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fij^t. 



THURSDAY, Dh.Ch.MBER 9, 1920, 



Editorial and Publishing OffUes: 



MACMILLAN &■ CO.. LTD.. 



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Editorial communications to (he Editor. 



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The Dye Industry. 



FOLLOWING on the agreement which has at 

 last come about between the dye-makers and 

 the dye-user.s, the Cabinet decided, on December i, 

 to introduce a Bill for the protection of Briti.sh 

 ciyestuffs. This was promptly presented to the 

 House of Commons on December 2 by Sir Robert 

 Home, President of the Board of Trade, read a 

 •~«cond time this week on Tuesday, and is ex- 

 pi-cted to be passed into law before Christmas. 



The Bill is quite short, and prohibits the im- 



|j<)rtation into the United Kingdom of all synthetic 



'Ivestuffs, colours, and colouring matters, and all 



'Tganic intermediate products u.scd in their manu- 



);icture, for a period of ten years and no longer. 



I he Board of Trade will, however, have power 

 liy licence to authorise the im|K>rtation of any of 

 these products, and for the purpose of advising 



I I with re.spcct to the granting of licences a 

 ( ommittec will be constituted, consisting of fiVe 



rrsons concerned in the trades in which the above 



_;i)ods are used, three persons concerned in the 



manufacture of such goods, and three other 



ii-rsons not directly concerned in the production or 



:se of dyes. One of the latter three persons will 



be chairman of the Committee. The Board may 



liarge in respect of a licence a fee not exceeding 



'. The Act will not apply to goods imported for 



vportation after transit through the United King- 



lom or by way of transhipment. 



If, as is expected, this Bill is passed into law 

 the British dye manufacturer will be relieved that 

 promises of the Government have been 

 so. 2C16J, VOL. 106] 



deemed, and he may now set himself with re- 

 doubled energy to secure that his products are 

 beyond reproach, and to erect plant for the manu- 

 facture of dyes not yet produced here, which are 

 urgently wanted by the dye-users. Such will, no 

 doubt, be imported under licence for a time, but 

 a period of ten years should be ample for estab- 

 lishing in this country a jjreat industry which will 

 provide every possible requirement of the dye- 

 user, and a combination of chemical manufac- 

 turers, if it can be brought about, ought to place 

 the economic position of this industry beyond fear 

 of attack. 



The great advantages to be derived from co- 

 operation in the dye industry, so well indicated 

 by the great German combination, the " Inter- 

 essengemeinschaft," have evidently been realised 

 in America, for, according to the Times of De- 

 cember I, five of the largest chemical works in 

 the United States— namely, the General Chemical 

 Co., the Semet Solvay Co., the Solvay Process 

 Co., the Barrett Co., and the National .\niline and 

 Chemical Co. — are to merge their interests, and 

 the combination is to possess a capital of about 

 rx),ooo,oooJ. This sum is about as large as that 

 of the German Trust, but the scope of the Ameri- 

 can company will be rather wider, including, as it 

 will, the distillation of coal-tar, the fixation of 

 atmospheric nitrogen, and the manufacture of 

 heavy chemicals. 



This is an important step in the direction of 

 the consolidation of interests in America, and, in 

 view of the protective legislation which is now 

 being considered by Congress, everything points 

 to the firm establishment of the dye industry in 

 that country. The output of dyes is already high, 

 being about 30,000 tons per annum, and the wide 

 interest that is being taken in the field of indus- 

 trial organic chemistry is further shown by the 

 fact that there are nearly 200 firms engaged in 

 the manufacture of crude products, intermediates, 

 dyes, lakes, medicinal preparations, flavouring 

 media, photographic chemicals, .synthetic phenolic 

 resins, synthetic tanning materials, and explosives. 



It is much more important to give attention to 

 developments of this kind than to overemphasise 

 the relation of the dye industry to war products in 

 order to enlist the sympathy of the public for its 

 protection. In an artide in the Observer of 

 December 5 Prof. H. H. Armstrong expresses the 

 opinion that, had the dye-users taken active and 

 financial inli n -t in the British Dyes Corporation 

 during th> od, the present situation would 



robablv not lia\f arisen. 



