A BOMBSHELL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2724, 20 March 1916, Page 6

A BOMBSHELL

lATEST ENGLISH EXPORT EMBARGO

v GOOD FOR AMERICA

• r London, March 16. ■/ 'An Order-in-Council prohibits the exportation anywhere of kinemato-

. graph films, ocetio acid, grarno- ) ' . phone records, photographic paper, films, plates, radium, ami tungsten. .;,—Press, Association cablegram.

.■ .v A -stir was caused in several commer- :.; leiai-circles on' Saturday by -the publico- :;■■ tioh.of _thenbbvb cable, message, the drastic intent of.which will lead to an ' adjustment of trade connection. Whilst .': it is admitted that there is undoubtedly ' ,'EOod and sufficient reasons for such V an ,^embargo, it is regretted .gonexally, ,03 it is contended that it will assuredly play into tho hands of other countries, .which produce the lines mentioned with ;as great a facility as England. In tho . matter of photographic paper and platos (\vhich are not now to bo exported from • ..'England) it'has been stated that 95 'per: cent, of such lines have, up to the present, .been imported from .England. America is a producer of plates and '- paper, but tho American price has, it .js stated, always been . slightly higher -,; than the English, and so England got |the trade. Mr. A. B. Key worth, who is in .charge of tho photographio.department '■■'■'of Kempthorne, Prosser,,and Co., states ; : that for a year past a difficulty has ..(been experienced, in getting photographic goods required. Initially that was caused by the fact' that Belgium . made a specialty of tho preparation and manufacture.of byryta-coated paper (a paper of very special texture) and.glass . for photographic plates, and the cessation of'such' industries embarrassed the trade ofthe world, almost as,much as the : cutting off of the supply of chem- , icals from Germany. England, indeed the whole of Europe, had learned 'to ..depend on Belgium for glass suitable for ■coating for dry platos and paper, ) end tho stoppage of those lines was ■ : yery'seriously felt. Since then stocks in/England had fallen. Some nine '■, months ago' the price of dry plates and . paper advanced 20 per cent., and since then they had not-been able to got ■the supplies required. When a hun- : dred gross were ordered they might get ten or twenty gross, and sometimes : rone' at all. He had ordered a big supply of- » certain paper eight months ' ago, and none of it had ever come to hand.. The last packet of'that paper he had sold'on Friday last. Empty shelves testified to sadly-depleted Stocks.

Mr. Key worth is of opinion that there ■ will be no other course for importers. .;.' but to go to America for plates and y: paper. With supplies totally ■■cut off he anticipated that tlie Americans were almost sure to jump the "prices, ( but' there would be no option ibut to'trade with, them. The'embargo '.would be .a very serious thing for professional 'photographers, of whom there ; were about'soo in New Zealand, as: they ' must raise the price's,-and it was doubtful if the public would welcome a stiffer -tariff. In the. case of'ihxj "Kodak," that camera, with the sensitised film '-. Used, was purely an American manufacture, so it'was not affected by tho v embargo, j ' , Klnematcgraph Film, . 'Almost all the kiiienia film 'used in New Zealand comes from England, which has now barred its export. Though London has been- the great • 'clearing-house of picture film for the 'world; "by'.'far the •large'- portion of it is , made in America, and local picture people are of opinion that the embargo .will simply mean changing the'clearinghouse from 'London to Now. York.' so ; that the.;pioture shows are not likely : to be seriously affected, by the embargo. The'war has practically: stopped the supply of French, German, Danish, and - Italian-made pictures, and for a year past the pioture world has relied on Amerioa more and more for its supplies, Until now America will have practically .-. a monopoly of the whole world) as panada-and Australia are only baby producers so far. The British "Ga:.'zettes"'will be..missed, .Why,the:ex'pert of film has been, barred has not' 'been made clear, but the celluloid film is known to-be combustible to a degree, and the ■. material' may bo required for more serious: works than the "movies." . Amerioa Benefits. Every Time. Gramophone records are also included in the list of manufactures which may not be exported from England. The • supply of "potted music," it is presumed,- will be adjusted automatically as the Gramophone Company, which supplies England and her colonies (Canada excepted) will doubtless see . that the Victor Company, of America, a branch of the business, will supply the colonies. It appears from inquiries "made that it was not Thomas Edison after all who first discovered the art of "photographing sound." The mana- ■ ger of the "Talkeries" in Willis Street states that that honour belonged to a 'man named Berliner, of Canada, and to-day the Berliner Company held the rights of the disc gramophone for Canada, and tho Edison Company still only producos the wax cylinder phonograph -records. disc - records are made of a composition of shellac and vulcanite, which materials may be of sendee in the manufacture of war muni- ' fions—hence the prohibition on their export. The. Gramophone Company does not operate in the States, where its records are dealt with by the Victor Company and vice versa, and neither of these companies may operate in Canada owing to tho rights held by-tie 'Berliner Company.