitage of civilization, yea, the crowning glory of the civilization of this nation, a great university. It will not be ten years under his direction until that will be heralded as one of the greatest institutions of learning in this broad land.

Wherever you follow a man from this section of industry you will find the constructive forces which will speak well for his commonwealth. These are great thoughts, and they are worthy of our consideration because they enter into the very well-being of our nation. We might dwell on these things a long time, but it is better perhaps that we progress. However, I am reminded that I am also called upon to respond, perhaps, in behalf of the lady delegates to this Congress. We have been taught from the dawn of our national life that we all stand on a perfect equality before the law. Out in that young State of Idaho we have estabished that perfect equality. There the husband and wife stand hand in hand, side by side, facing the conflict of the future on a perfect equality. And we believe the time is coming when you will recognize that the mother thought is a cleansing thought at least in municipal affairs. (Applause.) They have that influence in our country, and I do not hesitate to say here today that that little city of Boise is largely governed by the mothers of that city, and today it is the best sewered, the best paved, the best sidewalked, the best watered, the best shaded and the cleanest city of its size between the two oceans. It is the effect of this larger housekeeping that the womanhood of the West have upon our growth and progress there.

We come here as men interested in national affairs. I have no doubt that this nation will meet any emergency that it may be called upon to solve, but we do believe that on these great questions of mining, as was expressed here, the unsolved mystery, (cause of mine explosions) that our nation will meet it when it understands that the mining men of this nation demand assistance at the hands of the government. It always has co-operated with the constructive builders of this country and it always will when it knows that its help is needed. The miner is always the pioneer. He is the man that started the trails of civilzation across these great western deserts, opened up the great territory of Alaska; it is the miner who lays. the legal foundation of progress and. industry in our country. Then when the miner calls upon the government to co-operate with him in solving the great national questions, the government will respond if the mining men of this country will but get together in a national organization and let the government at Washington know that the miners of this country need the aid of the government. The government always has responded and it always will respond and we just heard from this platform a few minutes ago that Congress will grant the request that this organization has been making for years, and give us a bureau of mining.

I have faith in our government, because I have faith in the manhood of my country. When the manhood demands that those who represent us at Washington co-operate with us, they will respond in kind.

I was talking with one of your leading mining operators here the other day, and he was afraid of government interference, but I said, "Do you not recognize, sir, that since this great disaster has come over this community which, if it had happened in war would have put this whole nation in mourning, that legislation will come whether you demand it or not, and it is about time that the leading mining men of this great land get together and let Congress know the character of laws that we need to advance the mining industry and place it on a plane worthy of its importance?" He said, "Yes, I recognize that."

And that is the message we bring to you here, from the West. The West is being converted into a vast empire by the men from Pennsylvania and Ohio and Indiana. We come back here and tell you that we need to nationalize these thoughts, and not have them too local.

So in response to this generous welcome and the gracious words that have been spoken to us, I wish you to feel that we come here with a message that will help you, as well as the wonderful instruction which we receive when we come into this great city, will help us. Wise cooperation, co-ordination and conservation must be the key note to American future industrial development. Intelligence must guide it, and in order that we may have the laws which should always be the expression of the highest wisdom of the people, that we may have that and have it rest upon the needs of the mining industry, it is necessary that the miners let Congress know the character of laws that will best serve this country and this industry; and then let the courts interpret those laws in the light of the conditions to which they are intended to apply, and victory will come.

I do not know how to express the gratitude which we feel for the greeting that the people of Pittsburg have given to us. I know no better way to express it than by the work that we do here, to show them the sincerity that we feel in the mission, that we feel this great national organization has to perform in bringing to mining the best that can be brought out of the mine and out of the miner. (Applause.)

The committee on program have arranged a number of responses.

I will read the names as they are given on the program.

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I omit Dr. Alderson, by his request. DR. VICTOR C. ALDERSON, President Colorado School of Mines. Golden, Colorado: My dear Judge, I want to say a word.

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Dr. Alderson, come to the platform and This Congress is always glad to hear from Dr. Alderson of Colo

say it. rado.

DR. ALDERSON:

It is not very often that I am anxious to say a word, but I am at this moment. I want to say just one word for Colorado, because, while we feel under the greatest obligation to your congressman for his assistance in passing this bill, I feel that I must correct his facts in regard to the production of tungsten and uranium and vanadium. (Applause.) My friends from Colorado knew the moment they heard those facts expressed that I had entirely recovered. If the manufacturers of steel in Pennsylvania want tungsten, they can get it in Colorado by the ton. If they want uranium and vanadium they can get

it in Colorado in commercial quantities. It may be interesting for the gentlemen to know further that our investigations there along the lines of these rare metals is an investigation surpassed by none others in the whole wide world along these lines. During a trip through Europe last summer I found that the investigations made by our people in Colorado concerning uranium and vanadium and tungsten were so complete that they were looking to us for the most advanced and up-to-date information and experimentation. (Applause.)

