The Alaska daily empire., 1921-02-12
TARIFF ON CRAB. MEAT ADVOCATED. BY COLLEGE MAN.
Dr. Cobb Declares Would Re- suit in Building Up h.
 dustry in Territory.

me development oi q crab can ming industry in .At.skl as means of bringing permanent residents lt '%e Territory, as :. sal.tc of alGi
 ioE ' revenue to 1T t already exist Ils ..Dt to lengtrer inc short ;'an nipg season to a; lens. one of eight II n. s, is advoc. led by Prof. John \ tobb, Director of tho College ol Tisn i'5s at the University If Wash rnr Ii in a letter to Charles D Garfield, Secretary of the Territorial F.sl Commission. 'ef cohh sivs ii't he believes t1n T-r''.try could " e,Ee effort, seca;> itrhf n: 'hc jata ese product ,;.,. would "crmii tn" .cvelopment )f tthe industry.
 He stated: My knowledge of the ,rah industry of Al,skl leals nr e believe that we c.uG easily pack q . tn or more cases w''hru: bhv i'is; any par .icuia etfcc' on the sup .. The builf |, np ol 5 ch an lndusiiy there would he "f wonderful help 'o Alaska. as u %' .!' lchgthen the canning season and probably in manv cases won't furnish eno"gh Nr'k between cr and salmon rAn LinS tN induce ctrta:i4 fishermen aal c'fers to rema;a in Alaska the whole year. With the present com paratively short salmon packing sea son many of them go back to their home ports to spend the winter. With crab canning added to salmon canning many of them would un- doubtedly get about eignt mo1ths work out of it and that is about as much as they could i5 if they came back here. I hope you md the Commission can see your wdy cleal to take this matter up win Cor gress and see if you can get a duty placed on your own pack. The only hope we have in competing with the cheap labor of Japan is by making we can undersell them in our own market
 Dr. Cobb also states that the pro cess of crab canning has how been pretty well worked out anl will bc furnished to intended investors With out cost.
 Dr. Cobb has also wOrke! out comparison of American ..hG Jap anese methods and costs Cf operatng as a basis of the proposed tariff rate. The latter houses Doth rlant and workmen in sheds doing packing by hand and using only nald sealn- CTS and open kettles, and represent not more than $750 investment. Or the other hand American clapt5 are modern and sanitary and include comfortable homes for the worlmen requiring an investment of tIuusan Is of dollars.
 Japanese labor costs are also com pared with American labor. The former. it is stated, being over 100 per cent less than American labor. It is also figured that American fish ermen receive 100 per cent more for the crabs than is paid Japanese fish ermen.
 "The American crab" declares Dr. Cobb, "is equally good or better than the Japanese crab for the can ming has been conclusively proved by comparison with Japanese crab meat of numerous experimental crab packs put up in the United States. If tax or import duty of 90 <per cent ad valorem were imposed on canned crab meat there would be an opportunity for this industry to be taken up and operated with good probability of profit and with such protection there is every possibility for the development of a large an l profitable industry in this country which would give employment to thousands of persons directly and in directly. The following table gives he number of pounds and value oi crab meat imported per year for the past several years. practically all of which was imported from Japan: 1915 ..-2, 2,2S6.376 lbs .S 427,67f