November 20, 1914.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1071

that the Government should give some assurance that
manufacturers will be assisted to carry on freshly estab-
lished industries on the termination of the war, and that,
apart from other measures, national interests might be
advanced by giving to our Allies some sort of preference as
regards goods in the production of which there were not
the same facilities in this country as in the Allied countries.
Further consideration was given to the question of the
manufacture of aniline dyes in this country, and a resolu-
tion was passed expressing the hope that the report and
recommendations of the Government Committee on the
subject would be issued with the least possible delay, and
urging that such facilities should be accorded to British
manufacturers as would permit of the profitable production
of aniline dyes in the United Kingdom. The council also
considered and confirmed a, proposal that steps be taken to
secure the restoration of the ten-letter word privilege in
regard to cable communications, and also to press for the
addition of certain other codes to the list of public codes
permitted to be used for cable purposes. Among other
matters considered by the council were: The release of
cargoes on enemy vessels, Declaration of London, retail
traders and rent, the war and commerce with Russia, &c.

Mr. John Varley, presiding on Friday last at the meeting
of the Scottish Australian Mining Company, said that the
raids of German cruisers on their commerce had made the
shipment of coal very uncertain, while the restrictions
imposed on its shipment by their own authorities in order
to keep useful coal out of the way of enemy cruisers, had
been another obstacle in the way of business with foreign
ports. Freights had risen in consequence of the war, and
this, added to insurance against war risks, had increased
the charges against coal shipped abroad. When the few
remaining commerce raiders were accounted for he would
expect to see their foreign coal trade go on with its normal
activity.

In the House of Commons on Monday Mr. Newman asked
the Prime Minister whether he was aware of any coal-
mining undertakings in Kent or elsewhere in the United
Kingdom now or previously under the control of alien
enemies ; and, if so, whether, in the interests of the public
safety he would have a systematic examination made of the
buildings, shafts, and workings of these undertakings ?
Mr. McKenna, who replied, said: “ All such undertakings
believed to be controlled in any degree by alien enemies
have been thoroughly examined and the necessary measures
of precaution have been taken by the military authorities and
the police. None are so controlled at the present time.”

In the debate on the Address on Monday Sir Henry
Dalziel raised the question of diverted supplies to neutral
countries, and referred especially to the heavy shipments
of coal to Scandinavia and Holland. The Prime Minister
said there was no subject which had engaged the more
anxious attention of the Government from the commence-
ment of the war. It was one of the most difficult of all
problems, as they had found, particularly when the supplies
of the enemy forces came very largely from neutral
countries, were carried in neutral bottoms, and were taken
ostensibly and in the first instance to neutral destinations.
He thought, however, that the excess he has rightly
observed in the export of coal from this country to
Scandinavian countries, particularly as compared with the
export at the corresponding time of last year, or the year
before, was not due so much—was not due at all—to their
being ultimately destined to Germany as to the fact that
these countries were deprived for the time being of the
supplies they have been accustomed to receive from the
enemy country. They knew very well that under normal
conditions the coal of Fifeshire, which did not belong to
what might be called the aristocracy of coal—but was not
less useful—was exported to various parts of the world.
One of their main competitors had been Westphalian coal.
For practical purposes they might take it that the export
of Westphalian coal had ceased, and it was not unnatural
that Scandinavian countries should resort to Fife and other
parts of the United Kingdom to make good the supply
which had been cut off. He doubted very much whether
any substantial part had been re-exported to Germany.
The case, he added, might be different with some other
commodities.

It is officially stated that tin-plate exports to Denmark,
Holland and Sweden are now prohibited. These shipments
run into several thousand tons a year, and the new order
will have a considerable effect throughout the whole South
Wales tin-plate trade.

It is announced that the offices of the Foreign Trade
Debts Committee, situated at 119, Victoria-street, West-
minster, S.W., are now open. The committee will be
prepared to consider applications in accordance with the
scheme already published for advances to British export
traders in respect of foreign and colonial trade debts. The
forms to be filled up by applicants should be obtained by
them from their bankers. Banks who desire to be supplied
with forms should make application to the committee at
the above address. Mr. H. Mead Taylor has been appointed
secretary of the committee. Enquiries should be addressed
to him at the committee’s offices.

