traveling and subsistence expenses, the payment for rent, the purchase of equipment, supplies, postage, printing, publications, and such other articles, both in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, as the Secretary of the Interior may deem essential.

The maximum salary to be paid under the provisions of this act shall not exceed the rate of $4,500 per, annum for any scientific, technological, or administrative service, and shall not exceed the rate of $1,800 per annum for any clerical or other subordinate service.

SEC. 17. That for the purposes of this act the sum of $10,000,000 is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be available as a revolving fund during the time this act is in effect: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be expended for the purposes described in the preceding section: Provided further, That itemized statements covering all purchases and disbursements under this and the preceding section shall be filed with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives on or before the twenty-fifth day of each month after the taking effect of this act, covering the business of the preceding month, and said statements shall be subject to public inspection.

SEC. 18. That employment under the provisions of this act shall not exempt any person from military service under the provisions of the selective-draft law approved May eighteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen.

SEC. 19. That the President shall cause a detailed report to be made to the Congress on the first day of each regular session of all proceedings had under this act during the year preceding. Such report shall, in addition to other matters, contain an account of all persons appointed or employed, the salary or compensation paid or allowed each, the aggregate amount of the different kinds of property purchased or requisitioned, the use and disposition made of such property, and a statement of all receipts, payments, and expenditures. together with a statement showing the general character and estimated value of all property then on hand and the aggregate amount and character of all claims against the United States growing out of this act.

SEC. 20. That if any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this act shall for any reason be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, or part thereof, directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

SEC. 21. That words used in this act shall be construed to import the plural or the singular, as the case demands. The word "person" wherever used in this act shall include individuals, partnerships, associations, and corporations. When construing and enforcing the provisions of this act, the act, omission, or failure of any official, agent, or other person acting for or employed by any partnership, association, or corporation within the scope of his employment or office shall, in every case, also be deemed the act, omission, or failure of such partnership, association, or corporation as well as that of the person.

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SEC. 22. That the provisions of this act shall cease to be in effect at the end of six months after the existing state of war between the United States and is Germany and between the United States and Austria-Hungary shall have terminated and the fact and date of such termination shall be ascertained and proclaimed by the President; but the termination of this act shall not affect the exercise of such authority and power herein granted, as shall be necessary to high speedily wind up the affairs of any enterprise already entered upon or to carry out any guaranty or contract made pursuant to the terms thereof, and such termination shall not affect any act done, or any right or obligation accruing or accrued, or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil case before. the said termination pursuant to this act; but all rights and liabilities under Ja this act arising before its termination shall continue and may be enforced in the same manner as if the act had not terminated. Any offense committed and all penalties, forfeitures, or liabilities incurred prior to such termination may be prosecuted or punished in the same manner and with the same effect as if this or fit act had not been terminated.

Passed the House of Representatives April 30, 1918.
Attest:

by in

the othe

a gres

Clerk.

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SOUTH TRIMBLE,

The CHAIRMAN. The committee has met this morning for the pur

grac

pose of considering the bill (H. R. 11259) to provide further for the bay m

national security and defense by encouraging the production, conservlesing the supply, and controlling the distribution of those ores, metals, and minerals which have formerly largely been imported, or of which there is or may be an inadequate supply.

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This bill passed the House on day before yesterday, and our meeting now is for the purpose of considering the bill and any other matters that may come before the committee.

Senator SHAFROTH. Mr. Chairman, the bill which I have before me is marked "Union Calendar 190, House of Representatives," I will ask whether this bill, as it is printed here, is the same as that which passed the House.

the The CHAIRMAN. It is not. The bill that passed the House has not been printed for distribution. I imagine there were a few errors in fit and they had to refer it to the House, but I expect to get the printed bill this afternoon. That is the bill as originally introduced, but some of the amendments as adopted in the House are not in the bill that you refer to and have in your mind.

The committee will hear first Mr. H. H. Lamson.

STATEMENT OF HORACE HOLDEN LAMSON.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Lamson, what is your full name?
Mr. LAMSON. Horace Holden Lamson.

The CHAIRMAN. With what firm are you connected?

Mr. LAMSON. The John S. Lamson & Bros., 347 Madison Avenue, New York.

The CHAIRMAN. What is your bu-iness?'

Mr. LAMSON. We have been importers and dealers in manganese ores and asphaltums for 65 years.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee would like to have you tell us about the business, as you are familiar with it. in regard to manganese ores in this country, and the importation of them, and also the production in this country.

