New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-10
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE.

=
TEE TRADE OF THE, WORLD, .d By
James Davenport Nhe ,lp'.y.,. So'nmanv.
Nvo. up. i26. The Century Coi"p""'
II is we'll TO have this series Of studies
- hook form. 1t deserves the widest
attention here at home; it is sure TO
receive il abroad. where the importance
~ foreign markets is so much more
clearly realized than with us VINO sun
have a domestic market of marvellous
resources and steady and rapid growth
Not only is the book of great import
o,ce. il is readable as Well 1t Is ad-
dressed to all Of us, for, as Mr.. Wheip-
lev points out, "the merchant whose
desl, overlooks the great harbor Is no
moro concerned with internatohai
trade than is the farmer a thousand
miles from the seaboard whose daiiy
ronnd Of labor is the production OF eX-
MORT and whose daily needs are de-
nendent for their supply upon success
ful import"
Nv II-helnlev deals with international
commerce as the driving force OF worio
politics. Upon the measure OIL 'he
share Of the worlds trade secured DE d
nation will hereafter depend its poiiu-
cal as well as its material welloeing;
and in these pages he traces the meas
ures taken by the leading countries OF
the world to secure their share ana en-
largo T. The narrative is one OF the
strenuous life indeed. Of various oe-
qrees OF efficiency and effort, OF auaP-
tation Of means to ends, OF persistence
On endeavor. of natural advantages ana
Of others created by organization. Inc
author writes clearly, vividly, Of all this
busv turmoil round about the s5o'VVo'-
10000 that represent the worlds an
nual trade. Economics is no longer the
.d;e-nal science" least Of all in his
hands. There is romance here the ro-
nance of human achievement anu
rivalry and progress. The pooh
abounds in epigrammatic phrases that
onliehten and stick in the memory;
"Trade follows capital investment IL
may he true that the German eggs are
all in one basket, but there is only one
basket for German eggs, and that is
tho onnortunity for foreign trace
..Io other country in the world puts up
60 large front as Italy, or, in other
words. does so large trading IN the
affairs Of nations upon so small cap
,tal". Belgium is the commercial ana
industrial balance-wheel Of the trade oil
the world" Developing this dictum'
Mr.. Whelpley continues:
Every intricate piece of machinery mas
ite e,eadving device There is no more
intricate more deliCately ADJUSTED Hech
anism than the trade OF nations, az. ~.
without some influence when tehdS 70
diminish the violence Of nuctuauons
eifn.r naturally or artificially brought
about the immediate future would De lull
of uncertainties not only FOR the prouu1c ',.l
but f3r the consumer as wei. rms na9
always seemed to me to be the great ana
useful part PLAYED by this comparatively
tiny area Of the earth's surface =.
With a slightly lower wage scale thah
prevails elsewhere, even in Germany bS a
GUM is able TO shave prices JUST SUN
GENTLY to act as a check upon bids Tor IN
ternatiOnal business.
II is with the United States, England,
Germany and France that the author
IS. Of course, chiefly concerned, but, IN
the present unsatisfactory state of our
relations with Russia, his chapter on
that country as a market for the Amer
lean manufacturer is one Of the most
important IN the book. Here are plain
statements Of facts that do not tran
spire in our trade statistics. Ofhcially
the annual value of our exports TO the
Cars domains is placed at, In round
numbers, S50,O00O00 OF our cotton
alone. Mr.. Whelpley proves by an ex-
animation of sources of supply, Russia
buys annually some S490OO,OOO worth.
What she takes Of machinery apd other
manufactures from us is credited TO
q great extent to the middlemen
through whom she buys in Antwerp.
Rotterdam, and especially Hamburg.
Russia, according TO our author. pre-
sents a picture OF steady and rapid de-
yelopment, Of the spread Of education,
the building Of railroads, the growth OF
agriculture. the establishment OF In
dustries. II will be long time yet be-
fore this monster empire will be self
contained. Meanwhile, il is in the
worlds markets for the worlds manu-