advisory committee of the Board of Trade on commercial intelligence announced that it had approved a proposal of the Board of Trade "to supplement the 'exchange meetings' by the organization of a British Industries Fair,' to be held in London, at which samples of British manufacturers in certain groups of trades should be exhibited, somewhat on the model of the well-known Leipzig Fair."

At the 1915 fair the exhibits were limited to five groups of trades: (1) Toys and games; (2) earthenware, china, and glassware; (3) fancy goods; (4) paper, printing, and stationery; and (5) cutlery, clocks, electroplate, and jewelry. The fifth group was eliminated after the first year because of a Defense of the Realm regulation empowering the Minister of Munitions, after consultation with the Board of Trade, to prohibit or impose restrictions on the holding of industrial exhibitions and fairs during the war, as a means of preventing interference with the production of war material; and firms working on Government contracts were required to obtain the consent of the department concerned before they could exhibit at subsequent fairs.

Only British manufacturing firms were allowed to exhibit, and no one could exhibit articles of other than his own manufacture. Each was required to erect his own stand and to pay a small rental for the space occupied.

Each fair was open for a period of 11 days. Admission was restricted to bona fide buyers invited by the Board of Trade, but exhibitors could submit lists of buyers whom they wished to have invited.

Ample service was provided by the fair authorities. This included the receipt of samples, delivery at the proper stands, and storage of cases while the samples were on display. It also included information and advice to both exhibitors and buyers on foreign trade matters, such as sources of raw materials, commercial-traveler regulations, contracts abroad open to tender, oversea demand for particular articles, British manufacturers prepared to meet such demand, names of importers abroad and of suitable foreign agents for British manufacturers, methods of distribution and marketing, credit conditions and terms of payment, foreign and colonial tariffs and trade-mark regulations, war restrictions on trade, and general statistics of imports and exports.

For the guidance of visitors, catalogues or handbooks have been furnished at each fair. These contain an alphabetical list of exhibitors, with information as to the goods manufactured by each; a classified list of exhibitors; a numerical list of stands, with exhibitors' names; an alphabetical list of exhibits; and a plan of the exhibition hall; together with information as to British and foreign weights, measures, and currency.

The results of these fairs are difficult to measure. Attendance figures are of little significance, for both exhibitors and buyers passed through the turnstiles and many buyers were in attendance several times. The response of exhibitors, as indicated by demands for space, was each year in excess of the amount available. Exhibitors numbered 590 in 1915, 250 in 1916, 440 in 1917, 424 in 1918, and 570 in 1919; but 95 exhibitors at the 1915 fair were barred in the other years. The greatest increase was in the toy and game

group, which was represented by 119 firms in 1915 and by 198 in 1919. The only decrease was in the exhibitors of paper, printing, and stationery, reflecting war restrictions and shortage of materials. The results from the point of view of the exhibitors were generally satisfactory. Manufacturers were able to get into personal touch with old buyers and to establish many new connections. They were also made better informed as to the needs of their respective trades in particular markets and as to the sort of information service for which they could look to the Board of Trade throughout the year. Many firms found that they were able to book orders far in excess of their ability to obtain the necessary materials, and some that had been hard hit by the war found that the orders which came to them through these fairs would enable them to continue in business. In only one year was the amount of orders announced. That was 1918, when the total was £1,500,000, of which a third represented toys and games. The number of foreign buyers has been only twice announced. It was 300 in both 1915 and 1919. Four of the buyers in 1919 were from the United States.

From the point of view of the Board of Trade the results are particularly difficult to appraise. With reference to the initial attempt an official statement declared:

This effort of the Board of Trade was frankly experimental. It was promoted at this juncture for the purpose of stimulating the imaginations of British manufacturers, of arousing in them a live interest in the prevailing opportunities for broadening the basis of their manufactures and for modifying the form and design of their wares so as to appeal more sympathetically to the taste of people in remote parts who have not been cradled under the gray skies of Great Britain. How far this international exhibition has broken down the traditional conservatism of British manufacturers can not, of course, be accurately measured, but there is a strong presumptive evidence that a great deal of work has been accomplished in this direction.

In the fairs that have been held since that was written, there has been evidence of a more positive nature on this point. This was to be found in the exhibits themselves, and in the improvement that was shown in variety, workmanship, and design.

