January 8, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



47 



embark in any of those industries, new or 

 unknown here, which are firmly intrenched 

 abroad, and where, as soon as the war is 

 over, the foreigner can return to the work 

 of attack and destruction by the methods 

 above mentioned. 



This plan, which aims to place Americans 

 and foreigners on the same footing here 

 could, it seems to me, be easily and quickly 

 enacted by the present Congress. It would 

 put American manufacturers, including 

 American chemists, in a position to act 

 without having all the chances against 

 them. Are they not entitled to at least 

 this much? 



I do not believe in hothouse development 

 of industries for which we are not adapted ; 

 but save us from the cold-storage condi- 

 tions resulting from perfect organization 

 being arrayed against us so that our real 

 opportunities which we are in every way 

 qualified to enjoy are frozen to death. The 

 little aniline-oil experiment alluded to 

 above has come to life again, and in its 

 small way has proved during these war 

 times to be a godsend to our manufacturers. 

 It is gratifying to note that it is even grow- 

 ing in a manner which it is hoped will be 

 permanent. It seems too bad that it should 

 require a dreadful war to make such a little 

 start possible; it should have been accom- 

 plished as soon as our by-product coke 

 ovens and fuming sulphuric acid produc- 

 tion made it possible. 



To sum up, the effects of the war on the 

 chemical industry already established in 

 this country are measured in general by 

 their effects on the industries consimiing 

 chemical products. It has, however, been 

 brought very close to us that certain indus- 

 tries not thoroughly established here but 

 highly organized abroad are of tremendous 

 importance to us. We have seen that this 

 branch of chemical industry has been the 



result of marvelous ingenuity, patience, 

 research and cooperation during the more 

 than half century since Perkin produced 

 the first coal-tar dye in England. One of 

 the lessons to us which it seems to me lies 

 near the surface, and probably one of the 

 most important lessons this people must 

 thoroughly learn, is that of cooperation, 

 which has had more to do with the making 

 of the great coal-tar chemical industry than 

 any other one influence. We as a nation 

 have passed our childhood and youth; we 

 have made gigantic progress at tremendous 

 cost of materials and possibly of moral 

 fiber; we have come to the parting of the 

 ways. If we continue too long as we have 

 been going we will deserve disaster if we 

 do not actually experience it. We know on 

 the highest authority that ' ' a house divided 

 against itself must fall." The laws of the 

 resultant of forces familiar to us all show 

 us what would happen if we all pulled in 

 different directions. I feel strongly that 

 our future success as a nation lies in uni- 

 versal cooperation — the government and its 

 departments with the manufacturer, the 

 manufacturer with the workman, and all 

 together for the country and for the world ; 

 and this cooperation must not be based 

 solely on self-interest, but more particularly 

 on those moral qualities which lie at the 

 foundation of universal brotherhood. It 

 must not be the survival of the fittest, but 

 the survival of all, and the very best that 

 is in them brought out of all. When we 

 have learned and adopted this lesson of co- 

 operation for the good of all, we have 

 started on the road to a national greatness, 

 both material and moral, which I modestly 

 feel that the possessions of this people 

 qualify it richly to enjoy. 



Wm. H. Nichols 



New York, N. Y. 



