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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1045 



From the foregoing it will appear as if 

 the opportunity to produce colors and other 

 articles and products in a large way in 

 this country, while open, are not likely to 

 be availed of to any great extent during the 

 existence of the present war, unless the war 

 should last much longer than even the most 

 pessimistic fear. 



I might say, however, in this connection 

 that I remember distinctly being told by 

 one of the best authorities on the subject 

 that it was absolutely impossible to manufac- 

 ture Portland cement in this country and it 

 might just as well be put aside as one of 

 the things for which this country was not 

 adapted. I have also heard exactly the 

 same statement regarding soda ash and 

 caustic soda, and yet these articles some- 

 how or other have become rather impor- 

 tant articles of our manufacture and 'for a 

 long time we have not been obliged to call 

 loudly for outside help. 



In spite of the difficulties, however, some 

 feeble steps have been taken here, partly, 

 I confess, out of curiosity to learn if it were 

 really true that our coal lacked the self 

 respect to hold all the treasures it should 

 possess; when, strange to relate, out came 

 aniline oil of the best quality. What hap- 

 pened then is worthy of note, as it shows 

 at least one state of affairs which it is neces- 

 sary to correct if we are going to escape 

 from the dilemma which discouraged Sam 

 Lawson. As soon as American aniline oil 

 was offered for sale, down went the price 

 below cost. A tariff of 10 per cent, put 

 upon it by Congress as a compromise be- 

 tween judgment and party, was imme- 

 diately absorbed by the foreign makers, 

 and the price here became lower still. You 

 see, on the other side of the Atlantic they 

 believe in cooperation. Here our legis- 

 lators think we believe in destructive com- 

 petition, and have made cooperation one 

 of the seven deadly sins. Nothing but 



demonstration by the ballot box will prove 

 the contrary. A man with his ear to the 

 ground does not always hear the "music of 

 the spheres." The low price of aniline oil 

 had no relation to its cost. It was simply 

 dumped, by agreement, to discourage the 

 American infant. And it did. 



Many devices have been suggested to en- 

 courage the coal-tar dye industry in this 

 country, such as a high protective tariff and 

 changes in the patent law. 



The former does not seem likely to be 

 evolved, although a good deal can be said 

 on the side that a high tariff in these 

 articles would either result in the estab- 

 lishment of the industry or else produce a 

 considerable revenue, either end most de- 

 sirable to attain. The latter is such a com- 

 plex subject that it is not so clear that 

 good results would ensue on changing the 

 patent laws. While it is important to 

 establish a coal-tar dye industry as far as 

 is practicable, we must not be selfish 

 enough to forget that there are other im- 

 portant industries already established, and 

 the American people must learn more and 

 more to consider the rights and needs of 

 the individual in their relation to the rights 

 and needs of all. 



Another obstacle, besides the patent laws 

 and the absence of tariff protection, to the 

 establishment in this country of any new 

 industry strongly intrenched abroad, is to 

 be found in the inadequacy of the anti- 

 trust laws to protect American industry 

 against systematic dumping of goods from 

 abroad at prices substantially less than 

 foreign prices with intent to injure or de- 

 stroy the local industry. 



Much has been done by the present 

 Congress in the creation of a trade com- 

 mission and in the statutory condemnation 

 of certain specific practises to render those 

 laws more efficient; but, taken as a whole, 

 the efficiency of those laws, so complete for 



