“The Surest Augery For Ultimate Success”: The Release of Proprietary Technical Knowledge By U. S. Firms In The Early Twentieth Century

Canadian Review of American Studies Volume 24, Number 2, Sprmg 1994, pp. 61-86 "The Surest Augery For Ultimate Success:" The Release of Proprietary Technical Knowledge By U. S. Firms In The Early Twentieth Century James P. Hull Introduction 61 In 1914, M. C. Whitaker, editor of the Journal o(Industrial and Engineering Chernistry and president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, criticized "the reluctance of many in the chemical industry to share technical knowledge with each other, 11 thus impeding "the Progress of chemical engineering by preventing the free interchange of technical knowledge1' (cited in Rhees 1987, 95). His views were shared by people in a variety of industries, many of whom made calls for such a freer exchange. Some looked to trade or technical associations to mediate such exchanges of knowledge, others also to the universities, perhaps through the continued use of industry sponsored research fellows. James McGibbon of the North American Rayon Corporation, writing a technical piece on crepe fabrics for a technical journal, hoped for similar or complementary work "on the part of dyers and finishers and on the part of machine manufacturers 1 ' (1937, 36-37). Two employees of a ceramic pot manufacturing firm observed "the need of sincere cooperation, mutual criticism and common counsel of the pot manufacturer and the glass maker" (Brownlee and Gorton 1921, 98). A Rochester, New York, boat manufacturer writing on the problems of inland water transportation felt that "shippers, barge builders, engine builders and their associated industries should work out the problem of water tnmsportation 11 62 Canadian Review of American Studies (Lacy 1921, 61). In a paper touting the virtues of gas versus electricity in types of enamelling furnaces, George M. Parker of the Mississippi River Fuel Corporation stressed the need for the gas industry to maintain its competitive position: "Let us continue our experiments, carry on extensive research, and make full use of all facilities at hand for the exchange of research 11 (1937, 8-9). In fact, many facilities were at hand and such free exchange of information had long been a characteristic of U.S. industry (Usselman 1985, 184-89). The effects of the second industrial revolution only enhanced the situation and thus made the exceptions more conspicuous. Many would have agreed with W. K. Hatt when he stated, "against the background of research and a common effort to determine the facts, acrimonious disputes are quieted, mere opinions are held in abeyance under the benign influence of research for the truth" (1922, 29). In this paper, it is my intention to sketch out the dimensions of this 'common effort' through an examination both of specific instances of, and the discourse regarding, the sharing, pooling, or exchange of technical information by and among firms. I am examining not a uniform phenomenon nor one with a single motivation behind it. Rather distinctions may be made along three lines. Some information flows were horizontal among firms in an industry; others were vertical, usually downwards from a firm to its actual or potential customers, but occasionally in the other direction from users to capital goods producers or suppliers. Some information flows aimed at advancing the competitive positions of firms against those of competing firms in the industry, others at advancing the competitive positions of all firms in an industry against those of all firms in competing industries, often those based on different raw materials or fundamentally different processes. Some firms were engaged in the pursuit of immediate, specific objectives while for others (or the same firms at different times) the goals were longer term and more general. Finally, this entire phenomenon is not an isolated one but, as I shall discuss in my conclusion, related to fundamental changes in U. S. industry and, as an object for historical study, relates to broader historiographic questions. These concerns relate most broadly to the nature and meaning of Progressivism. 1 How did business strategies, addressing not finance and trusts but production and competition, relate to the domestic policies of a fames P. Hull/ 63 success10n of conservative Republican administrations? Alfred Chandler (1977) has shown how the visible hand of corporate management came increasingly to substitute for the invisible hand of the...