INDUSTRIAL VOLUME27 NUMBER 3
AND ENGINEERING
CHEMISTRY
3IAY
1935
Harrison E. Howe, Editor
EDITORIALS
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HE FORWARD LOOK. At this time when u-e are thinking of i.he age of -America's chemical industry, let it not be said that chemists resemble the famous Australian whifflebird. which flies backwards, caring nothing about where it is going and interested only in where it has been. In the various articles which have appeared in our pages, beginning with April, authors have been in\-ited to consider especially the trend in their industry and where they think we may be going. This brings t o mind the list of future developments in applied science which suggested themselves to W.R. Whitney and which u-ere made a part of the Symposium on Industrial Progress staged a year ago at A Century of Progress by the General Motors Corporation.
,411 routine industrial and clerical jobs made xholl y autoniatic. Increased productive eficiency, resulting in more goods for all, M ith greatly reduced aorking hours.
What a lot of chemistry is involved, if even a small percentage of this list is to be accomplished! IGHTEEN BILLION DOLLARS. If we were discussing the public debt or plans for social security, 18 billion dollars would have small importance. In this case it has to do with the results of a survey made by the Machinery and Allied Products Institute, undertaken to determine the volume of business in the line of durable goods alone waiting to be poured out when confidence returns. This institute is comprised of fifty-eight member trade associations, each of which covers a separate and distinct industry, and was brought together primarily for work in connection with the codes. The Chemical Engineering Equipment Institute is one of the members. MAPI, t o use the modern designation, undertook bs means of questionnaires to ascertain the potential requirements for machinery, and the results give what in other days would be a staggering total -$18,574,632,000. .4n examination of the questionnaires returned shows that this is not guesswork, because many of the firms designate by catalog number, technical descriptions, and indications of the exact usage that what they have set down represents plans wTith budget estimates that have matured and which await but one vitalizing factor-business confidence. How is it possible for this amount of business to become dammed up in such a comparatively short space of time? )Thy, it would take 4 million workers 2 years on a 48-hour week to produce what this represents! There are a number of reasons why this quantity of machinery will be needed, we hope and trust soon. It must be remembered that fundamentally machinery is purchased to maintain and increase productivity. I t is a replacement item, as well as additional equipment, but it
Air-conditioning temperature and humidit>- control in homes, offices, schools, hospitals, and other public buildings. Light, streamlined, low- center of gravity trains for speeds of 100 to 200 miles per hour. Electrification of all railroads. Trunk highway systems avoiding cities and towns and separating passenger cars from trucks. Highway lighting. making high-speed night driving safe. Flying a t high altitude for increased velocity and economy, automatic piloting, and landing control from ground. Complete substitute for \-isual control, perhaps including microaltimeters and microfathometers, for making flying and navigation safe in thick weather. Home teletype hy radio, gi\-ing up-to-the-minute n e w . Home motion pictures 1.))- radio. Home tele\ ision for events of interest. Reduction in cost of poaer, as by mercury boiler. coal used a t mine. etc. High voltage, direct current transmission, reducing power costs, and extending economic radius. New materials -imr oved textiles, new s p t h e t i c resins replacing wood. metals, id other natural materials for many purposes; new alloys. nem- structiiral materials giving better heat and sound insulation. Production of new and useful mutations and control of malignancies h>-x-rays. ' Elimination of needless noise. Elimination of slriins, extension of parks, widening and beautif>-ingtit!- street*. Honsehold tiriiclge- rntlrd ti>- complete electrification of ever)home 181
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s d e r s from obsolescence when invention provides the better machine. It wears out and becomes broken. It reaches a point in the service where its upkeep is too expensive and replacement is cheaper. It may pay to install a new machine to obtain greater precision in product or improved quality. Reduced floor space is often an item. Greater safety is desirable. Fuel economy and savings in power and power transmission prove profitable. A change from a batch t o a continuous process often dictates the decision, and there are doubtless many other reasons. Now this waiting pyramid of orders has t o do with socalled durable goods, with machines and machine tools to be installed. We believe it to be an indication of the volume of business that is to burst upon us, but no one can say just when. Such an amount of equipmentand this is but one, albeit a major part of the programcannot be built and operated without the contributions of the chemical industry which is thereby directly benefited. Even full capacity may be needed. And the chemical industry itself is one of those which suffers obsolescence, requires new equipment for lower costs and better performance to a degree certainly no less and probably greater than most other industries. Just how well prepared is our industry for better business when it comes-not mere capacity, but efficient and effective capacity, prepared to produce on a basis that brings profitable business? It is no good waiting for the starting gun t o prepare for the race. The man who is trained for the event and is a t the tape when the gun is fired possesses an invaluable advantage. Our economic revival is still held back because experimenters have not yet accepted the fact that recovery must precede reform. We believe the straws show a veering of the wind. The prospects do look brighter, notwithstanding the numerous factors grave enough to cause apprehension. Many believe that quietly recovery has proceeded much further than most people realize. Just how ready are you, hlr. Manufacturer, t o take advantage of the break when it comes?
