THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK
MCA officials pose b e t w e e n sessions of last w e e k ' s meeting held at W h i t e Sulphur Springs, W . Va. Left to right. William H. Rand, retiring board chairman: Charles S. Munson, newly elected board c h a i r m a n : and George W. Merck, president C & E N REPORTS: M C A - S O C M A
Conference
Public Relations Program Expanded for Chemical Industry Manufacturing facilities civilian and defense needs W H I T E SULPHUH SPRINGS, W. V A . T h e Manufacturing Chemists Association, now representing 121 companies in chemi cal industry, voted at its annual meeting here on J u n e 14 to 15 to expand further its public relations program. At the same time its spokesmen urged even greater efforts in meeting the needs of the mobili zation program, but asked for modifica tions in t h e order of t h e price stabilizer rolling back chemical prices to pre-Korean levels. William H. Ward, vice president and director of the Du Pont Co., was elected vice chairman of the association. The chemical manufacturers elected Charles S. Munson, Air Reduction Co., chairman of the MCA board of directors, and re-elected George W. Merck presi dent of the association for 1951-52. T h e number of board members also was in creased. T h e retiring board chairman, William 11. Rand, who also relinquished his chair manship in the Monsanto Chemical Co. recently, stated in his address that t h e MCA board had felt that t h e association's job on public relations in t h e past h a d been inadequate. T h e program first adopted a year ago, as well as some other projects, had been obstructed b y t h e Korean invasion. Notwithstanding, it was
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their belief that the MCA could not serve the industry better than through an edu cational program. T o carry out these ideas, MCA mem bers approved of an increase of $22,000 in the b u d g e t t o meet the a d d e d costs of additional personnel and other expenses of a s t e p p e d - u p public relations activity. Robert L,. Taylor, executive vice presi dent, conceded that the amount provided lor w a s small, as some manufacturers had commented. However, he said, they would have to start somewhere, and that they would have to learn to walk before they could run. " W e will probably make some mistakes in the beginning, and we'd rather make them on a pilot plant scale. Many of the specific details of the program will have t o evolve and shake down as we go along." He then mentioned the public relations expenditures of other large associations. T h e NJati&nal Electrica 1 Manufacturers Association last year spent $56,000; the Automotive Manufacturers Association, $200,000; National Paint, Varnish & Lac q u e r Association, $500,000; National Bi tuminous Coal Association, about $1 mil lion; t h e American Iron & Steel Institute, over $L.5 million; a n d the American Petro l e u m Institute, through its Oil Industry Information Committee, $1.8 million.
CHEMICAL
"Now, I don't mean to imply," Taylor continued, "that the MCA is thinking i n terms of any ostrich egg figures like that, even lor the distant future. But it does •jive you some idea of what is being done hy others." The association's meeting, as is custon*.ir> . was held in conjunction with the Syn thetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, and was probably t h e best attended gathering of the two groups o n κ cord. T h e large attendance was e x plained by the important issues before t h e chemical industry a n d by the speakers o n the program. In addition to h a n d a n d Taylor, the associations were addressed hy Mr. Merck; Sidney Moody, SOCMA presi dent; J. \V. McLaughlin ( w h o reported on the b u d g e t ) ; Manly Fleischmann, Ad ministrator, National Production Author ity: and Maurice Crass, MCA secretary, who discussed the price regulations. It was announced that the MCA board had authorized a semiannual meeting, i n addition to the usual June affair, wliicn will be held on Dec. 13 this year at t h e Waldorf-Astoria in New York. It i s planned to limit this' meeting to one d a y and to devote the program essentially t o business. Small group meetings may b e held simultaneously in the morning t o deal with specific industry problems, b u t the afternoon will b e devoted to a single session, at which speakers of national prominence will be heard. This will b e followed b y a reception and dinner in the evening. If successful, it will b e come a permanent part of the MCA p r o gram. Annual Report T h e annual report of the MCA board o f directors, a lengthy document which i s mailed to members rather than read a t meetings, emphasized the need for further expansion of chemical manufacturing facilities. T h e F e d e r a l Reserve Index o f Industrial Chemical Production ( 1935— 3 9 = 1 0 0 ) averaged 4 4 5 for 1950, it said, as compared with 414 for 1949. The i n dex is still rising as new facilities come into production. " E v e n so," t h e report continued, " t h e tremendous postwar expansions, couplecl with the new facilities erected during t h e war years, are currently failing to meet defense and civilian needs as our fiscal year closes. " N e w expansion contemplated for OUT industry during 1951 will approximate $ 2 billion in cost, exceeding capital expendi tures made in 1950 by more than 50%?. If realized, this will amount to a 109*? increase in physical capacity compared with 1950." At the end of 1951, it was said, t h e chemical industry's production potential
