THE WAR AND CHEMISTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15807, 2 January 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE WAR AND CHEMISTRY.

BT J. L. STREYENS. M. INST., C.T.

There are some twenty-five main divisions of industry which can be included in the domain of chemicals and allied products, and these are as far apart, for instance, as j iron and synthetic drugs, brewing and building materials, or gas and textiles. A further subdivision brings the total of industries which can be strictly called | " chemical" to sixty, all of which, to some extent, find employment for wage-earners in most civilised countries. Unfortunately ; I a comparable census of the strictly chemi- | leal and those other manufacturing trades : not included in that category is unobtainable, as far as Britain is concerned ; but I in the United States the number of perI sons engaged per unit of plant in the former branches is 50 per cent, greater | than in the latter manufacture, whilst the ! number of salaried employees is more than i two and a-half times as many, and the I wage-earners 34 per cent, greater. The expenses are all greater in chemical industries, but there are compensating factors in the increased profit over other manufactured goods, and the total value !of the products produced. What is true ' for the United States is true for all coun- ; tries, as fax as value and profits are conj cerned : but whereas the United States ! are self-sustaining in such industries as I fertilisers, explosives, acids, wood pro- ! ducts, chemicals, paints, and varnishes, | etc., Britain ij more dependent on outside | sources of supply, and is not to any large | extent Belf-sustaining, except in coal, iron, ' steel, clays, cements, and certain metals. Germany's trade in the branches of chemical industry is collosal. She has become recognised as the world's leading nation in this respect. Consequently, with the outbreak of the war, many patriotic citizens and business men, both in Britain and her colonies, at once prepared to establish certain industries previously the monopoly of Germany. The ultimate results of this must be considered at present extremely problematical. Chemical industries cannot be established in a short, time for various reasons, chief of which are the dependence on interlocking and established industries, the necessity for expert technical advice, and absolute control of the raw material. Plant and processes are secondary considerations where ample capital is forthcoming, as the removal of the validity of (German and Austrian patents and trade marks in Britain and her colonies leaves the way clear for their adoption. In spit* of the inducements now being put forward to encourage the development of chemical industries in the British Empire, such ventures should be entered upon only after very serious and mature deliberation, in view of the fact that the whole trend of industry may change when the war is over, and what are established articles of commercial intercourse now may be displaced by others in the future. It is impossible for other countries than Germany to-take over the manufacture of. say. synthetic dyes without at the same time being prepared to take over the whole of the interlocking chemical trade, subsidiary to the dye industry ; and to turn out the finished article as perfect as before. The same line of argument applies to the case of synthetic drugs, medicinal products, and fine chemicals generally. Prior to the war the Germans boasted that they had«ca.ptured and monopolised the world's fine chemical trade, and that the heavy chemical trade would follow in due course. All this they owed to the initiative and energy 01 their chemists and sngineers, and to the fraternal openings actually made for them by countries with whom they were trade rivals. Had th« war not broken out when it did thej vould have justified their boast in a yea: >r iwo. Now there is- a possibility that >y seizing present opportunities," beiori •he Americans and the Japanese step ir

Britain will be able to divert many phases I of German chemical activities into her own hands. This, besides its enormous influence on trade, will undoubtedly lead to the recognition of that comparatively unknown individual, the British technical chemist, and the improvement of his status. Germany has made great strides at the expense of Britain in those branches of technology that depend upon the applica tion of well-known chemical principles, or which originate directly from chemical research, because she has been alwavs ready to avail herself of expert chemical assistance, capable of adapting original discoveries and ideas, whatever their source, before other nations can, or will, seize their opportunity. Consequently Germany captured the trade in the past, but there is no reason, except the want of technical knowledge, why some of her trade so captured should not pass into British hands. The only person capable of bringing a.bout such a state of affairs is the British chemist, and one result of this terrible war must be a revival of interest in and a large demand for the services of men hitherto unrecognised in the corporate sense, with no governing body, whose security of tenure and remuneration are often inferior to those of unskilled workmen, and whose very numbers are unknown, yet who are as vitally important to the existence of the nation as are the financiers and business men who employ them. Unfortunately the college and university training of the average chemist, with his subsequent experiences in the commercial j world, tend to produce, in most cases, a type of man without business attitude, a | mere unit, in fact, to be dealt with as j anyone pleases, because he has not dec veloped that sense of co-operation with : his fellow professional men which would | lead to an improvement in his status. The j existence of chemistry and its application I to industry as a distinct »- ofession seems ; scarcely to be recc.gn'- a. It is incon- ; ceivable that there • ..s not till recently ': one established society of chemists in BriI tain which concerned itself with the status j of its members or their well-being and ad : yancement. They were all cosmopolitan. j including as many foreign names !>s British ; in their membership ; and beyond publish - i ing items of interest to the chemical trade j and chemists generally they did little or ; nothing for the technical chemists' per \ sonnel. The neglect of the technical chemist at i Home and in the colonies has exercised a I retrograde influence on the industrial sysj tem. We have yet to recognise that ap- | plied chemistry i* a profession in which I originality of thought, and not rule of j thumb imitation is a sine qua non. In I order to become an efficient technical (or j applied) chemist, a broad common-sense ! training, under condition which will obI tain on the manufacturing sc»r?e. rind not a mere routine college and university course, is essential. We. in the British Empire. : who see the possibilities in chemical inj dustry before us, must first thoroughly i prospect our natural resources with a view ■ to their development on as broad grounds I possible, we must recognise the chemist ' and his claims to a better rate of remunera- : tion and higher status generally, and then I fit the rising generation with a immensity Ito chemistry for their subsequent chemical ' career by a thorough revision of the pre , sen* technical education system. ' The Institute of Chemical Technologists. I founded in 1911. aims to improve the status of the chemist and to raise chemical i industry in Britain and her colonies to the j highest pitch of perfection that is possible i under existing conditions. To that end ! it is prepared to nut all those contemplat I ing new manufactures or improving old I ones through the British Empire into [touch with British chemists capable of aid- ! i ing in the work required, to give expert I technical advice, and particulars and dei tails of the newest and most economical devices and plant necessary for the cin- . template d operations.