We love to think of Pennsylvania, however, and we like to compliment her by saying that we have a Pittsburg of the West, a form of compliment that certainly is sincere. We love to think that in the northwestern part of our state there is an undeveloped empire, and we love to compare the deposits of coal found there with the great deposit in Pennsylvania, and we love to say "second only to Pennsylvania." We love to think, in the same line, when we were digging for oil, we turn to Pennsylvania for the latest improvements. We like to think that ours is at least a "seven-metal" state, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, coal, iron, making it a state that can be recognized as representatively and distinctly mining in all its forms, so that when we reply here and answer for Colorado we feel that we are justified in taking that broad view of mining as a whole, the whole grand industry, that lies at the foundation of all of our life and of all of our prosperity, the basis of industry in Pittsburg and Pennsylvania, an industry without which we could not exist. (Applause.)

CONGRESSMAN BURKE: Dr. Alderson, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: Just a word. I see here my friend Congressman Chaney, who led the fight for the bureau of mines and mining. I hope Dr. Alder

son is not under misapprehension as to what I said. I agree with every word that my friend says with reference to the progressiveness of Colorado, and I only wish that every other state in the union were doing as much, and my contention is that now for the first time in the history of this government, the United States government which has been asked to participate in these developments, has taken a hand and proposes to assist the various state governments of the United States in accomplishing what Colorado has already so admirably accomplished within the limits of her borders. So far as tungsten is concerned, of course they are producing tungsten, and we are using tungsten, and because we are using it we are adding to the glory and the wealth of Colorado as well as Pennsylvania, so that proves that with a combination like Pennsylvania and Colorado you can beat the world. (Applause.)

But let me say this, that so far as vanadium is concerned, we are importing it, and so far as uranium is concerned, it was developed primarily, as the Doctor will tell you, in other countries, and that inspired the miners of Colorado and the scientists of Colorado, leaders of thought and action such as my friend is on this platform today, to do what they are doing in Colorado and other western states, and I say, God speed them.

But in addition to that I wish to say that with my assistance and with the assistance of other gentlemen on the floor of Congress inter

ested in this work, we propose to give the helping hand of the Federal government to you in doing in your state what you have no power to do beyond the limits of your state, because Colorado has no jurisdiction in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania no jurisdiction in Alamaba or California, so that you are confined within the limits of your borders, under the constitutions of these states. The power given to the Federal government is only to bring about a universal harmony in the association of these great things, and I am anxious to see the Federal government aid in bringing about that harmony, in the accomplishment of the one great purpose in which my friend from Colorado and I myself are equally interested. (Applause.)

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: A miner likes this free exchange of thought. If there is any individual on earth who expresses himself freely out in the western country it is the American miner. Even a mule can understand him.

(Laughter.)

We have next on the program Hon. John C. Chaney, Congressman, Sullivan, Indiana.

HON. JOHN C. CHANEY OF INDIANA: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have been already mentioned as one who led the fight for the establisment of a bureau of mines and mining in the lower house of Congress, and for the appropriation of $150,000 by which the government testing plant in Pittsburg was authorized. And I am very glad to say that I have been very much interested in the establishment of a bureau distinctly in the interest of the mining industry of the United States.

I certainly agree with Congressman Burke in his statement that the government itself may be of some assistance in the great development of the United States, and yet not become paternalistic. It is not necessary that the government shall have charge or shall own any of the great enterprises of the United States in order to be of assistance in their progress. (Applause.) It is, therefore, proper and very pertinent indeed that the government should lend its aid in every direction which can be conducive to the best interests of the people of the United States in whatever branch of effort they may be engaged. It can supplement the states in what they seek to do in these lines.

I live in a part of the United States where there is a great deal of coal mining. We have in Indiana seven veins of bituminous coal. We also have the block-coal. The thinnest one of these seven veins is four feet nine inches thick. The thickest of these veins is eight feet in thickness. Up to a very few years ago we did not pursue very scientific methods of coal mining, but the state itself has taken up the work and has done a very great deal of good. We occasionally have had some of these terrible disasters in our mining enterprises which have caused everyone to look for a remedy and to try to ascertain what is the cause of such great catastrophes.

There is not so much gas or fire damp or dust in the mines of Indiana that we should be particularly interested more than others. These dangers come, however, to all of the various coal mines of the country, and demand our attention. We can all speak with pride of the development of the various states of the Union, and I am glad to hear that Colorado has found that we have many of those minerals which we have had, as Mr. Burke has stated, to import from other countries. We live in a land favored in all useful and valuable natural resources.

I believe that in the United States we will find everything that will be needed for the great development of the people of the country, and all we need to do is to find and develop them. This bureau of mines and mining, in my judgment, will enable us not only to conserve the natural resources in the mineral productions of the United States, but it will also enable us to ascertain how to develop them with safety. Human life is above all other things of the first consideration. I do not know but what this great disaster out at Marianna, Pennsylvania, a few

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