JANUABY 6, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



15 



than fundamental necessities. We can not 

 attribute to them any profound possibili- 

 ties in their influence upon civilization 

 should the contributions of the mines de- 

 cline. In the recent past we have been 

 more apprehensive regarding a too great 

 supply of the precious metals, than regard- 

 ing one too small. 



With the increasing interest in the dis- 

 cussions of the conservation of natural re- 

 sources, there has been an increasing dis- 

 position of the authorities to assume super- 

 visory powers over mining and metallurg- 

 ical operations. The old-time idea that to 

 the crown, or, as we are accustomed to say, 

 to the state,' belongs the mineral wealth of 

 the earth, is experiencing something of a 

 revival. The disposition to restrict the 

 waste of valuable metals or minerals in 

 processes of manufacture is commendable 

 and after careful demonstration that it is 

 feasible and just to the operating concerns, 

 it may be wisely done. The rejected prod- 

 uct of concentrating mills or the "tail- 

 ings" so called, when provided with appre- 

 ciable percentages of metals, may well be 

 stored where they can be utilized by future 

 generations, if processes improve so as to 

 make them available. That is to say, they 

 should not be run into rivers, or placed 

 where they will be dissipated. The same 

 remark applies to slags from metallurgical 

 works. The moderns, for example, are 

 now working over the lead-bearing slags 

 left by the ancients at the great lead mines 

 of Laurium, Greece. Even the slags of 

 early smelters in the west and Mexico may 

 again pass through the furnace. 



Another question relates to the discov- 

 ery, location and ownership of mining 

 property. So far as the metals are in- 

 volved, and with the metals this address 

 has been alone concerned, the valuable dis- 

 coveries are so few in comparison with the 

 disappointing attempts to develop, that 



only by encouragement and rather gener- 

 ous conditions will the prospector be en- 

 abled to follow his arduous calling. He 

 must be offered large prizes proportionate 

 to the many failures. He must be assured 

 of possession by a very circumspect and 

 conscientious administration, if confidence 

 in the justice of the government is to be 

 maintained. People in the parts of the 

 country where mining for the metals is not 

 carried on hear only of the great successes 

 and little of the innumerable disappoint- 

 ments. Par the largest part of the popu- 

 lation thus acquire very distorted views of 

 the real conditions of mining. The inter- 

 ference by the government other than in 

 the ways which I have mentioned and in 

 maintaining reasonably safe conditions for 

 the Avorkman, is a matter to be regarded 

 with great caution, lest irreparable injury 

 be done to the large problem of maintain- 

 ing our future supplies with such new dis- 

 coveries and developments as may be 

 feasible. The wisest course is to improve 

 the method of establishing and recording 

 titles to new discoveries, and then, except 

 in the matters already mentioned, to let the 

 natural course of business assert itself. 

 The proper share of the state will be ob- 

 tained through the normal processes of 

 taxation. 



The mines for the metals do not, how- 

 ever, present the most important phase of 

 this subject. Coal is a more serious prob- 

 lem, and one demanding more extended 

 treatment than would be justifiable in an 

 address primarily devoted to other themes. 

 One may only express the hope that where 

 cases of dispute arise they may be deter- 

 mined in the courts, according to the es- 

 tablished rules of evidence. 



The resources in the metals which have 

 been found in the United States have 

 proved so great as to make the industries 

 based upon them a very vital factor in our 



