The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-06-26
HAVE YOU GOT
YOUR PANAMA?
Government Has Seized Whole
Supply for UnderVaIu-
alton.

New York. June 25.-There is every
indication Of a scarcity in Panama hats
this summer. at least so far as the
American wearer is concerned. VIII
liam Loeb. collector OF the port, said
yesterday that already s1.O00,00O worth
this city. and that from now until fur
Their notice every Panama hat that
comes into this port Will be looked
after" The hats are mostly in bond
ed warehouses. where some Of the con-
signments have been as long as two
years. and the invests CATION that IS
now being made by special treasury
agents in this city will cover the Pan
anna hat Importation business at least
that far back.
Mr.. Loeb said that probably twenty
or twenty-five prominent hat dealers
were affected by the seizures already
made, but he refused to make public
their names The special treasury
agents. he said. had the names, and
that when he ordered the seizures he
did so at the request Of the agents.
The investigation is entirely ia the
dependent Of the New York custom
house ana operate under direct orders
from from the treasury department at
Washing ton. None Of the agents would
questions referred the questioner to
! Washington for information.
Mr.. Loeb said that it should be un-
Iderstood that all these hats are not
| from the Republic OF Panama. The
seizures include thousands OF hats
from Peru. Bolivia. and Colombia as
well, but they are all OF the style that
Is known in the United States and Eu-
rope as Panama" hats.
| only one seizure has so far been
| referred to the law department OF the
custom house to look over. and that
/ involves, II was said. n batch OF hats
valued in the neighborhoOd of $780,
O0O. In a few days. IL Is believed, many
other cases Will be ready for reference
10 the law department IL could not
be learned whether these cases would
be prosecuted criminally or not.
II will depend on whether the facts
Indicate that the undervaluations were
purpOsely made In order TO defraud
| the government
/ In some instances Il IS said that the
valuation are as much as Il per cent
dnder the foreign purchase price. 1t
was pointed out that in instances like
that IL would be a hard problem to
figure out that the undertaking. was
not Intentional.
The Investigation OF the South Amer
lean hat trade has now been in prog
ress several months and until a few
days ago few, even IN the employ Of
the government. knew that the special
agents were in New York and other
cities where the Panama hat trade Is
large. There may be some news COM
ing out OF New Orleans I'm the inves-
legation, IL was intimated, for that city,
ike New York. is one OF the great
Fanama hat importing cities
The special agents, IL is said. went
over the books OF a number of prom .
inent importers and II is rumored that
much was found that was hard to ex-
plain. 1t is also said that an inves-
lugation Of the government end of the
lappraisement led to the discovery that
IN some cases an antiquated method
or taking the figures on the invoices
as the basis for valuations. was still in
use. The hats are sent 70 America IN
boxes. each box containing n dozen or
more hats. and the box and contents
are given a flat valuation of say S25
lalthoush one Of the hats may sell over
the counter for as much as $40 and.
in many cases. more II was this flat
Invoice cost OF so much a box that
attracted the attention OF the treas
g yHcro department apartment In some boxes chat
we're found hats that when ready for
sale would retail for $50 apiece. II IS
also said that the special agents found
some very interesting letters which
may play a prominent part in what IS
ITO follow when the government Is
ready 70 go into court
| Inc Jobbers 10 whom the hats are
consigned keep the hats in bonded
warehouses until the season for Pan
ana hats comes around. and then they
take out what the trade needs A few
weeks ago the retailers went for tho
summer allotment and then they found
out that the government was holding
practically the entire supply in the
warehouses, and that. so far as the
trade In this particular kind OF hats
rs concerned, u was likely to be the
oulltsl season ever known.
Wholesalers were hit fust as hard
as the retailers, for they had taken
orders from retailers in every part OF
me country, and now e Is impossible
Tor them to fiji their orders. The re-
suit viii be, Il Is predicted. that the
whole stock will have to be held over
Tor next year, as e may be weeks. and
leven months before the government
investigation IS ended and the hats can
be taken out OF bond.
AS Tor the hats that were taken out
OF the warehouses before the seizures
were made. or were on hand from last
years stock. those hats will probably
bring the biggest prices on record
! Q0TlUTn AllIlINAI