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ABOR DISPUTES. Chemists, like most other people in professions and out, may be roughly grouped under such classifications as employers, employees, and individuals in private business. Further, in their personal capacities they are af€ected by, and consequently should be interested in, proposals changing economic and political conditions, especially when these have been clothed with the dignity of acts in Congress upon which hearings have been held. Therefore, in bringing t o your attention Senate Bill 1958, commonly known as the Wagner Bill and officially designated as the Wagner Labor Disputes Bill, it is our hope that chemists will consider it most carefully and then act on their own conclusions. It may be recalled that when the National Industrial
VOL. 27, NO. 5
Recovery Act became law, officials of the American Federation of Labor said in effect that thereafter there would be no room in these United States for any other labor organization, and in hearings before a House committee William Green, president of the A. F. of L., said: “Congress in enacting the NRA law wrote a promissory note and it hasn’t been redeemed. Now we are calling on Congress to make good by passing the labor relations bill..’ By its proponents the bill is urged as a means through which the relations between capital and labor may be so improved as to save the friction and losses which in the past have invariably accompanied labor disputes. They regard it as a framework under which, by orderly procedure, the income of industry may be equitably divided between labor and ownership, including a flexible method for increasing wages a t the earliest possible moment, thereby effecting a wider distribution of the national income, and providing enhanced purchasing power, which industry needs so badly. The opponents see in the measure a cleverly drawn plan for making the -4merican Federation of Labor a fascist type of monopoly with power transcending that of any other group. They point out that, of the total population of the United States, there are a t present about 2,800,000 members of unions affiliated with the A. F. of L. and paying dues. One source of information says that these dues average something over $2.00 per month per member, thus providing the federation and the unions affiliated with it about $70,000,000 a year. Eliminating agricultural workers and domestic servants from consideration, there may be between 18 and 20 million persons in the United States who, if this bill is made law, might become members of employee organizations and, under the powers to be granted the new National Labor Relations Board, all of these could be forced into the present organization. This would then have a potential income somewhere between 400 and 500 million dollars a year. This obviously could be used as the basis for tremendous political and social pressure for the benefit of this group against all the other citizens of the country. Minorities are left without adequate representation and no protection is given one labor group against intimidation and coercion by another. Who is labor? Of all those who are classed as labor, something on the order of 22 million souls, those who are organized but not affiliated with the American Federation of Labor comprise 2.5 per cent; members of plant unions or work councils, 8 per cent; American Federation of Labor, 12.8 per cent; and unorganized workers, 76.7 per cent. I n considering what is being urged, it is well to bear in mind these comparative figures. Now, if one studies the bill, he will find a number of paragraphs of the utmost importance. We think the striking thing is that employers are forbidden to do a great many things, but no prohibitions are recorded
MAY. 1935
INDUSTRIAL A N D E N G I N E E R I N G CHEMISTRY
against employees. Nor is there any discussion of a point that has perplexed many a fair-minded man, who wonders why it is that labor organizations are permitted to carry out their programs free from the liabilities that come with incorporation, whereas the employer is constantly faced with just such responsibilities. Unquestionably the much debated Section 7a of the National Industrial Recovery Act, which gives legal stJandingt o the right of collective bargaining, is the most precious piece of legislation from the standpoint of organized labor that has become law under the present administration. Collective bargaining is the chief aim of all labor leaders, being held by them t o be the pathway to many other objectives. And since the prospects for a new NRA are by no means certain, labor organizations have centered on the passage of the Wagner Bill. The essentials of this bill, therefore, which must be looked upon by the people as permanent rather than emergency legislation, may be stated as: (a) defining the policy of the United States to be that of encouraging collective bargaining; (b) creating a National Labor Relations Board with powers far exceeding those of the present board