788 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Production and Exportation of Phosphate 

 Rock in United States 



(From the beginning of the industry to 1900, 

 the production was 14,993,396 long tons ; export 

 figures covering this period are incomplete.) 



Year, 



Production, 



Hxportation, 



louji tuns. 



lung tons. 





. 1,491,216 



776,220 



190I 



. 1,483,723 



624,996 





. . 1,490,314 



747,672 



1903 



. . 1,581,576 



817.503 



1904 



. 1,874,428 



849,130 



1905 



. . 1,947,190 



8/9,9/9 



1906 



. . 2,080,957 



964,241 



1907 



. . 2,265,343 



900,983 



1908 



.. 2,386,138 



1,188,411 



1909 (estimated) . . 



. 2,500,000 



1,300,000 



Totals 



. . 19,100,885 



9,049,13s 



We have thus mined 34,000,000 tons 

 of phosphate, while during the past ten 

 years our exports have been one-half the 

 production. But how can exportation be 

 curtailed ? Obviously you cannot suc- 

 cessfully appeal to a New Jersey corpo- 

 ration backed by foreign capital and 

 organized for the purpose of mining and 

 exporting Florida and Tennessee phos- 

 phates, and which owns the phosphate 

 deposits. 



Yet something can be done, and the 

 prospect is one to arouse the enthusiasm 

 of every American. Through great good 

 fortune the nation still owns by far the 

 largest portion of the phosphate lands, 

 and it may yet go down in history as 

 the greatest act of President Roosevelt's 

 administration that he withdrew from 

 entry all known public phosphate lands 

 with a view to asking legislation which 

 would allow their mining only on condi- 

 tion that not a pound of the phosphate 

 should be shipped beyond the borders of 

 the United States. 



In December, 1909, on the recommen- 

 dation of the Geological Survey, 4,541,- 

 300 acres of public land in Wyoming, 

 Idaho, and Utah, known to be in part at 

 least underlain with phosphate beds, were 

 withdrawn from entry. Upon further 

 investigation 2,570,017 acres of this were 

 found to be non-phosphate, and were 

 promptly restored, while 400,000 addi- 

 tional acres of phosphate lands have since 

 been withdrawn in this western field, be- 

 sides 2,400 acres in Florida. 



The public lands at present withdrawn 

 on account of their valuable phosphate 

 deposits are as follows : 



Acres 



Florida 2,400 



Idaho 1,149,569 



Utah 87,040 



Wyoming 1,267,494 



This season three Geological Survey 

 parties are in the field studying the de- 

 posits and procuring data for further 

 classification. 



It may not be generally known thai 

 Florida yet contains a large amount of 

 government land. The phosphate de- 

 posits of the State have been little studied 

 geologically, but there are believed to be 

 many large unknown beds. At any rate, 

 2,400 acres of government phosphate 

 lands in the State were withdrawn in 

 May, 1910, and other areas are to be 

 withdrawn. This checks the export game 

 from the major portion of the phosphate 

 fields, although the international fertilizer 

 trust and other companies are understood 

 to be in the market for any good phos- 

 phate land. 



Following the first withdrawal of the 

 phosphate lands in the West, the director 

 of the Geological Survey was called upon 

 to explain to the Public Lands Commit- 

 tee of the House of Representatives why 

 he recommended this withdrawal. A 

 number of lawyers who were present at 

 the hearing representing western interests 

 criticized and protested against such gov- 

 ernment interference with the develop- 

 ment of the West, and were emphatic in 

 their statements that the phosphate de- 

 posits of the world were practically 

 inexhaustible. They cited accounts of 

 phosphate discoveries in the South Sea 

 islands and other sections of the world, 

 and characterized the phosphate conser- 

 vation movement as an absurdity. Direc- 

 tor Smith replied to the efifect that there 

 had been some questions raised as to the 

 legality or constitutionality of attempting 

 to limit exportation of phosphate rock. 

 He stated that he would hesitate to ex- 

 press an opinion upon such a matter as 

 being outside of the scope of his activi- 

 ties ; but when it came, he said, to lawyers 

 invading the field of geology and present- 



