Conservation of Materials
Part
VIII of the series ‘England in Arms’
By
W. Lacey Amy
From
The Canadian Magazine, December 1917.
It required the war to convince the most patriotic
of us that Great Britain was year by year becoming less self-contained, that by
processes subtle or open her rivals in the world’s commerce, especially Germany, were gradually ousting her not alone from
the foreign markets but from her own. And in the revelation that came with war
one more economic theory received a staggering blow that manufacture of
specific commodities should be left to the countries in a position to produce
them most economically. The theory was unassailable were peace a permanent
blessing. But war has a habit of uprooting theory with relentless hand. There
still remain in England those who resist the apparent corollary, that
unprofitable national production must be protected, but the teachings of war
are rendering their ideals at least momentarily unobtrusive. The grim straits
through which Great Britain has passed since August, 1914, have impressed her
with the national helplessness that accompanies the relinquishment to foreign
countries of national necessities. And as manufacturers are not the class who
willingly produce at a loss in competition with their foreign rivals, there
exists only the solution of Government protection in some form.
Great Britain never realized how the very
essentials of life were drifting into the hands of the Germans, until the
sudden closing of the German market forced her to review her own industry. The
facts forced home to her might well have discouraged another less resourceful
country. Not alone were the needs of everyday life unfulfillable, but some of
the very weapons of war had so subtly trickled from British control that only
British brain was able to cope with the situation without more than a temporary
setback. Perhaps had the war been delayed ten years British brain might not
have been so ready to re-grapple with a production she had lost only for a few
years.
It is the popular impression that German dyes
represent the climax of British dependence, but the dyes themselves are the
least material of the deficiencies of British production. Not yet has the
dominance of Germany in this commercial commodity been overcome, but adaptable
substitutes are readily available, and dyes are in their nature immaterial to
national victory or even national life. Where the German monopoly of dyestuffs
looms most awkwardly is in the fact that Great Britain did not grasp their real
significance as an indirect factor in international relations; for Germany’s
monopoly was the result of her preparations for war, not of her superior
inventive powers, the basis for dyes being the by-product of the manufacture of
munitions. German dyes were subsidized in order to utilize the coal-tar resulting from certain munition-making processes, and every dye-works was
instantly convertible in
time of war to war services.
Dyes, therefore, have been the least of Great Britain’s troubles in the war.
In a thousand household needs Britain’s
dependence became revealed almost with the declaration of war, and some of these were of sufficient importance
to demand official attention at the same time as the more intimate ones of munition production. Since their manufacture has been
permitted to creep into
German hands more as an
economic measure than through any inability to fulfil the local needs, they presented no striking problem. But in a score
of the prime requirements
of war the effect was
different. Certain processes of steel manufacture suitable for
munitions were not practised in England. Electric supplies for Great
Britain came almost entirely from our enemies. In the outskirts of London
to-day lies idle an incomplete electric railway, because construction was in
the hands of German engineers using German fittings and principles. The little
magnetoes that are essential to the aeroplane and the automobile were so
completely of German manufacture that even to-day they are produced in
England by only two or three firms and their efficiency and cost is still not
such as to supplant the German article should open competition recommence
immediately. Germany was selling Great Britain all her finer grades of glass,
such as those used for lenses and laboratory purposes. Great Britain had even
permitted Germany to enter her distant possessions for the practical
monopolization of the minerals used in the working of steel processes. For her
finer machinery required in the production of munitions Great Britain is
to-day at the mercy of America, since the English working engineer has not yet
arrived at that nicety of adjustment, that perfection of specification which is
absolutely necessary for serviceable and reliable instruments of war. I admit it with
reluctance but with certainty of
my ground. Indeed, English
manufacturers are candid in their statements that
they must still look to America
for the mechanical delicacy and nicety
which have made British munition
production one of the marvels of the
war. This they may well leave
where it is for the present, so long as Britain’s
energies are completely utilized for more immediate requirements.
Its unsatisfactory feature is that this very mechanical perfection will
be as essential to much of the coming industrial struggle of peace as
it is now to the war output.
Toys, dolls, metal and leather novelties, gas
mantles, brushes, certain popular earthenware, office requisites, musical
instruments—these are a few of her daily wants for which
Great Britain had been wont to send her travellers to the great German markets,
such as were represented at the Leipsic Fair.
There were other disadvantages under which
Britain laboured on account of her insular position. For her timber she was
dependent largely on Norway, Sweden and Russia, and to a less degree on
America. The skins for her leather came for the great part from abroad. Her
paper was the product of foreign pulp. Her metals arrived by boat. In the bulkier
raw materials England may be said to have been self-supporting only in coal.
