CONSERVATION 



Ainon- the startling points brought 

 out in the report is that contained in 

 th< lent that the gas that is no\\ 



.ipin- from gas and oi! wells, and 

 the loss of which is altogether prc- 

 ventable. is Mit'fu ient to light all the 

 cities in the l'nited State's of over 100,- 

 ooo inhabitants. Another is the dem- 

 onstratioii that the existing and known 

 coal fields ,if the country contain only 

 sufficient nnniined coal to hist until the 

 iniddle of the next century. Of all 

 minerals produced in the United 

 States, one-sixth is wasted, this waste 

 amounting to Si.ooo.ooo a day $305,- 

 OOO,OOO annually. This waste of min- 

 end products is not the only staggering 

 fact developed ; the loss of life, through 

 careless, imperfect mining methods, 

 and through a lack of harmony in the 

 laws of the different States and the 

 Xational ("iovernmcnt, is far greater 

 than is true of any other country in 

 the world, where men are engaged in 

 the same lines of work Senator Flint 

 urgent ly recommended that the strong- 

 e>t sort of resolutions be adopted call- 

 in- lor the enactment and enforce- 

 ment of laws safeguarding the miners, 

 with the end in view of putting a stop 

 to this awful and wholly needless sac- 

 rifice of human lives 



In regard to conditions so far as the 

 mining laws are concerned, 

 Senator Hint said : 



We have three different schemes 



obtaining title to mineral property : 



. the coal land laws, the lode claim 



the placer mining laws. Un- 



the placer mining laws \\e know 



frauds committed in tak- 



imber lands in the West; but 



time it is difficult to frame 



permit placer mining 



time not permit the 



wn the surface of 



v ." 



Changes of the laws governing the 

 handling of oil wells and oil lands were 

 recommended; the position was taken 

 that the use of oil as fuel for locomo- 

 tives and other engines is unnecessary 

 and a needless waste of this mineral 

 resource; the present condition and 

 future prospects as to coal and iron 

 deposits was gone into; the importance 

 of the protection of phosphate rock 

 deposits was urged, and several recom- 

 mendations were made. 



The mineral production of the United 

 States now exceeds $2,000,000,000 in 

 value annually, standing second only to 

 agriculture as a producer of National 

 wealth. The mining industry of the 

 country furnishes our light, heat and 

 power, and supplies sixty-five per cent. 

 of the freight traffic of the country. 

 The annual waste in mining and treat- 

 ing mineral products is more than 

 $300,000,000. 



The fuels, supplying heat light and 

 power for domestic and industrial pur- 

 poses, are the most fundamentally es- 

 sential resources of the Nation. Use 

 of fuels involves their immediate and 

 complete destruction. The use of large 

 quantities of other materials also in- 

 creases the rate of consumption of the 

 fuels; for, as the Nation has now 

 passed the stage of early development, 

 the use of fuels is increasing much more 

 rapidly, in proportion to increase of 

 population, than in the past. The avail- 

 able and easily accessible, coal supply 

 aggregates approximately 1,463,800,- 

 000,000 tons. At the present rate of 

 production and waste this supply 

 will have approached exhaustion before 

 the middle of the next century From 

 the beginning of coal mining in 

 America to the close of the year 

 1907 there have been mined of all 

 kinds of coal 6,865,000,000 tons, and 





' : 



The initial step in 



ing, handling, and transportation of the 

 More advanced methods of use 



