The Nickel Industry

Abstract

THE complete report of the Royal Ontario Nickel Commission, of which a summary was published in March last, has recently been received in this country. It is a document of absorbing interest and exceptional importance. The commission was- appointed on-September 9, 1915, and asked to inquire into, and investigate and report upon, the resources, industries, and capacities, both present and future, of the Province of Ontario in connection with nickel and its ores. Its reference also included an inquiry into the system of taxation by the province of its mines, minerals, and mineral industries. There were four commissioners, Messrs. Holloway, Miller, Young, and Gibson, representing- metallurgy, geology, law, and administration respectively. They set to work at once and completed their labours in eighteen months-a remarkably short time considering what they did. Their report contains nearly 600 pages, and the appendix more than 200. It is a model of lucidity of exposition, and displays such a complete grasp of the subject in all its bearings and details, and such shrewdness of judgment in regard to its recommendations, that it will certainly rank as the most authoritative monograph on the nickel industry that has ever been published. The commissioners have rendered to Canada a service of remarkable value.