14 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 



mijj^ht bo indopondcnt of Chiloan nitre in case we 

 should bo cut ofl" from Sontli AnuTioa. Nitrates are 

 necessary for making explosives and ar(^ therefore 

 necessary for our national defense. \-\>v tliis reason 

 it would seem desirable that tlio plant he (-(Hnpleted. 

 But it is only fair, that in tinn^ of ]K»aoe the lar^e invest- 

 ment should b(^ utilized. Mr. Ford is j::uaranteein<j:, 

 according to the first proposition, to j)ay the United 

 States government about one million, five hundred thou- 

 sand dollars a year for a long lease. He also agrees to 

 keep the Muscle Shoals i)lant in o])eration as a fertilizer 

 plant and ready for the Government in time of war. His 

 investment in the plant is expected to be relatively small, 

 which cuts his overhead expenses down to almost nothing 

 on a plant which cost over one hundred million dollars. 

 Therefore ho could put out fertilizer at low cost. If in 

 this way the American farmer could obtain materials 

 which are necessary to uphold the fertility of our soil, 

 the entire enterprise in time might become a profitable 

 investment and the entire American people would be 

 benefited by it. Mr. Ford is recognized as a great organ- 

 izer and a daring business man. He is no doubt also a fine 

 engineer, jind the work before him is a great engineering 

 problem. But the best engineer cannot design a ])lant 

 if he is not told how the plant is to accomplish its i)ur- 

 pose. To design the process in detail is the work of a 

 chemist, and Mr. Ford must succeed in associating with 

 himself chemists who are fitted for this S])ecial work. 



The Haber plant at jMuscle Shoals has never worked. 

 It was erect<'d undcn* the dinu'tion of holders of Ameri- 

 can ])atcnts, and these peojile were naturally desirous 

 of using their ])atonted i>rocess. However, processes on 

 similar lines have been tritMJ in Germany and abandoned 

 for cheaper ones. Had tlie war lasted longer, the Haber 

 plant at Muscle Shoals might have ]iroven ,iust as groat 

 a failure as the manufactun' of airi)lanos. 



In the Treaty of Versailles the Allies stii)ulatod that 

 a commission of allied engineers be admitt<'d to the Ger- 



