SELECTED BRITISH INDUSTRIES

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 66

SELECTED BRITISH INDUSTRIES

m ~ BOOTMAKING MACHINERY. By Db. A. Shadwell. Although improvements are being con- ' tinually introduced, the main processes of bootmaking by machinery has been practically mastered in the United State* more than 30 years ago, and it was then only a matter of time when economic pressure would compel British manufac- , turers to^ follow suit. When they began to do so some 20 or 25 years ago they found themselves dependent- on American machinery, and, as the conversion from hand-work to machine progressed, that bondage increased with it. So far as- it was due to the superior alertness of the | Americans and to prior occupation of the field, it was the legitimite reward of ' capacity, and on the same footing as the f dominance of the Lancashire makers of cotton, machinery ' and the Yorkshire makers of wool and worsted machinery. Other countries, including - the United I States, have to bay their machinery because it is the best, and its superiority ' is so marked ' that it can overcome the I barrier of .protective tariffs, while foreign j machinery is hardly thought of in those ' trades at Home. The contrast between them and the boot trade is worth noting; it prevents us from laying too much blame on the British patent laws, however defective, for our failure in the latter, for cotton and wool machinery have been under precisely the same disability. Yet , we took the lead in them, and have , kept it to this day against the world. It has also been shown that lack of native inventiveness in boot machinery cannot be credited with the failure. In short, it was due mainly to supineness and want of enterprise on the part both of boot makers and machinery makers. The people of the Midlands, where the boot trade is chiefly carried on, have plenty of energy, but they have not always shown the same industrial capacity as the North. Of late years, however, their thraldom to the United states has had another oause. The English machinerymakers were not long content to let the trade go by default, and presently they set-to work to compete more energetically with the Americans in supplying boot machinery for the Home market. Their success is attested by the fact that the American makers were forced • to resort to; tactics which cannot be called legitimate competition. The large combination called the. United Shoe Machinery Company, which, has its < headquarters in Boston, had obtained con- , trol of the Asverican trade in the usual manner, and established a branch in. Leicester, under the name of the British United Shoe Machinery Company (Ltd.), for the supply of American machinery to British By taking out patents in this country, they were abls

it to protect their machines though mad( * in the United States j so that they could '» bring to bear all the advantages of theii l r highly developed resources in factorj ; equipment and accumulated capital against j the comparatively small and struggling i. native concerns. With regard to patents h it is to be observed that all the mastei >- patents in boot machinery have long since if run out, but it is always possible to retail a control by the introduction of small im- * provements, and this is constantly done. 6 There is nothing illegitimate in the a&e vantages possessed Ijy American machinery „ makers in consequence of their superioi a development and equipment, thought it [1 is not to the benefit of any country that o. patents held in it should only be workei outside. But the American combination 5 > went very much further than that. H I attempted to obtain control of the entire . : trade by buying up some English makers r and freezing out others through the r system of leasing machines %o boot manu8 facturers under peculiar conditions. 6 j TflE ROXAI/TY, SYSTEM. ■ 1 Under this system machines are not sold * to the manufacturer, but are merely 3 leased, and h* pays a royalty on the working. It offers him certain advantages. b For instance, the makers or their agents - will send an experienced hand to show how b a machine works, or to' put it in order, if i necessary, and will provide an experienced ■• workman as a temporary substitute if the ' _ usual man who works it is taken ill or if a vacancy occurs for any other reason. But, on the other hand, the royalty worKa r out in many , cases at an excessively f burdensome cost, and — what is much ,) worse — the terms of the lease tie tha b manufacturer who signs it hand and foot. It is impossible to go fully into the terms, which are very intricate, and have repeatedly undergone modifications, always apparently in the direction, of increased stringency. One of these leases contains ilB lengthy clauses. They are extremely - j ingenious, and not only tie the manufaoturer to that machine for 20 years, s but by means of various " linking" prol visions practically compel him to hand i over the supply and control of the whole r of his plant, other than ordinary sewing t maohines, to the British United Shoo i Machinery Company in perpetuum. Hia 1 only way of escape is to rescind the con1 tract under 60 days' notice} and what . happens then or on any attempt at Tevolt 5 will be indicated presently. ' It is evident that no man would sign * such a contract unless he felt himself i absolutely compelled. His condition is * slavery; the state pf.a tied publichouse f is nothing to it. That, however, is hia ; own affair. What is not his own affair ' is that this system makes him. a party to . the boycotting of British machinery- Thai. i is the most important feature of it from r j ihe present point of The holder of F ' a royalty machine for a given process i pledges himself hot only to use that I machine and no other for that process ;. and as many of the same as he has wonfor, but also not to use it on boots or parts of boots on which the preceding process has been performed by the machines of any other maker. For instance, the lease of a machine for putting in screws contains this provision : Neither the. said machinery nor any part thereof shall be used in the manufacture of any boots or shoes unless such boots or - shoes have been lasted upon lasting machines leased by the lessor to the lessee, and upon all of which ; machines the lessee is continuing to pay to the lessor rental at the rates reserved ; by the leases under which the same are held. . . : Since the same clause binds the manufacturer to do all the "screwing work in his factory with British United machines, ho is -hereby compelled to use only their lasting machines as well) and so on through other processes. Other makers i are almost completely excluded. More- ' over, .the lease gives the British United ; Company and its agents the run of the factory.- They " shall at .all times have access to the said machinery for the purpose of inspecting it or watching its use and operation, or of altering, repairing,' improving, or adding to it, or determining the nature or extent of its use." And therein lies more-' than appears" on -the surface; for this power gives the company's ' agents opportunities of pressing other machines on the manufacturer, if not of , compelling hhh to take them, which competitors do not possess. BRITISH MACHINERY. The fact 'that British machinery makers have been able to stand up at all against this form of competition is a gratifying proof of their vigour and vitality. It { cannot be said that they have flourished greatly, but they have kept going and made some way. Hence, presumably, the increasing severity of the leasing condi- ; tions. They have been helped by some boot manufacturers who havexnot bowed j the neck or have thrown^ off the yoke, j but they complain that, the manufacturers as a whole have been and still - are , obsessed by the idea that American i machinery is indispensable. That was pro-- j Jbably the case once, and it was so impressed upon their minds that they have not yet thrown off the idea, though it no longer boias good. Tho manager of one of the leading boot factories in Leicester, in showing the writer round the work- , rooms, filled with American machinery, pointed out one in particular as indispensable. " There is," he said, "no other machine which will do that work." It - was a welting and stitching machine. The , i next day in an equally large or larger ! factory in Northampton, the writer saw j an English* machine, of different design, made by the Standard Rotary Machine Company (Ltd.), of Rushden, performing this identical process. The man who was operating it, who would have been the first to complain if it were not up to the mark because his earnings would suffer, informed me that it was quite as good as the American machine for every class of work except the lightest kind of ladies' boots. They . had 17 of these machines wjjrkiftg in. that

