Conservation of Natural Resources 797 



Loss and Conservation of Minerals and Fuels. — Mineral resources in- 

 clude deposits in the earth which in crude or manufactured form are 

 of values in many phases of our personal and industrial life. They in- 

 clude ( 1 ) metals for building machinery, bridges, railroads, automobiles, 

 airplanes, etc., (2) building materials such as stone, cement, clays, etc., 

 (3) mineral fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas, (4) fertilizers 

 such as potash and phosphate, and (5) mineral products used in vari- 

 ous chemical and industrial processes. Mineral deposits have required 

 thousands of years to form and when once exhausted are not renewable. 

 Our country has great supplies of certain mineral resources but only 

 limited supplies of others, especially when the needs of our highly in- 

 dustrialized society are considered. Of the twenty-eight minerals of in- 

 dustrial importance, the United States possesses eleven in quantity suf- 

 ficient for normal needs. We are partially dependent on other countries 

 for eleven others, and wholely dependent for six (antimony, asbestos, 

 chromite, nickel, nitrates, tin) of which we have no deposits of commer- 

 cial value. 



Mineral conservation measures include ( 1 ) more accurate data on the 

 demands on and the supplies of essential minerals, (2) utilization of 

 lower qualities of minerals (* 'marginal deposits") where possible, (3) 

 production of substitute materials from less essential minerals where these 

 are economically possible, (4) importation of certain scarce materials 

 to prevent exhaustion of domestic supplies during war and peace, (5) 

 utilization of more efficient methods of mining and processing essential 

 minerals, (6) more economical use of finished products made from essen- 

 tial minerals and an efficient system of reclaiming certain minerals from 

 worn-out or obsolete apparatus, and (7) more economical and efficient 

 use of our natural, mineral fuels such as coal, gas, and petroleum. 



Conservation of Human Resources.-^^The greatest of all resources are 

 normal, healthy, and happy human beings. No nation can become, 

 or remain, great if its inhabitants are physically unfit or socially and 

 psychologically maladjusted. Other resources are unimportant if human 

 beings cannot properly enjoy and utilize them. To maintain itself, a 

 population must show more births than deaths over a period of time. 

 From a money standpoint, one of the greatest assets is that of healthy, 

 normal human beings. Of the total number of deaths in this country 

 each year, few are due to natural senility, but a large proportion are due 

 to causes which might be prevented if the proper conservation measures 

 were followed. Many times as many persons suffer from various diseases 



