Evening star., 1914-09-24
Treasury Experts Believe
Normal Business Will
Soon Follow.
JAPANESE ARE TAKING
ADVANTAGE OF WAR
Their Room at New York Custom
house Presents Busy Appearance.
Germany Resuming Trading.

There is enough shipping plying the
seas to American ports to carry the
normal imports of the United States.
Imports from Japan are apparently
increasing, favored by war conditions; !;
Englands imports, while not up to
normal, continue extensive; some Ger
man goods are coming into American
ports; France is sending across seas
some of her products; Switzerland.
after a month of inactivity, has slight
ly resumed expectations; nothing is
coming in from Austria.
Warehouse Withdrawals, which have
represented large part of. customs
receipts since the beginning of the
war, will now begin to fall off; re-
sumption of imports will more or less
compensate for this falling off in re-
ceipts from exhaustion of warehouse
supplies.
me customs situation will improve
with the gradual increase of importa-
tlons and the opening of the sugar
season; December should see the Gus
tomhouses busy.
Opinions of Officials.
1hese were observations of the GUS
toms situation brought back from New
customs l.
vision of the Treasury Department
VINO attended the annual conference
OF collectors, and took occasion to OBJ
serve conditions at the big New York
customhouse. and to gain the views
OF customs experts in the big port.
IheSe experts hazard no statistical
coh1ectures, qualifying optimism with
inc knowiedge that there is no basis
out experience to indicate the trend of
thihES. and that experience is not wise
under existing conditions
the labor situation in European
countries at war, difficulties of fnanc-
ing commercial propositions and the
olihcultieS of land transportation are
the greatest factors against foreign
commerce None of the nations inyolv-
eu Is oenled the use of the seas by
Waf circumstances, in the opinion of
tnese customs experts.
Germany is shipping her products in
Dutch bottoms. out of Rotterdam and
other Holland ports The Dutch ves-
SelS are great immigrant carriers and
nave not carried heavy cargoes in min
ing times of peace. This space is now
available for German goods if the Ger
man merchants will place them in
Dutch territory for transshipment to
the United States.
German Room Bare.
In the German room of the custom
mousse at New York officials found
the floor mighty bare, but there were
packages of glove leather, dies, chemi-
cais and great big case of crockery.
These were brought in in Dutch YES
sells 1t is expected that this avenue of
trade Will be more and more utilized
by the German producers and rner-
chants.
Switzerland has just begun again to
export enbroideries. For more than a
month not single Importation had
previously been received from this
source France maintains much
smaller part of her trade with the
United States than is normal, but there
is confidence that her imports will
increase steadily
Great Britain keeps sending in her
room was crowded with wares. Gus
toms men. however, gave assurance
tnat the quantity was not normal
Ihe surprise was in the Japanese
ROOM Inere was unusual activity
The New York customhouse received
Japanese goods in bond shipped via the
Pacific, through Vancouver and San
Francisco, and consigned to New York
dealers But shipments as large also
came by way of Europe, transshipped
at Southampton, England, While the
increase in Japanese imports is not
estimable. it is recognized by the GUS
toms experts as marked.
Imports Increasing.
\ good sign is the great number of
triplicate invoices being received from
coasuls abroad, representing imports
in transit. These triplicate invoices,
required by customs regulate unusually
arrive ten days or a week ahead of the
shipments. That they have increased
is positive sign that the imports of
the near future are increased.
Dutch ships, according to the New
York customs, usually carry only a
quarter of the cargo that their cargo
space would allow. They are confident
that this space Will be utilized
for the shipment of products
OF Germany Looking over the
shipping in New York harbor, and dis
cUssing conditions. il was found to be
the expert opinion that there is no
shortage in cargo space to carry the
normal volume of imports OF course,
IT is recognized that the apportionment
of shipping would not meet the normal
requirements, but there is belief that
imports can find q means of transpor-
tation to the United States from every