Evening star., 1950-11-22
Goods Sent 10 China
Were Surplus in U. s,
Senate Probers Told
BY the Assoeiaied Press


the goods it allowed to go to Ret
China were not of strategic i'm.
portance and were in surplus sup.
ply in this country.
The departments answer t.
complaints by Senate Commerc,
subcommittee was made to Actins
Chairman O'Conor by Ray C
Miller, head of the department
Office of International Trade.
Mr.. Miller said that in view O.
the interest shown by the sub
committee, a Government inter.
agency committee on exports viii
take another look at the advis.
tbility of recontrolling certain re.
jected and scrap steel items.
Copper Hearing Today.
The subcommittee, which ha.
been investigating shipments o.
oil, metals and other war usefu
materials to the Chinese Commu.
niSts, has been critical of some
Government trade policies.
A public hearing on copper
shipments was held yesterday ane
another hearing was scheduled
today. but Senator O'Conor re-
fused to state its purpose in ad.
vance.
Mr.. Miller told Senator iO'Conol
the steel items were omitted Mher
the general recontrol Of stee
shipments was ordered by the de.
partrnent last March under it's ex.
port control powers. He gave
these reasons:
/. They were adjudged mot ol
sufficient strategic Importance tt
control for security reasons"
2. Large surplus stocks" were
on hand in this country.
8. The "scrap and reject" items
were mot suitable for American
machine processes
new Data QuOteu.
The decision against recontrol-
ling these items. covered by war
time and early postwar controls
but decontrolled in 1949, was
made, Mr.. Miller said, by the
inter-agency committee on which
the Defense and State Depart
ments are represented.
Mr.. Miller called Senator
O'Conor's attention to new trade
data showing that exports to
China dropped to 81 million in
September from So million in
August, while imports from China
rose from SILT million to $14.6
million.
Japanese Copper Deal.
Testimony received yesterday
centered on bills of lading used
in shipping about 4 million pounds
of copper to China, the bulk of
1t by the Kane Import Co. of
New York City. Senator O'Conor
told a reporter today that while
this phase of the investigation
was being put aside temporarily
it was by no means ended and
would be threshed out further in
future committee hearings.
Officials of other American
companies told the committee OF
buying copper in Japan, selling
it to the Kane company while
1t was en- route to New York
and then of new bills of lading
being made out purporting to
show that it had left Japan
destined for China.
Senator O'Conor said there "un-
ouestionably was an evasion" of
japanese regulations and re-
ferred to the bills of lading in
question as misleading and
spurious" Every effort, he said,
will be made to find out who was
responsible.
Asked About Reshipping.
He asked Walter Splitter, i'm
port manager of the Kane COM
pany, who it was who made out
the second bills of lading when
the copper was reshipped from
New York to China.
Mr.. Splitter replied they were
handled by the shipping COM
pany." An earlier witness had
testified that some of the bills of
lading were made out on forms of
the Isbrandtsen shipping line.
After the hearing, Jerome Kohl
berg, president of the Kane COM
pany. issued statement to re-
porters saying he wished to stress
that his firm had acted in accord
ance with all Government regula-
lions and had advised appropriate
Government Offices of its ship
ments.
"Under the traditional American
system of enterprise, - the state
ment went on, businessmen are
free and encouraged to buy, sell
and ship throughout the world.
"If the Government wishes tx
prohibit or curtail trade to any
extent, we will continue to comply
with Government regulations ane
Government policies.
Left Up to Congress.
"If Congress, in its wisdom, be
lieves that all trade with Chin;
should be terminated, it shoult
pass a law to that effect.
In New York, Hans Isbrandtsen
president of the steamship line
said Senator O'Conor apparent,
will not realize that a steamship
line such as ours, handling ship
ments in the hundreds of thou
sands, is a common carrier ant
follows the shippers direction
as to transport of their goods
whenever those directions ar
within regulations.
"Any innuendoes to the con
trary," said Mr.. Isbrandtsen, "in
sofar as they concern this steam
ship line, are entirely gratuitou
and the facts in Senate