Publinhed by the Amerioan Chemid Sooiety
HARRISON E. HOWE, Editor
EDITORIALS Centenaries in 1938
complaints of individuals, and when the official was able t o assure the committee that these would have immediate and satisfactory adjustment he settled back for what he presumed to be the most arduous task of the conference, only to have the chairman say that, with the thirty-odd individual grievances satisfied, they woiild forget the others. Those who study these factors in such relationships, attribute a part of our present-day difficulties to the loss of intimate contact between the owner or manager of a business and its employees. The problem is to devise a means whereby the head of a house can maintain personal contact with an ever-increasing number. In America there are frequent examples of business which, within the lifetime of the man who conceived the enterprise, has grown from the activities of a single individual to one involving thousands. While he cannot hope to have that same friendly touch with the larger number that may have been his pride when there were but one or two hundred who assisted him with his business, nevertheless there is too often a lack of interest in such relationships when prosperity comes. This is emphasized when the second or the third generation climbs into the saddle. We must find ways to cultivate and hold that loyalty throughout the organization, without which no enterprise can succeed. Experience also has taught how necessary it is to know the attitude of new employees on a number of questions which may be controversial, which are important in the assimilation of new employees without friction. Healthy differences of opinion, honestly expressed, are helpful and may keep a group actively interested, but on some leading questions wide differences of opinion cannot be mixed with safety. It has been observed, too, that no matter how grateful a man may appear to be for employment, he soon snarls at the hand which fed him if he honestly believes the position he has been given is beneath his capabilities or his deserts. This has even extended to technically trained men apparently willing to take any type of work and, though placed in a laboratory, they have chafed to the point of rebellion because they felt they had been degraded.
THE world grows older there is occasion the A celebration of centenaries of increasing numbers of men and women who have made substantial contriS
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butions to world progress. There will be several such in 1938. We call attention to one of these. William Henry Perkin, who later became Sir William, was born March 12, 1838. It was he who discovered Perkin’s purple or mauve in 1856, thereby initiating the synthesis of dyestuffs which, in turn, became the foundation for the vastly important synthetic organic chemical industry, beginning with the utilization of coal tar. Sir William was also the first to synthesize the perfume coumarin, and he actually engaged in the manufacture of dyestuffs until 1874. He had many friends and admirers in the United States and it is still customary for those who were present when the first Perkin Medal was awarded to him to wear the same or a replica of the mauve tie which made its appearance on that occasion. The psychological importance, the industrial value, and the stimulus t o research which have come from the investigations of Sir William justify writing his name in bold letters in the list of centenaries of this year.
Experience Teaches URING 1937 there were several occasions for the D study of problems involved in relationships between employee and employer which taught observers a number of pertinent truths. Students of labor relations insist that, in most cases, the major dificulties are composed of the accumulation of personal grievances where the cause of the offended individual becomes the complaint of his organization. Whiting Williams, in an address before the annual meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, gave instances of this and cited in particular an all-day conference between a committee of chosen representatives of labor in one plant and the vice president, who was confronted with a list of forty-two demands. All but a half dozen had to do wit,h specific 123
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Again, experience shows that if a man has been given the opportunity to fill a more important place and is incapable of holding it, it is better to dismiss than to demote him. Even though he has had a fair chance, his disappointment engenders an attitude toward those who tried to help him which ends in bitterness, dissatisfaction, and troublemaking. Many of these facts are hard on the individual, but a far greater number are likely to suffer unless we bear in mind the lessons which experiences teach and thereby avoid repetition of such unpleasantness. May 1938 see a greater general and permanent improvement in the appreciation of each side for the problems and viewpoints of the other and out of it the type of relationship between employer and employee which is best for both and hence for all of us!
Science, Politics, and Religion
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HAS taken longer than it should to impress upon most of us the extent to which scientificwork can be helped or hindered by politics and the fact that in at least one particular the scientist has much in common with the church. Present-day trends in government, taking the world as a whole, must be of more than ordinary interest to the scientist, and it should be recognized, as has been pointed out both to the British Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, that science has a task to perform in matters social and must not remain indifferent to the rising tide of totalitarianism. If democracy disappears, then the science with which we are familiar will also be superseded. The scientist has been busy, especially these past two centuries, in cultivating the field he knows best and conceiving his job to be that of increasing the accumulation of useful knowledge. He has felt safe in leaving to others such utilization of that knowledge as to promote the welfare of all mankind. But something seems to have gone wrong, and at times it has been popular to lay the blame conveniently upon science for maladjustments and present-day difficulties, rather than to praise it for what we believe to be a part in attaining a higher plane of civilization. As has been pointed out before the associations to which we refer, religion alone has remained fighting for complete freedom. But science, no less than religion, requires freedom from restraint and independence in thought, discussion, theory, research, and publication. Even now this freedom is not enjoyed in all countries, and since no one is wise enough to decide unerringly the few lines along which research should proceed, it is not surprising that its general level has been lowered and that the results are often disappointing. The proposal that the scientists of the world pool their efforts in the interests of science in promoting peace
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among nations and intellectual freedom “in order that science may continue to advance and spread more abundantly its benefits to all mankind” is being well received everywhere and may easily grow into a movement of the greatest importance.
Job Making AST year when certain figures were published relaL tive to economics of the chemical industry it was shown that the investigators in that particular case had chosen to overlook a very important item-namely, the large investment required per employee. This was stressed again when the capital involved in creating some millions of new jobs was computed. And now, as the question continues to be one of general interest, other industries are pointing out just what all this may mean. In none of those which have come to our attention is the investment in equipment, tools, buildings, and other facilities less than $5000 per job, and the average is certainly much higher than that. The General Motors Corporation explains that, among its 205,000 men and women, there are about 5 employed in factory production for each one engaged in research, engineering, purchasing, selling, advertising, and record keeping. A job, therefore, consists of much more than one individual at work. Besides the capital invested in land, buildings, machinery, and materials, there must be supervision and management, research, sales, and many other expert services. The information which is being made available during this attempt to find how recessions, slumps, and depressions are caused, how to cure, and, better yet, how to prevent them, is informative to most of us and the study should lead to a fuller appreciation of the problems of both labor and capital. Surely the effort should be productive and eventually lessen substantially the impact of these economic variables upon the people.
Characteristics of Many Guides ROUPS which have the privilege of visiting chemiG cal plants are sometimes disappointed when their guides are seemingly unable to answer questions of special interest to visitors. A party was visiting the University of Heidelberg. A young woman acted as guide through the Students’ Prison where, in a colorless monotone, she told who had been imprisoned in this room and that, named the photographs imbedded in the walls, and described the drawings and paintings. Being asked a question, she replied in the same tone of voice: ‘‘I do not speak English. I only know the explanations.”
