Addenda. (To The Aniline Color, Dyestuff and Chemical Conditions)

The Aniline Color, Dyestuff and Chemical Conditions
from
August 1st, 1914,
to
April 1st, 1917.
A series of Addresses and Articles
Compiled by:
I. F. Stone
1917To conclude this book up to the present date, April 1st, 1917, it will be, perhaps, interesting to extract in a brief article the principal points in the various articles and addresses contained herein.

It will be observed that at the beginning of the war, about August 1st, 1914, the manufacture of aniline dyes from coal-tar products was not of great importance, there being at that time only five factories actively engaged in their manufacture, and only one engaged in the manufacture of an intermediate product, viz., aniline oil, and the production of these five factories was not nearly enough to furnish the American consumers sufficient quantities for their consumption.

It will be noted, after a careful reading of these articles and addresses, that at the present time, say April 1st, 1917, there has been so large an increase in the manufacture of coal-tar products in the United States that I now have a list of nearly 120 firms engaged in the manufacture of or dealing in coal-tar products, including derivatives, intermediate products anci aniline colors, and the combined production of these factories equal the full consumption of these products in the United States, for all of what I might call necessary colors. The only exception to this statement are a few specialties which have not yet been produced by American manufacturers for the reason that the consumption of the individual products was not large enough to warrant taking them up until the more largely consumed colors had been produced, and now that this has been accomplished, it is only a question of a short time before all the colors which will be needed or desired here will be manufactured here, and this is a statement made with the positive knowledge of what is still in contemplation as to the manufacture of colors which have not been made here.

To accomplish the remarkable results as mentioned above, viz., to reach the point where sufficient colors are produced here, both as to quality and quantity, to furnish the total consumption, it is first necessary to recover from the coal tar such derivatives as benzol and naphthaline, which are practically the main raw materials for all colors, in enough quantities to provide for the manufacture of the so-called intermediates, from which the finished colors are made, and this has been done, in that the production of benzol and naphthaline is now enough to meet every demand.

It being now admitted that the production and manufacture of coal-tar products is being successfully carried on on a large scale, the next question is whether or not this will be a permanent industry, or whether Europe will again recover a large part of the consumption here, and again have practically a monopoly of the American business, and I can again state, to my best belief and almost positively, that the industry will be permanent; briefly for the reasons mentioned in my address before the Textile Club on March 3rd, 1917, viz.: First, the sufficient production of benzol, naphthaline and other necessary raw materials; second, the additional tariff protection afforded after the war by the United States Government; third, the almost complete manufacture of intermediates made from benzol, naphthaline, etc.; and fourth, the necessity which American consumers have found since the war of having this industry in the United States, and their willingness to work with us and give us their preference for the colors used in their consumption, which is in itself one of the most valuable points in the permanency of the industry.