Vienna is said to be threatened with a shortage in the
supply of coal, and the Government has given the Ministry
of Public Works extraordinary powers to compel mine-
owners and coal dealers to furnish certain kinds and quan-
tities of coal upon the demand of the Ministry. In case of
necessity, the miner must work overtime and on Sundays,
but he receives special rates of wages. Existing contracts
will not relieve the colliery owner from compliance with the
Ministry’s demands, and wilful failure to obey these will be
punished with heavy fines, or six months’ imprisonment.
The Burgomaster of Vienna has stated that the economic
condition of the city is excellent. Business goes on satis-
factorily, and there is an ample supply of provisions. He
also states that no extraordinary lack of employment is
noticeable.

For the information of the public it has been thought
desirable that the general principles upon which the Board
of Trade will act in dealing with applications for the
avoidance or suspension of patents and trade marks under
the Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (Temporary Rules)
Acts, 1914, should be made known. The principles
given below may be taken as generally applicable, but
special cases must necessarily receive exceptional treatment.

Patent <.—Licences will, as a general rule, be granted,
where the applicants fulfil the necessary conditions, set
out in Rule 1 of the temporary rules :—(1) Where there

is no manufacture in this country under the patent, and
also - (2) Where what manufacture there is, is carried on
by a company or firm on behalf of alien enemies resident
abroad, and there is any reason to doubt that the manu-
facture will continue to be carried on, or where it is in
the interests of the country that some other manufacture
should be started in the British interests.

7 rade Marks. — Suspension will, as a general rule, only
be granted in the following cases :—(1) Where the trade
mark is the name of a patented article, and a licence is
granted under the patent protecting it. (2) Where it is
the only name or only practicable name of an article
manufactured under an expired patent. (3) Where it is
the name or the only practicable name of an article
manufactured in accordance with a known process or a
formula which has been published or is well known in
the trade.

Generally speaking, suspension will not be granted in the
case of pictorial devices.

Under the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks (Temporary
Rules) Acts, 1914, Messrs. R. and J. Dempster Limited,
Manchester, made an application in respect of Feld’s
centrifugal gas washer. Before Mr. Feld died the applicants
had an agreement by which they had the sole right to
manufacture in this country. It was stated that there had
been a question about net and gross profits, but that the
administrators of the estate were prepared to enter into an
agreement with Messrs. Dempster or to go on upon the old
arrangement. Mr. Gadd thought Messrs. Dempster should
both manufacture and sell in this country, and give a
royalty on the net sales. They had before received an
amount reckoned at 40 per cent, on the cost of labour,
materials and establishment charges. The average cost of
one of these apparatus was <£1,200. For an exclusive
licence- for the term of the war he thought they could pay a
royalty of 7 per cent. The Comptroller said the Board of
Trade did not grant exclusive licences. It was finally
agreed that the royalty should be 12| per cent, for an
exclusive licence, and 10 for non-exclusive.

Mr. E. Mills, of 9, Harper-street, The Manor, Willenhall,
Staffs., applied for the suspension in his favour of a German
patent registered by Mr. Hinselmann, of Duisburg, for a
jigging coal conveyor. Mr. Rowland Goold, of 5, Corpora-
tion-street, Birmingham, appeared for the applicant, and
Mr. A. E. Melhuish for the German opponent. Mr. Ellis
watched the proceedings on behalf of the Mining Engineering
Company Limited, Sheffield, who themselves have placed a
jigging conveyor on the market. Mr. Ridgill, of Sheffield,
who also manufactures similarly, watched the proceedings.
The applicant said he had been negotiating with a Mr.
Reinhardt, who represented the German firm in this
country, with a view to purchasing Mr. Reinhardt’s
business, but Mr. Reinhardt was now a prisoner as a
German of military age. Mr. Mills said it was impossible,
in the circumstances, to carry that matter through, though
he was still out to buy. The Comptroller observed that it
ought to be possible to buy at a reasonable price. It could
be of little use to the agent, who could not longer sell
German-made goods. Mr. Mills suggested a royalty of
5 per cent, on the selling price.

