In this particular case the scheme may be useful, but careful provision is necessary to protect customers for the commodities produced.

It may become a very serious thing for manufacturers of piece goods when struggling to maintain their position in the world markets, and the slightest addition to cost of production may close a market to them, if they find that they cannot purchase the dyes they require in the cheapest market, or those who dye goods for them must increase their charges, because one organisation can fix prices, and import from abroad is prohibited in order to protect a special home industry.
Possibly it may be necessary for a time to give such protection to certain industries, involving a preliminary expenditure of a large capital; but the fact that the dye industry had gone from England to Germany was, in the opinion of many, due not so much to free and open competition as to the circumstances that (1) the German producers paid more attention to systematic chemical research bearing on the industry, and (2) that our absurd patent law operated to throttle English production.

The founder of the successful firm of Levinstein, Limited, Mr.Ivan Levinstein, seeing by his own experience how our patent laws prevented the development of the dye industry in England, devoted years of work to obtain an alteration of these laws, but with only partial success.

The Government, after very long delays, attempted to deal with the matter, but it is not yet satisfactorily settled.

A Bill on the subject is now before Parliament.