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an error for which we chemists are primarily responsible. I n the existing Act intermediates are assessed one-half the duties of finished dyes, which ratio was adopted by Congress upon our recommendation. Experience has shown t h a t this differentiation is a mistake. The difficult stage of production is from the crudes t o the intermediates, far more difficult than from the intermediates t o the finished dyes. And it is in the field of intermediates that dyestuffs, high explosives, and medicinals meet upon common ground. Furthermore, it is evident that when these industries bear the brunt of foreign attack the enemy will take advantage of questions of definition t o avoid the higher duties, or will seek t o accomplish the same purpose by shipping the lower-assessed intermediates for assemblage here into finished dyes by simple processes requiring little outlay. Justification of this contention is furnished by the following extract (page 2 2 ) from the “Census of Dyes and Coal-Tar Chemicals, 1917” just issued by the Tariff Commission: “With these exceptions the American dye industry was based entirely on imported intermediates. * * * * This peculiar situation was due primarily t o the provisions of the tariff laws of 1897, 1909, and 1913, which have consistently placed a higher duty on dyes than on intermediates. I n general, the German industry dominated the field, and the Americans were unable t o compete. It happens, however, t h a t in the making of certain dyes the last chemical step of transforming the intermediate into the finished dyes is a comparatively simple and cheap process. As the rate of duty on intermediates was lower than that on the finished dyes, the margin in some instances was sufficient t o make it profitable t o avoid paying the higher duty on dyes, by importing the intermediates and completing the manufacture of the dyes in the United States.” Knowing therefore where the attack will be made, would i t not be the part of wisdom for us t o strengthen our forces a t this point by legislation which will place all of these products on the same dutiable basis? COAL-TAR MEDICINALS
Coal-tar dyes have received an abnormal amount of attention from our people and our press. Of equal importance and of far greater meaning t o the comfort and well-being of our people are the coal-tar medicinals. In spite of unfavorable legislation our manufacturers have worthily met their responsibilities in this field. Especially is this noted in the recent statements of Government officers that the needs of our Army for these materials have been fully met by our home output. Congress, I am again confident, will correct the unevenness in legislation which hangs as a life-threat over this line of production. Congressional action, however, will not suffice in itself, for, in the matter of medicinals, we are particularly susceptible t o our prejudices. A well-advertised name frequently means more t o us than a knowledge of quality. I n this connection it has been amazing t o note a persistent campaign of newspaper advertising, seeking t o convince our people t h a t only tablets of aspirin stamped with the magic word “Bayer” (A German name! I n such times as these!) give assurance of genuine acetylsalicylic acid. These tablets are “made on the banks of the Hudson,” but in the plant of an enemy-owned corporation now controlled by the Alien Property Custodian. This particular brand of material, no longer patented, sells to-day in large quantities and a t a price greatly above t h a t of the same substance manufactured by American firms, whose product has been shown by official tests t o be of equal purity. The most remarkable feature of this advertising campaign is t h a t it is being carried on by American directors, appointed by the Alien Property Custodian, and with the American directorship emphasized in the advertising matter, thereby beclouding the main issue of enemy ownership. Zeal in trusteeship is of course commendable, but a campaign of
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misrepresentation and of exploitation is reprehensible. Good faith does not demand the piling up of undue profits for t h e benefit of Germany after the war. We do not need such assets for settlement of war claims, for according t o recently published figures the value of German property already seized in this country is fifty times that of American property seized in Germany. Away with afly such flaunting of false German superiority. The public should rebuke it, and follow the example of pharmacist de Haven, of West Chester, who was recently reported in the press t o have burned his large stock of aspirin manufactured by the enemy-owned corporation, and then “telegraphed for a fresh supply from a real American firm!” INDEPENDENCE I N POTASH SUPPLIES
