Before the war six English
factories producing dyestuffs employed only 35 chemists altogether,
while one German color works, the Hoechster Farbwerke, employed 307
expert chemists and 74 technologists.
This firm united with the six other leading dye companies of Germany on
January 1, 1916, to form a trust to last for fifty years. During this
time they will maintain uniform prices and uniform wage scales and hours
of labor, and exchange patents and secrets. They will divide the foreign
business _pro rata_ and share the profits. The German chemical works
made big profits during the war, mostly from munitions and medicines,
and will be, through this new combination, in a stronger position than
ever to push the export trade.
As a consequence of letting the dye business get away from her, England
found herself in a fix when war broke out. She did not have dyes for her
uniforms and flags, and she did not have drugs for her wounded. She
could not take advantage of the blockade to capture the German trade in
Asia and South America, because she could not color her textiles.
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