Vol. 23, KO,2
An Antidumping Episode HEIdemand for butyl acetate having developed to iniT pressive proportions, thanks largely to the activities of those American workers engaged in the development of protective coatings, certain foreign producers apparently decided they should have a piece of the pie. Consequently, in due course increasing volumes of butyl acetate were imported by Kuttroff, Pickhardt & Company, Inc., who chose as a n effective way to obtain the business a cut in prices. At the time there vere some fifteen producers of butyl acetate ol)taining their liutyl alcohol from the Commercial Solvents Corporation, v h o were pleabed to have their butanol so used niid refrained from manufacturing the acetate. These manufacturers became growingly suspicious of dumping, and evoked the antidumping provisions of the tariff act After thorough investigation and hearings, an order was issued. Before the antidumping provisions can be exercised, two tliings must be shown. First, it must be proved berond n doubt t h a t tlie prices at which the product is offered in thi, country are lower than home prices. Sext, it must also be c+tabliJied that injury is being done domestic producer. It \$-as not difficult to show that the prices in America vere lower than in Germany, but the attorney for the defense held that the importation of butyl acetate was not rrsponsible for tlie lorn prices in this country, but that they had resultetl from the entrance of the Commercial Solvents Corporation itself upon the production of butyl acetate. However, tlic facts were that it was not until eight or ten manufacturers of Iiutyl acetate had discontinued operations because of the competition resulting from the dumped butyl acetate that Comniercial Solvents, as a manufacturer of one of the basic raw niaterials, found it necessary to enter the field t o save the situation. Therefore in the end the case was completely proved, the order issued, and the primary purpose of the antitluuiping legi4ation achieved-dumping Tvas stopped. Tlie next part of the episode is secondary to the niaiii purpose of the legislation. We refer to the assessment of dutieb and fines based upon an appraisal of the butyl acetate that had been imported. After due investigation Kuttroff, Pickhardt & Company, Inc., nere called upon to pay in round iuimbcrs t h e e million dollars. Instead, approximately one iiundred aiid fifty thouband mere offered in conipromise, ha\ e heen declined, and the defendants have appealed from the assessments. Tliis appeal has been taken but lately. and it Jiould be clearly understood that the Government does not liar-e a n enforceable claim against the defendants until the courts have sustained the appraisal. hleaiiwliile it is a mattcr of litigation which may be prolonged for some years. I n others 1%ords, regardless of the decision that 1~111be handed domi in S e w York, either side iiiight then appeal to the Court of Custonis Appeals in Kashington. If, after two or three years, a decision is handed down, it is barely possible that the case could then go to the Supreme Court. I n tlie meantime Kuttroff-Pickhardt have uiidertskcn a dissolution of their business, distributing their assets to the
February 1, 1931 stockholders. It mould appear fortunate that the collection of fines and duties is a consideration secondary to the effective stopping of dumping. This interesting case is typical of the effectiveness of our antidumping legislation. The investigation required not only meticulous care in ascertaining the status of the American industry, but extensive investigations abroad, which were made by a n expert of the Bureau of Customs who journeyed to Germany for the purpose. The case is not a n exception, but is typical of the work quietly going forward in the Treasury Department under the present laws which, ivhen final action is taken, effectively protect our industry. Sucli instances may a t least serve fully to convince any who may have entertained doubts as to the wisdom and efficacy of tlic steps which the law provides.
Blow Your Horn H E R E are many men who have attended every exposition of the chemical industries, and they easily remember when the most interest'ing and instructive booths Tvcrc those in which the products of the industry were displayed. To be sure, the equipment being developed in the early daj,q of the exposit,ion was just as important, and it was one of tlic objects of the project to let it be known that here in America were to be found those special devices and pieces of niacliiiiery essential to chemical production. No one passed these booths by, but after all it was a n exposition of the chemical industries. I n those days n.e were inordinately proud, perhaps, of the chemical compounds which first came into the exposition in small numbers, t'hen showed rapid increase, only practically to disappear from tlie later expositions. This change in the character of the shows has called forth comment in t,he technical press and elsewhere critical of those industries which, though definitely identified n43i chemistry and chemical products, have latterly been conspicuous by their absence. Just mhy should all this occur? For our part, TYC see no sound reason for it. It is t'rue that a small handful of d > ~ stuffs has grown to a large tonnage of great variety, accouiiting for some 95 per cent by weight of our domestic requirements. XOlonger are vie dependent on other than our own resources for a long list of coal-t,ar synthetics, nor for a nu111ber of other products Tvhicli our industry has developetl. Even this progress and any strength it may indicate affortl no adequate reason n h y the products of the chemical industry should not be continuously displayed a t these bicnnial exhibits. Every progressive chemical industxy lins added some distinct product to its line (luring the past' fivr years. Even since t,lie last exposition some ten or tv-elveperhaps fifteen-thousands of young men have been graduated into cliemical careers. They shtiuld be effectively reached through the medium of t,he exhibit. The public has become more interested in chemical products, and the esliibit offers tlic opl~ortiinityt o rcacli la laity. Today the layinan is the purcliaser of cliemical stocks,
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and his interest must be obtained and held. An important by-product is the attention of the technical, trade, and daily press to the exhibits. They are news, and comment upon them is valuable publicity for our industries. We are never so strong but that strong public confidence is of the greatest benefit. The returns on a well-planned exhibit of chemical products and the raw materials from which they are made are often immediate, but even though they are indirect, the general effect upon the whole industry is good and the ultimate return satisfactory. It is not the extent of the exhibit that matters so much. It is its quality-the story it tells and how well it is told. The small exhibit with human iiiterest a t its center will always attract more buyers than the elaborate display which is nothing more than just that. I’lan your booth along the right lines and the buyers will congregate there. Let the chemical industry see to it that after the thirteenth exposition, the week of May 4,no one can say that we have lost either our leadership in the production of chemical products or pride in our accomplishments, or that the showing of chemical products was disappointing. Get into the exposition. Blow your own horn, and remember “He that bloweth not his own horn, verily his horn shall not be blown.”
