Number 1(3 Price 25 cents EPRINT AND CIRCULAR SERIES OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL THE RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE By Charles H. Herty Editor, The Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry &> An Address delivered under the Auspices of the National Research Council at Washington, D. C., February 21, 1921 " c Announcement Concerning Publications of the National Research Council The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has been designated as the official organ of the National Research Councillor the publication of accounts of research, committee and other reports, and minutes. Subscription rate for the "Proceedings" is $5 per year. Business address: Home Secretary, National Academy of Sciences, Smith- sonian Institution, Washington, D. C. The Bulletin of the National Research Council presents contributions from the National Research Council, other than proceedings, for which hitherto no appropriate agencies of publication have existed. The "Bulletin" is published at irregular intervals. The sub- scription price, postpaid, is $5 per volume of approximately 500 pages. Numbers of the "Bulletin" are sold separately at prices based upon the cost of manufacture (for list of bulletins see third cover page). The Reprint and Circular Series of the National Research Council renders available for purchase, at prices dependent upon the cost of manufacture, papers published or printed by or for the National Research Council (for list of reprints and circulars see third cover page). Orders for the "Bulletin" or the "Reprints and Circulars" of the National Research Council, accompanied by remittance, should be addressed: Publication Office, National Research Council, 1701 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D. C. REPRINT AND CIRCULAR SERIES OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL NUMBER 16 THE RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE* BY CHARLES H. HERTY EDITOR, The Journal of Indusirial and, Engineering Chemistry The invitation to make this public address, coming from so distinguished an organization as the National Research Council, is an honor I deeply appreciate, but I want to be perfectly frank, and so confess that in accepting I was moved by an added thought, namely, that this occasion offered a chance to narrate to you a story of national import, consisting of several chapters. Too often these chapters are discussed as entities, but the full sig- nificance of each cannot be accurately gauged unless it be con- sidered in its relation to the subject as a whole. Noting that there was to be in connection with this address an exhibit by the Chemical Warfare Service, I took it for granted that that was the main event of the evening and that I was to follow my usual profession of calling public attention to American chemical developments. I have chosen as my subject "The Reserves of the Chemical Warfare Service." It is not difficult for you to guess that by reserves are meant the civilian chemists of the country and the chemical industry. In order that we may understand clearly the function and the role of the reserves, let me speak briefly first about the Chemical Warfare Service itself. Now, I am going to speak plainly and frankly tonight. My purpose is to tell you of certain things that have taken place in the past, of certain things that are developing and going on today, and to let you draw your own conclusions. In all that I say I mean not to be carpingly, but constructively critical. In this country of representative government we have a right to examine critically * An address delivered under the auspices of the National Research Council at Washington, D. C., February 21, 19:21. 2 RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY the attitude and the decisions taken by our public men. They are our representatives, and it is our duty fairly but fearlessly to judge their acts. The Chemical Warfare Service was not born at home. The natural home of the Chemical Warfare Service is the War Depart- ment; but after the battle of Ypres, when the British infantry suffered such fearful destruction from the waves of chlorine gas, loosed unexpectedly by the Germans, when it was seen that gas was to play an important part in the war, the men who first woke up to the importance of this new form of warfare were not in the War Department. The chemists in the Bureau of Mines, backed by Dr. Manning, the Director, began experimental work. Later began the erection of different plants under various divisions of the government, and finally Secretary Baker, in order to bring coordination into the work, wisely recommended to the President that all these divisions be combined into one organization: the Chemical Warfare Service. So in July 1919 the consolidation of all these different parts took place, under the authority given in the Overman Act. When the full history of this war is written, I think one of the outstanding chapters is going to concern the remarkable results obtained in research at American University Experiment Station, and at Edgewood Arsenal in the building of that wonderful plant. It was not the fault of the Chemical Warfare Service that the gas made at Edgewood Arsenal was not fired at the enemy in American shells. Tons of gas in bulk were shipped to the allies. Then the plants lay idle for months, waiting only for shells in which to load the gas. And in this connection I here pay tribute to a class of men who have never received public recognition of the hazardous service they performed for their country. I refer to the chemists