Evening star., 1941-02-09
Germany hvades' i. S. Business
Cartel Used to Limit American Production, Ban Exports
BY Norma

| There are not more than one or two
people in every 10000 who know what
beryllium is, and in many industrial COM
| munities, no one has heard of it. And
| yet beryllium is one of the magic metals
| of this decade per cent of which mixed
with copper makes an alloy harder and
stronger than the toughest structural
| steel.
On fatigue testing machine, the best
steel spring broke after 100000 vibra-
tions phoSphor bronze vibrated as many
as 100000 times but beryllium- copper
alloy and beryllium- nickel alloy vibrated
100000 to 10000, 0OO,0 900 times before
| breaking
Basic Patents German.
The endurance of such a metal is
almost beyond belief and it's significance
is perfectly apparent for use in alti-
meters, cowl hinges, feed lines for air.
| planes, magne;o parts and other points
where continuous functioning is vital
Now, as usual, the basic patents are
in Germany, under the control of the
| gigantic Siemens & Halske Co. near
| Berlin. The American Beryllium Corp.
entered into a croSs-licensing agreement
with the German company in 1894.
At the outbreak of the war, the Ger
man company ordered the Beryllium
| Co. of America to stop shipments to
England But this was not done and
shipments are going forward, the Eng
lish having belatedly discovered the
importance of this amazing metal
We, too, are discovering it and beryl-
lium is now used for parts in the new
Garand rife
AS Nation fond of calling itself the
| greatest industrial Nation on earth, we
have been slow indeed to grasp one
OF the great secrets of production-the
use of tungsten carbide. This is the
hardest cutting substance known, except
diamonds. It's performance as a cutting
| edge for machine tools is really sensa-
tional. 1t cuts the hardest steel and
! Is absolutely essential to the shaping and
cutting of armor plate.
Tungsten Production Strangled.
The use of tungsten carbide in Ger
many is 20 times that of the United
| States, according to expert opinion. 1t
is also the opinion of experts that the
widespread use of tungsten carbide
would result in 25 per cent increase
in the total industrial production OF
the United States
But that widespread production has
been strangled under the following cir
cumstances: The Krupp Co. of Ger
many, through its research, developed
patents on tungsten carbide about 1925
while the General Electric Co. was also
conducting similar research in this coun-
try Up to 1928 the Krupp Co. exported
tungsten carbide to the United States
and sold it for about s48 a pound
On November S, 1928, the General
Electric and the Krupp Co. entered
INTO an agreement to fix minimum prices,
terms and conditions of sale which each
signatory to the agreement, and a linn
tied number of General Electric licensees,
were compelled to maintain.
The General Electric Co. operated in
this country through its subsidiary, the
Carboloy Co. of Detroit, Mich, and each
| lcensee of the Carboloy Co. thereafter
sold at prices dictated by the parent
| company. AS a result of the agreement
prices skyrocketed from s48 pound to
S453 a pound, and at no time during
the 12-year period of this Krupp-Gen-
eral Electric domination of the tung-
or hi arl-o u ~ kzI
below s205 pound, although manufac-
turing cost was approximately s25 a
pound.
This agreement, bad enough as it was,
was amplified in 1886 by further agree
ment whereby Krupp agreed not to sell
| tungsten carbide products in the Amer
lean market and General Electric in
turn agreed not to export from the
United States Krupp reserved the pow
er to prohibit General Electric from
issuing additional licenses in the United
| States.
Many Other Situations.
Our country now pays the price of
these agreements.
! An attack from the Antitrust Division
of the Department of Justice is break
ing up this situation.
The confidential character of other in
formation on these vital fronts of Ger
man penetration precludes me from CIV
ing other available illustrations. Suffice
| it to say that the American Patent
Office has been happy hunting ground
| for German agents. When research
down a particular avenue of develop
ment discoses possible or probable in
ventions, skillful operator can file ap-
plication for patents in such broad and
ambiguous language that they tend to
cover an entire industry.
1t is not the facts which are danger
Gus but failure to recognize the facts and
their implication to American life. We
can meet the facts squarely as is being
done by slashing attacks from the Anti
trust Division of the Department of JUS
tice which has in hand the pattern of
German penetration and cartelization.
Other agencies of Government in ways
which lie beyond scope of this treatise
are effectively at grips with the problems
| outlined.
Industrially, we at least have the
know how" of production in every vital
industry have mentioned. Access to an
improved process of magnesium produc-
| ton, backed by ability and adequate re-