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THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

May 18, 1917.

received, and using the same to the restriction of
business as far as possible to German firms alone.
By this means a ring was established, in which
shipping and emigration agents, consuls and traders
generally were involved, and were laid under such
financial obligations that they could not afford to
risk incurring the displeasure of the bank. So long
as German interests were served, all was well; other-
wise bankruptcy and commercial ruin were sure to
follow.

The British Trade Corporation, judging from the
report of Lord Faringdon’s Committee, is to be
designed, from a financial standpoint, upon lines
somewhat resembling the German industrial banks,
but free from the vices inherent in that system. It
will receive no deposits, but will give long credits,
and its business will entail a lock-up of its resources—
the very antithesis of ordinary banking business as
understood in this country. The chief difference, as
compared with the German system, would seem to
be that we are endeavouring to do with one large
concern the work done in Germany by a large
number of smaller institutions. The British Trade
Corporation, again, is constituted by Royal Charter,
instead of under the Companies Acts. On the whole,
it is difficult to see in what way it can come into
competition with the joint stock banks, since from
the very nature of its aims it will chiefly undertake
business which the joint stock banks would be
precluded from touching.

"We must judge the position of the British Trade.
Corporation solely from, the point of view of the
advantages it promises to secure for British trade
, abroad. If it will checkmate the effect of German
influence abroad by placing the British trader upon
level terms in foreign markets, especially as regards
credit, it cannot be otherwise than advantageous.
The British joint stock banks, however, maintain
that traders can already get all reasonable credit
facilities, and that our deficiencies in foreign markets
are due not so much to difficulties in finance as to
conservative methods and the lack of proper trade
organisation.

But it is not solely for giving financial assistance
that the British Trade Corporation is designed. As
we understand the scheme, it is proposed to supply
also that very organisation which is now lacking.

The primary objects of the Corporation, as set forth
in the petition of the promoters, include not only the
establishment of machinery for financial assistance,
but also the equipment of information bureaux and
the accompanying organisation for ascertaining the
conditions of trade and business requirements in all
the countries of the world. The portion of the
scheme that will be subjected to the greatest criticism
will be the fact that the Corporation will be itself a
trading concern, with an eye to profits for the purpose
of paying dividends on the paid-up portion of its
authorised share capital of £10,000,000. The charter
also confers upon the Corporation a right to be the
authorised agent of the Government in certain cases
where British interests are concerned, and this quasi-
official support should be of material assistance in
the development of the scheme. In the meantime
the whole plan is held up for further consideration,
as a result of the debate in the House of Commons
last night.

The North-East Coast Institution of
Works Engineers and Shipbuilders have
Organisation, devoted a considerable amount of
time during the current session to
the discussion of an important paper by Messrs.
A. D. C. Parsons, E. L. Orde and G. H. Tweddell
on “Works Organisation.” The subject is one
which has been a great deal before the public during
the war, and the word 11 organisation ” has been much
used in a certain mystic sense as embodying an
essential element in the coming reconstruction of
industry after the war. But there has been little
effort to define the meaning and scope of the term.
As an abstract expression it has occupied a prominent
place in every scheme that has been formulated for
the recovery of our national industries and the main-
tenance of our commercial position in the face of the
acute competition which is foreshadowed on the
resumption of peace conditions. The authors of the
paper now before us have endeavoured to give a
concrete meaning to the word u organisation ” as
applied to works. Three distinct aspects of the
subject are here considered. Mr. Parsons deals with
the manufacturing side, Mr. Orde discusses financial

conditions, and Mr, Tweddell treats of the sellers’
point of view.

