The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-26
]. $. IMPORTERS
 MADE RICH Ry FOREIGN MARKET
Depreciation of Foreign Money Presents Chance
 For Big Profits.
GOVERQ1TT.EEN KEEPING WATCH
 ON IMPORTS
American Manufacturers Refusing to Take Large
 Foreign Orders.

1 New York. Dec. 26--Arnerfcan i'm l porters now purchasing goods in i England. France and Italy for ship | ment to the United States, are wax | ing fat as q result of the depreciation 1 of the pound sterling, the franc and 1 Iira, according to stories now going l the rounds Of the New York whole l sale district.
 1 The only "fy in the ointment for l the American buyers abroad is the i fact that. by a Presidential order sev- 1 eral weeks ago, United States con
 su9s are required to keep tab on big 1 purchases, ascerta in the selling price and cable these facts to the United ] States customs authorities. Then, by ! figuring the rate of exchange on the l date Of purchase, the government is l enabled to set 2 proper value upon 1 the goods for the collection of import 1 duties. 4 Court of Claims passes i upon what are alleged to be unfair 1 -appratsals
 ] The situation is said to be some ! what like this: An American buy l ing pound sterling say, on Dec. 12, l needed 10 pay in American money : only $3.66 for British currency nor mally worth about $4S7. Now he 1 goes to a factory in Nottingham, 1 England, to buy Iaces and there, al ! though prices of course are higher | than before the war, he pays for them i in this depreciated British money and
 makes a ''handsome'' profit. Then he ships the Iaces to the United States where, hy reason of the imitation of 1 the American dollar, they are retail ! ed for from 100 to 15O per cent. above | the pre-war prices
 l The same importer, on the same i date. we will say, goes to France. In i Paris he has exchanged hTs American ] dollars for francs Normally there 1 are 5.1S1s francs to the dollar but now l he finds one Yankee ''simoleon" will l buy 11.52 francs, over 100 per cent. more than before the war. The price | of silks has gone up but he goes to 1 Lyons and there. with his depreciated i French money, he buys more than he 1 has ever bought before at "bargain' l prices. The silks reach New York l where they are sold to the consumer 1 at double heir former retail price. ! Next this importer visits Italy l where he fn7s the Iira. 5.18B of ! which like the franc before the war 1 could be bought for one American ] dollar, now at a vast discount. In fact, ! he receives 1S.+7 lire for one Amert- 1 can dollar and, well financed, goes to ] Naples where he ncgOtiates the pur- ] chase of tapestries costing, of course, more than in 1914 but in real. ty l cheaper when purchased with the present Italian currency.
 The same financial conditions exist all over Europe and in the former Central Empires, of course, they are reported much worse. In the Allied l countries, however, where there is national stability and greater ability to pay, the depTeCiated money is eff ] fecting some strange changes. \ dinner which, before the war, in Paris could be had for q nominal sum, now costs from 20 to 50 francs.
 American manufacturers, mean while, who desire to sell their pro duets are demanding payment in American dollars at par. Recently the Belgian government, it is said, bought 20 American locomotives, for 1 which payment instead of being in Belgian money was demanded in , American dollars. thus adding from 15 to 20 per cent. 10 the manufac- turer's normal profit Naturally this discourages foreign buying
 On the other hand, a big American locomotive concern. apprehenSive of
 the turn of political affairs abroad due
 to delay over the Peace Treaty, is re- ported practically to have cancelled
 all foreign advance orders. Such or ders. calling for delivery in three. SIX or nine months are said to be practi-
 caly nOn-eEistent in the locomotive trade Similar conditions exist in other industries.' That is why Ameri- can manufacturers have been saying:
 If the Peace Treaty is not soon
 signed it will mean the complete loss of our foreign trade"
 There are committees of the most prominent United States bankers and 1 business men, representing the Amer ican Bankers Association. the United States Chamber of Commerce and the International Trade Conference who
 have been at work on this problem of foreign exchange for months and who will be ready to remedy the present situation as soon as the Peace Treaty becomes 3, fact for the Ameri- can nation.
 Tt is a noticeable thing" said one Wall Street banker. that foreign exchange has had it's most prectpit- ous and serious decline since the re- ject.on of the Peace Treaty by the Senate. This month it has reached the lowest figure on record. Wholly apart from the League of Nations neither the American manufacturer nor the investor is going to put mil
 lions into foreign investments until they know more of what Washing toms political relations with Europe are going to be.
 Meanwhile, England, in the past Il months, despite the handicap of 1 labor, currency and formidable prices 1a nP ducing her imports by $47S,OOO,0 ,0GO and is otherwise strength her economic position. Her exports for the same period have been $1,787,- 000,0O0. Our own October figures show that the United States excess of l exports, in the ten months trade with
 England. was $335.O0O,OOO greater than the year before"
 Paris, Dec. 26-The residence of the chief of the conservative party at Las l