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.
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