The blockade of German ports produced a great shortage not only of coal-tar chemicals, but also of potash for fertilizers. I n many respects the two situations were closely analogous, the acute shortage, the complete dependence, and the consequent sharp rise in prices. I n the case of the coal-tar products the situation was met by a prompt union of forces on the part of producers and consumers, the latter being largely New England mill men who would not shy a t the matter of protection of a home industry by tariff. The chief consumers of potash, however, are the cotton planters of our Southern states, and, among these, advocacy of a protective tariff was unthinkable. Producers and consurqers therefore failed t o get together for the common fight against foreign dependence. The abundance of raw material is just as favorable for a domestic potash industry as was the case in the coal-tar chemical industry. The brines of Nebraska, now yielding 60 per cent of our present product\ion; Searles Lake in California, estimated t o contain from IO t o 2 0 million tons of potash; the giant kelps of the Pacific Coast, with their remarkable power of selective potash extraction from sea water; the alufiite of Utah; precipitated cement dust, with an estimated possibility of 50,000 tons of potash per annum; the dust from blast furnaces, with a possible yield of 200,ooo t o 300,000 tons per year; the potash-rich silicates, such as the green sands of New Jersey and the Cartersville slates of Georgia-wherever we turn, potash is a t hand, in forms, however, too slowly available for plant food, but awaiting the skill of the chemist backed by necessary capital. I n spite of the lack of cooperation during the past three years some progress has been made. The 1000 tons of KzO produced in 1915 was increased t o 9,720 tons in 1916 and to 32,000 tons in 1917. Much fundamental investigation has been carried out, and the promise for the future is hopeful. Success can be predicted if producers and consumers get together, and if public opinion is aroused t o the fact t h a t failure t o secure national independence in this matter vitally affects the entire nation. The Mining Bill, as modified by Senator Henderson, and now before t h e Senate, may prove the solution. It may be t h a t protective duties or direct subsidy will be called for, or possibly the relief from war taxation of capital investea in this industry-whatever the cost and whatever the method adopted, Government assistance is needed and may be secured if the demand is nation-wide. Independence in potash can be assured if this country makes up its mind t h a t it will no longer be dependent upon Germany for its supplies, but its mind must be made up quickly. This is one of the most urgent questions, in both its economic and its political aspects, before this country to-day. We cannot afford t o neglect it. THE EXPOSITION IN W A R AND IN PEACE B y F. J. TONE President American Electrochemical Society
During the past four years we all must agree t h a t the chemical industry of America has passed through the most important period of its history. This has been a war not only between
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efficiently organized armies and nations but between efficiently organized industries. Our chemical industry to-day is pitted against t h e chemical industry of Germany and one has only t o study this great Exposition to be convinced that the American chemist is going to measure u p to his opportunity. At the beginning of the war our industry was highly organized in special fields but i t lacked symmetrical development. It was unbalanced. It lacked self-containedness and coordination. It has taken the war to enable the chemical industry to find itself and it has likewise taken the war t o enable this country t o discover that it has a great chemical industry and t o recognize i t as a great national asset; and i t must be said that one of the big forces which have worked toward the progress of chemistry and toward public recognition of chemistry in America has been this Exposition. We give all honor t o the men whose foresight and energy made this possible. I n this big forward movement of the past four years the electrochemist has played a large part. America has long enjoyed a supremacy in electrochemistry, but in spite of the strong position of the industry before the war no one would have dared t o predict the expansion which the war would demand of us. It has called for chlorine, cyanamid, air nitrates, and phosphorus in vast quantities. It has required the ferro-alloy industry, the electrode industry, the abrasive industry t o quadruple their outputs. As a single example, consider briefly the contribution of electrochemistry and electrometallurgy t o the aircraft program. The airplane motor has a crank case and pistons of aluminum. I t s crank shaft and engine parts subject to the greatest strains are all composed of chrome alloy steel. All of these parts are brought t o mechanical perfection and made interchangeable by being finished to a fraction of a thousandth of an inch by means of the modern grinding wheel made from electric furnace abrasives. Calcium carbide and its derivative acetylene are making possible an ample supply of cellulose acetate for airplane dope. When the-aviator trains his machine gun on an enemy plane his firing is made effective by tracer bullets of magnesium or phosphorus. When our bombing planes begin to carry the war into Germany it will be with bombs perhaps of ammonium nitrate or picric acid or other high explosives all depending largely in their manufacture on electrochemical reagents. Without the pioneer work of Hall, Acheson, Willson, Bradley and others, the present aircraft program would be impossible of achievement. Then there is gas warfare, the very basis of which is chlorine. Germany has long been a nation of chemists and when she planned a war of frightfulness it followed as a matter of course that she