370 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION B. 



I believe that a brighter day is dawning, and that, if only we rise to the 

 occasion now, chemistry in this country will attain the position of importance 

 which is its due. Meantime it is of no avail to lament lost opportunities or to 

 indulge in unprofitable recrimination ; on the contrary, it should be oui- business 

 to find a remedy for the ' arrested development ' of our chemical industry, and 

 the task of establishing remedial measures should be taken in hand by the State, 

 the universities and the chemical manufacturers themselves. As regards another 

 very large group of interested persons, the consumers of chemical products, or 

 in other words the nation as a whole, it is surely not too much to expect that 

 they have been taught by the course of events since the outbreak of the war 

 the folly of depending solely upon foreign and possibly hostile manufacturers, 

 even although fiscal and other advantages may enable the alien to undersell 

 the home producer. Considering that the future prosperity of the Empire 

 depends largely upon the well-being of its chemical industries, it is simply 

 suicidal to permit these to be crippled or even crushed out of existence by 

 competition on unequal terms. 



The Government has taken a most significant step in advance by appointing 

 an Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and providing it 

 with funds; incidentally, in so doing, it has recognised the past failure of the 

 State to afford adequate support to scientific work. The Advisory Council has 

 lost no time in getting to work and has already taken steps to allocate grants 

 in support of a number of investigations of first-rate importance to industry. 

 In order to be in a position to do justice to the branches of industry concerned 

 in proposed researches which have been submitted by institutions and indi- 

 viduals it has decided to appoint standing committees of experts and has 

 already constituted sUong Committees in Mining, Metallurgy, and in Engineer- 

 ing ; a Committee in Chemistry will no doubt be appointed in due course. The 

 Council also makes the gratifying intimation that the training of an adequate 

 supply of research workers will be an important part of its work. 



It is safe to prophesy that the money expanded by the Advisory Council 

 M ill sooner or later yield a goodly return, and this justifies the hope that the 

 Government will not rest satisfied with their achievement, but will take further 

 steps in the same direction. This desire for continued action finds strong sup- 

 port in the llecommendations made by a Sub-Committee of the Advisory 

 Committee to the Board of Trade on Commercial Intelligence, which was ap- 

 pointed to report with respect to measures for securing the position, after the 

 war, of certain branches of British industry. Of these recommendations 1 

 quote the following : — 



1. Scientific Jnihi.ilridl Itcnarcli and Tniining. [a) Larger funds should 

 be placed at the disposal of the new Connnittce of the Privy Council, and also 

 of the Board of Education, for the promotion of scientific and industrial train- 

 ing, (h) The universities should be encouraged to maintain and extend re- 

 search work devoted to the main industry or industries located in their respective 

 districts, and manufacturers engaged in these industries should be encouraged 

 to co-operate with the universities in such work, either through their existing 

 trade associations or through associations specially formed for the purpose. 

 Such associations should bring to the knowledge of the universities the diflSculties 

 and needs of the industries, and give financial and other assistance in addition 

 to that_ afforded by the State. In the case of non-localised industries trade 

 associations should be advised to seek, in respect of centres for research, the 

 guidance of the Advisory Committee of the Privy Council, (c) An authoritative 

 record of consultant scientists, chemists and engineers, and of persons engaged in 

 industrial research, should be established and maintained by some suitable 

 Government Department for the use of manufacturers only.' 



'2. Tariff Protection. Where the national supply of certain manufactured 

 articles which are of vital importance to the national safety or are essential to 

 other industries has fallen into the hands of manufacturers or traders outside 

 this country, British manufacturers ready to undertake the manufacture of 

 such articles in this country should be afforded sufficient tariff protection to 

 •enable them to maintain such production after the war.' (It is also recom- 

 mended by the Sub- Committee that in view of the threatened dumping of stocks 

 \\h\d\ may be accumulated in enemy countries, the Government should take 



