Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-09-18
Friday Morning September IS, 1914.
HOW TIE EUROPEAN WAR AT
FECTS IT'S

FECTS US.
Nothing could more clearly demonstrate
the intimate relations existing between
nations in times of peace, and the far
reaching disastrous effects of international
discord, than the business and commercial
conditions existing today in the United
States as the result of the European war.
A hundred years ago the effects Of for
elgn wars were not felt so quickly or so
seriously as they are now. Then our own
country was young and thinly populated,
communication was slow and tedious, agri-
cultural improvement had scarcely begun,
the development which followed upon the
invention Of the steamboat and the rail-
road had not been dreamed of, and the
investment Of European capital in Ameri-
can enterprises had not been thought of
by the business men of the old world
In these early years of the twentieth
century we have a new order of things.
Science and invention have brought dis
tant continents into quick and safe COM
munication, the increase Of population in
the countries Of Europe has created de-
mands which the increasing population
and enterprise of our own country were
able to meet, and the surplus capital of the
old world was prompt to see and take adj
vantage of the opportunities for reliable
investment which were afforded in new
nation with genius for development and
natural resources which invited genius into
new fields of commercial conquest. With
the rapid growth of wealth and the i'm
provement of living conditions in all classes
of society on both sides of the Atlantic, an
enormous international trade developed
and even intimate social relations sprung
from the constant intercourse which bust
ness conditions made necessary.
A war which involves all Of the nations
of Europe which are foremost in popula-
tion and wealth and commerce, and which
taxes to the last degree their boarded re-
sources, was bound to affect seriously the
business of the United States, not only
during the continuance of the conflict but
for some time after declaration of peace.
Already it has shut off from export one of
the staple crops upon which large section
OF our country is dependent, has closed the
stock exchanges of every city in the land,
and has so reduced the public revenue
from customs that new subjects of taxa
ton are being sought at the moment when
private incomes are curtailed by closed
markets and general trade depression
When the war ceases the countries engaged
in 1t will be poor and dispirted, with de-
pendent widows and orphans and crippled
soldiers to be taken care of. and with de-
pleted populations and empty purses with
which to build up the waste places that
tramping armies have left in their wake
New national boundaries will be made, new
associations and international relations will
come into being. and new rvalries will
spring up to vex diplomacy and perplex the
boards OF trade.
For us new business alignments and con-
ditions are inevitable and the adjustment
of these upon stable basis will take time
and careful thought and planning. We
may take advantage of the moment and
extend our South American trade, but not
until peace is restored and the needs of
crippled nations are ascertained, can we
expect to intelligently survey the changed
channels Of commerce and equip ourselves
TO fill them with the products of our fields
and factories.
There would therefore seem to lie before
us period Of self-restraint both as people
and as individuals. but in no sense of
pessimism. The resources of the country
are not impaired and they will remain in
tact as long as our attitude of neutrality is
maintained. But il is no time for extrava-
gance. Some lines of business and many
persons will feel the pinch and idle work
people will feel it most of all. Economy
in government and in the home is de-
manded in meeting the conditions which
confront us. And this war. for which we
are in no manner responsible. but which,
nevertheless, so gravely affects us. will not
be an unmixed evil if il teaches us that we
can live in comfort without many Of the
luxuries which we now enjoy, and that we
would have been better prepared to meet
the conditions which face us had we spent
less Of time and of money upon the things
that are not necessary for our well-being
and our substantial happiness