UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE Eleventh Annual Session of the American Held at Pittsburgh, Pa., December 2 to 5 Inclusive, 1908 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1908. The opening session was called to order at 10 o'clock, a. m., by Mr. Samuel A. Taylor, Chairman Local Executive Committee. Invocation by Dr. S. B. McCormick, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. MR. TAYLOR: Gentlemen, you have come to our city at the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce, which represents the business interests of this city and community, a city which is proverbially known as the industrial center of America, whose pay-roll amounts to practically one million dollars per day, and whose tonnage exceeds the four greatest sea-ports of the world. It is to such an industrial hive as this that you have come at the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce. It is fitting, therefore, that your welcome should be extended by the president of the Chamber of Commerce, who also represents at this time the mayor of our city, who is obliged to be absent and, therefore, unable to meet with us at this time. I have the honor of introducing the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Lee S. Smith. (Applause.) MR. LEE S. SMITH: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: After I had been asked to represent the Chamber of Commerce and welcome you to our city on its behalf, our mayor, the Hon. George W. Guthrie, sent me a communication asking me to represent him also, as he could not be present on this occasion; so I take great pleasure in appearing in this dual capacity. I suppose, for some reasons, as representative of the mayor of the city, I ought in accordance with historical custom to tender to you the keys of the city, but I do not think that is proper on this occasion for a number of reasons. In the first place, we have no keys and we have no gates, and if we had we would throw them all off their hinges to admit the American Mining Congress within the walls of our city-the center of such great mining interests. And then, too, if we did close our gates against gentlemen of your ability, skill and talent, you would mine under the walls and come in anyhow. So on behalf of the mayor of the city I just simply say, you are a thousand times welcome within the borders of greater Pittsburgh. I am not going to take up your time by enumerating the items of our greatness. You already know them. And I am not going to take up your time in extolling the mining interests and your great calling. because what I do not know of them would make a very large library, and keep you busy all the balance of your lives in studying the subject out. You are welcome to the city. On behalf of the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburg, I want to say just a word or two, because we have the Honorable James Francis Burke, M. C., here to extend to you an address of welcome, and we pay him for his addresses and he is always ready with them. (Laughter.) For this reason I wish to say just a word on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburg. In the first place, Chambers of Commerce are of very ancient lineage. We find that the first one was organized about the beginning of the fifteenth century in Marseilles, France. The movement spread over France, and finally got over into England, although that great commercial nation was very slow to take up the matter. But tracing the history of Chambers of Commerce of the past, we find that they devoted their time and attention almost altogether to the interests of their individual members, and not for the general good; so much so did this exist in France that they were suppressed on several occasions. But finally they have come to realize that they have a higher and nobler calling than simply looking after the commercial interests of the members of the Chambers, and that is to try to do something or the community, for the state and for the nation, and I assure you candidly that the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburg, (like some of its co-laborers throughout the United States), is devoting about nine-tenths of its time to public interests of civic, state and national character, and, therefore, on behalf of this Chamber of Commerce, which has extended to you an invitation to come to our great city, I want to say to you, welcome, thrice welcome. We hope that your deliberations here will be not only beneficial to yourselves but to our city as well. (Applause.) MR. TAYLOR: In connection with what has already been stated I wish to say that there are some things other than commercial ends attained in this city. I wish to read an original poem by Judge Josephi Buffington, of our United States Court, which was written a short time ago, and delivered at a meeting of the alumni of the University of Pittsburg, entitled, "The City of Pitt." City of Pitt, to thee, Set by the rivers three, From France's lillies torn, To Saxon freedom sworn, Spot where the West was born, Mine rich thy rugged hills, City wealth blest. Teach us, Great God, to know, In home, in church, in school We have asked you to come not only to the City of Pittsburg, but to the great "State of Allegheny County," as Lincoln termed it. We have also asked you to come to our state of Pennsylvania. We have not as a state much to boast of along the line of precious metals, but we have one of the greatest iron ore mines in the United States located within our borders, as well as great coal mines. The statistics of the United States Geological Survey show that of the entire amount of coal produced in the United States from 1814 to 1907, inclusive, which was 6,865,097,567 tons, Pennsylvania produced 3,777,579,574 tons, or practically fifty-five per cent. of all the coal that has been produced in the United States in this period of time. In 1907, of the 480,363,424 tons of coal produced in the United States, Pennsylvania produced 235,747,489 tons, or practically fifty per cent. We, therefore, can refer with some pride to Pennsylvania as being a mining