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EDITORIALS
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CHEMISTRY E E M N G Published b y the American Chemical Society
HARRISON E. HOWE, Editor
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Attention! HAT command has been heard and obeyed by a T c o n s i d e r able number of our readers who recqgnize in it an order to be ready to execute some maneuver. The chemical industry is almost constantly at attention, but no more so than right now. It can be well likened to a giant liner, a huge airplane such as the recordbreaker that has just circled the northern hemisphere, or a powerful automobile primed and ready to go but held in place by such uncertainty that it can only proceed with the utmost caution for the safety of all concerned. It is factors arising out of economics and politics that now hold us in a state of arrested development and these must be cleared and stabilized, particularly stabilized, before wisdom will dictate further investments. New difficulties may follow the monopoly investigation now under way by the National Economic Committee which has placed major emphasis on patents. Any drastic change in our patent statutes would certainly profoundly affect research. We have been in correspondence with a large number of executives of the leading companies identified with the chemical and allied industries. The replies give a preponderance of evidence in three encouraging directions: (1) There has been no material cessation in research; (2) the additions to equipment, new buildings, or expansion planned before the present depression struck us are going forward; and (3) the industry realizes something of the potentialities of the future and is ready to go forward just as soon as visibility improves. It would be idle to attempt estimates of capital ready to be spent with the least encouragement. Under present business conditions companies are holding capital expenditure to about half that of 1937. Some are prepared to proceed with the building of new plants, for which careful preparations have been made, and final decisions have been delayed only by current conditions, which all hope are now improving and on the upswing. The totals undoubtedly could be expressed in many millions, for one corporation has before it a program for plant renewal and new construction approximating 8 million dollars, another is waiting to invest one million, another is spending at the rate of
28 million this year, several have at least a milliondollar program approved and waiting, and some plants are actually busy installing processes, some new and some extensive changes in existing processes. But as one executive tells us, “When in a fog, any wise skipper reduces the speed of his vessel and the thicker it gets the slower he goes.” But with the lifting of the fog, with power at his command, there is an acceleration which not infrequently brings the vessel to port on time. It is clear from our correspondence that the chemical industry has the power, the guidance, the course charted, and is at attention, prepared to proceed with the first lifting of the fog.
Unemployment MERICAN Engineering Council has instituted a series of public forums, the first of which discussed employment and the engineer’s relation to it. One of the speakers was Leo Wolman, economist of the National Bureau of Economic Research and professor of economics at Columbia. Several of the points made in the address are worthy of study and indicate the seriousness of certain current problems. He is convinced that during the past 30 years there has been a steady growth of permanent unemployment and that followinga depression the number reabsorbed into industry has decreased with each succeeding cycle. This is startling and, if further investigation verifies it, presents a situation to cope with which a number of far-reaching readjustments in our economic procedures may be needed. Dr. Wolman brought out that, in,the countries where reliable statistics are available, technology is only one factor in the problem of unemployment and that it seems to be much more severe in those industries which have made the least technological advance. We may find, after all, that science and technology are not the terrible things from the point of view of labor that so many have charged. It is true, of course, that job readjustment follows technological progress, but, given prosperity, the technological problem in the United States is relatively only moderate in size. A third observation had to do with dislocation that
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has resulted since 1920, following the effort to put into effect an increasing amount of social legislation at a rate too fast to be absorbed by industry. Prior to that time such changes had been absorbed in the more normal procedures, but when added to the dificulties of a world depression they have proved almost too much. As Dr. Wolman said, the people of the United States cannot be divided into one group that is the friend of the masses and another that is their enemy, one endeavoring to sustain wages at the highest possible point regardless of consequences and the other constantly to reduce them. The true friends of labor seek to put wages a t the point where they will yield the greatest volume of employment and of pay roll. If wages are placed where they cease to yield this optimum, a great, serious, and perhaps lasting disservice is done to labor by the very people who may call themselves its friends. Industry has a capacity to absorb and when that is exceeded it cannot run smoothly. We often find conflict between our political and economic views, and it is not likely that this problem of continuing unemployment can be solved until this equally dificult conflict can be reconciled.
Preventing Stream Pollution
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E ARE always interested in the differences i n
attitude regarding stream pollution exhibited by those who are responsible for it. Some industries appear to believe that the problem of industrial waste and stream pollution is primarily one to be solved by the community deriving benefit from the existence of the industry. Others look upon it as something for which they have a limited responsibility, expecting the community or perhaps the state to render material assistance by zoning streams according to their uses or by carrying on investigations looking to a satisfactory method of control or waste disposal. Occasionally we find a group that has long recognized the seriousness of stream pollution, particularly as the density of population increases. These groups have investigated in research over a period of years, searching preferably for preventative means or, failing that, for really eEcient control of those compounds which to some degree pollute streams. It is refreshing to find that the American Iron and Steel Institute, which acts for the iron and steel industry, has set up a fellowship at Mellon Institute to conduct a thorough investigation. It is hoped to develop novel ideas and to find a definite solution as quickly as possible to the problem of preventing pollution caused by such operations as pickling, in which metal is commonly acid-treated. Thousands of tons of iron and sulfuric acid annually find their way into wastes in various districts because there is no suitable method of treatment. It is a problem that demands attention
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not alone from the standpoint of the interests of a community in its streams but as well from the standpoint of the damage which the polluted water may cause to structures and the actual economic waste involved in the loss of the material which causes the pollution. The progress of the work will be watched and the results awaited with more than ordinary interest.
Reciprocal Trade Treaties
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THIS issue is included a discussion under the title “Reciprocal Trade Treaties,” to which we call especial attention. It is a matter of importance to all of us, for whatever our field of special activity we ultimately depend upon the prosperity of business if we are t? continue to work successfully and satisfactorily. The article, contributed by a student of tariff matters, obviously represents an effort to be overcautious in criticizing the present program. You will wish to study the four statistical tables presented and can then decide whether the effects of the trade agreements so far concluded have been beneficial to the chemical industry. To date the program seems disappointing, in that the concessions made to other countries have not been compensated by our gain in exports. Some may argue that it would be fairer to consider all industry including agriculture rather than the chemical industry alone. Such figures are generally available, and after studying the whole the reader can decide for himself whether the sacrifices made by the chemical industry to date are justified in the light of his own experience.
Hours of Work and Getting Ahead OME S boss
years ago a young man who had but recently joined the organization, was recommended by his for a raise. The president of the firm handled all such matters, was not convinced that the youth was worth more to the company, and calling him in thundered with a view to frightening the lad-“Young man, when do you start to work?” The immediate reply was, “As soon as 1 wake up.” He got his raise and some years later became the president of the same company.
What They Say-
A LFRED P. SLOAN, JR., has said:
11. Hi h wages and a high standard of living have only been possihe and can only continue to exist-let alone advance-to the extent that we are able to promote and capitalize technolo icalprogress. By this is meant nothing more or less than t8e application of science to industry’s problems-new things to make, and better ways of making thin s. On the other hand, if to increase wages means to increase selying prices, little is gained, and perhaps much is lost. To increase wages, and at the same time to maintain, or still better, reduce selling prices, is the true road to more things for more people-to a higher standard of living.
