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[[newspaper clipping of article]]

GREAT GOVERNMENT LABORATORY URGED BY THOMAS A. EDISON

Establishment Might Result in Building Submarines in Week, Civilian Naval Advisory Board Tells House Committee

WASHINGTON, March 15. - Construction of a great Government laboratory for development of submarines, aeroplanes and other war equipment, was advocated before the House Naval Committee today by Thomas A. Edison and other members of the Civilian Naval Advisory Board.
Edison said a properly equipped establishment, costing to begin with $1,500,000, would make possible experiments for standardization of submarine parts, for instance, which might result in enabling builders to turn out a submarine in a week instead of the many months now required.  
The other members of the board who appeared were Howard E. Coffin, W. L. Saunders, A. M. Hunt and Dr. L. H. Baekeland.
TO ASSURE NITROGEN SUPPLY
Dr. Baekeland who was appointed to the board on recommendation of the American Chemical Society, said one of the most important advantages of a laboratory would be that of supplying adequate means for fixation of atmospheric nitrogen for use in making explosives.  The processes used by German chemists, he said, were well known in this country, yet proper steps had not been taken to relieve the United States of its dependence on Chile for its nitrate supply.  
Coffin outlined to the committee a canvass the board is making of the country's industrial resources and how they might be mobilized for defense.  He said a report probably would be ready by May.  Saunders urged that the advisory board be legalized, and Hunt, a civil engineer, read a statement emphasizing the advantages of a laboratory from an engineering standpoint.  
WOULD BE INDUSTRIAL ASSET
The scientists declared that an experimental plant financed by the Government and backed by the best scientific skill of the country would be valuable not alone as a preparedness measure, but would make possible many steps forward in industrial development.  One suggested that great things might be accomplished in perfecting the aeroplane, and another said that a proper application of science to shipping might revolutionize the merchant marine.
It was urged that the proposed laboratory be under administration of the Navy Department, though it might concern itself with many things aside from naval equipment.