Her problems would have been simple, even in
the face of these deficiencies, had it not been for the submarine warfare
adopted by the enemy. British control of the seas and of the shipping covering
them would have assured her of sufficient supplies for her every want. The
demands for war transportation would have embarrassed her shipping capacity to
such a small extent that the simplest expedients of conservation would have
sufficed. But with the sinkings and delays of unrestricted warfare conservation became a question equally vital
with the protection of the merchant shipping and the upkeep of the army. How
she went about it is peculiar to a nation, proud, bound by tradition, reluctant
to admit even inconvenience—and certain to overcome in the final emergency.
With the requisitioning of tonnage for war
purposes—the transportation of soldiers, wounded, and
supplies; patrolling the coasts, mine-sweeping, auxiliary cruiser duties—the
necessity for some control of importations became evident. Certain luxuries
were gradually eliminated from the freight lists, the bulkier unessentials
first. A part of the tonnage was requisitioned for stated importations at
Government rates. But the inadequacy of these measures became apparent long
before the sinkings were numerous enough to be an immediate menace, and the
injustice of singling out a few ships and depriving them of the high rates
obtainable by free ships clamoured for redress. In addition,
it gradually impressed itself on the nation that any satisfactory solution of
the submarine menace entailed a more perfect organization for the
elimination of delay in loading and unloading, as well as the speeding up of
construction. For these purposes experienced officials were
appointed. Construction was not
only standardized, but workmen were
utilized where they were of greatest service, irrespective of firms and employers.
The difficulty of delays in
loading was met to some extent by mobile
dockers’ battalions, and by a more strict supervision of transportation and
labour.
But shipping cannot be said
to have been brought within the scope of a
thorough control until the middle of 1917,
when the Government took
over ninety-seven per cent. of the
entire British registry at Government rates. By
this means it was not only assured
of reasonable freight charges, but
the entire
capacity of the boats
was directed with a sole
eye to the real requirements of the situation. The move took the
place of the scores of former regulations. It became no longer a case of
publishing prohibited importations but of satisfying the Government that
purchases abroad were in the interests of the country at large. Every British
liner was taken over, and the profits derived from private freight went to the
nation. The result was a pooling of interests by the large transportation
companies. Long voyages gave place to short substitutes, and the facilities of
the nearest ports were always available to save time. Shipowners arranged to
purchase their ships’ stores and provisions abroad in order to save home
stocks—an obvious act of wisdom that was so little recognized even during the
early months of 1917 that Spanish and Dutch and Norwegian vessels were
continuing their custom of drawing their supplies from English ports. At the
very moment when not a pound of potatoes was finding its way to the majority of
tables in Great Britain these foreign ships were taking away with them
thousands of tons.
Land transportation, while not in the same
emergent class as shipping, entered the scheme of conservation on account of
the shortage of men, and because trucks and engines had been requisitioned for
the use of the army in France. This was effected by reducing passenger service
to the minimum, and by organizing delivery so that the shortest route and distance
was compulsory. For instance, coal was brought to London only from the nearest
mines and by the shortest line, the railways being brought under Government
control to a disinterested co-operation. One striking failure to complete the
simplification of transportation was in the neglect of the canals that cut
England in every direction. Whether this was owing to their railway ownership
or to Governmental thoughtlessness is not clear, but such bulky freight as coal
might have been poured into London
by this means of transportation without disturbing the material so much in
demand for quicker delivery.
The immediate need for metals and explosive
ingredients for war purposes, as well as for other commodities hitherto imported,
drove England to measures never before contemplated. The Explosives Department
of the Ministry of Munitions was organized to assume the duty of acquiring the
necessary raw material of explosives. Glycerine was early placed on the
controlled lists, and in February, 1917, was further restricted to
preparations of the British Pharmacopoeia and to uses approved by the Ministry.
It was practically eliminated from dispensing. In March, the shortage being
serious, a special branch of the Explosives Department was formed to take over
control of all fats, oils, oil-seeds, and their products, including oilcake,
soap, and margarine. For the same purpose the waste of camp canteens and messes
has been carefully collected for more than a year. Since one of the by-products
in the manufacture of illuminating gas is a necessity for explosives, the
people were urged to use gas where possible for heat, light and power. The huge
demand for petrol led to the Government resuming the long-interrupted efforts
to find oil in Great Britain, and in order to prevent exploitation the Crown
assumed the exclusive right to bore. Should petroleum be discovered in
quantity—and there have been signs that point to success—the submarine menace
will be nearer to solution than it has ever been. The same prospecting is
being undertaken for metals, although it is certain that only small supplies
of inferior quality will be found, lead and zinc comprising the bulk of
British possibilities. Copper was requisitioned in December, 1916, and its use
for manufacturing purposes forbidden.