In the case of toys and games, Germany had a practical monopoly before the war, but there are now many new British firms whose output has steadily widened in range. Notable progress has been made in the making of dolls, though it is doubtful whether the best types of German dolls' heads have been duplicated. In mechanical toys the British manufacturers have demonstrated their ability to produce a great variety of articles. Soft toys are now turned out in great abundance.

In the higher grades of china, British goods had a well-established place before the war. British flint glassware was also in good repute. The successive fairs have shown evidence of marked progress in producing cheap earthenware, glazed and unglazed handicraft pottery, laboratory porcelain, and laboratory glassware, as well as lamp chimneys, globes, and electric bulbs-lines in which the country had been dependent upon Germany. Indeed, the formulae for heat-resisting glass were unknown in Great Britain before the war.

Improvement has also been apparent in fancy goods, many articles now being produced along standardized lines. Metal frames for leather bags are now made in England, and a beginning has been made in spinning brass.

A high type of color printing is no new thing in Great Britain; but there has been some reluctance on the part of established firms to enter the lower grades of production, such as cheap three-color work for catalogues. A good line of holiday cards has been produced during the war, and printing on metal has been introduced. Shortage of tin for food containers has led to the introduction of cartons made in part of waxed paper. Shortage of paper has led to the use of new materials as paper stock. Considerable progress has also been made in the manufacture of twine and bagging from paper.

Little opportunity has been given the home manufacturers of cutlery and electroplated goods to demonstrate what they can do to meet German competition, but the single fair at which they were allowed to exhibit was sufficient to show that progress had been made in such lines as scissors; and that dull-finish electroplate goods, a German specialty, can now be made and finished in England.

BRITISH INDUSTRIES FAIR, GLASGOW.

Glasgow's fair was organized by the City Corporation under the auspices of the Board of Trade. Its purpose, according to the prospectus, is:

1. To induce British manufacturers to extend their respective spheres of activity, so that all classes of articles hitherto imported will, so far as possible, henceforth be made at home.

2. To encourage British merchants to buy their supplies in home markets. 3. To bring home, colonial, and foreign buyers into touch with British manufacturers.

At the 1917 fair exhibits were confined to four groups of trades: (1) Textiles, (2) footwear, leather, and leather substitutes, (3) foodstuffs, prepared and preserved, and (4) household chemicals. In 1918 were added light and heavy chemicals, and cardboard boxes as used in the trades represented at the fair.

Manufacturers of the United Kingdom were permitted to exhibit their goods in return for a charge which included the cost of the stand. Admission was limited to trade buyers (except that during the second week the 1917 fair was opened to the public), and invitations were issued by exhibitors, by chambers of commerce, and by consuls and trade commissioners. Except in 1918, this fair was open at the same time as the London fair. The number of exhibitors averaged about 140.

The best showing was made in the textile group, the poorest in foodstuffs. Marked progress was shown in chemicals, anesthetics, and coal-tar dyes, and also in gloves, both fabric and leather. There were also exhibits of new lines of cheap textiles. Results in terms of orders booked are not available.

INDUSTRIAL FAIRS ON A PEACE BASIS.

It is now possible to conduct a fair unhampered by Government restrictions on exhibits, and elaborate plans have been developed for 1920 not only in London and Glasgow, but also in Birmingham, where a fair is to be held by the municipality and the local chamber of commerce, under the auspices of the Board of Trade.

As pointed out by the Board of Trade in its prospectus, "The three fairs, though held in different towns, are in reality one fair;" for they are to be held concurrently, February 23 to March 5, and no one industry may exhibit at more than one fair. There is no hardship in this limitation, for each fair is confined to specific groups of related industries, as shown in the following schedules:

London. Cutlery; silver and electroplate; jewelry, watches, and clocks; imitation jewelry, including hard haberdashery articles; glassware of all descriptions; china and earthenware; paper, stationery, and stationer's sundries; printing; fancy goods, including traveling requisites and tobacconists' sundries; leather for the fancygoods, bookbinding, and upholstery trades; brushes; toys and sporting goods; scientific instruments; optical goods and spectacle ware; photographic appliances and requisites; drugs and druggists' sundries; musical instruments; furniture, knocked down for export; and art needlework requisites.

