In 1914 the output of American dyes was valued at
$2,500,000. In 1917 it amounted to over $57,000,000. This does not mean
that the problem was solved, for the home products were not equal in
variety and sometimes not in quality to those made in Germany. Many
valuable dyes were lacking and the cost was of course much higher.
Whether the American industry can compete with the foreign in an open
market and on equal terms is impossible to say because such conditions
did not prevail before the war and they are not going to prevail in the
future. Formerly the large German cartels through their agents and
branches in this country kept the business in their own hands and now
the American manufacturers are determined to maintain the independence
they have acquired. They will not depend hereafter upon the tariff to
cut off competition but have adopted more effective measures. The 4500
German chemical patents that had been seized by the Alien Property
Custodian were sold by him for $250,000 to the Chemical Foundation, an
association of American manufacturers organized "for the Americanization
of such institutions as may be affected thereby, for the exclusion or
elimination of alien interests hostile or detrimental to said industries
and for the advancement of chemical and allied science and industry in
the United States.
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