Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-19
RED TAPE


| sues.
RED TAPE.
Then tho vessel is allowed to discharge
| it's cargo on the pier, but here, too, 1t ~
held up until samples Of each shipment
may he examined by the customs au-
thorities and sent 10 the customs ap-
| praisers. A great deal Of the merchandise
must be weighed while on the pier. and
mass OF red tape makes The loading Of
lighters for delivery TO other piers
| tremendous task The result Is pier con-
| gest ION Cargoes become piled up. other
! ships are delayed in docking for want Of
| room to place their goods and the piers
are centers Of noisy confusion, with
importers captains, ships agents and
| customs officials rushing madly around,
| losing their tempers and important papers.
| A representative of one large steamship
company declares that its ships are often
| delayed at the piers for four or i've days
| at a stretch.
| If goods are 70 be marketed Immediate
| ". the duties are paid as quickly as
| possible and permission to remove them
| from the piers secured. Ii they are not
| 10 be marketed immediately, they are
usually placed in bonded warehouses, 50
| that the duties do not have TO be paid at
once.
Certain fees are charged by the ware
! houses, and lnnumerable papers must De
| tlled cls- The sale Of goods stored IN
| these bonded warehouses L extremely
| difficult Purchasers can examine It
| only under the careful scrutiny of the
customs officers and usually under adj
verse conditions, IN a place where the
| hight IS dim, where the articles are hard
10 get at, and where the background Is
anything but lovely. Under these cir
| c.nnstszces, the most expensive luxurles
t-Sometimes appear dingy, and the mlldest
| customers obdurate.
In cases where firms import certain
| European materials and combine them
with American materials for reshlpInent,
as in the case OF the Penama hats and
/ American hatbands, they usually use the
! draw back system. In other words, they
pay duty on the goods, and when they
reship il the government returns them 90
per cent of their payment, known as
draw back : This system has many
| disadvantages, also, for there IS many a
slip betwIXt the manufacturer and the
| drawback He must have all the papers
incidental 10 the first payment OF duty and
| if merchandise has come IN on different
ships ln different conslgnmentS, these
amount TO a small volume Every bill
| of goods must be located on the customs
records and identified before the draw
back is authorized
ONLY A FEW OF The TROUBLES
These are only some Of the difficulties
enumerated by business men as reasons
| for the establishment Of free ports
Separated from the rest of the port by
| natural or artificial boundaries, a free
ha- xtho httr
| factories, and all the latest mechanical
equipment for the expeditions handling of
cargoes Ships can dock there without a
permit, preliminary or otherwise; land
their goods without delay, and forget
that there Is such an unmihgated nuisance
as a customs regulation Firms with
factories within the free port can unload
their goods directly from vessel to show
room, arrange it for sale i'll their own pri-
vate salcsrooms, or reShIp It whenever
they get ready.
The worst objection to the Tree port is
it's German origin, but as one noted com
mercial authority points out AT 8
time when the United States is looking to
foreign markets as an outlet to her
future industry, German methods are
especially worth while studying, since
Germany in the space of thirty or forty
YEATS 1CFSlOptN tf0AtA NH
nation to a commercial nation of first
rank" Before the war, Hamburg was the
great free port OF the world, and occupied
an important PLACE in Germany ) com
mercial expansion-a place created largely
by accident.
IT'S GERMAN BEotNNIN0s
Before the German federation in 1871. I
both Hamburg and Bremen were in
dependent cities and had occupied that /
status ever since the fourteenth century
when various independent cities banded
themselves into the Hanseatio League
and kept their gates open 10 trade with
out duties, despite the opposition Of petty
mobiles. When they eame into tho Cor
man empire 1t vas with the understanding
that they wauid remain outside the Ger
man customs union. bat later they agreed