94 NATURE 

’ 
of the Chemical Industries,” advocates combina- 
tion between different branches of industry, 
elimination of home competition, efficient adver- 
tising, the employment of highly trained chemists 
and engineers, reducing the cost of production, 
and finally some measure of protection. Sir 
George Watson, who also writes on ‘‘ Chemistry 
and Industry,” lays stress on the importance of 
highly trained chemists and the vaiue of protec- 
tion or some form of financial assistance for the 
newer industries. Mr. J. Taylor Peddie, in his 
review of “British Imperialism and German Cul- 
ture,” points out that although German ideals 
have been established upon sound democratic and 
Christian principles, and have had a vital, sustain- 
ing, and elevating influence, these ideals have been 
momentarily wrecked on the rocks of feudalism, 
absolute monarchism, and militarism. He realises 
Germany’s intellectual superiority, for which we 
have no substitute, and demands organisation un- 
restricted by the State, which is too much 
dominated by the political party system. In a 
second brochure on ‘Finance and Industry” the 
same writer. finds Germany’s great commercial 
progress to be primarily due to the development 
of its financial system, and instances the advan- 
tages which the banks offer by advancing loans 
to industrial undertakings. 
It will be seen from this rather brief epitome 
that whilst the writers unite in pointing out the 
unsatisfactory position of our industries, especially 
those into which science largely enters, they are 
not quite unanimous, either in regard to the cause 
of or the remedy for the present state of affairs. 
It is no doubt true that our chemical industries 
have in the past been hampered by absurd duties 
and still more absurd patent laws, and _ that, 
speaking generally, the scientific industries have 
received little sympathy or encouragement from 
any Government, past or present. It is also true 
that German commercial acumen, not always over 
scrupulous, has succeeded in wresting from us a 
good deal of foreign trade. In this connection 
we are reminded of a chapter in Bagot’s “My 
Italian Year,” in which he describes how Germans 
have established themselves, as well as their 
goods, in the larger Italian cities, and that much 
of the trade formerly carried on by us has passed 
into their hands. All this is true enough, but 
there is another side to the picture. Our chemical 
industries have failed to prosper not because Ger- 
many has had special advantages in the use of 
cheap alcohol, or in its patent laws, or in its 
financial system or in its protective tariff, but 
because in recent years these industries have 
passed into the hands of men who have had no 
proper chemical training. 
So long as this exists the industry will be run 
by rule-of-thumb methods; no advance can be 
made, because nothing new is being discovered 
or manufactured; for it must be remembered that 
it is not the old stereotyped products, but the 
novelties that bring the large profits. Where can 
we show such a record as that of the Baden 
Aniline Company, which laid out a million sterling 
NO. 2369, VOL. 95] 


[Marcu 25, 1915 

on experiments carried out by a body of highly 
trained and highly paid chemists working unceas- 
ingly for ten years in elaborating the process for 
producing artificial indigo, which has now nearly 
driven out the natural product? 
We lack knowledge first and last, as well as 
enterprise and that kind of adaptability which 
studies to supply the needs of foreign countries, 
and this applies to others besides the chemical 
trade. We remember an old Lancashire cotton 
weaver, whose trade, once a thriving one, gradu- 
ally fell away because he insisted on always pro- 
ducing the same kind of cloth long after it had 
ceased to be in demand, for no other reason than 
that he had always done so. 
We could point to many other industries which 
to-day are languishing or disappearing for the 
same reason. The heads of these firms do not 
keep pace with the time; they do not keep up any 
pace at all; they stand still. They stagnate in 
a backwater of ignorance, unconscious of the 
rapidly flowing stream of scientific achievement ; 
which must in the future be the guiding current 
in every branch of industry if commercial success 
is to be attained. 
It was announced on Monday that there has 
been such a poor response on the part of sub- 
scribers that the directors of the company British 
Dyes (Limited) do not feel justified in proceeding 
to allotment, and a meeting has been called to 
consider the situation. This state of affairs might 
have been anticipated from the amount of adverse 
criticism to which the Government scheme has 
been subjected. The scheme restricted competi- 
tion at home, but made no attempt to safeguard 
future competition from abroad, and gave no 
guarantee in the constitution of the directorate 
that the industry would be conducted on a sound 
scientific basis. The question is still unanswered 
as to the best and safest means of resuscitating 
this moribund industry (if one may apply these 
terms to describe what has never been really alive 
for the last half-century). 
Every chemist will admit that this is a problem 
which cannot be solved in a hurry. Owing to the 
complex nature of the products and the special 
character of the apparatus and machinery em- 
ployed, a long period of patient experimenting 
under the control of the best chemists and chemi- 
cal engineers that the country can provide will be 
required before success can be attained. It will 
naturally entail a heavy outlay in salaries and 
plant, and probably no profits for a long time to 
come. Who is going to undertake this whilst the 
textile industry with its millions of workpeople is 
starved for the want of dyes? If the country ran 
short of ammunition in the present crisis, the 
Government would at any cost be compelled to 
undertake its production. 
The same kind of national crisis exists to-day 
in the dyeing industry, and the same remedy 
should be applied without further delay. The 
colour-makers have had their opportunity. They 
have been warned for years past what their fate 
would ultimately be if they neglected to develop 
