Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-09-26

Lyons. the French producers of cellulose,
did not tender. The Cellonite Company
was a Swiss company. Finding, as we
suppose that the various British depart
ments acted without cooperation, it played
off one department against another. When
the company started work in England it
made promises which it could not always
fulfill: put up buildings without consent:
1t issued debentures without the sanction
OF the treasury; and 20 on and so forth.
1t got itself relieved from income tax
and from the excess profits duty. and in
the end it persuaded the state to repay
all it's capital expenditure. which was on
a large scale. Last June the company
in effect held a pistol at the head of the
government and said that 1t was not be-
ing properly supported in its most i'm
portant work. 1t thus secured it's monop-
oily of supply. and tho ministry of muni-
lions undertook to maxi loans at inter-
est to the COMPANY to cover IL proportion
of Its approved war capital expenditure,
besides placing contracts witt it to the
value of about $4,000, 900. OF the basis of
cost plus a fixed sum for profit and a
bonus for economical production. The
competing offers received from British
firms. the United Alkali Company. and
Courtaulds. We're turned down. For u
time. 1t ought to be said, the government
had continued to buy cellulose from the
French Company. but when the Cellonite
Company was firmly established in Eng
land the government ceased to d. ever
this. 1t ought to be said also that the
admiralty urged other departments to
encourage competition. and to support the
company which could supply the best
dope. In March. 1916, the Cellonite Com
pany was registered here as the British
Cellulose & Chemical Manufacturing
Company. The promoters Of the new COM
pany were the owners of the original
Swiss company: DIR. Camille Dreyfus. DIR.
Henry Dreyfus, and n. Clavel, all of
Basic. In 1916 and 1917 great risks were
run in the supply of afrplanes owing to
the delay in the delivery of cellulose. In
October, 1917, the company asked permits
sion to raise $4,000. 600 of capital in 81
shares and 100000 in z per cent deben-
lures. The treasury refused permission.
The company then appealed on patriotic
grounds. saying that il would have to
abandon extensions of it's worls which
were vital to the prosecution of the war.
Consequently the government yielded.
Thus, by various stages the government
created an amazing situation to their
own disadvantage. They have involved
themselves in expenditure up to the
eyes in order, SO far as we can see, to
expose the country to q considerable
risk of a ailur in supply.
AS We read the facts, the directors Of
the company have been laying their plans
largely with a view to the future. Cellu-
lose, which is a non-inflammable material.
will of course have a large market after
the war; and Il seems that the share
holders have not put money into their
pockets, but have put their paper earn
ings back into the company in order to
secure 1t for the future. This is not a
question of corruption, but rather of com
pany promoters greedily graspine all their
opportunities and coming off triumphant
in q battle of wits with an extremely lax
form of financial control.