president's address — SECTION B. 27 



place, there is a danger that ihs purely business inanageraent 

 may not know v/hen expert advice is needed. In the second place, 

 as I once ventured to point out to a gathering of business men, 

 the wise choici of experts itself requires a certain amount of 

 expert knowledge. In the estimation of the average layman the 

 claims of the real expert are liable toi compare unfavorably with 

 those of the quack, because the expert, having a reputation to 

 lose, is unable to promise so^ much. Hence thet quack will probably 

 get the job. Instances where something like this has happened 

 in connexion, fcr example, with State enterprises, will probably 

 be familiar tO' most of us. 



The claim is still too' often made, and received with approval, 

 either explicitly or by implication, that the man whoi is ignorant 

 of scientific or technical matters is for that reason specially fitted 

 to take what is called a " broad view " of them, and therefore to 

 control them. The view he takes will be "broad" enough; but, at 

 the same time, it will be found to be shallow and inaccurate; and 

 the control which he exercises is usually perniciovis. It may be 

 admitted that the ultimate aim of every manufacturing business 

 is to- make money, and that the crucial test- of every process used 

 in that busines.s is whether or not it will pay. Nevertheless the 

 experience of the past generation has shown repeatedly and can 

 clusively that, when the control of a manufacturing business be- 

 comes vested solely in the hands of financial men, the prosperity 

 of that business is in danger. The successful chemical manufac- 

 tures have been those in which chemists and engineers have had a 

 share in the management, whilst those in which the exclusive 

 control has been captured by finance have for the most part gone 

 to the wall. The ontstanding example is, of course, the manu- 

 facture of synthetic dyes in Gennany and Britain respectively. 



The chemist must, however, beware of appearing to' claim that 

 in industrial matters he can supersede the business man. The 

 successful conduct of a manufacturing business demands an inti- 

 mate knowledge of buying and selling and of finance, which the 

 chemist has seldom had the opportunity or the aptitude to acquire. 

 The combination in the same individual of high scientific and 

 technical attaijiment with acute business and financial capacity, 

 although occasionally met with, is too rare to be counted as a 

 normal factor in every-day practice. On the other hand, the 

 dividing line between chemists and engineers is becoming less 

 strongly marked. That growing and already important class of 

 experts, the engineer chemists or chemical engineers, having a 

 working knowledge of both chemistry and engineering, have shown 

 themselves eminently qualifi.ed for such tasks as the planning of 

 works and for positions of control. But. in the nature of things, 

 it is not possible for any engineer chemist to have a complete 

 mastery of both branches, so that in the working out of details, 

 and especially for research, he will frequently require the help 