The relations between the coal industry and the
manufacturing activities of this country are too
obvious to need any attempt to explain why this
subject should appeal to our readers. It is a mere
commonplace to point out that prosperity in the coal
trade depends primarily upon the output of manu-
factured products. The latter can only be maintained
at a high rate by the aid of mechanical power, which,
in its turn, is synonymous with the economic con-
sumption of fuel. But one of the chief problems of
the workshops is to ensure that each machine is
maintained at its maximum efficiency, and Mr.
Parsons discusses the part of organisation in producing
this result. Fuel costs are, of course, only one part
of the cost of production, and in the case of many
manufacturing concerns this item is somewhat lost
sight of by absorption into the general heading of
“ factory expenses.” In the discussion upon the
paper, Mr. Nelson classified factory expenses as non-
productive, but why power should be brought under
this head is difficult to understand. Surely it would
be more logical to separate power from this category,
and to include it, with labour, under the heading of
li productive expense.” To illustrate the importance
of the item of “fuel costs ” we need mention only one
instance, the scrapping of old machines. It is often
impossible to determine when a machine is no longer
earning its cost unless an elaborate system of recording .
fuel consumption is adopted. On the other hand, it is
necessary to guard against the mistake of making
cost-keeping too elaborate, with the result that
the system itself becomes an important item of
expenditure. The truth is that it is impossible to
lay down any hard-and-fast system of cost keeping,
since what would be necessary for one factory would
be a work of supererogation in another.

Mr. Orde laid down four essentials of a good
costing system. These are — accuracy, simplicity,
rapidity and elasticity. The first of these is an
obvious desideratum, but is, perhaps, also the most
difficult to attain. As for simplicity, it is not easy
to draw the line at which elaboration of detail
becomes excessive. The ideal system would be one
which makes it possible to detect waste and
inefficiency. Messrs. Price, Waterhouse & Co., in
a valuable memorandum submitted as a contribution
to the discussion, drew attention to the fact that in
the United States greater importance is attached to
accurate cost keeping than in this country. They
state that in Great Britain good cost systems are the
exception. A large part of the superiority of the
American system is attributed to the extent to which
amalgamation has taken place in that country. They
affirm that if British manufacturers are in future to
compete successfully with America and Germany,
they must combine their industries into a smaller
number of larger units, the effect of which would be
to spread the costs over a larger output. This is a
practical question which is worthy of consideration.
Prof. Ripper drew attention to another point, i.e.,
the value of graphic methods of illustrating the
relations between the actual and estimated cost of
work. It is certain that more use could be made of
diagrams instead of figures for this purpose, and
this method could scarcely be surpassed from the
point of view of simplicity. Mr. Robinson, again,
referred to the value of a correct system of cost
keeping in fixing piece rates, which, he said, had
usually been a game of bluff, with odds in favour of
the men, since only the man actually employed upon
a machine really knows the minimum time required
for any work.

The third and concluding subj ect dealt with in this
comprehensive paper is the organisation of the sales
branch—that is to say, the marketing of the product.
This was treated by Mr. Tweddell, mainly from the
standpoint of the engineering industry. As he very,
trulv remarks, the most efficient factory organisation
can be nullified by poor selling. It is true that the
science of salesmanship'has not been studied in this
country to anything like the same extent as in the
United States and in Germany. Mr. Tweddell
believes that one cause of our backwardness in this
respect is that for reasons of economy the British
manufacturer has hitherto relied too much upon a
large number of agents, selling on commission.
This is often the full extent of the organisation of the
sales branch. Its weak point lies in the fact that
these agents are usually without any special know

ledge of the goods they offer. The typical selling
organisation must concern itself in the first
instance with the business of reaching and holding
suitable markets. The author describes in detail an
organisation of this kind, but it is obvious that no one
cut-and-dried plan can be found to suit every busi-
ness. Very opportune are his remarks on the need
for training for the industrial side of engineering.
It is now widely recognised that the most successful
salesman will be the highly skilled engineer. Too
often he has been a mere smatterer. Mr. Tweddell
dismisses the notion that a good salesman, like a
poet, is born and not made. “Bornness,” he says,
untrained cannot compete with highly-trained
mediocrity. The “born” man is too often handi-
capped by the infirmities of genius. Of course, such
a statement is open to the retort that a genius with
idiosyncrasies is scarcely to be considered as born
either to salesmanship or to any other commercial
avocation. We may, nevertheless, agree that a
salesman should not be selected from the workshop
failures, or from the ranks of the dilettante student
of engineering. His qualifications should be
seriously considered, and perhaps the dictum that he
should be pne part talk and nine parts judgment is
not very wide of the mark.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE.

