MINERAL INDUSTRIES OE THE UNITED STATES FERTILIZERS. 19 
competition with German potash is economically impossible on equal 
terms, there would appear to be two methods of making the balance 
even — either by putting a tariff on the imports from Germany, or 
else by subsidizing the domestic industrial enterprises to an appro- 
priate degree. The first method would raise the cost of fertilizers 
to both the manufacturer and the farmer, and would meet Avith 
popular disfavor, if properly understood. The cost, in fact, would 
be too great and fall in the wrong place. The second method could 
be followed at a moderate cost to the Government ; the expense would 
be distributed and therefore strike no particular class ; and the price 
of food would not thereby be raised. The question would seem to 
resolve itself, in short, into whether eventual potash independence 
is worth the price of present governmental subsidy. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
A survey of the fertilizer situation in the United States brings out 
a set of striking facts which involve problems in industrial and gov- 
ernmental policy that merit the closest study. We have under con- 
sideration a large and complex industry, localized geographically, 
catering to the most fundamental needs of the Nation; an industry 
touching other industries at many points, sharing much of its raw 
material with other industrial demands, requiring raw material in 
bulk drawn from varied sources widely distributed and embracing 
at least three continents ; imposed upon all this the unparalleled cir- 
cumstance of a world war, disturbing and cutting off normal trade 
connections, demanding an enlarged food supply but at the same time 
withdrawing the physical means for securing it, increasing the de- 
mand for fertilizer products yet diminishing the supply. This re- 
markable chain of facts, starting with two, at least, of the most 
specialized mineral products in the realm of geological knowledge 
(Chilean nitrate and German potash), and ending with the war of 
most far-reaching consequences in all history ; involving products 
(fertilizers) of the deepest importance to mankind as controlling his 
food supply, as well as other products (sulphuric acid and potash) 
required almost universally in manufacturing, and a substance (ni- 
trogen) without which war could not proceed a moment — all these 
have combined to create a situation of unstable equilibrium, the proper 
adjustment of which can be reached only through a long and careful 
process of governmental and industrial cooperation. 
The shifting public reaction to this situation through the course of 
its development to the present is interesting and instructive. In 
1915, following the outbreak of the Avar, the focus centered on potash, 
and a great cry went up when the German shipments waned and 
the price climbed skyAvard. For the time being potash held the cen- 
