CHEMICAL SUPPLIES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2420, 27 March 1915, Page 26

CHEMICAL SUPPLIES

A NEW MARKET FOR ENGLISH MANUFACTURES If there was any field of manufacture ill ivbioh Germany was thought to hold an unassailable position before the war it was in tho manufacture of drugs and chemicals. Since the war broke out New Zealand druggists have had to rely on supplies from lingiand and America, ami the question now is: Can England retain tins lucrative trade? The manager of one of ■ the largest wholesale chemical' linns in JNew Zealand, in tho course of an interview on tile subject, said that iS'ew Zealand supplies had been maiutained by England and America since Germany's output was cut offj but at the beginning of the war tlioy held' large stocks. Ho was of opinion that strenuous efforts would be made by German manufacturers when the war ceased to get back a portion of their • market, 'i'hoy would succeed if England could not meet the demands made for the goods.

That England will make a strong bid for this market is certain. The English "Chemist and Druggist," in an article on the subject, states: "It is not generally realised that our Government scheme which has been evolved for establishing the manufacture of anahne dyes on a large 6cale will also lead .to" the manufacture in this country of many synthetic drugs which, up to the commencement of the war, were obtained from Germany. It is true that the economic importance of throwing off the dominance of- Germany is not so great in pharmacy as it is in the case of the textile industry, but as a matter of national pride alone it is- momentous, because it is certain that trading with Germany cannot in future be carried on with the same cordiality as formerly. "The cry that Britain cannot turn out supplies equal-to those of foreign competitors in this market. is not borne out by facts .which have been disclosed in England, but the point to be stressed is that English manufacturers do not mako goods in Germany, but in tho British Isles, . where the standard of 1 wages is higher and the industrial conditions are more onerous, being more rigidly controlled by statutes. Hence the cost bf-production is in many cases higher. Nevertheless.there arc instances where, given time, British' manufacturers beat all their competitors in quality-and-price."

In' Germany, it was pointed out by .v Wellington :inercfaanfc .who has some knowledge of the conditions, free trade exists in the Empire itself'; that is, there is l freo trade between each State, but that freo trade does not- extend to foreign countries. Hence manufacturers of drugs are enabled to charge a price in Germany for their product which ensures them a profit on their whole output/.half of which, maybe, they sell at a greatly reduced price to English and colonial buyers. To prevent this, a heavy protective duty would bo necessary to allow English goods to compete at a profitable price. The chemical, exports from the United Kingdoni for the last three years amounted- to the following values: — 1912, £21,036,390; .1913, £21,974,386; 1914, £19,529,722. The decline, compared with 1913, is £2,444,664, but taking war conditions into consideration, tho, above figures are held to be by no means unsatisfactory, and among some branches there is great activity due to the closing of (jerman ports. Writing o.i the question' of capturing German trade, and the need of chemical research, Mr. E. Herbert Morris, 'in ■the "Chemist and Druggist" deals with the necessity of getting possession of the capable chemists for research work. "The problem for the future," he says, "is to attract these 'scarce brains,' and enlist them in the service of the chemical. ..industry,. It is a problem which British capitalists, with a few honourable exceptions, have steadily ignored. A young chemist who '6corns delights and lives laborious days' demands something more than a living wage. We have plenty of- gifted chemists among us, and we are credited with being certainly one of the richest nations on earth. The-requisite elements are present, and it will be a -standing reproach to British business acumen and to British enterprise if'at this juncture "no united effort is made to recover-'our lost heritage of supremacy as the chemical manufacturers of the world."

Every effort is now being made in England to meet tho demand for the supply of chemicals, it was pointed out, and it rests, with the people to assist bv the purchase of -these goods, evnn if the price, for a time, should be higher than that obtaining before the war. ■