Abstract
WHEN the Expiring Laws (Continuance) Bill came before the House of Lords on Dec. 15, Viscount Hailsham's amendment, which provided for the continuance of the Dyestuffis (Import Regulation) Act, 1920, until Dec. 31, 1931, was carried by 87 votes to 14. Viscount Hailsham sketched once again the circumstances attending the birth, decline, and revival of the industry in Great Britain. During the past ten years the progress made has been so remarkable that success appears to be the main argument used against the continuance of a protective measure. Although the Council of the Colour Users’ Association expressed a majority opinion in favour of the lapse of the Act, the president of that Association holds the contrary view; any risk of undue exploitation in the matter of price is removed by the undertaking which the dye-makers have given. Lord Parmoor (Lord President of the Council) repeated the Government's view of the matter as involving conflict between dye-makers and dye-users. The dye-makers have been put into a position in which they can compete with imported dyes; they have built up a great industry, for which everyone is grateful, but the time has now come to make the change in the interests of the dye-user. The Earl of Crawford said that so far as research is concerned, this industry has been a triumph. Some of the most remarkable discoveries in organic science have been made by men working on dyestuffs. The industry is emphatically a key industry, is of great importance in defence, and is becoming the focus from which pharmaceutical progress radiates. The Marquess of Reading said that the matter is not one of free trade or protection; Lord Cowley claimed that the continuance of the Act would be a burden on the textile industry, a view which was challenged by Lord Newton, who showed how small is the cost of the dye contained in a suit of clothes. Lord Arnold, Paymaster-General, contended that the dye industry would not be injured. Hence the present situation, besides being of political interest, may lead to a comprehensive scientific examination of a scientific and industrial problem.
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News and Views. Nature 126, 964–969 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/126964a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/126964a0