750 



NATURE 



[February io, 192 i 



optical glass and optical instrument industries is 

 absolutely vital in war. The skilled labour needed 

 for this industry cannot be hurriedly improvised, 

 as it can and was, for example, in the engineering 

 trades. There is no kindred industry from which, 

 for example, the optical glass grinders and 

 polishers can be drawn in time of emergency. 

 The optical glass maker and the optical instru- 

 ment maker require a long training, and if these 

 industries are allowed to decline and another war 

 occurs, we shall find ourselves in a position more 

 dangerous even than was our situation in 1914. 



A flourishing and efficient optical instrument 

 industry is not less vitally important to the nation's 

 peaceful pursuits than it is for purposes of war- 

 fare. The general use of optical instruments in 

 industries is growing and must grow. The in- 

 creasing use of the microscope in the textile and 

 steel industries, and the application of the 

 polarimeter for testing purposes in the sugar 

 and essential oil industries, are but two of many 

 examples that could be cited to show the growing 

 dependence of our great national industries upon 

 the optical instrument industry. The development 

 and perfection of optical instruments and the in- 

 vention of new types in this country will be 

 brought to a standstill unless the instruments are 

 manufactured here, where British inventors and 

 designers can keep in close touch with the manu- 

 facturers. Moreover, this industry, springing 

 directly from the loins of science, and progressing 

 as scientific knowledge widens, is one of the most 

 highly skilled industries we have. Its expansion 

 means a definite increase in -the numbers of tech- 

 nical scientific workers and of the most highly 

 skilled artisans ; and the national wealth, in any 

 comprehensive conception of the term, must be 

 increased by the increase of the numbers of such 

 educated and skilled classes. 



What is the position of these industries to-day? 

 As the Daily Telegraph says in a leading article 

 on January 6: "The industry is again exposed to 

 the full blast of German competition, more formid- 

 able now than ever because of the state of the 

 German exchange." Open competition, in these 

 abnormal circumstances, is impossible. 



There are two main objects which the Bill to be 

 introduced should secure and reconcile. On one 

 hand, if the industry is to be saved, the manu- 

 facturers must be protected from foreign competi- 

 tion aggravated by the state of the exchange ; 

 and, on the other, the users of scientific instru- 

 ments must not be prejudiced or hampered, either 

 by being unable to obtain the best instruments or 

 NO. 2676, VOL. 106] 



by having to pay an extravagant price for them. 

 These apparently conflicting interests are not 

 merely reconcilable ; they are interdependent. If 

 the British optical instrument industry should 

 dwindle and die, the scientific users of instruments 

 will be at the mercy of foreign manufacturers, 

 they will have to pay a heavy price for such de- 

 pendence, and they will be handicapped as com- 

 pared with scientific workers in foreign countries 

 possessing a flourishing scientific instrument in- 

 dustry. Similarly, if the scientific users cannot 

 obtain the best instruments for their work, or if 

 they have to pay an exorbitant price for them, 

 their work will be hampered, their demand for 

 instruments will decrease, and the manufacturers 

 will ultimately suffer. 



The industries, through the British Optical In- 

 strument Manufacturers' Association, ask shortly 

 for the following measures of protection : — 



(i) No optical glass or scientific instruments to 

 be imported into this country for a period of, say, 

 seven years, except under licence. 



(2) Such licences only to be granted in respect 

 of goods which are not being made in Great 

 Britain in the required quantities or of the re- 

 quired quality. 



(3) .\n expert licensing committee to be set up. 



(4) The optical instrument manufacturers are 

 prepared, in order to guarantee reasonable prices, 

 to submit to a control of profits. 



The manufacturers are satisfied and confident 

 that, under such conditions for a limited period, 

 they would be able to establish the optical glass 

 and optical instrument industries on a sound and 

 stable basis, and also be able at the end of the 

 period to meet any foreign competition in the open 

 market. On the other hand, unless they secure 

 this limited protection, it is more than probable 

 — indeed, it is almost certain — that the manufac- 

 ture of optical glass in this country will cease, and 

 that, in consequence, some of the largest British 

 manufacturers of optical instruments will greatly 

 curtail their production. The proposed measures 

 seem to protect adequately the interests of the scien- 

 tific users. Moreover, such a system of control of 

 imports for a limited period seems preferable to 

 anything in the nature of a permanent tariff. It 

 is not likely to have on the industry the emascu- 

 lating effect of a protective tariff ; provided that 

 the period be limited, and that the licensing 

 committee adopt an enlightened policy, pro- 

 hibition of imports, except under licence, is 

 rather calculated to act as a stimulus on the 

 development of the industry. 



There is, finally, one point not dealt with in the 