KING’S BENCH DI VISION.—May 16.

Before Mr. Justice Hobridge.

Coal Export Licences.

Myers, Rose and Company v. Desire Marbais (Paris).—
Judgment was delivered in this action. Plaintiffs, who are
colliery agents in Hull, claimed damages from defendant for
not taking delivery of the balance of 30,000 tons of Welsh
industrial coal, containing 30 per cent, of large on ship-
ment, port of delivery to be Dunkirk to Rouen inclusive,
at buyer’s option, the period of delivery to be from May 1
to. November 30, 1916, the price 55s. 6d. per ton English
c.i.f., with other conditions set out in the contract dated
April 14, 1916. Defendant pleaded inability to accept
delivery from force majeure, and the difficulty of getting
French authorisation of the English export licences. He
also counter-claimed in respect of 4,000 tons undelivered,
in respect of which defendant lost £1 a ton. Marbais
relied on “ a law on the regulation of coals and the limi-
tation of freights for the transport of coals under the
French flag,” signed by the President of the Republic at
Paris on April 22, 1916.

His lordship said the non-deliveries were chiefly for
August and September, and it was said the defendant was
liable because of non-acceptance. Having regard to all
the circumstances, he was of opinion that the contract was
governed by the words contained in it, “ subject to the
obtaining of the licences.” The licences were not obtained
in August and September, but the failure to obtain them
was not, in his view, proved to have resulted from any
default on the defendant’s part. Therefore, the plaintiffs’
claim failed. As to the October and November deliveries,
his lordship stated that, with regard to 1,200 tons pro-
posed to be shipped in the steamship “ Louise,” he came
to the conclusion that this scheme was cancelled, and there
could be no claim or counter-claim in respect of it. There
were 579 tons short .on the last month, and for that the
plaintiffs were liable, and there would be judgment for the
defendant on the counter-claim for that amount. His lord-
ship entered judgment for the defendant with costs on the
claim, and in his favour on the counter-claim for c£361, the
amount of agreed damages on 579 tons short delivery. No
costs against the plaintiffs on the counter-claim.

French Forestry Committee—In view of the diminished
imports of foreign timber and the increased consumption
of wood as fuel, owing to the lessened importation of coal,
the French Minister of Agriculture has appointed a general
forestry committee to investigate the timber resources of
the country, and how they can best be utilised for the
national requirements. The Forestry Department, Army,
Ministries of Munitions, Commerce, Interior, Public
Works, and Colonies, the timber industry, and land
owners will be represented.

State Control of Mines.—A number of coal owners
throughout the country waited upon the Coal Controller
(Mr. Guy Calthrop) at the Mines Department of the Board
of Trade, Whitehall, on Thursday, and discussed matters
arising out of the Government scheme for the State control
of the coal pits of the kingdom. The coal owners after-
wards met at the Savoy Hotel, and sat until the evening
in private consultation. The proceedings were adjourned
until to-day (Friday). It is stated that, as a result of the
deliberations, an agreement is expected to be reached.

Miners and Food Rationing.—A special conference of the
Miners’ Federation of Great Britain was held at the Central
Hall, Westminster, on Thursday, to consider the question
of the compulsory rationing of food. Mr. Robert Smillie
was in the chair, and there were present 148 delegates from
all the mining distripts in Great Britain. Mr. J. Winstone
(South Wales) moved a resolution that, in face of the grave
shortage of food, and the unequal distribution of same,
there should be a system of compulsory rationing. It was
urged to be the duty of the Government to see that the
workers obtained a proper supply of food equally with the
soldiers, and that this could only be done by the State
taking control of all food supplies, and fixing the selling
prices. An amendment instructing the executive to
approach the Government and ascertain if there is any
necessity for compulsory rationing, secured the support of
the majority. Thereupon it was decided to ask the Prime
Minister to receive a deputation. It was decided, on the
recommendation of the executive committee, to take part
in the Triple Alliance conference on the question of indus-
trial compulsion, as decided by the executive of the three
organisations on the previous day.