At the last meeting of the Organisation Committee of
the Employers’ Parliamentary Association, Mr. B. Ormerod
in the chair, the present position of the chemical manufac-
turing industry was discussed at length. The arguments
in favour of duty-free alcohol were considered unanswerable,
and the following resolution was adopted unanimously :—
“That this meeting strongly supports the movement
instigated by the Leeds Chamber of Commerce in demanding
from the Government the remission of the duty on alcohol
employed in the manufacture of chemicals and in the
laboratory.” The administration of the Patent Acts, in the
opinion of the committee, was not of such a character as to
effectively carry out the expressed purpose of the Legislature,
and it was resolved:—“ That the Government be urged to
amend clause 27 of the Patents and Designs Act, 1907, in
such wise as to render it compulsory for a non-British
subject or concern engaged in the manufacture of chemicals
under Letters Patent taken out in this country to report to
the Comptroller four years afte» the date of the filing of
the patent as to the quantity of the chemical concerned
manufactured in the United Kingdom, and that in default
of the quantity manufactured in the United Kingdom being
sufficient to meet requirements the patent shall be revoked
forthwith unless the patentee can prove to the satisfaction
of the Comptroller the impossibility of manufacture in this
country (except that in this connection financial causes
shall not be a good defence) and that if such revocation be
made, licence to exploit the patent shall be granted on such
terms as the court may think just and only to such persons
and firms as are already engaged in the manufacture of
chemicals in the United Kingdom.” The present position of
British manufacturers in the dyeing trade relative to the
exploiting of patents (held by German or Austrian firms)
during the war received careful consideration; the committee
were of opinion :—“ That during the war a licence to exploit
a patent shall be granted for the unexpired period of the
patent provided the applicant can prove to the satisfaction
of the Comptroller that he is or within a reasonable period
will be in a position to manufacture an adequate supply of
the particular commodity to which the patent refers.”
Among other questions that were debated was that of
“ trading with the enemy,” and a practical scheme for giving
effect to the resolutions passed on that subject at the last
meeting of the central executive committee was framed.

The Gas World publishes some interesting extracts from
recent issues of the German Journal far Gasbeleuchtung.
The number for August 20 narrated that after the almost
complete stoppage of transport of private goods in the first
days of mobilisation transport had been resumed, though
on a very limited scale. Coal was, however, being sent to
Austro-Hungary in considerable quantity. The gasworks
were, partially, experiencing a shortage of gas coal supplies,
and the works which had depended on supplies of English
coal were seeking for substitutes at acceptable prices. The
Coal Syndicate had decided not in the meantime to fix
the prices of coal and coke for the winter 1914-15.
The number for September 12 stated that after the trans-
port of private goods had been re-started there were only
3,000 to 4,000 wagons available; on September 1 there were
13,204 in all—a number still quite inadequate for the
output, greatly reduced as this was. In normal time«
about 30,000 wagons are in use. Private consumers were
waiting for their supplies. The coal syndicate had fixed,
for those supplies of house coal which were in excess over