who manufactured these gases, inexperienced as to the dangers attending the processes while learning the methods; men who were gassed, men who were killed, not in the thrill of battle, not under the glory of a charge, but back here in the steady grind of preparing the material for the men at the front. They went into hospitals and they went to the grave, serving their country nobly and loyally. Now another interesting historical point. The W T ar Depart- ment was slow in making use of the chemists' services, and when the armistice came the Chemical Warfare Service was immediately and almost completely demobilized. That was one of the quickest operations in the war. All right, we are not complaining; but it RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY 3 does stand out that absolutely no effort was made to give these men a chance to rehabilitate themselves in the industries. They were trudging all over the streets of New York looking for jobs. Last year came the question of the reorganization of the army, and here again a peculiar situation arose. With all the evidence before us as to the importance of gases in war, when the question of reorganizing the army was taken up by congressional committees, what was the proposal from the head of the War Department? To bury the Chemical Warfare Service to make it an insignificant division of the Engineer Corps. When the false policy involved in that proposition had been made clear, an attempt was made to make it a part of the Ordnance Department; but this plan had to be given up because General Williams, the Chief of Ord- nance, said he did not want it and wouldn't know what to do with it if he had it. This is all a matter of public record. Fortunately, Congress had its own ideas about these things, and so when the Army Reorganization Bill was finally enacted, the Chemical War- fare Service stood created by act of Congress a separate unit of the army. But today the intent of Congress is being nullified by all manner of restrictions thrown around the development of this branch of the service. Instructors cannot be sent to the various camps to train our men in gas warfare. The camps desire gas troops; they cannot be sent. In that great training school, Camp Benning, there is only one gas officer, and his recall has just been issued. I am talking about affairs of today. This is not ancient history. This is what is occurring at the present time. Some people say, "Why worry about all this gas warfare stuff? 1 We are not going to need it or use it." Let me get this matter of the justification of gas warfare straight, not in the language of members of the Chemical Warfare Service, not in language of my own; but let us go back and take the words of congressmen. I am a great believer in Congress, and I think that what Congress thinks and feels represents the average views of the people of this country. Take the matter of Germany's blame for initiating gas warfare. Mr. Humphreys, 1 in the course of debate about two weeks ago, made the point clear: The fact is the sin which Germany committed was not in using the gas itself, but because she had agreed with the nations that she would not use poison gas; and it is interesting to note that when that proposition was made the representatives of the United States refused to commit 1 Congressional Record, 60, 27(>li (February 5, 1921). 4 RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY the United States to that policy, and so it happened that the United States refused to agree not to use poison gas. He was absolutely right. It was a breach of faith. Mr. Sisson, 1 also in that debate, said this : "Germany did scrap the paper, although she signed the agreement not to use gas." Contrary to general opinion, gas warfare has not proved in- humane. Here again let us turn to a member of Congress for confirmation. Mr. Humphreys 2 further said: "As the war progressed the use of gas became general, and after the war was over we were able to assemble the facts as they developed, and they show that one-third of the battle casualties in the American Army were caused by gas, and less than 4 per cent of the deaths were caused by gas, and also that a smaller proportion of the soldiers who were put out of commission by gas were permanently injured than of those that were put out of commission by the other offensive means of warfare, with shrapnel, bullets, and so forth. And so it appears that gas is not only the most effective weapon in war but the most humane. It puts the enemy out of commission, yet kills a less percentage of his men than any other means known. "For that reason, despite all that had been said about the use of gas in war, when we came to reorganize our Army after the war we provided for the continuance and for the further development of the Chemical War- fare Service, which is charged with the responsibility and the duty of studying all the various methods of applying this destructive weapon." But now let me turn to another interesting document. I want to show you exactly what the Chief of Staff of the Army said before the subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, page 94 of the hearings. Speaking against the use of gas in the war, General March said: 3 "When I was in France I saw 195 small children brought in from about 10 miles from the rear of the trenches who were suffering from gas in their lungs, innocent little children who had nothing to do with this game at all." My friends, if you have time before you leave this building, go down the hall leading to the Chemical Warfare Service exhibit in the National Museum, and you will see on the walls there a painting, a most startling picture showing a shell from a long range gun breaking through the walls of a church in Paris on Good Friday, and killing women and children on their knees in prayer. Does General March contend that artillery must be discontinued ? 