ECONOMICS OF WAR.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16359, 2 November 1918, Page 11

ECONOMICS OF WAR.

WORK OF- THE PAPER CONTROLLER.

(TOOK OtTR OWN CORRESrONPENT.) LONDON, September o. Some of the methods by which a complete famine in paper was averted and the ingenuity shown in the utilisation of straw, sawdust) and other humble • materials in the manufacture .. ol paper, are told in "World's Work." A year ago stocks were almost exhausted, and the overseas supply of materials ■was cut down to a minimum. The negative policy of enforced economy was in operation when Mr H. A. Vernet took charge as Paper Controller. He and his, advisers at once set about finding new materials and substitutes to heTp out the supply of wood-pulp, which is the mainstay of paper manu-. facture. The waste paper campaign has resulted in thousands of tons being collected.every month. Many mills now use 25 per cent, of it along with woodpulp. ' Experiments with sawdust have been successful, and newspapers have beoti printed on paper largely composed of it. Trials are now being made, with straw from the harvest fields, oat husks, and even potato stalks, . which, it is hoped, can be used a?, diluents. The paper situation still demands the most rigoroiis economy. Every piece,' of whatever kind, must be saved and sold for repulping. Ti it had not been for the measures taken many people would have no newspapers at all. PAPER PL'LP FROM GRASSES. Lord Islington presided over a meeting of the Executive Council of the Imperial Institute when it was stated, in regard to paper-making materials, that grasses from South Africa, the Federate! Malay States, Australia, and St. Helena, had been examined at the Institute this summer. Samples ol "tambookie" and similar grasses from the Pretoria district gave a high yield of pulp of good quality, capable oi conversion either into excellent brown paper or (after bleaching) into white paper. Lalang grass —which grows abundantly in the M ;l }?y _ States, and hitherto has been so little esteemed that On the rubber plantations it is : regarded as a troublesome weed—was found, on investigation, to compare favoiirab'v as a papcr-inakmg material with Algerian, esparto grass, though not auite so r° ocl as Spanish esparto. Bamboo grass" from the Northern Territory of \ustralia came up to aoout the same standard. All these grasses would be suitable for utilisation in their countries of origin for the manufacture of either pulp or paper, anel full reports on their properties as paper-making materials have been drawn up by the Institute for the Governments concerned. „ . NEED FOR CONTINUED ECONOMY. rhou"h the most bountiful harvest we have had for a generation is now being gathered, Mr Clynes says there is j.ist as great a nood as ever for food restrictions and .economies. We must think of food in terms of ships and m terms of American troops that could be brought to the AVestorn front. Every 2000 tons of food that can be saved moans another 1000 troops on the \\ estern front, thus increasing the might of the blow for our great and final purpose. A year ago tne Kaiter tried to comfort his people by telling thorn that the U-boats would starve out Great Britain in six nionths. and bring her to her knees. As a matter of fadt«e are now infinitely better off than when that foolish boast was uttered. SCARCITY OF >yP" TER UNDERWEAR. It is anticipated in the trade that winter underwear will h© difficult to

replace this year. The enormous military demands, increased by the. arrival of so many American soldiers, have compelled the authorities to take control over the machinery for producing mulium and heavy-weight underwear and hosiery. The manufacture of men's vests, pants, and socks/'for civilian wear, except in very light materials, has practically ceased. Most of the woollen gloves that can. be made are required for the troops, and the supply of women's woollen underclothing wiil be restricted. ,Standard hosiery for women and children is promised soon, but the supply will be insufficient, and there is no likelihood of men's standard underwear, socks, or woollen gloves being obtainable this year. If any machinery can be spared later, after meeting military needs, priority will be givun to standard articles at fixed prices. AN EQUAL SHARE FOR ALL. Jam rationing .will come into force at the beginning of November, and the multitude realises that system is the only fair r-ne, each person then being able to have his portion—even if it is only a moderate one. Scarce commodities.; until rationed; • seem to find their way to the few, leaving the many to go without. Most jam prices are again' being raised, and the prices per lb container now include: Rhubarb jam and rhi'biirb mixed with other fruit, lid, and gooseberry and apple mixed has been put on the same level; at Is 2d chorry is a penny up, and strawberry is the same. Marmalade is Is, raspberry, black currant, and loganberry, Is lid (unchanged); red currantand 'plum are each Is OJd: apricot and pineapple are Jd up, now making Is lid, and blackberry, peach, and greengage' have risen Id—peach being Is iid, fnd blackberry and greengage Is o|d; whilo damson and plum, 2d dearer, are on the Is o*d level. Mixtures with melon are listed at Is lid. SYRUPS AND HONEY. Golden and other syrups are, like .jam, to be rationed in November, and it will then be permissible to use one in substitution for the other.., Eoney may also be rationed on similar iinos. This, however, is not yet settled, as it is difficult to ascertain how much t lie rev is in the country and liow stocks are disposed of. Moreover, on account of cost, "honey cannot so.easily be made an interchangeable commodity. Supplies are chiefly used in war-time confectionery and in mineral water factories. A good deal has boon imported

from California, Australia, Zealand, Jamaica. Chili, Cuba, Argentina, and Canada, but most of this is believed to have already been consumed even at the varying current price of from 2s Bcl to 3s per small jar. INCREASE IN INDIAN INDUSTRIES. In a lecture, Mr D. T. Chadwick, Indian Trade Commissioner, mentioned that, absurd as it might seem, before the war, India, with an area of 200,000 square miles, imported more wood than she exported. It was different now. All sorts of woods useful for commercial purposes woro being utilised) even "tho choico varieties needed for aeroplanes. Consquontly the country was now exporting twice as much wood as in peace time. The by-products of the forests —resin, turpentine, and so forth —were not being neglected, nor were grasses for paper pulp, nor tanning materials. Medicinal stores and all of which used to he imported, were now being manufactured locally. New :ndustries in prepared foodstuffs wore springing ■up, and it was even suggested that plant for jam-making should be established in some places. It was, howover, the large textile industries that had played the greatest part in the war. All the native troops wore clothed in home-growii and manufactured material, twenty million yards of khaki drill being turned out from Indian looms annually. So the war had really benefited India tn many ways, instead of bringing about her commercial nun. as some had feared, and the benefit had not been India's alone, for the who.o Empire had been' tho gainers by her increased industrial activity. ADVICE TO DYERS. Mr A. E. Edge is of opinion that customers after the war will not. be satisfied with tho old standard of fastness, so dyers will bo wiso to turn their attention to the new dye-stuffs instead of natural dyes, which wiil bccome obsolete. In the course of an address at the British Scientific Products' Exhibition, Mr Edge suicl after the outbreak of war tho energies of chemists became eventually directed to the need of dveing in one operation, and chromc developing dyes came into use, _with good results, notably in the production of rainbow-red. But the chrome dyes were not, ideal, and were subject to changes of tone in the fixing bath. Eventually the discovery of metachrome colours in combination with a special rnordant enabled the whole operation of dyeing to be accomplished in two hours, and the highest degree of fastness was attain-

Ed The War Office was not at firet satisfied with the khaki produced by this method, but mota cluonic brown saved the situation. To adapt it to the khaki tint it had been necessary to produce a new yellow and green for admixture, but a still more important advance was made in the discovery or an olive-brown, which was the moat satisfactory metachrome dye yet produced, and admirable as a basis for khi.ki. The output has been greatly increased, but it was now only just possible to keep pace with tho demand. Mr Edge referred to the success of other metachrome colours and their remarkable fastness ,?nd suitabiiity for a variety of materials.