The control of petrol has been one of the big
failures of attempted conservation. For the first twenty months of the war
this control rested in the hands of various inter-departmental committees whose
main anxiety—as is the case in a hundred instances of divided
control in England—was their authority and dignity. They competed
against each other in the market and in shipping facilities and bought in the
application of their authority even in war spheres. The Petrol Committee
which succeeded them had not a petrol expert in its composition, and at its
best was impeded by a jealous Board of Trade. In disgust it resigned, after a
period of inadequate control and incompetent efforts. Its successor has proved
more efficient. A different scheme has evolved. The principal petroleum
companies have arranged a pool for distribution and importation, under the
control of a Pool Board Petroleum Supplies. Restrictions were early put on
petrol licences, and these have been extended at various times with the
declared aim of cutting out private consumption. Business firms are allowed a
certain amount for delivery purposes. Taxi-cabs, of which there were 8,287 in
London alone before the war, were reduced to an allowance of thirty gallons a
month, the most conspicuous result of which was to encourage the drivers to break
the laws governing their service to the public. And motor-buses, which provide
the popular means of transportation in London, were seriously curtailed. But
the working of the restrictions was glaringly lax and unfair. Petrol was
wasted in the army sometimes used even for washing the trucks. Taxis, which
usually carry but one passenger, were granted petrol which if supplied to the
interrupted bus service would have carried many times the number of passengers.
Until recently there were no restrictions whatever on the motor luxuries of
officers, every one of whom of any rank has his own car and chauffeur for
running about England. Day and night and Sundays this indulgence was unlimited
until the middle of
1917, and since then its control
has been evident only in the replies of Government officers before the House of Commons. While private licences were supposed to be cut off in May, 1917, there is not a minute of the day when any important street in London does not prove that civilians still ride at their pleasure; and on Sundays the roads from London are still busy. In spite of the repeated official denials that petrol is granted for
private use there is the
frankest display of such waste. Even the social
notes in the newspapers speak of wedding trips and visits to seaside resorts by motor, and the procuring of supplies demands but slight ingenuity.
The greatest obstacle to such a perversion of a much-needed commodity is a price of $1.17 a gallon
established in August, only twelve cents of which is Government tax.
It is a detail of the recognized
principle of regulation in England to
reserve the privileges for the rich.
The shortage of petrol has led to the use of
substitutes, but the further prohibition of liquid substitutes has confined the
inventiveness of motor enthusiasts
to the utilization of gas.
Conservation of coal has been taken up officially, not because of a national shortage, but
to save labour and transportation.
In 1915 the price was fixed to prevent
exploitation. In the spring
of 1917 there was in London a severe shortage
that bore heavily on the
poor, who purchase in small quantities; and in the summer of that year steps were
taken to prevent a repetition. A Coal Controller was appointed to
arrange delivery from the nearest
mines and to equalize distribution. The
Board of Trade issued advice
to the people to purchase
their winter supplies early, but when the orders poured
in it was found there was not
the coal to fill them. It was another instance
of neglected preliminary organization before urging the public to action. The
several instances of this which have occurred
have done much to discourage public co-operation in attempted conservation. The next
step was
to ration the coal according to the number of grates. A house with not more than four grates was allowed two hundredweight a week, and the allotment was detailed up to two tons and a half for a house of more than fifteen rooms. Every consumer using more than two hundredweight a week had to
register. The Controller’s plan was to work up to a five weeks’ stock in the coal yards, reducing the allowance
as this quantity was reduced. The difficulties of such a system of
rationing are obvious, since
the extent of occupation
of a house, rather than its number of grates, determines its
consumption. There is, too,
no assurance that the
rationed quantity will be available.
One of the early materials to be
controlled was paper. Newspapers
were cut down to definite quantities, based on their consumption during the
year before the war, and
this amount was further reduced in 1916.
Importation was in the hands
of the Government. The
result was a dwindling of size and a consequent increase
in price owing to the curtailment of advertising space. The Times
rose by halfpenny stages to twopence, and
many of the halfpenny papers
advanced to a penny. In March, 1917,
posters over a certain size were
forbidden, and tradesmen might not
send out catalogues or price lists
except on request. The newspaper contents bill, a feature of street announcement
in England, was prohibited. By the last measure alone it
is estimated that 500 tons a
week are saved. In July,
1917, the War Office arranged that, since the casualty
lists could no longer be
published in the smaller papers, they
should be issued weekly to the bookstores for sale. A few days later tradesmen
were limited in their circulars and catalogues to a third the weight of
paper used in the same period
of the year before. And the whiteness of
paper has been sacrificed in
order to save bleaching
powder.