1 Congressional Record, 60, 2764. 2 Ibid, 60, 2766. 3 Hearings on S. 2691, S. 2693, and S. 271 o, 66th Congress, page 94. RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY 5 A year ago last October I stood on that famous Hill No. 108 at Barry au Bac near Rheims in France. It is not a large hill. And as I realized that right underneath me more than ten thou- sand men were buried alive as a result of the thrice repeated mining of that hill, the terrible character of modern war was deeply em- phasized. But has anyone suggested that we give up the use of explosives for mining? It is all horrible; but we must think straight and true about these matters. As to the future, Secretary of War Baker, 1 at the Senate hearings on the Army Reorganization Bill, said : "My own belief is that the gas warfare will not be permitted." At the same hearings, the Chief of Staff, General March, 2 said: "If you will recall, in the so-called league of nations text, which was published the other day by the United States Senate, you have one para- graph which in substance says this: 'The use of poisonous gases, or poi- sonous liquids, being prohibited in war, Germany must not import into her territory any such things.' If that means anything, it means that those people have agreed to practically abolish chemical warfare gases." Since those hearings were held, the League of Nations has met in Geneva, and the permanent advisory commission on military and naval air guns reported 3 as follows : "It is useless to seek to restrict the use of gases in war time by prohibiting manufacture in peace time. It is impossible to prohibit laboratory experiments. The use of poison gas is fundamentally cruel, but no more than other methods if it is used against combatants only." The League of Nations has met. It has not agreed that gas war- fare should be abolished and so we stand today faced with the fact that this new method of warfare is going to be developed, and that is the significance of our Chemical Warfare Service to this nation. Now just a few words regarding the make-up of the Chemical Warfare Service. It has its personnel, composed of officers and enlisted men, and some civilian chemists employed at Edgewood Arsenal on research. It has its plant a. wonderful plant located at Edgewood which came near going to wrack and ruin during the months immediately following the armistice. This organiza- tion conforms to the entire spirit of what the nation feels should be its policy as to military forces : namely, a small, well-trained mili- tary^group, backed by a trained citizenry, backed in this case by 1 Senate Hearings, 66th Congress, on H. R. 5227, page 28. 2 Ibid., page 42. . ' New York Sun, November 22, 1920. 6 RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY the civilian chemists of the country and by our great chemical industry, which constitute the reserves of the Chemical Warfare Service. Now a few words regarding these reserves. It is gratifying to note that today the chemistry courses in the universities are filled with students, particularly graduate students being trained for research work. Thanks to the foresight of the National Re- search Council, there is now in training a new class of research workers, the post-doctorate fellows in science, men who have already had the required graduate work leading to the Ph.D. degree, and are continuing their training in research for a further period of years. Eventually that will give us a very high type of research worker. The value of the stimulative effect of funda- mental research is a matter we have not yet fully grasped in this country. As you look back through the history of the science of chemistry and note Dalton's work on atomic weights, Lavoisier's on combustion, Kekule's conception of the benzene ring, and the electrolytic dissociation theory of Arrhenius, you see the mighty leaps forward taken by research through the stimulation of these fundamental conceptions. In each case industry has profited therefrom directly and to enormous degree. It is in the chemical industries chiefly that this personnel reserve, these civilian chemists, find their occupation. Therefore, the greater the industry, the more flourishing its condition, the larger the number and the better the quality of our civilian reserves. The most interesting thing, however, about this chemical industry is that it weaves in so closely with matters both of peace and of war. The problems of the Chemical Warfare Service are an integral part of this industry. The interesting exhibit on this platform brings out that point very clearly. There are the sulfur mines of Louisiana, this material being converted to sulfuric acid here. Above it are the coal mines with the adjacent by- product coke ovens. Here on this side is a plant for nitrogen fixation, a permanent and independent source of nitric acid. One of the most important questions before this nation today is the right solution of that problem. Over here is the salt well. The brine from that well is taken to this plant, where it is made into chlorine and caustic soda. Now all of these products are brought together in this large central plant, which represents a factory for the manufacture of "intermediates." These intermediates are distributed to four finishing plants, rightly located side by side, RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY 