“We don’t want English money to go out of England,” was the reply.

“Then we shall not only bank all our receipts here but will bring over one hundred thousand pounds more,” came from the director.

It had no effect.

“Is it tonnage?” was the next query.

“Yes,” said the official.

“Then we shall ship machines in our president’s yacht,” was the ready response.

This staggered the official.  After a long discussion the director received permission to bring in what machines were on the way; and, also, he got a date for a second hearing.

Meantime he adapted a type of machine to the needs of a certain department in the Board of Trade, sold two, and got them installed and working before he next appeared before the Trade Censors, who, by the way, knew absolutely nothing at all about the article they were prohibiting.  The first question popped to him was: 

“Are machines like yours made in England?”

“Yes,” replied the director; “but they have never been practical or commercial.”

Then he produced the record of the machines he had sold to the government.  Each one saved the labour of eight persons and considerable office space.  This made a distinct impression and the company got permission to import two hundred tons of their product.  But not even an application for more can be filed until the first of next year.  Only the dire necessity for this article, coupled with the fact that it is without British competition, got it over.

I cite this incident to show what many Americans in England believe to be one of the real reasons behind the prohibition, which, summed up, is simply this:  England is trying to keep out everything that competes with anything that is made in England or that can be made in England!

For some time after the war began our motor cars went in free.  Then followed an ad-valorem duty of thirty-three and a third per cent.  Despite this handicap, agents were able to sell American machines, which were both popular and serviceable.  The tariff was imposed ostensibly to cut down imports, but mainly to please the British motor manufacturers, who claimed that the surrender of their factories to the government for making munitions left the automobile market at the mercy of the American product, which meant loss of goodwill.

Subsequently a complete embargo was placed on the entry of American pleasure cars and the business practically came to a standstill.  What is the result?  Let the agent of a well-known popular-priced American car tell his story.

“Before the war and up to the time of the embargo,” he said, “I was selling a good many American automobiles.  With the embargo on cars also came a prohibition of spare parts.  It was absolutely impossible to get any into the country.  Many of my customers wanted replacements, and, when I could not furnish them, they abandoned the cars I sold them and bought English-made machines whose parts could be replaced.”