ABSTRACT
The failure of certain of the older trades to hold their own was in a large degree due to general causes which they could not control; but, since many of them were failing in the struggle with the foreigner even before the war, part of their misfortunes at any rate must be attributed to defective organization. The advance of mass-production methods, which have accompanied the fore-mentioned tendencies, may be illustrated by reference to the motor industry, or to that branch of it which, since 1923, has turned to the manufacture of a cheap car. The Bushbury district, to the north of Wolverhampton, became industrialized as a result of the growth of the electrical, motor-car and engineering trades. A pre-war tendency which has been carried much further was that towards reducing the functions of the middleman. The Imperial Chemical Industries has come to include many local firms which produce ammunition, explosives, chemicals, and non-ferrous sheet, tube and wire.
