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T H E J O U R N A L O F Ih’DUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
Val. 13, NO.6
EDITORIALS Welcome To Madame Curie! Welcome, thrice welcome, t o our distinguished honorary member, Madame Curie! Since t h e d a y of her arrival she has been overwhelmed with honors a n d with entertainment, almost to the detriment of her physical health. She has inspected the plants where radium a n d other rare mineral salts are produced, a n d carries home increased facilities for continuing her research. She has come into touch with our bustling American life, a n d perhaps when she gets back t o the quiet of her laboratory she will tell us what she thinks of it all. Her presence has emphasized without t h e necessity of words t h e great value of fundamental chemical research a n d t h e possibilities for thoroughly equipped women i n chemistry. Her visit has proved a fitting a n d delightful means of emphasizing again t h e strength of t h e tie t h a t binds France a n d America.
A Tragedy Averted A new chapter i n t h e fight for t h e protection of t h e American coal-tar chemical industry opened on April 26, 1921, when Senator Knox introduced in t h e Senate Finance Committee a n amendment t o t h e Emergency Tariff Bill continuing for six months t h e regulations controlling t h e importation of coal-tar chemicals, which were in danger of immediate abrogation should t h e Knox peace resolution become law. This law would automatically terminate t h e Trading-with-theEnemy Act, under which t h e W a r Trade Board Section of t h e State Department had been functioning. Senator Knox was simply acting i n good faith, t o preserve for t h e sole industry affected by his peace resolution t h e protection which he recognized was necessary for its very existence. T h e amendment made no change except to transfer t h e administrative machinery from the State Department to t h e Treasury Department. The Finance Committee acceptcd the amendment a n d t h e bill was reported favorably t o t h e Senate. Then Khat a howl was raised! Senator bioses mas naturally t h e high soprano in t h e very limited b u t noisy chorus of opposition. Senator Knox disposed of the Moses objections promptly a n d effectually when he refused t o view the matter from the “standpoint of a profit a n d loss account of a Dolly Varden calico mill in New England.” The word “monopoly,” used b y Senator Moses in referring to t h e American dye industry, fell like honeyno, rather something highly stimulative-into t h e waiting mouths of Senators King a n d Hitchcock. T h e result was a flood of oratory. All of t h e familiar stock phrases which characterized t h e “trust-busters” of old were resurrected. Both Senators were deeply impressed by t h e large exports of American dyes during t h e past few yeass, not caring t o trouble themselves about looking into t h e character a n d conditions of this export business. They could have learned t h a t it represented t h e natural American genius for mass production where methods
have been thoroughly standardized, and t h a t the products were marketed a t a time when there were no other available sources of dyes. They could easily have learned of t h e tremendous drop in dye exportsduring t h e past six months, as shown in t h e following table from figures issued by t h e Department of Commerce. EXPORTS O F ANILINE DYES S o v e m h e r 1920 December 1920 January 1 0 2 1 February 1921 March 1921 April 1921
$2,006,534 1,758,170 943,595 397,123 574,969 305,760
A few days later Senator King exclaimed “this voracious trust is determined t o perpetuate in peace times war policies a n d fasten upon t h e people a n obnoxious a n d vicious system under which i t may conceal its acts of spoliation a n d robbery.” B u t what evidence is there of a trust? N o interlocking directorates were mentioned, no operating agreements were exposed, n o uniform fixed prices were quoted by t h e Senator, nor was a n y tendency of large concerns t o swallow up small ones reported. There is no American dye trust, a n d t h e fact is well known. T h e small manufacturers are on record before t h e Senate (Congressional Record, June 3, 1920, pages 8306-8) in a petition urging favorable protective legislation, without which they maintain t h a t they will be t h e first t o go down in t h e struggle with t h e real dye trust in Germany. There is no tendency t o hold u p t h e American people with exorbitant prices, as shown by t h e following schedule of prices of typical articles, obtained on t h e street a few days ago: DYES
PRICE A YEAR 4GO
$0.85 Fuchsin Crystals.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Malachite Green Crystals.. ......... Methylene Blue Technical.. . . . . . . . .
INTERMEDIATES USED P
1.20 4.25 5.50 4.50 3.75
TO-DAY $0.50
PRICE
0.75 2.50 2.75 2.00 2.40
Aniline Oil.. Beta-Naphthol., Para-Nitroaniline
.......... .................. ..................
0,37 0.88 1.75
0. IS 0 32
OTHERINTERMEDIATES Gamma Acid.. .................... Benzidine, Base.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dimethylaniline Para-Phenylenediamine . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.00 1.50 2 20
3.26 1.oo 0.42 1.75
..................
2.50
0.so
It was Senator King who, in t h e last Congress, rushed in a bill t o restore alien property a n d holdings seized during t h e war. This may be a mere coincidence, of course. T h e bill was not reported out of committee, b u t t h e Senator, nothing daunted, reintroduced t h e t h e bill soon after t h e present Congress convened. At t h e conclusion of Senator Hitchcock’s address, Senator Knox commented (Congressional Record, hf a y 11, 1921, page 1285): I only wanted to observe that there is something entirely familiar in these lamentations of the Senator from Nebraska about the probability of the German monopoly in the most dangerous munitions that have ever been manufactured being interfered with by this bill. Weremember that during the war, when the Germans had a monopoly of munitions and the Allies could not obtain munitions to fight the Huns the Senator from Nebraska advocated a bill to prevent the people of the United States from
