SMUGGLED GOODS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23512, 24 November 1939, Page 7

SMUGGLED GOODS

GERMAN EFFORTS NEUTRAL AGENTS USED SEIZURES OF CONTRABAND By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received November 23. 7.15 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 28 The Ministry of Economic Warfare states that German firms in neutral countries are attempting to use neutral forwarding agents to smuggle United States goods to Germany. United States exports to Germany in September were 12,000,000 dollars below those for September, 1938, Avhilo American exports to Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands were nearly 11,000,000 dollars higher. The coincidence is considered to be too close. Week's Haul of Contraband An official statement says that Britain's contraband seizures since the outbreak of war amounted to 441,000 tons, says a British official wireless message. The total for the week ended last Saturday was 14,000 tons. This included .3100 tons of petroleum products, 2900 tons of cotton, 1500 tons of oil seeds, and 1100 tons of ores and metals. During the same week the Contraband Committee considered 131 new cases of ships and 74 cases outstanding from the previous week. The combined total included ships of the following nationalities:—so Dutch, 30 British, 26 Norwegian, 23 Italian, 16 Swedish, 13 Greek, 12 Danish, nine Belgian, eight United States and five Yugoslav. Entire Cargo Seized During this period one cargo was wholly seized and 114 oargoes were wholly released. In 20 cases part cargoes were seized and the remaining items released. The system under which advance copies of manifests of cargoes were received and considered prior to the ships' arrival at ports in Britain resulted during the week under review in 31 cases being so dealt with, and in 20 of such ships concerned being released by the commitee, ' subject mostly to the formal checking of the original manifests on their arrival at the control bases. On November 21 there v were 90 neutral ships in the three contraband control bases in the United Kingdom, 50 of which had been there for less than a week. NEW NAZI WEAPON THE MAGNETIC MINE CHANCELLOR'S REVELATION "ABOMINATION OF SAVAGERY" LONDON. Nov. 23 The nature of the new Nazi weapon in the war of "frightfulness" against Allied and neutral shipping was described by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Simon, in a broadcast. People had been reading, he said, of the latest abomination of German savagery —the magnetic mine. Secretly deposited in the channels of the sea to blow up without warning British and neutral shipping alike, it was a breach of the rules of war which Germany only two months ago had expressly promised to obey. The magnetic mines mentioned might be either of the permanent magnet or the electro-magnetic variety. Although in either case their effective range would be small, the magnetisation might mean the difference between a hit and a miss, the great bulk of a ship's iron hull attracting the lighter mine alongside it. Because of this range limit, again, the mi?ies most probably are of the "contact" variety, which must touch the hull of the vessel before they explode. The construction of a mine which would explode through the mere presence of a ship near by is feasible, but the fact that all the vessels which have met with one of these mines have been sunk, with z< solitary exception, makes ' this unlikely. More probably they would be of the permanently magnetic variety, because of the difficulty of storing the current for fin electro-magnet, without making the mine too heavy for flotation. The introduction of modern alloy steels also has made possible, the making of more powerful permanent magnets. SWISS FLEET ■■ 1 4 NEUTRAL SHIPS CHARTERED DURATION OF THE WAR (Received November 23, 7.15 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 23 ■ The Swiss radio announced to-day that Switzerland has chartered 15 ships totalling 115,000 tons, for the duration of the war, from countries likely to remain neutral. Eight have already been taken over. They bear Swiss markings, but will not fly the Swiss flag." The Government has instituted a Bureau of Marine Transport. Hitherto the only Swiss ships have been paddle steamers on the lakes.