Ports of Entry
Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon recently decided that air traffic from Canada, Mexico, the West Indies and elsewhere had become so heavy that customs men must be assigned to inspect the incoming planes. Otherwise smuggling on a large scale threatened (TIME, Jan. 21). Businessmen learned his intention and at once their chambers of commerce besieged the Treasury Department. They wanted their communities designated air ports of entry where foreign planes must land for a customs declaration. Mr. Mellon received some 60 strident demands. But he closed his ears and hardened his heart. The only air ports of entry, he decided last week, would be for the present San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, Key West, Albany, and--more academic than immediately necessary--Newark, N. J.* Intimated as future ports were Detroit and Brownsville, Tex.