The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1918-06-07
RESTRICTION ON IMPORTS
IS NOT TO Be EMBARGO.
Continued from Page A.

the restricted lists, but as about ga
per cent of the imports have come
from channel Europe, only per cent
will be excluded. Most manufactures
of cotton come from Europe, so only
| about 9 per cent will be excluded.
In every case, of course, even those
goods cannot come in from EUROPE
unless they are ready to be loaded
at convenient ports as back-haul car
goes.
At the other extreme are toys, honey
pencils and pencil holders, UNI
brellas, poultry, eggs and electri
lamps. The reduction in the imports
will be about as follows: Toys, 85E
per cent; honey, 90 per cent; pencils
and pencil leads, 60 per cent; umbrel-
las, Y per cent; poultry and eggs, col
per cent; electric lamps, rs per cent
The lists have not been in effect
long enough to make it possible tOI
determine precisely what the effects
will be. Some manufacturers say
that existing stocks are such that there
is no immediate cause for worry. 9th
ers already are adjusting their business
to the new conditions. The effect on
shipping is also open TO question. AS
the savings in dead weight tonnage
were estimated on the figures for
the fiscal year OF 1867, and it isl
certain that between the end of that
year and the making up of the lists
there had been considerable inter
ruption of ocean transportation, it has
been found impossible to state what
the exact saving will be. 1t is safe
to say, however that it will be well
up in the six figures.
importers Interests Guarded
The administration of the lists has
been done with the intention of pre-
venting any great hardship on import
ers. In the case of restricted commo4
dities importers were required to get
the license numbers in advance and
cable them abroad. This caused a.
little delay, but it YVES taken in ex-
Cellent spirit on the whole. Nomin- +
ally, import licenses were also re-
CURED for goods which are not named /
on the lists, but, as the plan worked !
out, entry was allowed if a license
was applied for and granted even
otter the goods had landed on the
dock in this country. TWO " three
days ago, however, the W.arATrade
board made an important amendment
to the practice. 1t is now necessary
for an importer of even unrestricted }
goods to get license in advance and |
to have the license number cabled
abroad.
Looking to the Future !
This new practice viii shut the door |
on various German schemes, and, will |
make it difficult for the Germans to
get flying start for postwar COM
petition.
AS soon as the first of the restric-
ted lists was published there were
requests for exceptions of various
kinds. The burden was placed on the
petitioner of showing the necessity
for the exception, and clear cases
received sympathetic action Some
business men who asked to have the
lists amended withdrew their requests
Nhen they learned the inside facts
of the case-facts usually having toI
do with shipping. In still other cases.
a plain recital of the reasons for re-
stricting the commodities was suffi-I
cient. Some men interested in the
peanut industry protested in good
faith against the exclusion of peanuts
from Asia. The opposition was over
come by a letter to the trade, show
ing that the 1918 domestic crop is ex.
pected to reach 1OO,O0OO0O bushels,
and that imports have never exceeded
100000 bushels, only a fraction of
the increase predicted in production
here.
The significant paragraph of the let
ter was the official statement
"The demand for shipping for mill
tary purposes is so great that all dis
pensable commodities must be elimin-
ated from our import trade. In fact,
it is probably true that, with all dis
pensable commodities eliminated and
essential imports pared down to the
very bone of minimum requirements,
there still will remain a shortage of
shipping to satisfy the needs of mill
tary uses and our essential industries
during the remainder of the war"
That is the explanation of the re-
stricted lists, those in effect now and