ROMANCE OF INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 April 1921, Page 11

ROMANCE OF INDUSTRY.

ONE MILLTON POUNDS FOR KNOWING HOW.

The Awakening of Industry for the Need for Scientific Research.

London, March 4. “Some time ago a certain works in Lancashire had considerable difficulty with one of its engines. The old engineer had left some time before and a younger had taken hie place, and the difficulty could not be overcome. It struck the managers and directors of the works that it would be a good thing to ask the old engineer to come back and see what he could do. “He came back and very soon put the matter right, and his bill of costs read: ‘To 10 hours at sb much an hour, so much,’ and at the bottom: ‘£lo. Total: £l2 7s 6d.’ He was asked what the item of £lO was for, and his reply was: ‘That is for knowing how.’ That was really the. reason why research should be encouraged—so that people could get to ‘know how.’—Mr. W. Greenwood, M.P. “It is only in recent years that experience has taught us the truth that an Englishman who does not put his brains into his business is not so efficient as a foreigner who does. The proposition appear# to be self-evident, but its truth is even yet not universally adopted.” “We are often inclined to blame this or that branch of industry for not having the value of new discoveries to be exploited by foreigners. In this we are laying the blame on the wrong shoulders; it should properly be laid on the shoulders of those responsible for the neglect of education in this country, since it is only by education that the average man can have his imagination quickened into life; and without living imagination it is impossible to picture even faintly what the future will be like.” —A. Abbott, M.A., of the Departmp”t of Scientific and Industrial Research.

A FINE STORY. One million pounds have been devoted by the Government to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Mr. A. Abbott, M.A., the Assistant Secretary of this important Department, has just given to the Royal Society of Arts an extraordinarily interesting account of what his Department sets out to do, and why there is immediate need for its work if we are to keep our place in the world of industry. He began by a striking object lesson—the. swift industrial development of Germany which was not welded into a coherent unit until after 1870. She had not, like Great Britain, a skilled population, easy access to raw materials and overseas markets, and long experience of the needs of Colonial and foreign buyers; she had not, like the United States, enormous natural resources and a ready home market.

WHAT GERMANY DID. “How was Germany to set about her task? With what weapons was she to equip herself? There was only one way and only one weapon, and neither Great Britain nor the United States had ever found the way or tried the weapon. This was left to the rulers of industrial Germany, who made the most skilful and vigorous use of their complete realisation of tne fact that ‘knowledge is power.’ “By every means at their disposal they added to their knowledge and thus increased their power, and their reward has been swift. The industrial progress of Germany between 1870 and 1914 is amazing to anyone who does not realise the potency of the means she employed to secure it. As the result of a wellconsidered policy, steadiljr pursued, she has become supreme in certain industries whose prosperity depends on a combination of wide and prolonged education with organised scientific research. Tn the task of carrying on research for the benefit of industry she has made the fullest use of the capacity of the German for diligent, painstaking work and of his ability to work under capable direction as a loyal member of a team.”

THE TASK BEFORE US. Mr. Abbott then went on to describe what is being done in this country— a. plan for giving fresh and more vigorous life to our industries by the systematic and continuous infusion of new knowledge gained by methods which have amply proved their worth in the time of our greatest need. “We have still a great task before us, how great can scarcely be realised; but the knowledge that our total national expenditure during the period between 1914 and 1920 actually exceeded our total national expenditure during the two and a quarter centuries between 1688 and 1914 gives us some notion. “At a very early stage of the war the British Government saw clearly the direction in which our industries must move if we were to maintain our national prosperity, and accordingly in 1915 they established a Committee of the Privy Council to make arrangements for encouraging the application of science to industry. By the end of 1916 the scheme was sufficiently advanced to justify the Government in setting up the present Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and in placing at its disposal a capital sum of a million pounds for the purpose of making grants to Industrial Research Associations, established in accordance with the conditions laid down. THEY FQLLOWED OUR EXAMPLE. “The country was the first to adopt measures of this kind. Its example has been followed by Australia, Canada, South Africa, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and the United States of America; the movement for the organisation and encouragement of scientific research with a view to utilising in the best way possible the materials and forces at the disposal of mankind may therefore be described as world wide. In no two of these countries are the schemes identical; and this is natural, since each country must frame its plans in harmony with its traditions and in accordance with its needs and conditions.

“It was the swift development of mechanical inventions and the rapid growth of industry that enabled our predecessors to free themselves from the debt incused during the long Napoleonic War* To look forward to new inventions for gaining some relief from the burden of debt that lies so heavily upon us at the present time is therefore not unreasonable. EPOCH-MAKING INVENTIONS. “But epoch making inventions cannot now be made by unlearned men, working alone and with slender means. At this stage in our industrial history they I can usually only be made by trained men, working in well-equipped laboratories, I with full access to existing knowledge land with ample resources: often indeed when tha task is complex, they can only

be made by teams of workers directed by men of the wildest knowledge and most varied experience. “It is for this reason that the encouragement given by the British Government to industrial research has assumed its present form. The scheme was not formulated until after the most careful consultation both with men of science and with manufacturers. A MILLION GRANTED.