Mr. LAMSON. Well, I will say, Mr. Chairman, that I do not know
exactly how to address the committee, because I do not think that
I have ever been before a Senate committee at any former time. All
I can state is from a practical standpoint.

I do not know the full meaning of this bill or what it is going to amount to. I do know that there is not enough high-grade-what called high-grade ore from an importer's standpoint-to cover anywhere near the demand for it. There is a great deal of low-grade e, such as would go into the making up of spiegeleisen and ferroanganese. The high grade comes from Caucasus, and some of it es from Japan. Practically all of the high-grade ore that is oming in by importation at the present time-that is, 85 per cent of ore-is coming from Cuba, and the consumption of that ore is ly forty or fifty thousand tons, and it does not cut much figure as gainst the other ore, which, I understand, is something like 800,000

Jons a year.
There is a great deal of ore in the mines of the United States, and
plenty of mines that can be developed in the United States
the lower grade ore, what you would call practically chemical ore.
great many manufacturers of dry batteries who formerly had to

have 85 to 90 per cent ore, had to take the 80 per cent ore. The result has been that the finished product is not nearly as good as formerly.

Now, it is an important proposition, I should say for the Government, as well as anyone else, because, as I understand it, these batteries are used in ambulances, and are used largely for flashlight batteries for Red Cross work, and it seems to me that some provision ought to be made to allow, anyway, a certain quantity of high-grade ore to come into the United States, because the production is not here; we have never been able to produce it. For instance, I have handled practically the entire output of the Crimora mine, which is one of the biggest producers. Last year I think we had something like five carloads of high-grade ore. That is a pretty small production. That grade would run about 84 to 87 per cent MnO2, not metallic-I do not figure on metallic when I am speaking of highgrade ore. I do not handle the lower grade ores at all, those that run low in iron and low in copper, because if there is too much copper in it it short circuits in the battery trade, it would short circuit the battery.

Dr. MANNING. Mr. Chairman, I suggest that Mr. Lamson make clear the difference between chemical ore and metallurigcal ore.

Mr. LAMSON. I should say that metallurgical ore would be used for spiegeleisen and ferromanganese. Ferromanganese would be used in paints and varnishes and dry batteries, and high-class trade of that kind, and in making up some metals, and in also making up potassium permanganate, which they have asked me to come down. and tell about, of getting the copper out of that product at the present time. But there are a number of manufacturers who are just starting to make it, and it is almost impossible to tell what the consumption of manganese will be for that purpose. I know two or three new concerns that have just started to make potassium permanganate. It is almost impossible to get at that until they have had some experience and know what quantities they use. I am not a chemist, and only know this from a practical standpoint; that is all, and the uses to which manganese has gone for years. It is also usedthe high-grade ore-very largely in the glass and bottle trade. For instance, I have shipped to a glass and bottle concern some manganese that came from the Middle West. It was some of the Phelps & Dodge ore, and they came back to me and complained very much, saying that the ore was not right, that they had to use just twice as much as they did of the high-grade ore, and at the price manganese ore is to-day it, of course, makes a great deal of difference to them.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you know about how much manganese ore is used in this country per year?

Mr. LAMSON. Of all grades of ore?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

Mr. LAMSON. I should say somewhere in the neighborhood of

800,000 tons.

The CHAIRMAN. And of that amount how much do we produce? Mr. LAMSON. I do not know; I saw those figures not a long while ago. I think we produced something like 300,000 tons last year, although I could not tell you accurately about that. I have not been interested enough in the lower grade of ore to go into that matter,

The

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20

no

except as I heard it at a meeting here about a month or six weeks ago. I am better posted on what we call the high grade or chemical ore. The CHAIRMAN. How much of that is used?

Mr. LAMSON. I should say 40,000 to 50.000 tons a year. Of that the largest proportion would be used by the National Carbon Co.. of Cleveland. I should say that from 15.000 to 18.000 tons would be used by that one concern.

The CHAIRMAN. Please state to the committee just the use that the high-grade ore is put to.

