nsure a broader and more stable market. Such movements allow the use
of heterogeneous mineral supplies in a manner which is distinctly
conservational, both in regard to mineral reserves and to the human
energy factors involved. In another war the possibilities and methods of
meeting requirements for war minerals will be better understood.

In these activities, geologists had a not inconsiderable part. The U. S.
Bureau of Mines, the U. S. Geological Survey, state geological surveys,
and many other technical organizations, public and private, turned their
attention to these questions. One of the special developments was the
organization by the Shipping Board of a geologic and engineering
committee whose duty it was to study and recommend changes in the
imports and exports of mineral commodities, with a view to releasing
much-needed ship tonnage. This committee was also officially connected
with the War Industries Board and the War Trade Board. It utilized the
existing government and state mineral organizations in collecting its
information. Over a million tons of mineral shipping not necessary for
war purposes were eliminated. This work involved also a close study of
the possibilities of domestic production to supply the deficiencies
caused by reduction of foreign imports.

Other special geological committees were created for a variety of war
purposes. In the early stages of the war a War Minerals Committee, made
up of representatives of government and state organizations and of the
American Institute of Mining Engineers, made an excellent preliminary
survey of mineral conditions. A Joint Mineral Information Board[60] was
created at Washington, composed of representatives of more than twenty
government departments which were in one way or another concerned with
minerals. It was surprising, even to those more or less familiar with
the situation, to find how widely mineral questions ramified through
government departments. For instance, the Department of Agriculture had
men specially engaged in relation to mineral fertilizers and arsenic.
Sulphur and other mineral supplies were occupying the attention of the
War Department. Mica and other minerals received special attention from
the Navy Department. The Tariff Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the
Commerce Department, even the Department of State, had men who were
specializing on certain mineral questions. All these departments had
delegates on the Joint Mineral Informat