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555 



THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1915. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF DYESTUFFS IN 



BRITAIN. 



A Summary and ax Appeal. 



THE speech of Lord Moulton in Manchester 

 on December 8, 1914, was a notable event, 

 even in these days of strenuousness and surprise. 

 For although he was careful to disclaim any official 

 sanction of the views he expressed, it was common 

 knowledge that the Govern m*ent had requisitioned 

 his services in investigating the question of the 

 shortage of dyestuffs, and had based its policy 

 largely on the advice he gave as the outcome of 

 his investigation. 



The general outline of the crucial position in 

 which the British textile trades are placed at the 

 present time is well known. At least 1,500,000 

 operatives are engaged in the various branches 

 of the trade, which has an annual value of 

 20o,ooo,oooZ. Nearly the whole of this vast 

 industry depends for its commercial success up>on 

 the use of dyestuffs, which cost about 2,000,000!. 

 per annum, and only about 10 per cent, of the 

 necessary quantity of dyestuff is made in this 

 country. Before the war, between 80 and 90 per 

 cent, of our dye-wares was imported from Ger- 

 many, and this supply is now entirely cut off. 

 Unless, therefore, immediate steps are taken 

 greatly to increase our national output and the 

 supply from neutral countries (chiefly Switzer- 

 land), a catastrophe will very quickly overtake 

 the great textile and associated industries. 



The magnitude, gravity, and imminence of the 

 crisis clearly pointed to the necessity for Govern- 

 ment action, and a "Chemical Supplies Com- 

 mittee " was appointed to confer with the Board 

 of Trade on the position. This committee in- 

 cluded a number of well-known chemists, and 

 manufacturers and users of chemicals and dye- 

 stuffs. The investigations of Lord Moulton and 

 of this committee are understood to have formed 

 the basis from which the offer of the Government 

 was developed, but the committee was apparently 

 not responsible for the details of the scheme for the 

 establishment of a large Joint-Stock Dye Manu- 

 facturing Company, which was made public on 

 December 22, 1914. 



Prior to this, on December 10, 1914, a meeting 

 of large users of dyes was held at the Board of 

 Trade, at which a resolution was unanimously 

 passed welcoming the assistance of the Govern- 

 ment in a national effort to increase the British 

 NO. 2360, VOL. 94] 



supply of dyes. A small committee, representa- 

 tive only of the users of dyes, was appointed, 

 and elaborated the scheme to which reference has 

 already been made for the formation of a manufac- 

 turing company. 



An influential committee, appointed by the 

 Society of Dyers and Colourists, has also made 

 exhaustive inquiri-es on the technical side and has 

 accumulated much valuable information. 



It is well known that the difficulties involved 

 in establishing on a permanent basis the manu- 

 facture of dyes on a scale adequate to supply our 

 needs are enormous, and that without Government 

 or legislative assistance they might well prove in- 

 surmountable ; and the action of the Government 

 in proffering such broad-minded and generous 

 support has received, as it deserved, the recog- 

 nition of all parties. 



The German colour industry is probably the 

 most complicated, most highly developed, and 

 most profitable of all her great industries. The 

 capital invested in it is about i2,ooo,oooZ., and 

 the German exports of dyes and associated products 

 in 1912 were valued at io,6oo,oooZ. The organisa- 

 tion, both for production and for marketing and 

 distribution, is wonderfully efficient, and above 

 all the Germans have long realised that in this 

 branch of industry the scientific mind and scientific 

 method must be predominant, not only in the 

 laboratory and in the works, but in the manage- 

 ment. The boards of directors of their large 

 works are virtually committees of technical and 

 commercial experts who are in intimate touch 

 with the respective branches of the works of which 

 they have special knowledge. In a word, the 

 trained man of science has in these works come 

 to his own, and a proper recognition of the 

 necessity of this is vital to the development of 

 the British colour industry-. 



The reasons for the predominance of Germany 

 in this particular industry have been frequently 

 and variously stated, but it is now generally con- 

 ceded that there is no lack of highly-trained 

 chemists in this country competent to build up a 

 commercially successful enterprise. With regard 

 to other factors, we have, of course, a super- 

 abundance of the coal-tar products which form the 

 basis of the manufacture, but the manufacture of 

 certain essential reagents, e.g., fuming sulphuric 

 acid, though already existing, may have to be 

 increased. 



Government assistance will be required in regard 

 to the provision of cheap alcohol, and the re- 

 sources and skill of the chemical engineer will be 



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