The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-09
One Interesting Feature

Shortly after the business ieduers oi ','o United States began to recover rom tne sudden shock caused by the outbreak oi war, nationwide campaign was begun for the purpose of facilitating our exports to the South American nations. our ln- ternational trade with Canada, It was realized would take care Of 1tself 1here was no need to carry on an aggressive campaign for an increase or our trade with Canada. That trade is secure and will certainly be increased. But the campaign of education which had in view the siezing by the United States of South American trade which was lost to Great Britain and to Germany was not relaxed, although there began good understanding of the difficulties which stood In the way of immediately capturing much of this trade
 On the other hand a wholly unexpected international trade-unexpected at least in it's early appearance and in the magni- tude of it-represented no eagerness or aggressive campaigning on our part, but the imperative needs of Great Britain, France. Russia, Italy and Japan. Repre- sentations by agents of these nations, particularly some in Japan and China and also by agents who came to the
 United States, revealed an almost over whelming demand for American products
 Some of the food products for which there is demand can be immediately sup piled and. in fact, approximately 50000, 900 bushels of newly harvested wheat have been sold at prices which have no prece- dent. But the sudden demand put on American manufacturers caused some thing like congestion in some of the mills. The spindles and knitting ma chimes might be of double their capac- ity and yet not meet fully the immedi- ate demands for the commodities they produce Clothing, articles which are 1n6 hx .s.%s.. 4 hospitals, munitions of war and the ap- paratus which enables foreign nations to manufacture these munitions at home are in great demand This demand will in all probability, be reflected in the official statistics which tell of exports in the last three months of the present calendar year, and in all probability will entail upon American manufacturers the utiliza- ton of the entire resources of their plants.
 There seems to be some disposition on the part of representatives of other na- tions to figure very closely upon prices This, however is no more than the ordi- nary bargaining, although as the United States is not now in competition with any other nation for these foreign markets our manufacturers are in position to com mand better prices than they would in- voice in case they faced real competi- tion.
 When the Washington statisticians re- port in detail the character of these sud- denly developed exports the items will disclose not only the exigencies of Great Britain and the continent of Europe but will also identify the curious and sud- den change in our international trade Which the war occaSoned. For instance much the greater part of our exported food which crosses the Atlantic has here tofore been sent to Great Britain, some to France. Now we are about to export, and in fact have begun to export agricul- tural products, exclusive of cotton to countries where hitherto these American products have not gone in any amounts
 We are exporting or beginning to ex- port commodities, not agricultural which until the beginning of the war were for the most part imported. Up to August l. our textile manufacturers were feeling disconsolate because imports in the az gregate sufficient almost to command the American market of hosiery and knit goods were coming from Great Britain although principally from Germany. In the winter of this year. the people of Great Britain must depend more or less upon American manufacturers for ar ticles of this kind. It is regarded as in- evitabe that this sudden change in our international trade and the magnitude of the exports which 1t involves will facili- tate the work now gratuitously performed by American bankers in attempting to restore normal financial conditions.