The Washington times., 1919-04-02

LONDON. April Great Britain
has no desire to lock horns CONNER
ctally with the United States over the
perplexinE problem Of import restric-
tions, and the whole question, which
Is now before the Lloyd George cabi-
net. will be considered carefully and
thoroughly with q view TO an amic-
able agreement as soon as the British
ministers can find time from their
many other duties to devote to the
matter.
This was the gist Of a statement
made by r. z. Enthoven, controller OF
import restrictions in the United
Kingdom.
that in the interests of world trade
generally these restrictions, concern
ing which there has been some mis-
understanding, cannot be retained
permanently. Originally they were
adopted to save tonnage during tie
critical period OF submarine warfare.
They have been kept in force eve-
since as a matter OF self-preservation.
and not with any idea Of discrimina-
ton against any OF our allies.
If We were to fling the door wide
open now we would be flooded in a
short time with manufactured arti-
cles, so that at a time when we are
az a distinct disadvantage in all of
the old markets, we might be in
danger Of losing even our own home
markets by the time our manufactur-
ers had readjusted their factories 20
meet the demands of commerce.
Expects Licensing System.
Personally, believe there will be
some system Of licensing for the next
few months. just as there was during
the war. Total prohibition is seldom
desirable. It will be fatal to all Of
US alike IL, when we are just begin
ming to see the light Of another era,
after so much darkness in the world.
we deal with economic questions
without due consideration OF the tn
terest of all concerned.
I'VE knew how to combine our iE-
terests as allies toswin the war, and
It is even more imperative now that
we should find some way in which 20
pool our interests to win the peace
for which we have all been striving.
and which alone can insure a meas
ure of happiness and prosperity to a
world bowed in sorrow for four and
one-half years.
at has been difficult. believe, to
maintain import restrictions IN this
country without giving rise to fric-
tion, but taking everything into con-
Sideration 1 believe you will find that
we endesvored to be fair to all in
terests concerned. We are no longer
in difficulty regarding tonnage for
Imports but We have now the task
OF solving our eyer-increasing inter
nal problems.
Have Tried to Strike Balance.
I'VE have tried IN the past to bal
ance importations Of manufactured
articles and raw materials so far as
tonnage consideration permitted, be-
cause we realize that II would not
be fair either to ourselves, or to
other countries, to take the one and
shut out the other. We endeavor to
avoid the suspicion OF favorites in
licensing by considered the needs OF
certain trades as a whole, and then
arriving at some proportion Of nor
NAL imports for which licenses may
be granted over an extended period.
This proportion is allowed to all regu-
lar importers.
"How are we going to pay our i'm
mense war debt unless we are per-
ritted to work side by side with other
nations, just as we fought side by side
in the war?
1--WE are not asking for anything
more than a chance to readjust and
re-establish our industries, and we
are confident when America, Japan,
and the others look at the problems