166 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION B. 



enterprise for the manufacture of dyes aud other coal-tar products. The nego- 

 tiations preceding the formation of the ' British Dyes Co., Ltd.,' have been 

 remarkable as revealing that in the eyes of some, at any rate, special knowledge 

 is a ' dangerous thing,' and, in fact, was deemed sufficient to exclude its 

 possessors from a seat on the directorate. This is all the more remarkable as 

 the history of similar enterprises in Germany shows the 'personnel of the 

 directorates to be made up of university -trained men and, in not a few instances, 

 of professors. So that in Germany academic distinction and theoretic learning 

 are not considered as excluding the possession of commercial acumen and those 

 other aualities needed in a isuccessful man of business. 



In the early stages of the war the demand for explosives was met by the 

 expansion of already existing factories, the increase in staff of which calied 

 for many additional men with chemical training, a call which became unpre- 

 cedented and insistent when the national factories were founded, so that men 

 and women with a chemical training found an opportunity of putting their 

 knowledge at the service of their country. And in not a few instances those 

 who, for financial reasons, had at the close of their college career taken up a 

 less congenial employment were able to return to the practice of chemistry, for 

 which in their student days they had specially fitted themselves. 



In the foreword of the publication ' Eei^orts on Costs and Efficiencies for 

 H.M. Factories,' issued by the Ministry of Munitions, we ai'e told ' when it was 

 decided to commence the erection of new and national factories, and an attempt 

 was made to collect from existing factories the necessary technical data and 

 assistance, did it become evident that, due to the extraordinary demands of the 

 war, there was — practically throughout the entire country — a regrettable lack 

 of available accurate technical data, and an even greater lack of trained technical 

 men — more particularly chemical engineers.' 



To anyone acquainted with the conditions existing in this country in pre- 

 war days, the lack of ' trained technical men ' is no matter of surprise. In 

 fact, one cannot fail to be astonished at the phenomenal development of chemical 

 manufacture which has taken place under the directing influence of Lord 

 Moulton, in response to the call from Army to Navy. That men were found 

 capable of taking a part in these varied undertakings, cannot, at any rate, be 

 credited to the encouragement which the teaching of chemistry or the students 

 of the science had received from those directing industries which employ or 

 should employ the services of chemists. It is no uncommon experience to find 

 the chemist employed simply in the analytical testing of raw materials and 

 manufactured products, and even in the working of processes under their 

 control the potentiality of the chemist is not utilised to the full, as is evident 

 from the following, which is a quotation from the Preface to the brochure, 

 issued by the Ministry of Munitions, to which I have already referred : ' Since 

 the beginning the policy of the Department with regard to our national fac- 

 tories has been to aim at maximum efliciency in respect of cost and usage of 

 materials. 



' For this purpose the greatest efforts have been made to place before all 

 those who are in any way responsible for control full details concerning the 

 working and costs of the factories. This was rather an innovation in the field 

 of chemical manufactui'e, as until comparatively recently, either intentionally 

 or through negligence, it was customary at many chemical plants to keep the 

 chemists in complete ignorance not only, of the cost at their plants but also 

 even of the efficiencies. 



' It is amazing that manufacturers can expect improyements in chemical 

 processes when their chemists are kept in ignorance of such vital facts. 



' It has happened very often that as soon as detailed figures were seen by 

 chemists at a plant, important alterations and improvements have at once been 

 suggested, the need for which would otherwise never have been noticed.' 



The condition of service indicated in the passage quoted, together with the 

 low scale of remuneration which obtained hitherto in chemical industries, help 

 to explain the scarcity of the kind of scientific labour referred to in the quota- 

 tion I have made from the ' Foreword.' 



But are we not told and invited to believe that all this is changed, that the 

 records of the magnificent achievements of British chemists in the war have so 

 educated the people and, may we say, the Government also, that the prac- 