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will be 70c/c greater than at the end of World W a r I I . "Events during the past 12 months," the board continued, "have demonstrated that in a mobilization economy the asso ciation cannot limit its activities to mat ters of a purely technical n a t u r e and at the same time render maximum service to the chemical industry. T h e Korean incident, with its demands of limited and poten tially total war, completely altered the association's routine along with that of the industry. Although our technical, legis lative, and information activities con tinued without abatement, well over half the time of the staff was spent on mat ters directly or indirectly related to t h e mobilization effort." Industry-NPA Cooperation It was said that prompt -:afBng of the NPA's chemical division, ii.nd of the i lib ber, chemicals, and drugs division of the Office of Price Stabilization could not have been achieved without the whole•hearted cooperation of the industry. T h e same applied to the personnel of the in dustry advisor}· committees. In his address at the meeting, Mr. Hand made it plain that the chemical industrv stood ready to offer even further assist ance to the Government in the mobilizat1'- :i effort. Industrial regulation, he said, is required if we are to make the weapons and supplies necessary for the armed forces. Ships, tanks, airplanes, uniforms, food, motor fuel, ammunition, must be m a d e available in sufficient quantities, and back of them are the suppliers of raw materials—steel, aluminum, textiles, oil. * ' \ o n e of these industries," Rand de clared, "can operate without chemicals. There is no single type of manufacturing that is more important than the production of chemicals. It is a basic necessity that the chemical industry cooperate in every possible way with government agencies if we are to reach the high level of produc tion that is necessary." However, the retiring MCA chairman felt that the price rollback order as it affects chemicals was unfair; also that the chemical industry thus far has not fared so well in the matter of certificates of necessity for the erection of new facilities. Chemical industry representatives, he said, made personal pleas to ΟΡΑ on the price order, and called attention to the hardship it would work on an industry as diversified as chemicals, and where so
many types of products were involved, one dependent on the other. T h e base period suggested ( the two quarters prior to the Korean invasion) was the period of lowest prices in the chemical industry, and therefore unfair. Such an order, he felt, would threaten to stifle expansion where it was most needed. The rollback order, CPR 22, was issued to be effective 3 0 days from April 25, and requests for postponement on behalf of chemicals resulted in a deferment until July 2, 1951. "It has yet to be demonstrated," Mr. Rand continued, "that price and wage stabilization can work without rationing. Under any circumstances it will be diffi cult to regiment part of the economy. This stabilization law required that prices and wages be regulated simultaneously. It has not been effective as far as wages are concerned. It omits regulation of farm products for the most part . . ." Certificates Needed In the matter of certifieate.s of neces sity, the chemical industry has not fared too well, he thought. As of May 7, there have been 591 applications for certificates lor chemical producing facilities, and 82 have been awarded. All industry has re ceived an average of 70.6 r v . "Surely the chemical industry ranks as high as the average, and vet it has been allowed only 52'Ϋ depreciation in its certificates. Wc understand tb.it Jurv* 15 is the deadline tor certificates in order
that the \ P A ma> catch nrp with the back log of certificates waiting to be serviced." Mr. Merck saw public relations and competent legal counsel as two things needed by the MCA. Better public under standing of the chemical industry had been broached by Mr. Mimson in an ad dress four years ago, and since then by Mr. Rand. T h e teeling of the board, he said, is that the association should have adequate legal counsel. One requirement is that the situation as of today should be reviewed; second, a legal department should be organized. The directors authorized this step in the budget ap proved at White Sulphur Springs. Priée Regulation Reviewed Mr. Crass reviewed the efforts ol the MCA in the matter of price regulation, and while these failed to spare the chemical industry* with its highly complex thousands of products, he felt that with certain modifications the industry misfit be able to live under the order. Mr. Fleischmann, NPA, said that in his opinion the mobilization program of September 1950 was orderly and sensible, and that its first objective was to provide the "munitions" that will win. Among the other foremost objectives was an expansion in chemicals. He discussed t h e basic differences between World War II and the present defense effort, and said that the experience obtained in the last war had enabled them to avoid major mistakes In Mr. Fleischmaiin's opinion, the Con-
These new commercial glycols are more oil-soluble, less water-soluble, a n d less hygroscopic than the polyethylene glycols. They also have a wider r a n g e of compatibility with v e g e t a b l e oils a n d waxes. These compounds offer new combinations o f properties of
special interest to manufacturers of hydraulic fluids, textiles,
leather, p a p e r , adhesives, a n d cosmetics. These four liquid p o l y p r o p y l e n e glycols are classified b y their a p p r o x i m a t e molecular weights — 150, 4 2 5 , 1 0 2 5 , and 2 0 2 5 .