7 for they are very closely related in the operations involved. On the left is a plant for manufacturing high explosives, such as TNT and picric acid; next is a plant for synthetic medicinals, where aspirin, salvarsan, phenacetin and related products are made; adjoining this is a plant representing Edgewood Arsenal, where poison gases for warfare can be turned out by the ton; and there is a synthetic dye plant, with its multiplicity of brilliantly colored products, supplying industries whose annual turnover mounts into billions of dollars. All of these four plants are quickly con- vertible, one into another. I like this exhibit of the Chemical Warfare Service for it brings home how intimately the work of that Service is bound up with these works of peace. Surely you see the force of the argument that as these works of peace prosper the Chemical Warfare Service becomes potentially all the stronger? It is a perfectly legitimate argument. It is the truth. There is one all-important thing about our chemical industry it must be complete. You remember the shortages that existed in this country at the outbreak of the war. These shortages occurred chiefly in the organic chemical industry, and particularly in the coal-tar chemical industry. The urgent demand of the Allies for high explosives at any price in the early part of the war resulted in great American activity in the installation of by-product coke ovens, thereby insuring a future adequate supply of "crudes" as a foundation for this industry. Then came the blockade of German ports and the consequent cessation of imports of dyes, medicinals, photographic chemicals, perfumes and flavors, all products of the coal-tar chemical industry. The pressing shortage of these products led to economic distress and urgent demand for the development of a complete domestic industry. Though progress was slow for quite a while, the whole movement was speeded up by the conviction on the part of the Alien Property Custodian, Judge Palmer, and his colleague, Mr. Garvan, that German patents had been taken out in this country chiefly for the purpose of throttling the development of a competing industry. In the administration of the Trading-with-the-Enemy Act it became evident that many of the German plants being sold were practically worthless because the patents under which the plants had been operating were not available. Congress therefore amended the Act and gave the Custodian power to seize the enemy-owned patents. The sale of the first large group of these patents made 8 RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY evident the possibility, through subsequent sales, of developing an American monopoly. Thereupon the remaining patents were sold, under Executive authorization, to the Chemical Foundation, Inc., a non-profit-making corporation whose surplus earnings are to be devoted to furthering scientific research. This organization grants non-exclusive licenses to manufacture to any qualified American citizen or corporation. Some day when the history of this period is written, a special chapter should be devoted to the work of one man. He is not a chemist; he is a lawyer, a public officer. I refer to Mr. Francis P. Garvan, the President of the Chemical Foundation. He is going to prove one of the permanent benefactors of the American chemical industry. Let me now make just one other thing clear to you in this con- nection, because it will illustrate a point I want to make a little later. I want to contrast to you the conditions of the American coal-tar industry as compared with conditions in Germany. In the first place, in Germany absolute unification of the industry has taken place, not only permitted by the government authorities, but absolutely encouraged by them. Under action taken during the last few months, this policy of complete combination is to be continued until the year 2000. In this country the Sherman Anti-Trust Law would not permit anything of that kind. Another thing : In Germany most of the plants are located along the Rhine ; the transportation of material from one plant to another is therefore simple. Our plants are scattered over a wide expanse of country. It is a distinct disadvantage to us. There they have forty years of experience in these matters; here we have scarcely more than four. There they have a national currency which has depreciated to about one-fifteenth of its normal value; here we have the most expensive money in the world. When I think of these conditions it is marvelous what the American chemist has accomplished within the past four years. In addition to the handicaps just mentioned, our new-born coal-tar chemical industry has been seriously retarded during the last six months by two other conditions. In the first place, it has been dull times for all industries, and this new industry has suffered. Right here I want to sound a note of warning, it We have been preaching the gospel of industrial research. We hear it on many lips. New research laboratories have sprung up every- where. Yet when dull times came, a number of corporations began the process of curtailment in their research laboratories. RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY 9 Conviction as to the permanent value of research was not deep. Fortunately, only a limited number have slipped back in this way. On the other hand, there have been others who have kept their research forces intact, and as the days go by that foresighted policy is going to tell in the race for success. In the second place, delay in the enactment by Congress of protective legislation has created an atmosphere