state. It is fitting, therefore, that you should be welcomed here by one who represents not only Allegheny County, but the State of Pennsylvania as well. We have with us at this time a man whom Pittsburg delights to honor, and who has been sent, after a successful career in our midst as an attorney, to our National Congress to help to legislate not only for this state but for the Union. I have the pleasure of introducing to you Honorable James Francis Burke, Congressman from the 31st district of Pennsylvania. (Applause.) CONGRESSMAN JAMES FRANCIS BURKE: As a Representative of the United States government and as a citizen of the richest and most resourceful valley in the world, I sincerely rejoice in your meeting and extend you a hearty welcome and wish you unmeasured success in your great mission. Lesson of a Tragedy. As if it were designed to lend a frightful significance by its cruel coincidence, a terrible tragedy has made doubly impressive the necessity and the timeliness of this convention. The angry messenger of death has again impressed us with the fact that the miner's lamp still burns in a chamber of unmastered mysteries; and that the hidden dangers of the chamber of horrors still await to be driven out by the savage searchlight of an all conquering science in whose cause you have come together from every section of this Republic today. From the lips of every miner, from the grave of every victim whose life has been offered as a sacrifice upon the altar of an undeveloped science, there will come to your proceedings a heartfelt benediction. As earnest crusaders in an earnest cause it is eminently fitting that you should assemble in a community in which the very atmosphere is surcharged with a sincere interest in your work. Duty of the Government. A considerable portion of your proceedings will be devoted to the matter of enlisting governmental co-operation and in this I shall man'ifest a profound interest. While other governments may excel us somewhat in their accomplisments in the matters to be discussed here, I still believe that no other government on earth in a given length of time has ever accomplished more in the development of its resources, the enrichment of all its people and the enlightenment of the world than this sturdy republic, which was baptized in Pensylvania a century and a quarter ago. Criticism Unprofitable. If there be those who believe she has been remiss in some things, let us not weary the world with frowning or the faults of yesterday, but brighten the pathway of man by picturing the more pleasing prospects of tomorrow. Let us remember that those who turn their faces toward the sun cast all their shadows behind, while those who turn their backs upon it never place their footsteps where a shadow does not fall. A National Bureau of Mines. One of the pictures I feel justified in hanging in prospect before you today for unveiling within sixty days is that of a well manned and adequately equipped Bureau of Mines in the Department of the Interior of the United States government. To the man who calls this paternalism let me say that that same cry was raised when the Bureau of Agriculture was projected, which has since developed into a Department whose work is commanding the confidence and admiration of the world. Our mineral industry ranks second only to agriculture, its output exceeding two billion dollars annually. Our manufactures, with $14,000,000,000 annual output, have their Department of Commerce and Labor. Our agriculture, with its $7,500,000,000 annual production, has its Department of Agriculture, its Chief a member of the President's Cabinet, while our mineral industries with an output of over two billion dollars annually, has not even a bureau. From 1880 to 1900 our gold production more than doubled; oil trebled; coal quadrupled and copper increased tenfold; and in the course of this production it is safe to say that the waste of material and sacrifice of life have been greater than in any other country in the world. The Irreparable Sacrifice. The tragic and permanent character of this sacrifice is revealed in the realization that a human life once destroyed is gone forever, and that minerals once removed from the earth are not renewed by growth as are the crops that cover the fields or the forests that crown the hills. To prevent this waste is a matter in which the details are for individual effort, but the primary researches and fundamental experiments are the logical and proper functions of the general government. Purposes to be served. There are three purposes to be served by these efforts: First, the prevention of the sacrifice of human life. Second, the conservation of our known resources. Third, the discovery and development of unknown resources for the nation's enrichment. Under the first classification we need only recall the appalling list of increasing fatalities here and the correspondingly diminishing destruction of life and property abroad, to impress upon us the need of concerted action. Frightful Fatalities. During 1907 over 1,000 miners lost their lives in a single month. During the same year 3,000 miners were killed, an increase of 50 per cent. over 1906. Our federal safety appliance and employers' liability laws were enacted as a result of the awful slaughter of railroad men, year after year, yet while for each 1,000 railroad men 21⁄2 are killed annually, for every 1,000 miners 31⁄2 are sacrificed. The number of miners killed or injured in 1906 reached the awful total of 7,000. That this appalling loss of life can be diminished by government experiment and aid has been proven by both France and Belgium, where they have decreased the mortality in such cases fully two-thirds. The states in the exercise of their police power and the federal government in its control of interstate commerce should provide and enforce the most rigid rules regarding the manufacture and sales of explosives, and wherever the word "flameless,' or "safety," or kindred labels are improperly attached, or old titles given to new and more dangerous explosives, the punishment should be prompt and severe. |