Document MJzDZp3rXEBw8Y7jv0qGGRqjL

Copy to Mr. Harold Rowe February 21, 1940 Mr. 1. W. Schoeppel -utionai Lead Company 72? Chestnut Street St. Louis, Missouri Dear Mr. Schoeppel: X am always gl&a to answer questions about t.io I*ead Industries association v.hic.i Is an important agency of the National I*ead Company ana others comprising Its cembersuip. X hope ay brief description, attached, clears up, as you state, any hazy notion some of your own people may have of the Association. If it doesn't, please ask any other questions that will hdlp to clarify matters. Kith xdnaest regards. Sincerely yours. Secretary. N13818 0000-NLI-000020446 The Lead Xnaus tries Association was organized in the Fall of 1923 and, unlike other metal associations, comprises lead mining, smelting, refining and manufactur ing companies, all under one Association, hr. Crane, the President of tne largest mining company, the Ct. Joseph Lead Company, ;ir. Brownell, President of the American baeiting and Refining Company, the largest smelting and refilling company, and itr. Cornish, then chairman of the largest lead consumer, the National Lead Company, were tne three men most responsible for establishing the Association. Their belief was that the component parts of the lead industry were all vitally interested in many problems relating to the welfare of the lead industry as a whole and that, wit.; com bined efforts greuter and more economic progress could be made in solving them than through individual associations representing miners, smelters, refiners and manufacturers respectively. How well tneir plan has succeeded I an con tent to leave to the record. The work -of the Association concerns itself with the following main sub-aivisions: 1. Statistical - Statistics of both raw materials and finished products are gathered by the Association and dis tributed promptly to all members of the Association. This en ables them to obtain a broad perspective of various related sections and products of the lead industry. g. Legislative - The Lead Industries Association has acted promptly on federal and other legislative matters affecting its welfare saving much duplication of effort. It succeeded early in its career in procuring a change in the drawback laws permitting substitution for drawback purposes, a change that had been attempted individually for 40 years prior to its organization, but without -success. This change in tne law saves our members tnousands of dollars annually. The Association has nelpea to protect tne lead in dustry in tariff matters. It has beer* successful so far in preventing a breach in tne lead tariff structure threatened repeatedly by the reciprocal trade treaty negotiations of the present administration. In N.R.A. days the Association was instrumental in protecting the white lead industry from discrimination in N.R.A. codes by successfully resisting an effort of the paint industry to incorporate white lead in its own code. 0000-NLI-000020447 I0 `8I8Ib[ n Page 2 3. Lead Polsonlng - The Association has suppor ted medical research on lead poisoning at Harvard University ever since its inception. It has devoted and is giving a large amount of time and attention to lead poisoning problems arising in tne use of numerous lead products, which cause the industry a large amount of trouble and unfavorable publicity. Through its efforts a better appreciation of the medical posi tion of lead is being witnessed in the United States, but pro gress is necessarily slow. 4. Publication of "Lead* - The Association pub lishes slxttlmes a year a magazine, "Lead", having a circula tion of 32,000 going to people in a position to specify various lead products. A great many unsolicited complimentary letters from readers make us believe that this project is well worth its cost. 5. Litharge Research - The Association is investi gating the threatened displacement of the use of litharge in the petrolmm Industry for the refining of gasoline. 6*(,aP) ryPmludmUbpinnga^Promotion Program - The Association, primarily at the suggestion of Mr. Beschorman of the National Lead Company, several years ago undertook to see what could be done to save and increase the use of lead in the plumbing and water works field* Starting modestly, the Association now has three field representatives, spends a small amount on adver tising in the trade magazines, publishes a plumbing magazine, "Plumbers' Forum", copy of wnich is attached, and has been successful in definitely restoring lead to tne plumbing codes of dozens of cities, and has been directly responsible for the use of hundreds of tons of lead plumbing goods where they or dinarily would not have been considered. Considering the modest expenditure for this work, averaging about 130,000 per year, end the results obtained, I think it is a good Illustration of whatthe Association can Jointly do on a problem affecting MWV industry, with out duplicating any of the individual member's activities. Without the assistance of the Lead Industries association's campaign, the National Lead Company and other member com panies would have had to devote their own energies and funds to preventing changes in plumbing codes disadvantageous to lead, and working with the master and Journeymen plumbers' associations* work of an indispensable nature* I leave it to your own Imagination as to what the cost would be to in dividual companies if ldft to them for action* program was su(AggetsoteadfrtbrygNrrrt*ugFn. .TM.BmCa.wrteRr aalnadt ftoheaplafitme W- tilhlaisrd s. Maston of the Eagle-Picher Lead Company, and was designed to arouse the lumber industry to the common problem It had, together with the paint industry, of making certain that only Page 3 quality lumber and paint are used In home construction. Here again a program was tackled which individual member companies could not have undertaken. At an expenditure of about $6*000 per year, two and three men have been kept in the field continuously and an extraordinary amount of good-will has been cultivated among the important lumber associations such as, the Western Pine, Bed Cedar Shingle Bureau, Southern Cypress, Redwood and others, wnich I am sure our paint competitors would pay handsomely to have for themselves* I am sure this brought white lead to the atten tion of the lumber industry in a manner which, as the years go by, should help the H&tion&l head Co., and other white lead producers greatly* The cost to us of the campaign has been matched, in great part, by expenditures of lumber com panies for folders, leaflets and other literature on the same objectives. (cl White Lead Program - This program was spon sored by the lead mining companies who have watched with dis may a steady decline in the use of white lead over the past few years despite its wonderful paint qualities* They were willing and anxious to do wh^t they could to correct uthis situation. The White Lesd Promotion Program is a national advertising campaign, not quite a year old. Tne largest part of our funds are Invested in advertising to consumers. A small part of the budget permits collateral activities such as work among the agricultural leaders of an educational nature* field work among the journeyman painters, also among municipalities, counties ana other government users of white lead; publication of auxiliary pamphlets, booklets, broad sides, etc.,; and enlarging our *Iead* magazine to Include white lead articles. The Campaign is too young yet to demonstrate its value to the industry but there are straws in the wind which Indicate already that white lead will be given more attention in many directions than it has heretofore. Competitive at tacks on white lead, adjustment of which so frequently occupied the time of the Secretary, have been conspicuous by their ab sence since the Campaign started. 1<X\ Shaet load Program - Th. A..oci.Uoo h* gathered a vast amount of accurate and authoritative infor mation on the proper application of sheet lead to building construction and is prepared to publish a book giving funda mental details whan, as ahd if the interested members desire to proceed with this program* 7. SfiMlltflffltt - to m >* it* .ctlvltl th. L..4 Industries Association has only attempted to engage in work which would not duplicate any activity of an individual member company* Promotional activities, which now comprise a large 0000-NLI-000020449 n Page 4 part of Its budget, are based upon the assumption that the lead mining Industry should be prepared to shoulder the burden of the fundamental promotional work necessary to insure the continued use of the various lead products, and to offset the competition of other metal products serving the same markets* The lead mining companies have always been keenly interested in the many uses to which lead is put and the fact that they are now so closely allied with tne manufacturers in one association has given them infor mation and a point of view that they ordinarily would not have possessed. Indeed, there is no other metal industry, outside of the monopolies, or near-monopolies, aluminum and nickel, where one will find the cooperation and solidarity of thinking that now exists in the lead industry. X think It speaks well for the future of lead* 0000-NLI-000020450