Abstract
IN 1916 the Imperial Institute Committee for India was invited to inquire into the possibility of the increased use of Indian raw materials within the Empire. Various committees were set up to deal with the principal groups of materials selected for the inquiry, and the present volumes are the reports of those dealing with hides and skins and with oil-seeds. In the report on the former materials (i) it is shown that the pre-war trade in “kips” was almost entirely with Germany and Austria. During the war the Government was able to utilise most of the material produced, and proposals are made for preventing the return of the trade to the countries of Central Europe. For this purpose a preferential export duty is proposed; also the leading tanners of the Empire have been approached, and they have agreed that they can utilise all the hides produced by India. Suggestions are also made for improving the quality of the hides. Statistics showing the export trade between 1910 and 1918 in raw cow-hides, buffalo hides, and goat and sheep skins have been inserted. The report of the committee dealing with oil-seeds (2) discusses the position of the trade in that commodity with England, Germany, arid France at some length. It is pointed out that there is likely to be a serious shortage of fats in the world, and a system of rationing is recommended in order to secure adequate supplies to Great Britain and her Allies. It is further suggested that a preferential import tax on vegetable oils should be levied at our ports, and that there should be co-operation between the seed-crushers, the banks, the Government, and the transport companies with the view of facilitating the transit or re-export trade and of reducing the cost of production. Statistics for 1895 onwards of the trade in ten different kinds of oil-seeds produced in India are given.
(1) Reports on Hides and Skins.
Pp. ix + 123. (2) Reports on Oil-seeds. Pp. ix + 149. (Imperial Institute. Indian Trade Inquiry.) (London: John Murray, 1920.) Price 6s. net each vol.
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(1) Reports on Hides and Skins. Nature 106, 177 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/106177b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106177b0