The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-14

general characteristics many of the other large industrial corporations have been reading somewhat anxiously since their reports are of like tenor-is the fact that no small part of the business which was carried in the first six months of the present year was due to expectations. A statement of this kind is confirmed by the official statistics which were pre- pared by the Washington bureau of com- merce. These authoritative figures show thatalthough in the past eight months, which is the time that has elapsed since the new tariff law went on the stateute books, the falling off in the money value of our exports as compared with the like period in previous years was nearly S146 0oo0o0, yet only little over per cent of this falling off was in manufactured articles.
 Apparently, either in spite of this tariff or because that plays no part in our ex- portation of manufactured commodities we are practically holding our great for eign trade in manufactured articles. The reason is not far to seek since the greater part of this trade is uninfluenced by the tariff, because those in other lands who buy these manufactured products are able to obtain most of them in the warehouses established by American industries in other lands. Much of our exportation of our manufactured products is with the
 
 lively little
 The fundamental fact revealed by these confidential reports. which are confirmed in measure by the statistics from Washington, is that there has been a woeful falling off in the United States in the demand for manufactured articles. The depression which our manufacturers are reporting is chiefly at home.
 Probably when detailed reports come from Aa Sbinotnn xul1 bo lao ha much of the decrease of our export trade Tn the past eight months can be traced to the shortage of a part of our agricul- tural products last year and particularly the unsatisfactory character of the har- vest of Indian corn.
 It Should Be Made Good
 The promise of stupendous crops this year as well as the certainty of the harvest of some portion of them which is contained in the latest of the govern ment crop reports. justfies the expecta- tion. so it is said in this city. that we are to make good in the fall and early winter of this year some part of the fall ing off in the expectations which have been observed since October of last year up to the first of July of this. The Washington authorities assume now that we shall be able to export, perhaps, as much as 250,000,O0O bushels of wheat this year. If that expectation is fulfilled we shall have exported about twice as much wheat this year as the average export of wheat for the past five years has been.
 One of those curious coincidences of harvest times like that one which in 1896 caused change of conditions which has become traditional seems likely again to be manifested this year. For, while there is now no doubt that the United States will harvest considerably over 9000o0, 900 bushels of wheat, nevertheless in other parts of the world the promise is that there will be no more than an average crop and In some countries considerably less than the average. Everyone who voted in the presidential election of 1896