In the
matter of wearing apparel control was delayed as long as possible. Leather had first to be taken in hand. The
huge call
for army boots was eating into the available supplies with
disturbing rapidity, and
in March, 1917, the
Government took over all sole and upper leathers suitable for army use, following a less complete requisition
of the previous December. Civilian footwear immediately advanced. In
June the Government made arrangements for the sale of old army
boots at fixed centres, with the
stipulation that they should not be patched
but taken to pieces for repairing other shoes. The object was to
prevent the scrapping of serviceable
army boots. But shoe repairs continued to
rise so seriously—soling advanced more than three hundred per
cent. from the period before the war—that in September the Government was forced
once more to intervene and release for civilian use at fixed prices quantities
of leather suitable for repairs.
An Advisory Committee on Wool Purchase was set
up, representing the various Government departments concerned and civilian
interests. It fixed prices and prescribed uses. Wool was not largely
imported, but it was deemed advisable to continue exports as well as to supply
home needs. Standard cloth is now produced for officers’ uniforms, and civilian
wear will probably be similarly controlled. The manufacture of cotton has had
to be curtailed, although it is one of England’s leading manufactures. Blankets
are in Government control for army use and only such quantities released for
civilian use as are considered necessary.
All stocks of sawn timber in the United Kingdom
were taken over by the Government in February, 1917, and in July the Local
Government Board urged local authorities to forgo the use of
wood-paving for the period of the war. In January anastigmatic
lenses of defined focal lengths were requisitioned. In February the supplies of jute in the country were commandeered.
In June citizens were requested by the Board of Trade not
to waste
glass receptacles of any kind. Metal spur, chains, buttons and badges of rank on officers’ uniforms were abolished, leather spur straps and buttons,
and worsted badges of rank taking their place. Stone quarries were taken over in July.
General prevention of waste and of
misdirection of effort was applied
in a score of ways.
Building and private motor-making were stopped. A new Bill was introduced for the prevention of corruption in Government contracts.
A department was set up for the utilization of idle machinery. In
1916 an Order-in-Council empowered the Admiralty and Army Council
to regulate or prohibit transactions in any article required in connection with the war. No horse suitable
for cultivation of land might be sold by the land occupier without licence.
To save fuel illuminated advertisements and lights outside shops and theatres were prohibited in May. 1917. In extension of this principle two of the large London stores closed on Saturdays.
Of course, with all this evident shortage
there was profiteering. The case of matches affords a good example.
These sold before the war as low as three cents a dozen boxes. Today
they are as high as thirty-two
cents, although the manufacturers insist that not more than sixteen cents should be asked the consumer. In
addition to their high price there
are times when they cannot
be obtained at all, and the stores release to each customer
only a small box or two. The Government, knowing there were sufficient
stocks somewhere, has taken
steps to control distribution. A pool of
manufacturers has been formed,
and orders will be taken only through a
Match Control Office in London,
which will be under the Tobacco Control Board.
In these measures of conservation it was
necessary at times to ignore the claims even of allied countries. France, being
close at hand and Great Britain’s source for much that might be called
luxuries, has suffered most keenly. Fruit, wine, and silk were the largest of
these importations. At various times all these products of our friends across
the Channel have been either restricted or prohibited. Protest has been made,
and at times mild reprisals applied, but common sense has prevailed. In some cases
the protesting country yielded, in others the restrictions were modified. A
general agreement between the two countries was announced in September. By it
England takes from France goods of French origin, except such as wood,
motor-cars, machinery, gold, spirits, and ornamental goods; and France has
thrown her doors open to everything but cotton and woollen piece goods, soap,
and oils. The fact that England has the European Allies almost completely at her mercy on account of her control of
shipping is proof of the wisdom and justice of her treatment of them.
The straits into which the war has thrown Great
Britain in the matter of material supplies are not without their blessing. The
people of the small island which has dominated the world for so many centuries
are learning how luxurious and enervating was their style of life among
certain classes, how much they can eliminate without serious inconvenience—even
with advantage—and how near they were to losing valuable markets. The
necessities of war have developed an inventiveness that was tending to doze and
have taught the wisdom of greater dependence on their own productions than
upon those of other countries who appraise more truly the value of industrial
eminence in the world’s markets. England after the war will swing swiftly into
the England she can be, a resourceful country that need give precedence to no
rival in commercial as well as in intellectual attainments.
The next article of this series is
entitled “The Enemy in
England”.
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