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Show IE SHOHTKE H CI FHi Status of Actual Governmental Govern-mental Restriction Mea-sures Mea-sures Is Revealed by F. A. Seiberling. There seems to be a eon fusion of ideas acd reports about the Unit Oil States government's embargo on the importation importa-tion of erudo rubber, and t he effect that embargo is having, or will have, on tho present or future business of American rubber manufacturers. In this connection, connec-tion, a statement of the actual facts, by 1 A- Seibcrlir., president of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber company of ikron, Ohio, one of the largest crude rubber users in the world, has been obtained ob-tained by the Interniountain Automobile Distributors & Trades association publicity pub-licity bureau, and may help .to clear the public mind. "In the first place," say? Mr. Seibcr-lin. Seibcr-lin. "the government is interested primarily pri-marily in the winning of the war, and ships are of the first importance in any program for victory. Consequently the government is conserving in every way possible. ' ' Transportation bet ween America and Kuropean ports must be maintained and increased. There is no war on the Pacific, and Uncle Sam desires to bring about the transfer of every available ship from the Pacific to the Atlantic, where it can be used for carrying men. munitions or supplies. "To diseonra'e Pacific shipping, the government has already stopped the exportation ex-portation of a number of articles from the United States to the orient, and is tinjr the ban on imports from the far 1 wherever possible. Many things , qre on the list, and rubber is simply one f the items. Most of the crude rubber reused in this country has como from vrubber plantations on the M&lav penin-ila, penin-ila, Java. Ceylon, etc., and Japanese svs have carried a great deal of that rubber to this country. Embargo Not Serious.. "To coax Japanese ships mto the Atlantic At-lantic for business, one of the things Unele Sam is doing is to experiment with crude rubber. Certain restrictions have already been put on its importation, importa-tion, permitting the importation or 100,-000 100,-000 tons this year, as against Jo.S.OOO tons in 1917. "This will not seriously affect the rubber industry this vear. It will not affect the resources of the Goodyear Good-year Tire & Rubber company at all, as we already have on hand or in transit a sis months' supply. Anyway, the embargo em-bargo is tentative; it is a trial, and is subject to revision at the end of every three months, upon the showing made by manufacturers. "Government retafeEentatives have no intention of crippling the rubber indus- ! try for either military or civilian needs; j but there has been a suspicion that there has been a hoarding of rubber in the United States, that rubber manufacturers manufactur-ers have attempted to fortify themselves them-selves unduly against war possibilities. As a matter of fact, about March 1, when the figure for the vear was set at 100,000 tons, there were"S7,000 tons already al-ready in transit and in 6tock in this country for the use of American manufacturers. manu-facturers. "The embargo is based on a conservation conserva-tion of shipping. For 1919 we have, of course, no positive assurance to offer at this time, as the government has all the power in that matter and will do every- ! - thing it considers necessary to properly prosecute the war. But the shipbuilding shipbuild-ing industry is just getting into its V stride. There is every reason to believe 0iiat the shipbuilding situation next vjar, and thereafter, until the end of thenar, whenever that may come, will be freer by far than it is now. Furthermore, Further-more, if the government does not extend its embargo line beyond the shipping it can use for its own purposes, there will be no Eerious difficulty in our obtaining an adequate supply. No Restriction. "Some time ago there was widespread discussion of the government's attitude that builders of passenger automobiles must cut down their production of cars substantiallv this year. Government officials of-ficials are now taking an entirely different differ-ent view of that situation, and automobile automo-bile manufacturers may go ahead and oniid all the cars they can. "Ours is an essential industry. "We are largely enpaged in war work making' mak-ing' tires for trucks, for aeroplanes, for other types of cars usod in the war in making gas masks, balloons, etc. Tho government is making heavier drafts on the output of all auto and tire factories almost daily. It is interesting to know that under the embargo arrangement, if e make application for a supply of crude rubber, the rubber that we "have used in making war material on government govern-ment order is not charged against our civilian needs. 'Business this vear has increased in eaps and bounds over that of 1817. We have every reason to be optimistic. Of bourse, the war comes before any private pri-vate enterprise. But I ca,n see no reason rea-son why we can not keep out of all of the ships that the government can possibly use and still get all the rubber tor our requirements next year, or dur-the dur-the war." |