Imperial Valley press., 1918-06-01

SOUGHT FOR us.
] rOtecti0n 0 fAmerican Goods Sought
by Measure introduced in Con-
gress-"Made in Germany" Goods
Will Be COmbated After War-Aii
Allied Countries to Follow.
(By sSociated Press)
Washington, May 31.-A national
/ 'ademark for protection of American
oods abroad and to insure a high
. andard of quality will be available
: the use of manufacturers in the
l. nited States when Congress agrees
u bills now pending to authorize the
! jepar tment of Commerce to design
dch an emblem and regulate its use.
''Made in Germany" goods and the
;:sidious propaganda accompanying
lat notorious mark will be combat
ID after the war by the American
gn, standing for an honest product
I'd square dealing to ALL
The trademark will be pictorial or
ymbolic, recognizable in all countries
regardless of the language spoken.
The printed mark, "Made in U. S. A"
which some manufacturers have been
using, was found to mean nothing to
millions of foreigners, to Chinese, for
instance, who speak only their ma
tive tongue. American consular Off
cials frequently have urged that
Made in U. S. A should be writ
ten on the goods also in the Ian
guage of the country where they were
to be sold.
Another objection to the printed
mark has been that it was subject
to misinterpretatiOn in British coun-
II les, where it might be taken to mean
made in Union of South Africa" or
Made in United States of Austria
lia."
While the first necessity for such
a trademark is to protect American
goods in foreign countries, very
important effect of it's use will be
to insure that manufactures sold in
commerce are kept up to
standard and are in fact what they
are represented to be by salesmen or
by advertising. 1t is the present in
tention of the Department Of Com
merce to restrict the use of the pro-
posed national trademark to such
manufacturers and in connection with
such commodities as will meet cer-
tain standards of trade practice as
we'll as of quality.
The proposal for a national trade
mark has the endorsement of Pres
ident Wilson, to whom Secretary Red
field submitted the first bill for sug-
gestions before it was introduced in
Congress. Secretary Lane and Sec
retary Houston also have been active
ly interested in the bill. Numerous
commercial organizations, private cit
liens and trade papers have approved
the idea.
Many small manufacturers are un-
able to enter the export trade be-
cause they cannot afford to go to
the expense of protecting their trade
mark in the foreign markets. To
these manufacturers, permission to
use national trademark at a nomi-
nal fee would be a great boon, if
such mark were protected by the gov.
ernment throughout the world. II
will also be a boon to many larger
manufacturers who have had theil
own trademarks pirated in one OF
more foreign countries. In such coun
tries these large manufacturers neet
only to place the national emblem up
on their products. The foreign con
sumer. therefore, will soon recogniz,
that even goods bearing an Ameri
can private brand are not necessar
lily American, unless such brand i
accompanied by the national trade
mark.
Small manufacturers are now a
quite a disadvantage as compare
with large manufacturers because o
the inability of the latter to expen'
hugs sums In nationall advertising
their products. The quasi-monopol.
secured in this way by large manu-
factursrs will be 10 q very large ex