Naval Stores HE older a n industry the more reluctant it seems to be to T avail itself of what science offers for its aid. Facts learned through the costly trial-and-error method of experience are not to be lightly discarded and may never be replaced by what science does. Yet when these old industries eventually turn to the research laboratory, they are often benefited immediately and quite out of proportion to the time and effort spent on their behalf. The naval stores industry is perhaps the second oldest American industry, first place going to tobacco, thanks to the introduction of that famous weed into England by Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake. The English settlers who arrived in Jamestown in 1607 established the naval stores industry, which went on a business basis in 1622 as Neill’s Virginia Company of London. The establishment was founded upon a commission from Queen Elizabeth to the English settlement and its primary purpose was t o secure in the new colonies a suitable supply of tar, pitch, rosin, tar oils, turpentine, etc.-all of which were urgently required in the construction of wooden ships for the English navy and the merchant marine. From that day to this naval stores have been among the prominent industries of our Southern States, but until recent years the character of the industry changed but little from those earlier times Relatively little has been done by the producers to improve their product, to eliminate their wastes, to conserve their raw materials, or to expand their markets. With the passing of wooden ships a change in consumption took place and new markets were more or less permitted to develop themselves. Notwithstanding this well-known apathy, there have always been individuals keenly interested in the improvement of naval stores. Our own Doctor Herty is one of those who, beginning with marked improvements in methods for the collection of turpentine, has continued efforts to have the industry make progress and today is keenly concerned with the problem. A few years ago the Pine Institute of America was incorporated and this institute has begun a modest program of research. The Forest Products Laboratory has given special attention to the problems of the industry. For years the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, repre-
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sented by F. P. Veitch and his associates, has been prominent in the field. Those individuals and organizations making the distribution of naval stores their principal occupation have developed an efficient machine for their purpose and through their numerous contacts have come to realize that if the naval stores industry is to continue as an important industrial factor some energy must be put into educational campaigns as well as into research. In October, a t the eighth annual meeting of naval stores representatives, i t was unanimously decided to set up a standing committee on turpentine advertising to plan a cooperative program for all naval stores interests. The public a t large is to be told something of the merits of turpentine, not only in the manufacture of paint and varnishes, but as a thinner and for many other important manufacturing and household uses. An effort is to be made to overcome the apathy of producer and consumer, to make more firm the essential place of turpentine in industry, and to stress the fact that as yet no complete equivalent has arisen to replace it. Its position being continually challenged by competitive materials. these representatives feel that the time has come to say more of its merits and to have them recognized. The group also went on record in favor of certain reforms designed to assist the industry. Strangely enough, rosin is still sold by the antiquated unit of 280 pounds gross, this being equivalent to the old 20 stones of English weight. There should be a simplification of the number of grades and the elimination of unnecessary grades. Uniform and improved packages are to be adopted. The need for more intensive research for the improvement and development of new uses of naval stores products is to be stressed, and efforts are to be made to get a full cooperation of all units involved in the naval stores industry. The active interest of the naval stores consumers-identified with the National Paint, Oil, and Varnish Associationshould give further stimulation to the work in hand and be potent in initiating further effort.
Radium’s Competitor DECEMBER a t Los Angeles R. A. Millikan and ItheNhisgreatest associates displayed a new tube which may become or importance. Utilizing 650,000 volts, it emits rays quite comparable to those given off by radium, and one specialist calculated that with such a tube one might accomplish results that would be equivalent to those obtained with $5,000,000,000 worth of radium. There is no reason to believe that 650,000 volts is the uppermost limit, if there is any advantage in going higher, and we have confidence that the physicist can produce a tube with which results characteristic of radium can be obtained. One of thew days radium, which has been listed as one of the wonders of the modern world, will find itself reduced by the new competition to a place where it will be glad to be on speaking terms with a larger proportion of our population. There are many cases where a special technic has been developed in, radium therapy. The insertion of tubes containing radium emanation into abnormal tissues affords an example. We do not expect these new types of electric tubes to compete in this field. but it seems fair to assume that in many instances where radium therapy has already proved its worth this newer form of energy will be found equally efficient, more susceptible to control, and of course available a t but a fraction of the expense. Radium may retain its industrial applications, as for dial illumination, but the significance of the new 650,000volt tube for industry is far-reaching and difficult to imagine. It is indeed intriguing.
