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1939 A.B.A. Sec. Mineral & Nat. Res. L. Proc. 70 (1939)
Minerals in National Defense

handle is hein.journals/pabminn1 and id is 72 raw text is: MINERALS IN NATIONAL DEFENSE B1Y JAMES F. AILSHIE CHIEF JUSTICE oF THE SUPREME COURT OF IDAHO Since early times minerals have played an ever-increasing part in human warfare. With the crude beginnings of mining there came the use of minerals in the making of weapons. World history shows the use of rocks, flint and other forms of minerals for weapons of war. The earliest records of the New World evidence such a use by the Indians. Later when mining methods had become somewhat more effective, and when a greater number of the more basic minerals had been discov- ered, more and more weapons were devised an( employed by primitive man. With the coming of the industrial revolution, minerals played a still greater part in warfare. The prior advent of gunpowder had revolutionized warfare and brought into de- mand not only more metal but also various mineral substances necessary for the manufacture of gunpowder. After the in- dustrial revolution minerals became of major importance in warfare and in the industries necessary to maintain war. The demand for more of the basic metals led to more extensive discoveries of mineral deposits throughout the world. Arma- ments grew more forbidding. Battleships were floated, heavy artillery was put into use, with tremendous shells and explo- sives which created greater demand for minerals. The world's first taste of modern warfare was received dur- ing the late World War. It was the first major war to be fought with a mechanized army. The airplane, motor truck, battleship, submarine, tank, and heavy artillery were brought into play and thus necessitated larger amounts of raw ma- terial, such as copper, lead, iron, ferrous alloys, petroleum, coal, and other basic minerals. Both the Allied forces and the German-Austrian forces felt the great need of minerals in the conduct of the war. In fact the effective blockade of the central European countries against the importation of minerals was a large factor in the ultimate success of the Allied forces. It was the World War that actually proved to the belligerent nations that industrial power and the ability to maintain tem- porary total mineral self-sufficiency were vital to military and naval success. Most of the countries of Europe realized before the out- break of the war the necessity for both industrial and military preparedness. France, Germany, Russia, and some others had developed reserves of some of the more strategic and critical

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