Mr. LAMSON. It is used in dry batteries in making flash-light Latteries, and it is also used as a drier in paint and varnishes, and it I is used in glass and bottle trade. I believe there is also a very small quantity used in making up powder and in connection with powder. but the quantity is so small that it does not cut any figure. The largest trade is the battery trade, the next would be the glass and bottle trade, and the paint and varnish trade would be about the same, and as to the permanganate of potash there would be quite large quantities used of that, and then there are some concerns that are making up metals for which they have to have pure manganese by. I think, the old concern of Goldsmith & Thermit. New York-it is now the Thermit-Metals Co. They have changed their name since the war began. They are in the Equitable Building. They are making up manganese for the Government. I believe, and are making what they call a pure manganese, putting it in an entirely different state from what the ore is now in. I can not give you the formula and things of that kind, because if I could I should be in the manufacturing business.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the value of the high-grade ore that you are speaking of!

Mr. LAMSON. Do you mean from a purchasing standpoint? There a good deal of difference.

The CHAIRMAN, Yes. from the purchasing standpoint.

Mr. LAMSON. It will run from $75 a ton to $120 a ton according to the arrangement which you can make. In the crude -tate, as it que from the mine, it has to be ground up after you receive it: thas got to be put into condition to ship to the different manufac rers. One manufacturer desires it in granulated form ari another 1 pieces as big as a little finger nail, and another desires it in plere. Seize of granulated sugar. Others desire it in the fine form. It sel very largely in the brick trade, and that low-grade ore can be used for that purpose as well as the high grade,

Sator SHAFROTH. For what purpose do they use it in the manfuture of bricks!

Mr. LAMWON. To make a mottiel effet. You have sen they ts with little bright spots in them?

Mr. LaMx. That is the manganese

on from the Beth!

Mr. Laxos. No exair black Most people cate

Apt. It is Jack of slate color. It ar

ip. I have seen socce of it as CSL alte

It depends entirely upon where you get it. Take, for instance, the Nova Scotia ore. That is a light gray, a good deal of it, and crystalline. Take the Crimora ore; that is blue ore, blue-gray, and if you take other ores they would be still darker.

Senator SHAFROTH. What purpose does manganese have in these other uses that you stated it is put to?

Mr. LAMSON. Do you mean to what purpose is it put?

Senator SHAFROTH. Yes; what particular purpose does it subserve? Mr. LAMSON. It is used in paints and varnishes, for instance; it is used as a dryer. For instance, in the making up of paints and varnishes. You do not want paint or varnish that is going to take six or eight days to dry. They put this in to dry it, the same as we put it in steel to purify it. In crucible steel they put a certain amount of manganese, and under the influence of the heat it liberates the oxygen and throws the impurities to the surface.

Senator SHAFROTH. That is the defects in the steel?

Mr. LAMSON. Yes, sir; it takes those out.

Senator SHAFROTH. And vacuums and things of that kind.
Mr. LAMSON. Yes, sir; it takes out those impurities.

Senator SHAFROTH. Now as to batteries; what purpose does it serve?

Mr. LAMSON. It is used, as I understand, for the oxygen content in the manganese and the higher it is in MnO, the higher it is in oxygen. Now some ores, although they may be identically the samesay two ores testing 25 per cent on the same analysis-might not be used for the same purpose. One may be a very hard ore that will retain its oxygen and not give it off under heat, and then there is soft ore which will liberate the oxygen quickly. There are many factors f to be taken into consideration.

Senator SHAFROTH. In regard to the price of manganese, what is the lowest percentage of manganese that has a commercial value? Mr. LAMSON. Well, at a meeting that I attended some time ago I got quite a little information here in Washington. I think they use a content as low as 15 per cent metallic manganese.

2

Senator SHAFROTH. What do you mean by metallic manganese? Mr. LAMSON. Now, you have got me. You are asking me a ques tion that I can not answer. MnO, is figured out from metallic: metallic is the unit of manganese, as I understand in the steel trade. You would purchase manganese at so much per unit, the to unit of metallic manganese. Well, manganese running 50 per cent metallic MnO2 would run about 80 per cent. There are some of pr those technical questions that I would not be able to answer. en

The CHAIRMAN. I understand that there are about 40,000 or

50,000 tons of high-grade manganese imported?

Mr. LAMSON. Yes, sir; I should say in a year, 40,000 tons. The CHAIRMAN. How much high-grade ore is produced in this country, if you know?

t m

Mr. LAMSON. Well, of the ore, such as the concerns want, there is ans

comparatively little. I would not say there are 2,000 or 3,000 tons produced here. I know that the Crimora people turn out some

CHAIR

LAMSON

of that ore that is very high grade. Then there is another thing to th

that has been found in very rare cases, and that is that manganese is formed in pockets. High-grade ore comes in pockets in the United States and is not found in the vein. If the cross vein is