the summer consumption, a price of 30s. per ton for the
winter months, in order to help the mines to keep going
and in order to encourage the use of coke. In Upper
Silesia the former prices of coal had been officially pro-
claimed for the winter as regards the State mines, but the
private collieries had put prices up 5s. per 10-ton wagon
load. Places on the coast, usually supplied from England*
had to meet higher prices for coal. There were great
quantities of metallurgical coke on the market. In the
number for September 19 it was stated that the Rhenish-
Westphalia Syndicate had announced that gasworks would
be supplied—after the military and naval requirements had
been met—in proportion to the output of the different
sorts. It was expected that the output would be reduced
by 40 per cent., and this output could only be main-
tained if there were plenty of wagons. During the
month of August the total output in the Rhenish-
Westphalia district was 4| million tons less than in July.
The number for September 26 said that more wagons had
become available in the Ruhr district, so that 18,000 were
then disposable. The output was almost wholly taken by
the Army and the Navy, so that private consumers’ supply
left much to be desired. The demand for private consump-
tion was from 40 to 45 per cent, of the usual, the supply
from 30 to 35 per cent. The coke sales stood at 10 per cent.,
and cokeries were being extinguished. The use of coke
mixed with coal, particularly coke of small sizes, was
recommended in order to push up the sales of coke. The
fall in the sales of coke were, however, mainly due to the
stoppage of two-thirds of all the blast-furnaces, so that
metallurgical coke was accumulating. The sales of
briquettes came to 25 per cent., and the output had been
correspondingly reduced. The river traffic in briquettes on
the upper Rhine had been resumed, but was sadly
hampered by want of wagons; the exports to Holland were
very small. The Dutch collieries, which supply about
1’2 million tons a year, had raised the price of coal with a
view to preventing particular consumers from monopolising
the supplies, As to exports, these were to Austro-Hungary,
Switzerland and Italy; Italy had had 10,000 truckloads
from Upper Silesia and quantities from Austria. The
Bohemian brown coal pits had been working at 60 per cent,
output, for they had had little trouble about wagons, and
the export into Germany had been thrown open;
stocks were being worked off. The tar industry had
been at a complete standstill at the beginning of
August, owing to Admiralty restrictions ; but in
the meantime these restrictions had been largely removed.
The bulk of the crude tar was going to make benzol for
the navy. The number for October 3 narrates that a
Government order had been addressed to all public
authorities announcing that the navy had need of extra-
ordinary supplies of heating oil (coal tar oil). To procure
this it was necessary to find an outlet for the coke of the
cokeries, so that the by-product, coal tar oil, might be
obtained in sufficient quantities. The authorities were
therefore directed to use cokery coke, wherever possible, for
fuel in public buildings, and if they owned gasworks, to
set aside the gas coke in store to await further directions.
The Government bought 100,000 tons of cokery coke
in September, at low rates, for experimental purposes.
The supply of wagons had improved in almost all parts of
Germany, and the private consumers were getting their
supplies of coal and coke more readily. In Upper Silesia,
during the latter half of September, 80,140 wagons were
available as against 154,728 under normal conditions. In
the Ruhr region the bituminous lump coal had gone almost
exclusively to the Navy. Nuts and gas coal had found a
ready market. For example, Hamburg had had to supply
itself with German gas coal instead of the English coal,
and there had been some difficulty in apportioning the
available supply, and in adjusting the prices. The coal
and coke trade with Scandinavia was being pushed by
abatements in transport charges. The demand from South
Germany was increasing faster than the supply, and
stocks had had to be encroached upon. For broken coke,
sizes 1, 2 and 3, the demand had fallen off, particularly on
account of the price, which stood a good deal above that
of gas coke. The demand for Ruhr industrial coal was
very good, since regularity of supply from the Saar district
could not in the meantime be thought of. For the same
reason there were demands for Saxon coal and Bohemian
brown coal. It had been decided by the coal syndicate not
to raise the prices for blastfurnace coke and coking coal
during the last three months of the year. As to sulphate,
the production had fallen, but the price had not materially
gone up since the beginning of the war. The quotations
were from £12 10s. to £13 15s. per ton, sacks included, and
free at consignee’s railway station; in West, North and
Mid-Germany the rates were from £12 10s. to £12 15s.;
higher in East Germany. The internal agricultural
demands had increased since wagons—and particularly
covered wagons—had become more readily available.

The sales of the Rhenish-Westphalian Coal Syndicate in
August and September were as follows :—September : Coal,
5,355,000 tons ; coke, 871,060 tons ; briquettes, 249,171 tons.
August; Coal, 3,676,000 tons ; coke, 553,912 tons ; briquettes,
113,918 tons. In September 1913 there were sold 8,516,000
tons of coal, 1,706,990 tons of coke, and 386,358 tons of
briquettes.

In view of the extraordinary circumstances created by
war, the Russian Minister of Finance has prohibited the
export from Russia of copper, brass, steel and lead over the
European land frontier and vit all the ports of the White
Sea, the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff.
Exemptions will be granted in favour of the States of the
Allies.

In the Court of Appeal on Monday, the case of Softlaw v.
Morgan came before Lord Justice Buckley, Lord Justice
Phillimore, and Lord Justice Pickford. The defendant
appealed from an order made by Mr. Justice Scrutton.
The question was whether the moratorium applied to
contracts made after August 4. On an application under
Order 14, Mr. Justice Scrutton held that the moratorium
did not apply to such contracts, and ordered final judgment
to be entered for the plaintiff. The Court dismissed the
appeal. Lord Justice Buckley said that the order of Mr.
Justice Scrutton was right. There was nothing in the
Proclamation of September 3 to alter the class of contracts
payment in respect of which was to be affected by the
moratorium. The moratorium was not extended so as to
apply to contracts made after August 4. Lord Justice
Phillimore and Lord Justice Pickford delivered judgment
to the same effect.