The Priestley
Medal
Address
.
The Future of German Industry R O G E R ADAMS
C h a i r m a n , B o a r d of D i r e c t o r s of t h e A M E R I C A N C H E M I C A L S O C I E T Y *
Dr. Adams receives Medal President Dewey
I
.SHALL
DISCUSS
briefly
the
from
future
of German industr}' as planned by t h e four occupying powers in Germany, t h e Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and the United States. IDach of the four na tions is administering its area according to its own policy. Meanwhile the four are negotiating on the quadripartite basis various questions pertaining to t h e coun try us a whole. The future level of Ger man industry is one of the- major issues which has been concluded. The guiding principles for the plan were set forth in t h e Potsdam protocol; briefly, they a r e : elimi nation of German war potential and t h e industrial disarmament of Germany; pay ment of reparations t o the countries which suffered from German aggression; devel opment of agriculture and peaceful indus tries; maintenance in Germany of average living standards not exceeding t h e aver age standard of living of European coun tries (excluding Groat Britain a n d the So viet Union) ; retention in Germain', after payment of reparations of sufficient re sources to enable her to maintain herself without external assistance. Hundreds of experts from the four oc cupying powers were engaged in Berlin for m a n y months in the formulation of a plan for German postwar economy and in a study of the a m o u n t and character of in dustrial capital equipment available for reparations. 1949 was adopted a s a target year for a balanced economy in Germany since it was estimated that by t h a t time the rest of Europe will have recovered from the first effects of the war and t h a t the av erage of European economy will have reached t h a t of the prewar period (19301938). T h e plan was based on certain assumptions; t h a t t h e population of Ger m a n y will be 66.5 millions; that Germany will b e treated a s an economic unit; and that exports from Germany will bo 2486
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The Priestley Medal was established to recognize distinguished services to chemistry. At least four activities of the 1946 recipient can be described in such terms. The large number of chemists who today are leaders in the or ganic chemical industry or who are preparing others for such posilions of responsibility is the living proof of his outstanding abilities as a teacher and his insistence upon the maintenance of high educational standards; this in itself would justify the selection. His research contributions, par ticularly in the field of stereochemistry, medicinal chemistry, the chemistry of natural products, and the development of new and improved synthetic methods, have provided theories, methods, and useful materials which are so widely used that they must be characterized as a distinguished service to chem istry. His many contributions to the ACS as councilor, director, president, and chairman of the board, his keen business judgment in SOCIETY affairs, his receptivity of new ideas, and his interest in chemists as human beings have benefited the SOCIETY and its members significantly and merit this recognition. His public service throughout the war—first as a member of that small group which laid the plans for Ike National Defense Research Committee, then as Chairman of its Division Β (Chemistry), his concurrent activity as a scientific adviser to the Army and Navy through many committees considering critical problems, and finally his posl as special adviser to General Lucius Clay, Deputy Military Governor of Germany (U. S.)—is an outs landing addition to a brilliant record. The SOCIETY honors itself in presenting to Boger Adams the Priestley Medal for distinguished services to chemistry.
