For many a reconverting industry that needs bearings, metal containers, etc., tin is literally worth its weight in gold. As far back as last fall the War Production Board solemnly warned that tin was so scarce that the U.S. might run out completely in 1946. The hope had been that when Far Eastern tin sources, which produced 92% of prewar U.S. tin, were surveyed, enough hidden stockpiles would be found to end the shortage.
Last week one of the first detailed reports out of Malaya, biggest producer in the Orient, scuttled this hope. After jeeping through the Malay peninsula, TIME...