U.S.A. POTASH TO ROUT GERMANY'S.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue 13628, 7 December 1918, Page 7

U.S.A. POTASH TO ROUT GERMANY'S.

(ty j'iifSrSfy Digest/') That enough potash to make tl3_foroever independent of Germanyinthisim-, portant particular: may be obtained-as a by-product of our present manufacture, of Portland cement, and that • our Government should encourage the cement men to put in plants for this purpose, or possibly | talfe up this branch in industry itself in some way, are thb thesfes of an open letter to-President Wilson, written byßichard H. ■ Edmonds and printed in. "The Manu- , facturers' Record" (Baltimore, August, 29), of which he is the editor. Mr; Ed- ■ monds tells us that the cements industryis, in fact, the longed-for source of potash for which Government and private experts have been seeking for years. It has now been found, but not in a way that was expected, fle goes on:— "We have hot found any great bed of potdkli fitjm which we can draw our supplies, but we hav,B found, that potash can be produced as a by-product in the manufacture of Portland cement, - in the making of pig iron/ and in a number of other industries.' ; . ; * \ i "A few yfears ago a Portland cement company in California found that it was 1 feasible to have a considerable amount of potash as a by-product in the making of cement. A Maryland company sent experts to California, and' their investigations were so satisfactory that this company spent 100,606 dollars in putting up a by-prodiict potash plant; This has now been in operation for several years, and has been so successful in' making potash that a large number of other . cement companies axe preparing to establish byproduct potash plants in connection with cement-making. It has also been proved that potash can be recovered as_a by-pro-duct in. the manufacture of pig-iron; "If every Portland cement plant and every pig-iron furnace in the country could establish, in connection with their present plants, potash-reGavery systems, we would be able to make ourselves entirely independent forever of Gennany's potash. In doing this we would give new impetus to all the agricultural interests of the country, and fundamentally stimulate the production of foodstuffs, "In thus becoming absolutely independent of Germany's potash we would take from that country the power which it thinks it now holds to trade and barter in the final peace terms, with its potash as a dominant power. "We would be able to make ourselves wholly independent, as I have said, of Get-in in potash and forever establish an industry -frhlch would increase in proportion as wd increased our Output of cement and iron. The establishment of this industry on so large a scale would at the same time stimulate the of the waste materials in other industries for potash production. - "But there are difficulties in the way. A few, days ago Secretary _ Lane, _ in a letter to Congressman Kitchin, pointed out j that one cement plant which had expected I to spend 100,000 dollars on the establishment of a potash by-product system had been unable to do so because the proposed Income' Tax Bill would make , the margin of safety too narrow to justify the in.vestment of new capital, Mr Lane very strongly urged that in the . creation of new industries of this kind they should be free _ from heavy taxation on profits until itheir net profits enabled them to amortise their capital thus invested. The suggestion is certainly a wise one. "It can hardly be expected that netf capital will go into enterprises of this kind, taking the cliances_ of the uncertainties of after-war conditions, unless, there is some assurance that the capital thus invested can be amor.tised before heavy taxation is laid upon its earnings, or unless assurance can be given that industries such, for instance, as that of potash will after the war be protected against the inroads which Germany would seek to make by breaking down the market for American potash. "It is possible to bring_ about the development of a potash industry which would make us entirely independent of German potash, and thus take from Germany the club which it now holds_ over the agricultural world in the. possession of vast potash resources. The matter is one of such tremendous moment, involving our agricultural independence, ;our freedom from any power of the German potash monopoly, and our ability to make_ peace terms without for a. moment having to consider German potash, that I feel justified in bringing this matter directly to your attention in this way. "If assurance could be given by you to all of the Portland cement makers and to the iron producers country that the establishment of by-product potash plants would have the heartiest encouragement by the Administration, and would be regarded as vitally important to the United States now and hereafter, I am sure you would be rendering a service of inestimable value to all civilisation. "It is quite possible that the Government' itself should take hold of this potash development, and on some satisfactory basis establish by-product plants at all the Portland cement plants and all the iron furnaces, or at least at every furnace where the test of the ' raw materials show that potash can be recovered as a by-product. In the aggregate, an immense amount of capital would be involved, but the Government could well afford to co-operate with individual concerns in establishing such plants on a basis which would be fair to the Government, fair to the owners of existing plants, and which would give to the farmers of America an abundant supply of; potash and forever protect them and this country from the power of the German potash industry." ■