BOARD OF TRADE

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 47, 23 February 1917, Page 8

BOARD OF TRADE

RETURNS

ALLEGED TO BE MISLEADING

FIGURES ANALYSED,

(Received' February 22, noon.)

LONDON, 22nd February.

Mr. Archibald Hurd, in the Daily Telegraph, points out the misleading nature of the Board of Trade returns as an index of the imports, because they give money yalues and not weights. Tha secretary of the Liverpool Shipowners' Association analysed the figures, which showed that the ship tonnage which entered British ports for Ul3 halt year to the end of January, 1917, was 14,750,000, compared with 25,176,000 on the half year to the end of January, 1914. The weight of imports was 21,098,000 tons and 29,818,000 tons on ihe same periods respectively; The monthly figures show a marked diminntion for the last quarter of 1916, compared with 1914—25 per cent, for October, 14 per cent for November, and 26 per cent, for December, although there are /striking increases in money valuee,

the food imports also showed a, marked decline.

Mr. Hurd sums up: "The main cause of the decreases has beer, the decline of available tonnage. There must be further restriction on unessential imports."