“The Government decided to encourage separate industries to organise themselves for the purpose of carrying out research co-operatively With this object they instituted the present scheme for the establishment by industries themselves of non-profit sharing companies, registered under the Companies Acts, and having powers to carry on research and to aid education. These companies are known as research associations.

“To such associations as are approved by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, a grant from the Million Fund i<s made annually for a period of five years. At the end of that time the grant ceases.

“If British industries had realised years ago tJ*e value to themselves of scientific resea* ch, the grant of a huge capital sum by Parliament would not have been necessary; the industries would have organised research without any State grant and would have seen that it was properly and efficiently carried out. The purpose sf the grant is not to maintain over an indefinite period co-operative schemes of research: its purpose is to demonstrate by actual experiment that money spent with proper care by industries on the scientific investigation of their technical problems is not a mere speculation which may or may not yield results of value, but, with reasonable care and diligence, provides a safe and remunerative investment. In other words, the grant is intended to educate and stimulate; that is all.

“Since it would be sheer waste of money sorely needed for many other national purposes tn make a grant for a period insufficient to test the. value to an industry of the work of a Research Association, the Government scheme demands that before any grant becomes payable to an Association arrangements shall be made for the continuance of the work for five years. “In the majority of industries tne actual subscription of a member of a Research Association is an extremely small charge on his business, especially when one remembers that it is regarded by the Board of Inland Revenue as a ‘business cost’ to be deducted from profits before Income Tax and Excess Profits Duty are calculated. “In some cases, the subscription paid by firms is smallei than the premium against fire insurance, though loss by fire is an uncertain risk, while loss through ignorance is as certain as death. FINDING MEJjT.

“No scheme, however well planned, can be efficiently carried out unless there is an adequate supply of trained men available. In the past the rewards offered to research workers in industry have not been great and the demand for ouch workers has been comparatively small. How are Research Associations to be staffed, It is obvious that this problem is very pressing, since the staffing of Research Organisations by second rate men .would inevitably result in the failure of the scheme. Indeed the result would be even more far reaching, since it would delay or p.ssibly prevent altogether the employment of research workers by individual firms on anything I, . e . scale that the conditions of British industry demand. It is in order to meet the general need for men and women trained in research that the Department devotes annually a considerable sum of money from the Parliamentary Vote to the provision of Post-graduate Studentships for students recommended by their professors as being suitable for training. It is expected that many cf these students will, on the completion of their training devote themselves to scientific invest!gation.

“When the Government undertook to aid industrial research its action was based on the belief that its assistance would be of little value unless research in pure science was also aided. Provision is, therefore, made by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for enabling men of science to continue individual investigations, whether these have any industrial bearing or : hitherto most of the investigations aided in this way have had, so far as can be judged, only a theoretical interest. pvhat does the Government expect to geo in return for the public funds expended in this -way? The answer to this question is that the knowledge gained will be utilised for nai.’onal purposes.’*’

23 RESEARCH ASSOCIATIONS. The mere . list of twenty-three Research Associations now in being gives some idea of the wide scope of industry which is dependent upon scientific research, and the -fact that so many industries have formed Research Associations is obviously a most hopeful fact for the future. Here is a bald list of the trades which have their own Research Association.

Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades, Cotton Industry, Sugar Trade, Iron Manufacturers, Motor and Allied Manufacturers, Photographic Trades, Portland Cement, Woollen and Worsted Industries, Scientific Instrument Trade, Rubber and Tyre Manufacturers, Linen Industry Research Association, Glass Industry, Cocoa, Chocolate, Sugar Confectionery and Jam Trades, Non-Ferrous Metals, Refractories Association, -Scottish Shale Oil, Music Industries, Leather Trades, Launderers’ Electrical and Allied Industries, Silk, Motor Cycle and Cycle Oar, Cutlery.

SEEKERS AND FINDERS.

Mr. Abbott concluding his paper said:— “A very great Englishman of action— Oliver Cromwell—said: ‘To be a Seeker is ke of the best Sect next to a Finder: for such a one shall every humble, faithful Seeker be at the end.* “Of the truth of this there can be no doubt. Patience will be needed, as results of value are usually |slow in coming. It would be just as reasonable to expect a coal mine to pay a dividend from the day on which the first sod was cut as to expect a Research Association to make discoveries of commercial value before it has had time to survey its field of research, and investigate thoroughly some portion of that field. “It is quite certain, however, that if Research Associations choose the right men, equip them suitably and Set their faces in the right direction, lasting benefit will result, not only to the industries concerned, but to the nation as a whole.”