of uncertainty as to the future which has slowed up progress all along the line. Effective legislation was passed by the House of Representatives a year and a half ago. I was in Frankfort, Germany, on October 28, 1919, in the office of Herr Dr. von Weinberg, head of the Ger- man dye trust, and during the interview which I was having with him an office boy brought in the morning paper, the Frankforter Nachrichten, and it happened that the doctor's eye fell on an article placed prominently on the front page. He looked at it and his face dropped. He handed me the paper, and I read that the House of Representatives had passed the Long worth Dye Bill by a vote of 156 to 119. He thought that that was definitely enacted legislation, and he realized that it meant a real death blow to the future domination of this industry by Germany. But as I read it I realized the fact that that was only the vote of the House. "It is not finished yet," I said to the doctor. "It still has to pass the Senate," and I did not realize with what prophetic vision I spoke at that time, because it still has to pass the Senate. I have analyzed that vote in the House, and found an interesting point which has never been brought out in public discussion. While the final recorded vote in the House was 156 to 119, do you know that there were only ten members of the House who voted against the licensing feature of the Longworth Bill? Ten out of four hundred and thirty-five members. It happened in this way: Just before the bill was put to the final vote, Mr. Kitchin, the democratic leader, offered a substitute bill, identical with the Longworth measure except as to tariff rates. All of the demo- crats voted for this, but the republicans defeated it. In the following vote on the Longworth bill the democrats and ten republicans voted against it, while the votes in its favor were solidly republican. Thus the license feature was endorsed by this great non-partisan majority of the House. Then the bill went to the Senate, where extensive hearings were held. The members of the Senate subcommittee at first were against the license idea. They said so frankly. But the case was so 10 RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY thoroughly and convincingly presented that the bill received a unanimous report. It then went before the entire Senate Finance Committee and received the favorable vote of all the members of the Committee except one. Then it came up in the Senate and was talked to death. You all know the story. I don't question the sincerity of anybody's motives; but I will tell you what my feeling is : The man who stands in the way of protective legislation for this industry, so closely united with the national defense, takes upon himself a very grave responsibility. We are told there is nothing to fear. We are told that a tariff alone is sufficient; that we do not need an embargo. Every time someone bobs up and says: "A tariff alone is sufficient," all the importers of German dyes say, "Yes. Give them all the tariff they want," and they say it so freely because they know that tariff alone will not protect this industry. They know that under conditions as they exist they can continue their business of im- porting dyes. That is what they are interested in, and every bit of it will be at the expense of our industry. The question is, how much value do we place on that industry? There are those who say, "Why, Germany cannot get busy in this game again. She is poor. She is disrupted and has no raw material." I want to tell you this, that, according to press dispatches from Paris, the dye experts of the Reparation Commission report that in January, last month I mean, the output of the German dye plants was 12,000 tons, which is 750 tons more than the pre-war monthly average. Of course they have the raw material. Of course their chemical industries are thriving. The whole force of the nation is back of them, and those figures mean that the chemical war is on and that we must take into consideration how it is to be met. It has been met so far, fortunately, by the order of the President, President Wilson, continuing the Trading-with-the-Enemy Act in its control over imports of products of the coal-tar industry, and that is the one and only protection which the industry has had up to this time, since the blockade was lifted. I have heard statements made on the floor of the Senate that the industry has prospered under the present tariff rates. I see some in the audience smile, because they know that those tariff rates have not had the slightest effect, for when the law was enacted which con- tained the present tariff rates the blockade of German ports was on, and ever since the blockade was lifted the Trading-with-the- Enemy Act has kept out all dyes of enemy origin, except such as have been admitted bv license. RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY 11 An interesting thing appeared in the newspapers a few days ago. A dispatch from Berlin dated February 11, 1921, stated that a tremendous German propaganda is getting under way for the purpose of showing by documentary evidence, prepared in the usual thorough manner, that there is no purpose or ability on the part of Germany to dump cheap chemicals in this market. The only trouble about the demonstration is that before they have compiled their statistics their biggest dyestuff plant has plumped down in this country 1300 tons of sodium nitrite, which is a year and a half's supply for all our dye factories, at prices below the prevailing American market rates. It is here today, and our friends out in the northwest, in the