Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 25 August 1925, Page 2

In connection with a recent cable which stated that the question of the disposal of the Government interests in the British Dye-stuffs Corporation has keen referred to the Civil Research Committee, an English paper stated that at the annual meeting of the corporation, held in .Manchester last month. Major Gillum reniindecT the directors that at the end of the war the Government decided that a dye-making industry must be established, and the public were invited to subscribe capital to build it up, and dye-users to assist it by giving it their trade. The position of those who had invested money in this national concern hat been, and was up to date, deplorable. When they subscribed the public were aware of the Government's hacking, and hail a right to suppose that their investments were not only patriotic ones, hut sound financially. Bill in this short space of time their position had been considerably altered. They knew now that, quite apart from the licenses granted for the importation of roughly 6600 tons of dyestuffs into England during the last, four years from all sources, no less than 7400 tons had been imported as reparation dyestuffs during the same period from Germany, and it had been estimated that the Government had made profits of hundreds of thousands of pounds out of the sale oi those d vest nils. I lit' Government was in partnership with this concern, and had members on the hoard, and the profits the Government had made had not assisted the concern. The shareholders had rcteived no dividend for years. In fact, while the Government hail itoen making profile out of dyestuff's, they had 101 l the producers, shareholders, and users of dyestuff's—all who had attempted to build up this national concern— in the cold.