should seek t o make it also a war of chemical frightfulness. Much as we deplore it, therefore, we have been forced to throw our best energies to the solution of the problems of gas warfare. It is interesting to note that chlorine, the product of the electrolytic cell, is the basis of mustard gas, chlorpicrin, phosgene, and almost all of the important war gases. Thus does electrochemistry enter fundamentally into the modern military machine. It is important for US t o remember that while we are working t o develop our industry to a point where it will meet the demands of the war, our work is only begun. If this is in a measure a chemists’ war, we must work t o see that afterwards we have a chemists’ peace. After the war will come bigger problems and bigger responsibilities and no one has a bigger opportunity than the chemist to make life better and to serve his fellow-man. We have the problems of the conservation and proper utilization of our resources, the elimination of wastes, the problem of foodstuffs, clothing, and sanitation. All these problems and many others touch the every-day life of the people and are preeminently the problems of the chemist. Fortunately the nation is coming t o realize to what an extent it depends in war and in peace on the work of the chemist. By the establishment of the
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Chemical Warfare Service our place in the military organization has been definitely recognized. We want the same recognition in the councils of t h e nation after the war. We want the Government t o recognize the value of scientific methods in legislation and administration and we will look t o this Exposition in future years as one of the forces which will visualize to the rest of the country the rBle of the American chemist. THE IMPORTANCE O F PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY By G. W T H O M ~ S O N President American I n s t i t u t e of Chemical Engineers
This National Exposition of Chemical Industries, the fourth that has been heId, is a growing illustration of the advantage t o our industries which chemistry has afforded. The growth of our industries of all kinds has been greatly assisted by chemists. Strictly speaking, all industries are chemical industries, but some industries are more obviously chemical industries than others. This Exposition has, naturally, more to do with the industries which are obviously chemical, but the general p_roposition that all industries are dependent upon chemical processes should be emphasized, even if in each case the connection is not obvious to the unthinking man. We learn by adversity. This war has taught us that all industry is more or less chemical in its character. The fact that the assistance of chemistry has been particularly demanded during the last four years has been due to the fact that our most powerful enemy has been perhaps a little wiser than we have been in the past, and we, seeing the extent to which chemistry could be of service to a nation, both in war and in peace, have learned a lesson, although our education in this respect may not be complete. If chemistry has been of great assistance to us during this war, how much more will it be of assistance t o us when the war is over and we are again in competition with a great commercial enemy who earlier than us learned the lesson of which I am speaking. The few remarks that I have t o make to-day are in the direction of trying t o impress upon our people the necessity of learning this lesson more completely, learning i t from day to day, learning i t with respect t o war and with respect t o peace. Every one needs instruction along this line, but I will address myself particularly first to those who control manufacturing operations, second, to the universities and colleges wfiere chemists are taught, and, third, t o chemists themselves. Those who control manufacturing operations must learn more fully and completely the need of chemical knowledge for the perfection of industry, the need of chemists in their organization. Our universities and col$ges must learn that however valuable pure chemistry may be as an interesting study and for the purpose of training the mind, the most important thing that chemistry does is t o be found in its application; that while it is extremely interesting and upbuilding to think in terms of atoms and molecules, i t is equally important to think in terms of large quantities of the chemical components that enter into reactions. Chemists must learn more fully and completely the need of applying their knowledge t o chemical processes conducted on a large scale. Permit me t o elaborate my appeal for a greater education of these three groups of individuals. Again, let me speak t o those who are a t the head of concerns that control manufacturing operations. They will, without doubt, agree to the broad academic statement that I have already made, that all manufacturing industries are chemical to a greater or less degree and that for their successful prosecution the chemist is an essential factor. Some manufacturers are more progressive than others in this respect, and they are the ones who have made the greatest success in recent years. This academic statement, however, is to be valued by its application. Manufacturers need chemists and they should do everything in their power to secure a supply of the best chemists possible. The progress of manu-
