Industrial Research 



193 



tinental neighbors, has been influenced not by that of 

 Germany, but by that of France and to a lesser degree 

 of England. 



The National Foundation for Scientific Research, the 

 universities, and private organizations have been the 

 principal agencies conducting research in Belgium. 

 The P'oundation is an outstanding example of the impe- 

 tus given research by the Belgian Government in recent 

 years. Let us consider first the activities of Government 

 in research, either through direct participation or indi- 

 rect inspiration; then in turn consider the work of 

 educational and industrial organizations. 



The Belgian attempt at government research or gov- 

 ernment subsidized research was largely inspired by the 

 successful plan of the Department of Scientific and 

 Industrial Research in England. King Albert was the 

 first to give national emphasis to the importance of 

 scientific research. His eloquent appeal in 1927 for the 

 foundation of a national research institute resulted 

 in the formation of the National Foundation for Scien- 

 tific Research (Fonds National de la Recherche Scien- 

 tifique) with a capital of 120 million francs (about 

 $4,000,000) subscribed to by banks, industrial and com- 

 mercial organizations, and private individuals. Al- 

 though the Government did not lend financial assistance, 

 it sponsored the scheme. 



The Foundation has been actively and exclusively 

 concerned with basic research. Assistance to industry 

 has been limited to scientific investigations susceptible 

 of promoting industrial development, thus excluding 

 work directed primarily to perfection of industrial 

 processes. The principal fields investigated in recent 

 years by the National Foundation have been: Disinfec- 

 tion of plants; production of new varieties of flax; 

 behavior of metals at high temperatures; hydrogenation 

 of coal tar for production of fuel and lubricating oils; 

 production of phenolic resins for insulating purposes; 

 rubber vulcanization to avoid scorching; study of the 

 viscosity of drawn glass leading to improvement in the 

 manufacture of window glass; alloys; Diesel motors; 

 electric welding; wireless telephony; leather; brewing; 

 adhesion of enamels; electrochemical chlorination of 

 benzene. Profits derived from these researches are 

 said to have considerably exceeded the subsidies granted 

 for their undertaking. 



Several commissions and committees coordinated the 

 work of the Foundation with that of university, indus- 

 trial, and national agencies. The Commission Science- 

 Industrie, with an annual budget of 1,000,000 francs 

 (about $33,000) examined over 1,000 apphcations and 

 granted 86 research subsidies in the first 10 years of its 

 existence, representing a total of 6,564,760 francs 

 ($215,000). It also passed upon subsidies for scientific 

 research granted by the OSice de Redressment Eco- 

 nomique (OREC). 



A plan for Government participation in scientific 

 research was initiated in 1937. The OREC was 

 established to aid economic recovery and was em- 

 powered among other duties to grant subsidies for 

 research to industrial or agricultural concerns. Thus 

 research bearing more directly on industry was dealt 

 with by the Government, and scientific research by 

 the National Foundation. 



Following i-evaluation of gold holdings a 15 million 

 franc credit was allocated for research over a 5-year 

 period, of which 5 million francs was for scientific 

 research, anil 10 million for the creation of national 

 institutes and laboratories of industrial research, the 

 performance of technical tests, and for the issuance of 

 certificates. Beneficiaries of subsidies were required to 

 match the amount of any subsidy granted. By the 

 end of 1938 the Government was faced with such 

 financial and political difficulties that no further credits 

 for research were granted and OREC ceased to exist. 

 Feeling existed in some quarters that the increased 

 governmental activity was tending toward nationaliza- 

 tion and that research was a means to this end. State 

 controlled research was not well received by industry 

 and abandonment of Government effort was viewed 

 with satisfaction. 



The only laboratory established of several contem- 

 plated with funds earmarked from the gold revaluation 

 was the National Silicate Laboratory, a nonprofit or- 

 ganization for testing raw materials and finished prod- 

 ucts of the Belgian silicate industry. Of the original 

 subsidy of 1 million francs, half was for a building and 

 equipment and half for an operating fund. The 

 laboratory endeavored to replace empirical methods in 

 manufacturing with scientific control. All projects 

 were treated anonymously, and although results were 

 not published, they were wadely disseminated among 

 members. Firms receiving material benefits from such 

 research were expected to reimburse the laboratory for 

 expenses incurred in their behalf. 



Fifteen research subsidies totaling 1,500,000 francs 

 ($49,500) were approved by the Commission Science- 

 Industrie and the OREC between August 1937 and 

 June 1938, when the latter went out of existence. The 

 principal investigations carried on concerned: Dielec- 

 tric properties of insulating materials; mechanical 

 stresses in pressiu-e vessels, and standards for machine 

 tools; fruit preservation on an industrial scale; classi- 

 fication of Belgian arable land; pilot apparatus for 

 measuring radio interference from electrical devices; 

 properties of Belgian clays; nutritive value of special 

 fodders; disinfection of plants and soils. 



The Ministry of Economic Affairs maintained an 

 establishment for testing firearms, research in ballistics, 

 and other scientific work, which was open to use by 

 firearms manufacturers. Late in 1939 the Ministry 