state of Washington, where sodium nitrite is manufactured, realize it. And so when people tell me that Germany is not active, I want to call your attention to the fact that she is producing more dyes today than she ever did before in her history, and that she is already flooding our market with those of her products on which there are no import restrictions. But even if adequate legislation is enacted to insure the per- manency of our coal-tar chemical industry, it is not sound national policy to require the Chemical Warfare Sendee to depend solely upon its reserves. There is important research to be carried on which should be done only in the laboratories of the Service; there is a $30,000,000 plant at Edgewood to be maintained; and there is fundamental instruction to be given the army in matters per- taining to chemical warfare. All of this requires money and such funds can be provided only by congressional appropriation. This year the Chemical Warfare Service had at its disposal five and one- half million dollars. General Fries and his associates studied the situation carefully, and felt in the interest of economy, knowing the need of saving, that that amount could be cut down this year to four and one-half million dollars, and asked for it. Mind you now, that does not provide for the manufacture of a supply of masks for our army. Today it has no masks of the latest im- proved type, and but a limited supply of any kind of mask. They asked for four and one-half million dollars, and the House of Repre- sentatives cut that down to a million and a half. One and one- half million dollars only, to keep pace with the developments in this important branch of modern warfare which the rest of the world is going to continue to develop. Do you know what that amount represents? Only two-tenths of one per cent of the total 12 RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY amount appropriated for our fighting forces is available for gas warfare, and yet 30 per cent of our casualties were from gases. Those are figures for us to think about. They say statistics are not exciting. Here is something which may not be exciting, but it is distressing. Are we going to slip back? How long are we going to slight this question? Have you thought of what it may mean when aviation and gas warfare are combined? Did you read General Mitchell's 1 testimony before the Naval Committee? He told them: "Nobody used gas in Europe because the air forces were so nearly equal that if one had started it the other would have immediately started. Everybody was ready to start it, and if it had been started the losses would have been something terrific." This statement is plain and deeply significant. Yet we propose to slip backward in this matter both in aviation and in chemical warfare, when the one thing that prevented this method of warfare was equilibrium. I want to tell you that the best way to prevent this combination is not that there should be equilibrium, but that that country which introduced gas warfare shall know that America is stronger than she is both in aviation and means of gas warfare. If this is not done, it will not be a matter of making masks for the army alone, but for all citizens men, women, and children. We must not shut our eyes to these things. This matter is right before us. Turning again to the coal-tar chemical industry, I think we are all agreed on one thing, namely, that this industry is a valuable asset to our war-making forces, that the dye industry, to be specific, is an efficient reserve of the Chemical Warfare Service. General Sibert, the former chief of that Service, has said so before congres- sional committees; General Fries has testified likewise; the state- ment has frequently been made on the floors of the Senate and House; and the press throughout the country is constantly saying so. I have known but two people connected with the industry to say otherwise. One of them was Dr. B. C. Hesse, of New York City, in an address before the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. His statement was eagerly taken up by a small group of textile manufacturers and by all of the importers of dyes, and a great deal was made of it. But do you know that Dr. Hesse's address has never yet been published in the Journal of the Franklin Insti- 1 Supplement to Hearings before Subcommittee of House Committee on Appro- priations, Naval Appropriation Bill for 1922, Aviation, page 6. RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY 13 tute and that it never will be so published? I am so informed by officers of the Institute. And do you know that this week Dr. M. T. Bogert, a past president of the American Chemical Society, gave by invitation a lecture before this same Franklin Institute, setting forth the close connection between this industry and our war-making power? Dr. Hesse went wrong. I am sorry, because it does not do for a man in his position to go wrong on this subject. It is too deeply, too intimately bound up in the question of the security of this nation. Who was the other man I heard say it? Dr. von Weinberg, the head of the German dye trust, and he said it to me on the day representatives of the allies met with the Germans in Versailles in October, 1919, to discuss the question of delivery of reparation dyes under the terms of the Peace Treaty. After the formal con- ference was ended, I had a personal conference with Dr. von Wein- berg and his associates. We finished our business in about ten minutes and then chatted for a little while. In the course of the conversation he said, "I think it is very unfortunate that people in America