Vor.
a. No. 4
Suonn mox Beers
395
card a certain amount of molasses from time to time, the sugar in which cannot be recovered and refined by the present processes. This final or discard molasses and the insoluble portion of the beet, called the pulp, constitute the two chief by-products of the beet house. A part of the molasses is used for the production of- alcohol and yeast. The remainder of the molasses and all of the pulp is fed to cattle and sheep, thus further enhancing the agricultural value of the beet crop. The description of the process has, necessarily, been made very brief and only the essential steps have been touched upon. However complicated it may be in its details, and whatever engineering problems have had to be solved in bringing the industry to its present state of development, it is, as uve have pointed out, essentially a chemical refining process not much diierent from those encountered by the chemist in separating and determining compounds and elements in the course of routine analyses or in the preparation of laboratory reagents. The same fundamental laws must be recognized and obeyed and the same meticulous care and attention to detail must be observed in order that successful achievement be attained.
Mineral Resources a Serious World Problem. That a commercial League of Nations m:&ypossihly he rstnl~lisherlto help settlc the world's prohlcms with regard to mineral resources is foreseen by Dr. Charlcs K. Leith, well-known. aealoaist . from thc llniversitv af Wisconsin, attending an international meeting of geologists in Madrid. Dr. Leith points out that a mighty contlict is going - on between two powerfulforces: world demand for the needed supply of minerals, and, on the other hand, nationalist forces which are working t o use the mineral resources of a political state for national gain or protection. Mineral resources are very unequally distributed among the countries of the world, Dr. Leith states, and in many cases the great centers of supply constitute essentially national monopolies. The dependence of modern civilization upon these unequally divided minerals is growing and the problem of mineral resources figures largely in the consciousness of nations. "The satisfaction of world demand for minersls must, therefore, over-ride political boundaries," said Dr. Leith. "There seems t o be no way t o eliminate either set of forces. The problem is t o effect a balance or adjustment between them. "Internationalization of resources, in the sense of turning them over t o some supernational control, is probably a political impossibility, even if i t were desirable, which is doubtful. But there is an opportunity t o standardize by international agreement the many international commercial arrangements which are now effecting a fair and workable compromise between world demand on the one hand and nationalistic policies on the other." Dr. k i t h advocates an international economic conference, with fact-finding committees, and "ultimately, perhaps, what will amount t o a commercial League of Nations." This, he said, would not put an end t o national mineral monopolies, nor would i t cause a nation rich in minerals to lose the advantages of these possessions.-S&me Service ~
