April 17, 1919] 



NATURE 



29 



ting: up new, or developing: existing-, industries, 

 having- reg-ard to the financial facilities necessary 

 for success. 



The Committee recognises that many engineer- 

 ing- firms in this country are threatened with 

 serious financial trouble from the difficulty of 

 raising new capital, and the pressure of the muni- 

 tions levy and the excess profits taxation. It finds 

 that in some branches the industry has not kept 

 pace with the demands ol customers, and that 

 users have been driven to purchase more 

 up-to-date machinery in foreign markets. The 

 principal remedies for this appear to be more 

 si:)ecialisation and standardisation in the produc- 

 tion of individual firms. Both tend to facilitate 

 manufacture in quantities and so reduce cost. The 

 Committee also emphasises the importance of 

 scientific and industrial research, and regards with 

 satisfaction the formation of associations in some 

 trades for that purpose, assisted by grants from 

 the Department of Scientific and Industrial Re- 

 search. 



Over much of the field surveyed, the resources 

 for production in this country appear to be ade- 

 quate. But there are cases where articles which 

 could well be manufactured here were, before the 

 war, obtained wholly or in great part from abroad. 

 To take a few examples. Milk-testing appliances 

 were obtained exclusively from Switzerland. Ger- 

 many had captured most of the trade in white- 

 metal spoons and forks. Lathe and drill chucks, 

 gear-cutting machines, and mechanics' fine tools 

 were, to a large extent, imported from America 

 and Germany. Precision measuring instruments 

 were not adequately made in this country. Elec- 

 trical insulating materials were, to a great extent, 

 if not wholly, imported from abroad, and, although 

 progress has been made in overcoming the de- 

 ficiency during the war, the opinion of the industry 

 is that much research work is necessary, and that 

 for success the manufacture must receive State 

 assistance. 



The market for tool-room and precision lathes 

 has been almost entirely in the hands of foreign 

 manufacturers, and that for the remarkable class 

 of watchmakers' lathes, with hundreds of inter- 

 changeable fittings, is wholly in the hands of 

 German firms. 



Some branches of industry, especially the elec- 

 trical industry, complain of the effect of unre- 

 stricted imports. It is pointed out that the in- 

 security of the home market, due to the fact that 

 foreign products can be introduced and sold 

 at an unreasonable price, discourages the invest- 

 ment of capital, and seriously hampers the 

 development of home manufacture. Foreign 

 makers of electrical plant, protected in their home 

 markets by tariffs, produce on a larger scale and 

 lower cost than the British manufacturer ; in face 

 of such conditions the industry cannot be expected 

 to thrive. Magnetos before the war were entirely 

 produced in Germany. During the war they have 

 been quite successfully made here. But the ex- 

 clusion of German magnetos is demanded for a 

 period after the war except under licence and with 

 NO. 2581, VOL. 103] 



a duty on import. Protection or Government 

 support is asked for in many cases. No doubt 

 there are industries so important and so valuable 

 as a means of training skilled workers that a 

 claim of this kind is justified. The clock and 

 watch manufacture seems to be such a case. But 

 such claims must be carefully considered, in view 

 of the fact that it is one of the objects of the 

 Peace Conference to remove, so far as possible, 

 all economic barriers. 



It is clear from the report of the Sub-Committee 

 dealing with scientific apparatus that the country 

 has been backward in developing this vital 

 industry, affecting research, education, and 

 many other industries. The Committee re- 

 commends that for ten years scientific apparatus 

 should not be imported except under licence, which 

 should be granted and continued only so long as 

 British apparatus is not available at reasonable 

 prices. The following list gives some of the cases 

 examined by the Sub-Committee : Balances and 

 barometers largely obtained from Germany and 

 sold under the names of English dealers ; photo- 

 graphic apparatus supplied in large numbers by 

 Germany and the United States ; dividing engines 

 supplied chiefly by Switzerland ; drawing instru- 

 ments derived chiefly from Germany ; micrometers 

 and measuring instruments largely supplied by the 

 U.S.A.; physical apparatus obtained from 

 Germany and sold under the names of English 

 dealers ; photographic lenses, which formerly came 

 from Germany and France, might be manufac- 

 tured here ; also microscopes supplied largely from 

 Germany. 



It is stated that there are classes of 

 articles imported which are made in such large 

 quantities, and have such manufacturing and 

 inventive resources behind them, as to make 

 competition extremely difficult. In such cases, if 

 the manufacture is to be developed in this country, 

 it appears to be necessary that State assistance 

 should be given towards overcoming the difficulty 

 of competition. It is also recommended that 

 Government Departments and public authorities 

 should make it a practice to place orders for 

 standard goods of British manufacture, and also 

 have in view the desirability of encouraging the 

 production of articles of new and improved types. 



DR. HENRY WILDE, F.R.S. 



DR. HENRY WILDE, whose death was an- 

 nounced in Nature of April 3, was a man 

 of remarkable individuality and a pioneer in elec- 

 trical engineering. He was born in Manchester 

 in 1833. During his apprenticeship he experi- 

 mented with voltaic cells, electrical machines, elec- 

 trical kites, and the electro-deposition of metals. 

 He soon realised the great commercial possibili- 

 ties of the applications of, electricity,, and he 

 decided, when, he was twenty-three years of age, 

 to commence in business as a telegraph engineer 

 and li^fhtning-conductor expert. Several years 

 were devoted to the invention of a magneto-elec- 

 ) trie alphabetic telegraph. Experiments with elec- 