talk so much about the connection between dyes and gas warfare." You know, I am very fond of talking, and I confess I was never so eager to talk; but I had to hold my tongue. I was getting dyes from him for America and the success of my mission was more important than argument. He was trying to make me believe what he said, when he knew even better than I did that those plants over which he had control had turned out prac- tically every pound of poison gas used by the Germans throughout the whole war. And yet he tried to make me think that America was very foolish to even consider the possible connection between dyes and gas warfare ! As a nation we have grasped this thought of the intimate con- nection between dyes and poison gases, but the thought is static; it is not dynamic. We have not thought this thing through, and I want you here tonight to think it through with me, and see what is the logical next step. We are still technically at war with Germany. By the terms of the Treaty of Peace which she signed with the Allies, she is the defeated nation. In That treaty, provision was made for her disarmament. Battleships, forts, submarines, and guns were surrendered. But what about those potential arsenals, the dye plants? They have not been touched. Today they are stronger than ever, stronger by the increased number of buildings and men 14 RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY employed throughout the war. Not touched. Why? I asked that question in Paris at one of our conferences, and what was the answer? Europe wanted it done, wanted those surplus dye plants destroyed, but American influence prevented it. That statement was made directly to me, and since I came back it has been con- firmed by Americans who were there. It was our influence that left those dye plants untouched, which means those poison gas and high explosives plants. Under the terms of the Treaty the manufacture of explosives and poison gas is not allowed. What difference does that make as long as the plants are intact? The resumption of work in those plants is a matter of only a few hours. American influence prevented their razing, on the ground that they were capable of turning out products of peace-time use. Let us see what the actual situation is. Before the war Germany alone supplied practically the whole world with dyes, and now has a greater dye-producing capacity than ever. In the meantime we have developed an industry to take care of our needs. England through legislation just passed has expressed her determination to take care of her own needs and those of her colonies. France is doing the same thing. Japan is working to the same end. We are faced today with the fact that there is a great over-capacity for dye production in the world. The peace product argument falls, and as long as those German dye plants stand they constitute the gravest threat against the future peace of the world. So I say with all possible emphasis that those plants, not needed for Germany's domestic supplies, should be destroyed, as were her other means of making war. But you may ask under what author- ity can this be done? Sections 168 and 169 of the Treaty of Ver- sailles cover the case amply, not only in regard to the dye plants but those other two classes of war chemical plants of which Germany now has so great a surplus over the requirements of domestic consumption, namely, sulfuric acid and atmospheric nitrogen fixation plants. Why should the world subject itself to the danger that lies in those seats of poison gas and high explosive manu- facture on the theoretical ground that they make peace-time products, when the world does not need those peace-time products? There is serious thought here for the incoming President and his advisors when they come to formulate the terms of our peace- making with Germany. This matter of the chemical disarmament of Germany goes very, very deep. We talk a great deal about the possibility of RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY 15 Germany getting hold of the natural resources of Russia. Did you notice in the papers a few days ago, in the statistics given out by our War Department, that Bolshevist Russia has the largest standing army in the world, one and a half million men? Don't you remember reading in the papers a few months ago that much of the success of the Bolshevist forces against those of General Wrangel were due to poison gas and also that in many cases the red forces were led by German officers? Do you imagine that the gas was manufactured in Russia? Russia has now no chemical industry. My friends, keep in mind the fact that the whole ten- dency of present development in poison gas warfare is to get away from the old methods of projection, and that we are just on the threshold of these new developments. Visualize that red army of Russia, fully armed with the gases that can be made in German dye plants. There is a real threat. In this connection I want to read you a statement that appeared in the London Times of December 30, 1920. According to the program of the German, Hungarian and Russian reactionaries, prepared in Budapest on June 22, "the manufacture of new forms of arms and ammunition will be undertaken, Germany providing the machinery, raw materials, and personnel." One of two things must be done, if we Americans are not entirely asleep. Either we must develop in this country a stronger chem- ical industry than Germany has, because that is the one argument she respects the argument of superior force or we must see to it that those surplus German dye plants are destroyed. I have no interest in dyes as articles