THE CHINA MAIL, JULY 28, 1988.
Japan Enters Staple Fiber Era
As Use Of Pure Cotton
On July 1, 1938, Japan definitely entered upon what has rightly boen called the Staple Fiber Era under the Rising Sun. As from that date, domestic production and trade not only pure cotton piece-goods, but also in all goods containing cotton mixed with other fibers, are pro- hibited in Japan.
Retailers were allowed to sell out the rest of their stocks of such
atrated remarkably little co-opera- tion with the textile intentions of
the Japanese Government. Masses of people besieged textile shops for days and bought up whatever they could hoard of the last cotton. goods. Staple fiber decidedly is. not a success with the Japanese people..
In all likelihood it will be still less so with the Chinese people who are also expected by the mili- tary brains in control of Japan to start using Nippon-made staple fiber for clothing.
Is
Banned
Textiles Destined For China Also To Be Of Fiber
Under
(By JOHN AHLERS)
rayon tissues, which would soon beat them.“
•
bloc
and this excludes the yen bloc countries from access to such Japanese goods in the future Japanese export to yên countries in the first half of 1938 increased in value by more than 80% while exports to other coun- tries, on the contrary, dropped by 36%. While the monthly import surplus of Japan's total foreign trade as compared with the past year
has
decreased from 1.96,000,-
the monthly average. This import surplus is formid-
foods to the public, which demon- will be shortly introduced as re-they had manufactured the stick 000 to Y.25,000,000, the Import
gards rayon and Japanese rayon and rayon products provided with a currency depen- still amounts to over Y.50,000,000 this system, exports of Now that North China has been surplus in Japan's trade with coun- tries producing foreign exchange
or, at least, heavily curtailed. to China, will also be prohibited, dent on the yen the country has in
become, for Japanese exports, as No immediate shortage of Japan-unproductive of foreign exchangeable in the light of the compara-
are "Manchukuo". and the ese cotton and rayon piece-goods, as
tively small Japanese Currency in the markets of the Japanese- Kwantung Leased Territory.
reserves in precious metals and occupied areas in China, of course, And thanks to the Chinese for- foreign exchange which, moreover, is to be expected. There are in eign exchange control the intro- are to be retained as an ultima Shanghai, Tainan, Tientsin, and duetion of which was precipitated ratio war treasure. To cut this Tsingtao enormous stocks of such by the Peiping dollar experiment, surplus down by all means în a Japanese goods.
Japanese exports to Central China pressing necessity for Japan, and Just before the introduction of also no longer produce foreign ex-it is on account of this plight that While exports of Chinese raw
the new
customs tariff in these change in any important amounts. the Japanese textile trade to China cotton to Japan are to be increased areas huge quantities of Japanese But the chief Japanese exports will have to be largely sacrificed. as much as possible, and Japanese textile manufactures were smug-goods fit for the China market all Also staple fiber, it must be production of cotton goods ingled into Shanghai, and imported contain non-Japanese raw ma-added, does not yet live up to the China is to be strictly limited, nder special low import duty rates terials the purchase of which by Japanese idea of economic self- Japanese exports of cotton plece into North China. Japanese eco-Japan requires foreign exchange. sufficiency, because staple fiber goods to China are stopped.
nomic papers recently estimated This is the case not only with cot- also is produced from non-Japanese that the China stocks in these ton, but also with rayon which is wood pulp costing foreign ex- goods are sufficient to cover the produced from wood pulp which change. present demand for six months to Japan has to import from abroad. Thus, later on there will be pos- For the only Japanese textile pro- sibly another change in the basic Bu, in any case, the irony of duct that is really 100% Japanese, material of Japanese domestic fate which becomes more and more.e: raw silk, there is no market in clothing from staple fiber to rice manifest in the economic experi- China.
straw fiber. And after all a patrio- fences of the Japanese with China The basic principle of the new tic people may even be expected to
is truly remarkable.
export-import linking system ap-go completely naked if they get in One year ago the Japanese set plied in Japan is that goods on the return the satisfaction, that their out to conquer by military force manufacture of which foreign ex-army is able to buy all the war the potentially largest market of change has been spent must pro- materials, which they need to con- the world. At present, as they duce foreign exchange in return, quer the outside world. have succeeded in occupying the economically most prosperous pro- vinces of China, they find them- selves unable to sell to China just those goods upon the sale of which in China they had set their great- est hopes.
Under the new cotton export import linking system introduced in Japan as from July 1, 1938, any shipments of cotton goods from Japan to China proper as well as to Manchuria and Kwantung Pro- vince (Leased. Territory) will not be taken into consideration in the working of the system. As all Japanese exports of cotton goods fall under the system, the above prescription means that there are not to be any exports of such goods to the territories mentioned,
In order to inhibit eventual frau- dulent exports of cotton goods to China the Japanese Ministry of Commerce and Industry has de- cided to adopt a special permit system for the export of textile goods to the "Yen bloc" countries, or which China will be forthwith regarded by the Japanese as one.
Quite a similar system of export- import linking and special export permits, it is announced in Tokyo,
"EVERYBODY'S PRAISING
come.
Daventry Special
Listeners who have formed their his two- sons the finals of the When early this spring the ideas of the inside of a newspaper town's bowls competition are as im- Japanese started their ill-advised office from American films will get portant as the result of a Presiden- currency experiment in North a different impression of news- tial election, R.F. Delderfield, the China by which they expected to paper life from "The Cocklemouth play's author, draws an entertain- destroy the Chinese currency they Comet,' which Howard Rose will pro- ing picture of editorial conferences did not in the least imagine that duce in the Daventry programmes that degenerate into family squab
in the near future.
"WHAT A LOVELY PHOTOGRAPH!”
bles, and an editorial policy that is governed largely by the likelihood of the local poetess buying an ex- tra fifty copies if her latest ode to the skylark is printed.
Although the 'Comet can claim a circulation of only 4,000, press day has its thrills. There may be no shootings or kidnappings to record in Cocklemouth, but inhabitants are sometimes tossed by cows, and to G.M.T. the 'Comet's' staff consisting Transmission 2, July 24, 10.45 mainly of the editor-proprietor anda.m. G.M.T.
Transmission 1, July 23, 5.20 a.m.
THEY'RE RIGHT
BECAUSE IT'S TAKEN BY
FRANCIS WU
SUN YING MING STUDIO
Queen's Road Central.
Floor (Left: Entrance) Opposite Queen's Theatre
Here's Luck!
EWO
BEER