c factory, which is fully equipped with 1 English machinery supplied mainly by the r Rushden company. It is a factory which J revolted from the control of the British i United about four years ago. The owners I are Messrs C. and E. Lewis, two brothers, '■> natives of Northampton, and originally r workmen, who started for themselves and > gradually built up one of the largest and 1 most successful boot manufacturing busi- - nesses in the world. They had American • machines on the royalty system, and one • day the British United Company took exi 1 ception to the presence of an English f machine. Messrs Lewiß did not ccc why * they should remove it, and promptly received a peremptory notice demanding the I return of all the leased machinery within 1 12 hours. This drastic method of com- !■ polling obedience put them in great straits, » as it was obviously intended to do. To 1 turn out the bulk of the machinery in a * busy factory at a few hours' notice is an " ordeal that few manufacturers would face; I but they decided to run the risk rather ' than give in, -and returned the leased ' machines, replacing them with others. r Their courage has been justified by results. " They have done better without the American machines than with them ; their boots ! are admitted to be of the highest quality, ' and the. relief .from the- royalty system is ■ so advantageous that they dan sell at an [ extremely low price and at the same time ' pay higher wages — one man was earning : £4 -a week — -and also reduce the hours of work. This is not surprising when the 1 effect of the royalties is estimated. On ' one machine the manufacturers would have 1 had to pay 2£d per 1000 stitches under i the royalty system, and the man working it could make 1000 stiches in 10 minutes, 1 so that the charge would, have been 166 " an hour; on another it was 3£d per 1000 [ stitches, which could be made in eight minutes, representing over 2s an hour. 1 These rates" paid for a period of 20 years ' bring the 'cost of the machines up to several thousand pounds, and then they 1 are not the property of the manufacturer. j ! THE NEW PATKNT ACT. ' The whole situation will be altered when ; the new Parent Act comes into operation > this year. By section 36 the clause in a '■ lease excluding the use of other machines i is rendered invalid; and by section 27 a patent may be revoked if the article is not manufactured "to an adequate extent" in this country. The effect will be to reduce th\e British United Company ; to the level of fair competition with the English makers.- Its works, which have 1 hitherto been used chiefly for -fitting and; reoairs, are being enlarged and equipped for . production. It has no doubt done some manufacturing here before, -but it is now going to do a great deal more, which will oe a good thing all round. As for the English makers, the evidence of vitality and capacity they have given 1 in adversity warrants the 'hope' that 'they will make good use of their improved 1 opportunities, and convince more boot manufacturers that American machines are not indispensable. The works at Rushden mentioned above are a sign of vigour ; they have only been built a few years, and are fully equipped with the most modern plant (chiefly American) for pro- ! ducing all necessary kinds of boot machinery. They are under the expert direction of Mr Mark T. Denne. Gimson and Co. (Ltd.), of Leicester, have also proved the capacity of their works and staff to produce not only a complete working equipment, but machines of great originality and value. This company has sent out to the Ameer of Afghanistan the entire oufit for a' complete boot factory , for making all kinds of boots, with power plant and all accessories; the whole being designed by Mr S. Keats and made at Leicester under his direction. There are also other machinery works, which may be expected to develop under the new condi- ■ tions. — London Times.