Dyestuffs and the Textile Industry

Abstract

NOTHING could be more convincing of the neglect of this country to provide the means whereby the applications of scientific discovery should be made available in the conduct of important industries than the speech of Mr. Lennox B. Lee on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Calico Printers' Association, of which he is chairman, on September 18; It appears that the association is by far the largest user of colour in this country. Before the advent of the war the 2000 colours it then used were to the extent of 70 per cent. produced solely in Germany, and of the remainder only 7 per cent. were of British origin. At the present time out of the restricted list of 230 essential base colours only 25 per cent. are produced by British makers, one-third of these being substitutes, and only used because better colours cannot be obtained, whilst the cost is not less than from 200 to 1000 per cent. above prewar prices. Moreover, of the 230 colours above-named, only the commoner colours, including also one or two of the better kind, are obtained from British firms. The association is, in fact, dependent upon the Swiss colour manufacturers for the finer ranges and specialities, while quite half the colours of the said list cannot be obtained at all, amongst them some of the most valuable.