PROGRAM VI
The Mining Industry
Mining and farming are the two most important means of producing raw materials for industries. As farming is to produce food for man, so mining is to produce food for machinery. Machinery is the tree of modern industries, and the mining industry is the root of machinery. Thus, without the mining industry there would be no machinery, and without machinery there would be no modern industries which have revolutionized the economic conditions of mankind. The mining industry, after all, is the greatest factor of material civilization and economic progress. Although in the fifth part of the first program I suggested the development of the iron and coal fields in Chili and Shansi as an auxiliary project for the development of the Great Northern Port, still, a special program should be devoted to mining in general. The mineral lands of China belong to the state, and mining in China is still in its infancy. So to develop the mining industry from the outset as a state enterprise would be a sound economic measure. But mining in general is very risky and to enlist foreign capital in its development in a wholesale manner is unadvisable. Therefore, only such mining projects which are sure to be profitable will be
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