The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1921-01-28
HAS AMERICA NO ANSWER
FOR THIS GERMAN THREAT?

TUX lnIS UEhMAN THREAT
While men talk abut odisarmamen
and fill the newspaper columns wit
learned discussions as to the wisdoI
of curtailing our naval program by in
ternation2l agreement, hour by hou
the day of our real disarmament ap
proaches, and approaches so stealth
lily the great public is in entire ignar
ance of the fact.
In the next war leaders will laugl
at battlcships and artillery when the,
launch their assaults Of poison ga
and invisible destruction. The ma
chinery of warfare has passed into tn,
hands of chemists, and the soothsay
ers, in predicting results, will look no
to stars or entrails, but into the tes
tubes of the laboratory.
An inkling Of the truth may be OBJ
tanned from a cable dispatch, writer
by Wythe Williams, which appeared
in the Washington Herald of January
10. We quote from it:
"There is evidence in Paris, where q
large force of dye experts now are
gathered to help the reparations COM
mission, that the German dye attack
is to be centered most vigorously upon
the United States market. France
has a tariff law that enables her to
build up her dye industry unmolested.
England has a new law, operative
Jan. Is, that excludes dyes such as she
produces and admits those she does
not produce, but which her consumers
need. Japan is taking steps to pro-
tect her chemical industry. The Unit
ed States is the only important nation
actually at the mercy OF German
chemists. For the. moment America
is protected by the War Trade Board,
but this barrier will fall when she ends
the technical state of war with Ger
many.
German dye manufacturers, realiz-
ing this, are causing the reparations
commission much trouble by refusing
to produce, except under pressure, the
dyes most needed in the United States.
They are willing to offer large quaint
ties of dyes in competition with the
output of the new American dye in
dustry, but still are making excuses
for failure to produce noncompetitive
dyes. Thus they hope to encourage
consumers to demand ar open market.
Also, in this manner, with the excep-
ton of her so years world monopoly
of dye manufacture against five years
of American experience, Germany
hopes to throttle the American indus
try and leave America helpless in this
respect should there be another war.
German production of dyes is so
closely allied with her production of
munitions that separation is impos-
sible. Destruction of one would mean
the destruction of both. Students of
the German proposals now in Paris
consider that America is the last hope
the German manufacturers have, and
they will not give up as long as Amer
lea does not protect its dye industry
by law similar to that Of Great
Britain. They see, further, that real
chemical disarmament can be accom-
plished only by breaking Germany's
monopoly of the dye industry and en-
couragihg the building IN Of . similar
industry In all the counties Oh the en-
tente. and especially in the United
States"
1t is the absolute truth that the
"United States is the only important
nation actually at the mercy of the
German chemists"
The War Trade Board, which now
protects the American dye industry,
will go out of existence March A un-
less funds to finance its activities are
provided, and it will go out of exist
snce anyhow so soon as peace is con-
cluded. The dye industry, therefore,
is nearing hour by hour the day when
Il will be at the mercy of the Germans.
That will not be long. Private indus
try does not possess the power of tax
alton and cannot long stand up under
heavy financial losses. If there is no
legislation, enough dyes
IAN be dumped on our shores within a
few months to swamp the market.
1t is difficult to speak with modera-
lion Of those Senators who have re-
sorted to the filibuster and every other
technical device of legislators to de-
ay and prevent enactment of the dive |
ill. Be their motives what they NAV. |
he fact remains that their course is |
Exactly the course that is most ac-
eptable to the Germans. There is no
me thing Berlin more desires than the
allure of the Longworth bill. Men
Who shape their course in Congress so
g to support a policy obviously ben
ficial to our enemies and destructive