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acceptable in international markets. Complete agreement t o this p l a n finally was reached b y t h e four occupying powers. From t h e viewpoint of war potential, it would be desirable for t h e Allies to enforce a purely agricultural s t a t e upon Germany. Physical limitations make this impossible .since Germany will lose 2 5 % of her arable land to other nations a n d be required t o maintain a population a s large or larger than in 1936 on t h e smaller tillable acreage. T h e density of population will be a b o u t three times t h a t of t h e rest of E u r o p e ex cluding G r e a t Britain a n d the Soviet U n ion. Since coal and potash are essentially her only important natural resources, Germany will require a fairfy high level of industrial activity t o provide for her population. Industrial products will be needed for exportation to p a y for food products and t o meet t h e minimum re quirements of an urbanized society. Ger many, if she is to have a balanced econ omy, will require a level of manufacturing higher t h a n t h e average for t h e remainder of Europe in order to compensate for t h e lack of land and natural resources. The plan involves t h e drastic curtail ment of heavy industry which w a s t h e most vital sector of G e r m a n y ' s prewar industrial life. Agriculture anid peacetime industries are encouraged siu*cc they must C H E M I C A L
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absorb a large proportion of the t e n t o twelve million people being returned t o Germany from eastern and southeastern Europe a n d t h e individuals t h r o w n o u t of employment in t h e shutdown of warpotential industries. Let us review briefly the decisions on various industrial items. T h e production of all arms, ammunition and implements of war as well as all t y p e s of aircraft a n d sea going ships is prohibited and will b e p r e vented. All industrial capital equipment for t h e production of t h e following items is to be eliminated: synthetic gasoline a n d oil ; synthetic rubber ; s y n t h e t i c ammonia; ball and t a p e r roller bearings; heavy machine tools of certain t y p e s ; heavy tractors; primary a l u m i n u m ; m a g n e sium; beryllium; vanadium products from T h o m a s slags; radioactive m a t e r i als; radio t r a n s m i t t i n g equipment; spe cific war chemicals and gases. M a n y of these items a r e essential to a n y balanced economy and must, therefore, b e i m ported. Only when G e r m a n y h a s d e veloped permitted exports sufficient t o pay for i m p o r t s will importation b e pos sible. I t has been decided, however, t h a t the facilities for-the p r o d u c t i o n of s y n t h e t i c gasoline and oil, synthetic ammonia, synthetic rubber, a n d ball and t a p e r roller bearings will b e temporarily retained A N D
ENGINEERING
NEWS
to m e e t domestic requirements necessary imports are available l)e paid for. I t is significant t h a t four of t h e most important war industries. Res trie
until the and can these are potential
tions
M a n y other industries will be restricted. Steel production capacity will be limited to 7.5 million ingot tons with permitted production 5.8 million t o n s annually. This latter figure is 3 0 % of t h e 1936 production and will be subject to a n n u a l review by t h e Allied Control Council. N o n ferrous metals, including exports, containing these metals will be fixed a t about t h e same level: 140,000 t o n s of copper ( 4 8 % ) ; 135,000 tons of zinc ( 6 0 % ) ; 120,000 tons of lead (54%); S,000 tons of tin ( 5 0 % ) ; 1,750 tons of nickel (18%). T h e machine tool industry will retain only 11.4% of 1938 capacity with additional restrictions on the t y p e and size of machine tools to be produced. H e a v y engineering industries producing metallurgical equipment, hcav3 r mining machinery, material handling plants, a n d heavy power equipment such as boilers, turbines, heavy compressors, turboblowers, and p u m p s will be retained a t 3 1 % of 1938 capacity. On t h e other h a n d , those mechanical engineering industries producing such items as constructional equipment, textile machinery, consumer goods equipm e n t , food processing equipment, woodworking machines will be p e r m i t t e d t o to operate a t 5 0 % of 1938 capacity. Similarly, heavy electrical equipment industries will be reduced t o 3 0 % of their prewar production—this includes genera t o r s and converters of 6,000 kw. or over, large transformers of 1,500 k.v.a. and over. Light equipment such as electric lamps, electric heating and domestic appliances, telephone and telegraph a p p a r a t u s will be a t a 5 0 % level. I n transport engineering, there will be capacity for 40,000 passenger cars ( 1 6 % of 1936), 40,000 commercial vehicles ( 6 7 % of 1936), 4,000 light road t r a c t o r s , a n d 10,000 motorcyles with cylinder capacity under 250 cc. T h e present locomotive capacity will be used until 1949 exclusively for t h e repair of existing stock in order t o build a pool of 15,000 locomotives. A decision on new locomotives will be postponed until this repair work is completed. I n addition, there will be an a n n u a l capacity for 30,000 freight cars, 1,350 passenger coaches, and 400 luggage vans. Agricultural machinery, other t h a n large tractors, will have a capacity of 8 0 % of prewar production. L i g h t t r a c t o r s t o the number of 10,000 will b e allowed. T h e volume of business in optical and precision instruments in 1936 reached a value of 491 million reichmarks of 40 cent exchange» F u t u r e capacity will be reduced to 340 million reichmarks (70%) of which it is estimated instruments to the value of 220 million will be for internal use and the balance will be allowed for export. V O L U M E
2 4,
NO.
18
T h i s e x p o r t allowance is n o t far different from t h e p r e w a r figure. Electric power capacity will b e levelled a t 9 million kw. (60%); cement a t 8,000,000 t o n s (6S