The Week's Events 1 1 1 ! 1 1 1 j 1
Leather Chemists Confer on Industry Problems Rutgers Dedicates Lipman Hall Taylor Receives Remsen Award Discovered Catalyst for Use in Atomic Energy Youngsters C i t e d for Research Contributions . . Goal Sighted for industrial Activity Rubber Compounding Process Revealed
For samples and further technical information write to: 2630 2632 2634
OAttftllfe AND-CARBON. :£ΗίΜ1yestuff C o r p . , c h a i r m a n of t h e ALCA a w a r d s com mittee, looks on with R. M . K o p p e n h o e f e r , Socony-Vacuum L a b s , ALCA president ( r i g h t ) , as Mrs. A. H. W i n h e i m p r e s e n t s first W i n h e i m A w a r d to Shu T u n g Tu C&EN REPORTS:
A m e r i c a n Leather Chemists A s s o c i a t i o n Annual M e e t i n g
Leather Chemists Optimistic in Face of Low Tannin Supplies Industry's, economic conditions need improvement, says speaker C R O T O N . C O N N . - D i m i n i s h i n g supplies of vegetable tannins need cause no a l a r m in the leather industry, according to p a r ticipants in the Symposium on Advances in Leather Technology which highlighted the 47th annual m e e t i n g of the American Leather Chemists Association at the Grisvvold Hotel here June 10 to 13. Review ing progress in tbe development and im provement of synthetic and inorganic t a n s , they called attention to the many products that are coming into use to replace and t o supplement natural extracts. "A well-made synthetic tan can substi tute vegetable tan in all t h e many w a y s that vegetable tans are commercially used." asserted H. G. Turley of R o h m and Haas. There are cases, he continued, where synthetic tans are not replacing natural tans but are giving more modern results for producing improved leather. T o illustrate the acceptance of synthetic tans. Dr. Tiirley pointed out that t h e I*. S. Army now permits their use wholly or in part for retanning chrome leather tor Army upper shoe leather. Referring t o the variety of vegetable tans of differing characteristics and qualities that are avail able from nature, Dr. T u r l e y expressed h i s belief that it will not b e necessary to d e velop counterparts of each of these, b u t that with a small number of well-made synthetic tans it will b e possible** to m a k e every kind of leather and t o create n e w leathers having improved properties. C H E M I C A L
Although tlie price of resorcinol is high in comparison with other t a n n i n g m a t e rials, the amount used is m o d e r a t e so that the over-all cost is comparable to a vege table t a n n a g e , said Wallace W i n d u s of John R. Evans & Co. Most of t h e proper ties of resorcinol-tanned leather are similar to those of vegetable-tanned leather. Discussing the mechanism of tanning with resorcinol, with which a n aldehyde (preferably formaldehyde) must b e used, Dr. Windus concluded that t h e Mannich reaction is involved; in this reaction poly mers containing methylene bridges a n d co ordinate bonds are formed. It is t h e poly mer that is the tanning agent. T h e co ordinate b o n d is reflected in t h e very high shrink test produced in resorcinol-tanned leather. Iron Method An iron tanning process that has proved a successful replacement for chromium tanning has been developed t h r o u g h the use of sodium gluconate a n d aminoaldeh y d e resins t o control precipitation, ac cording to W . O. Dawson of C h e m t a n Co. Fat-liquoring is a necessary adjunct to iron tanning. Over 50 million square feet of leather have been t a n n e d with zirconium as t h e sole or principal t a n n i n g agent, said I. C. Somerville of R o h m a n d H a a s . T h e lead ing use of zirconium t a n is in t h e p r o d u c tion of soft, w h i t e leather. AND
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