of commerce, except insofar as an adequate domestic supply may insure our economic inde- pendence. The day should never come again when a foreign ambassador can cable to his home government, as von Bernstorff did, that if the supply of dyes were cut off it would be possible to throw out of employment four million American workmen. I pray God we may never have to make the slightest use of the Chemical Warfare Service; that we may never again be engaged in war; but if national policy demands that we have the nucleus of an army, then that army should be properly equipped with the best modern means of waging war. There is another chapter to this story. Dyes may be desirable; poison gas may be necessary; but there is a higher goal for the organic chemist. These bodies of ours are masses of organic chemical compounds undergoing constant change. When these 10 RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY reactions are normal we speak of health; when abnormal, sickness, disease and suffering constitute the daily reports from these human factories. How little we know about the prevention of this ab- normality or its restitution to normality. We have stumbled along through the ages, gleaning here and there, all too frequently by purely empirical methods, some curative means. Our annual drug bill is $500,000,000. You know how great a per cent of this is spent in vain. Silent but effective testimony as to the inadequacy of many medicaments is given by the custom among the negroes of the South Carolina coast of placing upon newly made graves of departed ones the partly emptied bottles of medicine which were used, alas, ineffectually. Think of the mighty effort made during the war to defend our forces in the field from the poison gas of the enemy; then contrast the number of deaths on the battlefield with those from the ravages of influenza in the training camps. Add to this the annual death rate from cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and other diseases, and how frightful a toll, what an enormous amount of sorrow, suffering and inefficiency must be laid at the door of our ignorance of these bodily chemical reactions ! Why this seeming indifference to the application of chemistry to problems so essentially chemical, on which hourly the question of life or death hangs? In the medieval ages chemistry was con- cerned solely with the question of medicinals, the chemist and the physician cooperated ; then their ways parted, the physician turning to fanciful nostrums, while the chemist bent his energies to increasing wealth. Think of the human suffering involved in one single instance: Ether was discovered in the thirteenth century, but it was not until 1846 that its value as an anaesthetic became known. In recent years the science of bacteriology has made tremendous strides and the results have proved of incalculable benefit to the race. Yet as one reads the admirable resume of the progress in this science given by Dr. Simon Flexner in his presidential address at the last meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one cannot but feel that after all the bacteriologist has been working in purely mechanical and often ill-defined ways upon questions primarily chemical. In Toronto last year I visited that beautiful farm and laboratory where the sera were prepared which supplied practically all of the allied armies. I was shown the horses which were being subjected to inoculation and subse- quent tapping, and then the laboratory where the sera are prepared. I asked the Director whether he was not making certain definite RESERVES OF THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: HERTY 17 chemical compounds about which he knew practically nothing. He admitted it. In spite of the care in all of the work the methods seemed clumsy and haphazard in comparison with the equipment and definiteness of the character of the research work on some of the complicated dyes. Chemistry has shirked, partly because of the inherent difficulties of the work, partly because of inadequately trained workers, and because large financial rewards are not to be expected. We have gone heavily into that aspect of chemistry which makes wealth, we have concentrated our efforts on its application in making war, and we have given but slight attention to its application in the alleviation of suffering. There is the goal I hope to see set for chemistry in this country; dyes, incidentally, yes; poison gas, as a means of national security, yes; but above all, the solution of those intensely intricate problems which will conserve the health of our people. There may be new drugs developed, but the chief result of that work should be to decrease the use of drugs. How is such work to be supported? That is where my confidence in the big heart of America lies. If we can ever make our men of means see the correctness of this viewpoint, I have no doubt that funds in abundance will be found to endow institutions where these questions, strictly chemical in their nature, shall be studied by chemists, not alone of course, but in cooperation with pharmacologists, biologists, and physicians. When that day comes, we will then realize that the greatest peace asset we have gained from the recent war is the demonstration made at American University Experiment Station of what tre- mendous speed and progress can be made in research, when different types of men and training are brought together under one roof and in daily contact with each other, all focusing their minds on the problems connected with the chemistry of the body. 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