Glasgow.-Textiles of all descriptions; ready-made clothing, including hosiery; hats and caps; boots, shoes, and gloves; carpets and upholstery materials; foodstuffs, prepared and preserved; beverages; chemicals, light and heavy; and household chemicals.

Birmingham.-Lighting fittings for electricity, gas, oil, etc.; cooking stoves and utensils, including aluminum, enamel ware, etc.; general hardware, including builders', marine, and household ironmongery of all descriptions; hand tools of all descriptions and small machine tools; metal furniture; perambulators, mail carts, and pushchairs; firearms; fishing rods and tackle; machinery belting; industrial and household rubber goods; cycles and motor cycles; accessories for motor cars, cycles, and aeroplanes; weighing and measuring appliances and instruments; sanitary appliances; paints, colors, varnishes, and painters' requisites; tubes in copper, lead, brass, and steel, and pipe fittings; architectural and ornamental metal work, including gates and fencing; cordage, ropes of steel and hemp, and string.

Participation in these fairs is now less restricted. It is open to "British manufacturing firms, which shall be deemed in this instance to be firms whose principal works and head offices are situated within the British Empire and which are not controlled by foreign interests."

All three fairs will be governed by the rules under which the previous London fairs have been conducted, and all will be conducted on a self-supporting basis. The London fair will be on an immense scale, as is evident from the fact that it will be held at the Crystal Palace, a structure having a floor area of 20 acres.1

BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION, 1921.

Plans are now being developed for an exhibition of manufactures and products of the Empire, to be held at London in the summer of 1921. This movement is being fathered by the British Empire League, as a means of promoting imperial commercial unity and so meeting" the greatly increased competition from the United States and Japan."

1 Board of Trade Journal, May 8, 1919, supplement; Chamber of Commerce Journal, July, 1919, XXXVIII, 210–11; Commerce Reports, April 3, 1919, 78, July 17, 1919, 367.

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS AND COMBINATIONS.

SALES ASSOCIATIONS.

In preceding pages reference has been made to the growing demand for closer association among British industrial concerns to the end that more economical methods of production might be adopted. Coupled with this demand is a plea for association as a means of facilitating sales. The various departmental committees of the Board of Trade upon the position of specific trades after the war and the Committee on Commercial and Industrial Policy were insistent upon this matter. Said the Committee on the Engineering Trades (March 21, 1917):

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In the engineering trades of the United Kingdom the working of trade combinations leaves much to be desired. * * * So far as we have been able to ascertain from the evidence before us, trade combinations exist only for the purpose of maintaining home prices. Apparently we had in this country before the war few combinations having for their object the coordination of production, the pushing of trade, the elimination of waste, the facilitating of export trade, or joint selling arrangements, though we understand that there are some amalgamations which have to some extent effected this object.

We ourselves approve of trade combinations amongst manufacturers, as we also approve of combinations amongst workmen. All such combinations should, where necessary, be legalized, so as to be enforceable between members. We think, however, that combinations, to be useful to the trade of the country, should be upon lines at present neglected and above referred to. We think that the secrecy, which almost invariably accompanies these trade combinations, is bad for trade and tends to cause suspicion amongst customers and workmen alike. We should like to see a considerable extension of combined working between manufacturers and we also consider that no secrecy should be allowed. To insure this we consider all trade combinations should register their terms at some Government department, such as the Board of Trade. The terms of such combinations should not become public property, but their registration would enable the Board of Trade to keep itself informed as to what was proceeding in the trade of the country, and enable it to take any steps that might be necessary in the event of such combinations being harmful to trade or prejudicial to the consumer.

We are inclined to think that in the future the nonassociated manufacturer will be far more likely to damage the trade of the country than general combinations.

The findings of the Committee on the Electrical Trades were expressed in similar terms:

A sound and permanent industry can be established not only to supply the home market, but to secure a much greater proportion of the oversea trade of the world. This can be done either by amalgamation among the companies engaged in the industry or by the development of the practice of associations for common purposes. In whichever direction action be taken, the committee is convinced of the need for reform. Only by the creation of strong combinations will it be possible for Great Britain to compete with the great foreign corporations, which not only manufacture, but undertake comprehensive contracts, make powerful financial alliances, and thus exert in every direction greater influence than is possible in the case of any individual firm. The evidence leads the committee to the following conclusion: * That the Government and public of this country have been unduly influenced by the fear that combination or association might result in enhanced prices, and have

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