IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 16 June 1932, Page 4

IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES

SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS At, the annual meeting- of Imperial Chemical Industries, Limited, which declared a profit of £4,668,685 for 1931, the chairman (Sir Harry McGowan) mentioned that £69,264,978 was invested in eight main manufacturing groups, and in the subsidiary companies of Australia and New Zealand and in foreign selling companies. He l said that the company was compelled to adopt every new process, every fresh device, every improved method which the advance of knowledge; dictated. A great part of the success of British industries rested upon high technical efficiency, and that in turu was drawn from the insight, ingenuity, and resource of scientific, staffs. The fruits of a policy of rationalised production and research were (o be found in the new products of (lie company. It was'manufacturing some 50 dyestuffs not previously made in Great Britain. Successful experiments were being carried out iri the production of other products, such as celluloid, paints, explosives, and many chemicals. Sir Harry McGowan said that industry in Britain early in 1932 was more active, which was a hopeful augury for the year. Economies made in the organisation formed another encouraging factor. The directors were determined, however much trade might develop, not to lose a single advantage gained by economy, not to be lured into any expenditure! which could be avoided, not, to forgo a single item of the improved efficiency they had been able to introduce. The interests of the company were world-wide, and therefore a general recovery of prosperity was needed. The war debt problem was still unsettled, and there, was still a huge network of international commercial debts, unadjusted to present low prices of goods. No one could see how the ar iagonism between the burden of the. interest on these debts and the prices of the products out of which the interest must come was to be removed. Until some broad lines of solution could be agreed upon it was to be feared that restrictions on international trade would continue, by way of special tariff duties,, import quotas, or exchange restrictions.