Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-18
Steamer Laura's Cargo.

Steamer Laura's Cargo.
The steamship Laura Of the Austro-
| American line sailed for New York yes
terday with 500 emigrants from the va
rious provinces of Austria and Hungary.
| 1t will take on 1000 more at Patras,
| Greece.
| II is CARRYING the usual cargo, which
consists chief. of an ore called magnesite'
| SO that the bricks can endure a hlgh
| temperature. There are also large num-
beers of bales of goat skins for shoes, rab-
bit skins for gloves, laurel leaves, somaco
| and other medicinal leaves for dyeing and
! for drugs; many cases of glassware from
Bohemia, enamel work from lstrla, pent-
| wood furniture from Vienna, wood pulp
for the paper manufacturers OF the United
States and bags of sylicuum for making
graphite.
Several of our large department stores
| have their own factories in Bohemia ana
ship their glassware through Trieste.
American Imports Excluded.
| Imports from the United States into
Austria are small and have fallen off dur
ing the last three years because OF dis
elimination against our products in the
Austrian ard Hungarian tariffs The par
liaments of both countries are controlled
/
| nersonal interests lead them to shut out
| anericau provisions and other agricul-
| tural products by raising the duties upon
them and adopting regulations Wnich en-
barrass the trade and make IL uhp'oh'
| able. -
This legislation has been the suoJect OF
| protest by the government or the Chlteo
| States continually for many years. Inc
| Austrian government has repeatedly
promised to have the restrictions removed
But those promises not only remain unlui-
| filled. but our government mas receutiy
| admitted all Austrian merchandise 70 the
| minirnum rates of our new tarin without
! receivinp a single concession III return.
| There seems to have been serious mis-
| t.ke somewhere. In other words. some
body has blundered. Austria: whicn pro-
| hibits the importation of all American
| a pricultural products which are In demand
here. is placed on an equal basis with the
,oost generous nations with which we
have trade.
Good Business Cut OFF.
For example. the merchants OF Trieste
tell me that a few years ago tney were
importing twelve million dollars worm OF
cottonseed oil annually, with a duty of
eleven kroners per 30 pounds. TWO
wears ago the interests which control all
ou mills in Austria combined and secured
an increase in the tariff on edible oils 10
forty kroners per go pounds. which Is
!, prohibitive as they intended II SHOULD De.
since that legislation went into effect
no cottonseed oil has been imported
! from America. The same leglsiatlon
shuts out all other edible OILS
The importers here also call my atten-
ton to the discrimination against Ameri-
Ican hams and bacon. of which two and a
half million dollars worth used 10 pc I'M
ported annually from the United STATES.
But the trade has been DESTROYED ny , Tue
enactment of law requiring micro
scopic examination of every package
upon it's arrival in Austria.
This regulation is, Of course, impos-
sible, because the value OF any package
of meat would be DESTROYED when IT is
ouened. Hence. not dollars worth OF
nrovisiops is now coming into Austria
from the United States.
Yet our government makes no restr,c, ,
tions whatever upon importatiOns from
Austria, but gives them all the benefit
of the minimum tariff. The importing
merchants of Trieste would like to call
the attention of Secretary Knox ana the
tariff commission to this situation.
One Native American.
The only native American living at
Trieste. so far as ] can ascertain. ia
Orestes di Martini. one Of ten children OF
italian parents born in Brooklyn. n. Y.
/ He has brothers In Chicago. st. Louis.
San Francisco. New York and other
.
: American cities.
. Mr.. Martini. vice consul of the United
States, has been engaged for several
years, with much success IN introducing
American goods into Austria, and IL
strongly of the opinion, In which all other
importers agree. that II our government
will make a vigorous protest to Austria
and place Austrian products upon the
maximum HIST until the unjust dtscrtmi,
nation against American goods here shall
be removed. the trade in cottonseed oil
and provisions can be recovered and
other imports can md prontanle mar
. ket.
Mr.. Martini also believes that profita
. bic business in American lumber can b.
built up on the Mediterranean and thu
2 | Red seas. He is now trying to induce
; American sawmills to remove the prin
cipal obstacle by cutting the lumber Il
: the peculiar sizes required by the people
e over here. There is a good market fol
Q American cOrdage and other naval sup
r plies.
In 1908 Mr.. Martini sold the Austrian
: government 2500 tons Of arnor plat'
anti ~