JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
NOVEXBEE,1932
THE TEXTILE FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED* WARRENE EMLEY DEPARTMRNT OR COMMERCE, BUREAU OR STANDARDS, WASH~GTON, D. C.
I n 1914 the British Empire declared an embargo prohibiting the overseas shipment of certain textile fibers. This created a serious situation for American factories which were dependent upon these sources for their supply of raw materials, chiefly Australian wool and Indian jute. To meet the emergency, the American manufacturers created an organization known as the Textile Alliance. This was incorporated under the "membership" law of the State of New York, hhich inhibited it from making a profit. The Alliance worked out a method foredoing business with the British Government and was able to obtain the necessary supplies of raw materials for its member companies. When the War Industries Board was created by the United States Government, i t recognized that the Textile Alliance was functioning satisfactorily and permitted i t to continue. In 1919, the Reparations Commission took over the entire available supply of German dyes and announced that the Allied and Associated Powers would be permitted to buy them, up to specified allotments, a t prices which were fixed in marks. The allotment for the United States was 1500 tons. Some 300 tons of these dyes were purchased by individuals in the United States, the Textile Alliance being used as agent. Then the Reparations Commission set a time limit, stating that any portion of the allotment not taken up by a certain date (April 15, 1920) would be returned to the original pool and reallocated. To save these 1200 tons of dyes for the textile industry of the United States, the State Department arranged with * Publication approved by the Director of the Bureau of Standards of the U. S. Department of Commerce.
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THE TEXTILE FOUNDATION, INC.
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the Textile Alliance for the latter to buy these dyes for resale in this country. The members of the Textile Alliance who underwrote this purchase were liable for any losses but were legally estopped from making any profits. They therefore suggested that if any profits should accrue from the transaction, the funds be set aside for "educational and scientific purposes." The arrangement between the Textile Alliance and the State Department was therefore built on the basis that one-fourth of the profits (if any) would be expendible directly by the Alliance for educational and scientific purposes. The other three-fourths would be paid into the United States Treasury, the State Department agreeing to recommend to Congress that it be appropriated for the same purposes. During the transaction, the continuing fall of the mark made it possible for the Alliance to buy the dyes a t extremely low prices. To prevent the complete demoralization of our own infant dye industry, it was in the public interest to sell the German dyes a t reasonably high prices. For these reasons, when the transactions were completed, the Alliance found itself to be holding a net profit of about $1,900,000, which was subject to the above agreement. Negotiations for the disposal of these profits occupied more than ten years. At first the Treasury Department was inclined to consider them as ordinary profits and therefore subject to tax. It took some years to argue the Treasury out of this position. Then it was necessary for the Department of Justice to institute a friendly suit;in order that an official accounting might be had to ascertain the exact amounts involved. Finally, the Alliance took the position that if the funds were paid into the Treasury without any prior action by Congress, it was highly probable that the original intent of using them for educational and scientificpurposes would be lost sight of. Furthermore, there was no one in the Treasury or elsewhere in the Government who was legally authorized to give the Alliance a receipt for the funds. The matter was finally adjusted by the passage of the "Merritt Bill."* This is the federal incorporation act for the Textile Alliance Foundation. It provides that the corporation shall have five directors: the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture, and three members of the textile industry appointed by the President of the United States. The corporation was given the authority to receive funds from the Textile Alliance, and to expend them for "scientific and economic research for the benefit and development of the textile industry and its allied branches." This permitted the Textile Alliance to liquidate its affairs. The onefourth of the profits (between four and five hundred thousand dollars) over which it was given complete jurisdiction under the arrangement with the * Introduced by the Honorable Schuyler Merritt of Connecticut.
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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
NOVEMBER, 1932
State Department, was distributed to the Philadelphia Textile School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Princeton, for research work in textiles. The other three-fourths (about 51,400,000) were paid over to the Textile Foundation. This latter body was organized in the spring of 1930, when President Hoover appointed as directors, in addition to Secretaries Lamont and Hyde, Mr. Franklin W. Hobbs, president of the Arlington Mills, Lawrence, Massachusetts; Mr. Stuart W. Cramer, president of the Cramerton Mills, Cramerton, North Carolina; and Mr. Henry B. Thompson, president of the United States Finishing Company, New York City. This board elected Mr. Hobbs chairman and Mr. Cramer treasurer, and appointed Mr. Edward T. Pickard its secretary and assistant treasurer. The office of the Foundation is in the Commerce Building, Washington, D. C. A few small grants from its income were made to start obviously worthy projects. As a result, a Bibliography and Directory of Textile Design is now available, and a Report on the Commercial Problems of the Woolen and Worsted Industries, by Paul T. Cherington, has been completed. Similar reports on the commercial problems of the cotton, and of the silk and rayon industries are now in course of preparation. The foundation then decided that its greatest need was complete information as to all textile research work under way. A grant was therefore made to the United States Institute for Textile Research to survey the situation. The results of this survey, comprising 117 mimeographed pages, show the textile research work recently completed as well as that now under way in 267 organizations as well as the $ersonnel and facilities available for this work. After further consideration, the Foundation decided that the greatest immediate need of the textile industry was to enlist the interest of more trained scientists in the field. To accomplish this, fellowships were offered for post-graduate work, to run for one year, beginning with the fall term in 1932, with the option of continuing for one additional year. Candidates were examined on the basis of their college records and of their demonstrated interest in textile problems. Sixteen fellowships and four scholarships were granted, as follows: A. SISSON,Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1931, to work on the WAYNE X-ray analysis of fibers a t the University of Illinois. JOHNS.REESE,IV, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 1931, to work on orientation of the constituents of the benzene ring, a t the University of Mancbester (England). MS., North Carolina State College, to work on G. GORDON OSBORNE, micro-analysis of fibers, a t Massachusetts Institute of Technology. DONOVAN J. SALLEY, Ph.D., Princeton, 1932, to work on protective effectsin textile deterioration and dye fastness, a t Princeton.
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ORRINW. PINEO,B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1929, to work on spectrophotometric analysis of dyed materials, a t Massachusetts Institute of Technology. DONALD R. MOREY,Ph.D., Cornell, 1931, to work on application of polarized light to textile research, at Cornell. JOHNB. CALKIN, MS., Uniwersity of Maine, 1928, to work on absorption and adsorption of solutions by textile materials, a t Cornell. RAYXOKD 1:, S T I ~ R N ~ I : KPG~I.