and with very great authorit) ; (c) outlawing the company union; (d) establishing the doctrine of majority rule in representation for purposes of collective bargaining ; (e) assuring approval by the board of any closed shop agreement ; and (f) giving the voluntary arbitration awards of the board legal authority. Some provisions seem strange, such as that in hearings before the board the rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law or equity shall not be controlling, thereby permitting the board to consider rumor or hearsay as evidence, if it so chooses. Indeed, the board is given extraordinary powers, and according to some legal opinion certain features of the bill are clearly condemned by rulings which have previously been made by the Supreme Court in cases of record. Without question, something is seriously needed to mitigate and eventually eliminate the recurring conflicts between employer and employee. Many a costly encounter is over points which t o the outsider-the man who ultimately pays-are trivial and unimportant. The losses have not been lessened under the board set up by the National Industrial Recovery Act, and we see nothing in the Wagner Bill to guarantee bet1,er results. Statistics show that in the 18 months before the passage of the recovery act there were 1258 labor disputes causing a loss of 8,545,360 working days, and that, in a comparable period since that time there have been 3214 labor disputes with 32,220,144 lost working days. This represents a percentage increase of 155 in disputes and 278 in working days lost. Estimates indicate that they have cost employees, employers, and the public a total of approximately 1!20 million dollars in the first period indicated and 765 millions in the second-an increase of 304 per cent-with the public bearing most of the cost and the employees the second largest item. I n many respects this bill is of the gravest conse-
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quence to all of us, and it should be remembered that it affects all employers and employees except those in agriculture, domestic serv-ice, railroads subject t o the railway labor act, federal, state, or municipal governments, labor organizations and their employees, and those employing their own children or spouse. The problem may not be one in chemistry per se, but it is of vital interest to chemists.
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AXES AND RESEARCH. A manufacturer t o whom there was recently offered a product which had resulted from research, declined to take it into production. There seemed to be a need for the material; it had been worked out, not only in the laboratory, but through the pilot stage, which is necessary if losses are t o be sustained on a small scale only, and required but the development and sales effort requisite for commercial production t o make it economically attractive. Why, then, was it rejected? The manufacturer pointed out that, promising as it was, the product would need t o have spent upon it about $100,000 before its position in commerce could be assured. That figure was his estimate based upon previous experience. But, he explained, it might prove a failure, in which case he alone would stand the loss. If it succeeded and became a paying venture, the Government would then take such a percentage of the profits as to make the enterprise unattractive. He would have no partner t o share his loss, but he would have plenty of partners if there were a gain. And so another good idea was laid on the shelf.
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OLLABORATION A-MONG BIOCHEMISTS. Anyone who gives serious thought t o what we describe as biochemistry must have some appreciation of the complexity of the field and the great difficulties which are to be overcome through research, if answers are t o be found to problems which are of real significance t o all of us. It will also occur t o him that there is need for extensive collaboration among biochemists upon the same authentic sample, with a view to developing the details of standard methods of analysis and identification. Much that has been accomplished in other fields has been based upon just such collaboration. There is the example of steel, where work upon standard samples prepared and supplied by the National Bureau of Standards has been of the greatest assistance, as has the publication of official methods by great units among the producers. Then we have the results published by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, whose referees have investigated identical samples. The petroleum industry likewise has based much of its work on the analysis and testing of an accepted authentic sample. In fact, there is so much in favor of such a procedure that it deserves adoption rather than prolonged emphasis.
Courtesg, Carbide and Carbon Chemicals C o r p o r a t i o n
Imagination, Research, Resourcefulness, Persistence, ‘(Educated, Patient, Money”These Underlie the Great Chemical Industry of Our Century
