Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-02-10

u" ~ Stuii situation has shot into
mn,i"na! prom!u.nc.. Dyes ar" con-
sp.cuous by their ,bscuc" w. arc
confronted .Hith the tragic possibilities
OF pink ovcraIis ana white buttons OIL
black clothes. y dNc shipment had To
br specially arranged for with the
hl"'kadinr powers 20 keep our friend
aud comforter tn" dollar bin his old
familiar green.
The real Significance ~ the situation
lies u"epcr than th.s" picturesque de.
tails that hav" caught m" public eve
ihc dte shortage affects every one of
""'".np" orkm"n who manufacture an
nua!ly products valued at $4,000, 900. oOo
as we'll as all the pcopl. dependent on
ih"'n ana the immense amount OF cap
ital Invested IN factories and plants
on" cotton manufactured I'm his tcs-
iimony b"'or" q committee invcst!gat-
81" Ia" situation stated that /: he
could not 10" assured OF an ad.utiat.
Is" supply within six months hr would
hay" 10 discontinue business and can
eel his order FOR ;.u0u.uoO pounds az
cotton yarn The leather iudustry. Ia.
paper trade. tho manufacturers of
paint. straw worh ana woodNork. sho.
dressing aud long lis, of similar
articles lave all fcl, tho shortage
W" Must Mnkc Dyes
Luckily TIA" chances tina, tn. slt,n-
ton Will 70 10 lengths where manu-
tacturcrs haV" - cancel orders ar.
small We need dyes. and IS. cannot
import them. Therefore, wc mus,
manufacture them. We hny. tn. raw
materials, ana while our technical
SIKH IN the line may not br up 10
that OF Germany. who has sprcinlizcd
~ II FOR decades still ". arc quite
efficient enough. and We VIII learn as
~" 90. Any American manufacturer OF
dyes who's" plant is running to-day
can't complain about business But
ate: the war comes the rub.
''cfor" the war our dyc industry
COULD not compete with that 81 Ger
many. That is why We haven't ANY
ny" Industry 10 speak OF to-day Tn.
situation is no rejection on american
manufacturers. II is due 10 n policv
Of cooperation among tho German
manufacturers. and between tho manu-
facturcrs and tn" German government.
which our trade laws make IL impossi-
BILE FOR us Ia duplicate
When the Germans sold som. uar
ticular dy" a. a high price. an Amer
lean manufactures wou1d sometimes
try I" compete with thciu. Then The
Germans lowered the price to cost and
below, aud the American factory had
10 meet their price and take tn. whole
shock of the low figure. IN Germany
1t was distributed among all the fac
tories, none Of them felt /, much
llenc" american capital has been slow
TO 20 Into dye works. and now that
dyes are selling at fancy figures cap
ital is not much NOR" eager. because
after the war the same old situation
viii crop un. y dye works represents
n heavy Investment
Protective TmriT Urged.
The solution of the dilemma, which
seems in a fair way 10 he adopted is the
protective tariff for dyestuffs There
is bill before Congress now providing
FOR such tariff. Members oF tho
House and senate representing both
political parties have come out in favor
OF the measure. The textile manufac-
,urcrs who opposed a similar tariff in
1:o"--t WAS brought up by the dye
manufacturers ~ that tiinc-arc flood
ing Congress with letters now. urging
tn" adoption Of the pending bill
The manufacturers opposed. the
measure before because /, would have
increased the cost of dyes over what
1t is under normal conditions. Nobody
believed seriously in 1870? that the Ger
man supply would ever he cat off. y
protective dye tariff. said the cloth
men. would benefit the dye Industry al
the expense of their own The present
stale OF affairs shows the desirahlity
of being independent in the matter.
| even II independence has 10 be paid
! for The dye supply is minor but
| Indispensable. factor in industries II
! hundred times bigger. AS one o! the
advocates Of the dye tariff puts it,
! wc Will be paying s5,600,00O or $1,000
| 900 a ycar-which Is what he estimates
! the increased cost OF dyes under tho
! new tariff will come to---as sort Of
| insurance against finding ourselves
j agnin suddenly dycless.
| II is known fact that capita, is
| ready aud available to multiply our dye
! production capacity as soon az II is as-
| surcd that the industry will he adc-
| quntcly protected against -bcllum
| competition from Germany. Within
SIX months domestic plants would be
| able to meet domestic demands. In the
! meantime. there Is Il good supply OF
! dycstuffs In the country, which spccu-
| lators are holding for rise. with
| production assured In the near future
! these dyes would hc thrown on the
| market and tide over the interim
The dyestuffs have taken some Of