Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1914-08-11
A WORLD MISFORTUNE.

lowing of established custom"
A WORLD MISFORTUNE.
Hon. Geo. E. Roberts, director Of
the United States minis and one of
the best informed men in the coun-
try on financial matters, gave his
views a few days ago anent the great
war now going on in Europe, as it
is likely to affect the financial and
industrial interests of the United
States. He said:
1T is easy to see that state of
chaos in Europe must have import
ant effects in the United States, but
not easy to trace those effects in ad-
vance. It is assumed that our food
stuffs will be in great demand, but
if the triple entente is in command
of the sea, supplies from South
America, Russia and all of the Brit
ish possessions will be able to enter
England and the countries of west
ern Europe as usual.
Germany is usually an import
ing country but the German navy
can hardly keep its ports open
against the combined navies of Eng
land, France and Russia. If the
German ports are blockaded, even
neutral vessels cannot enter.
"Our exports of all kinds to Ger
many in 1913 amounted to $780,
100000 and our imports from her
were about $140,000,OO0. That
trade will probably be stopped. Cot
ton is our biggest single item of ex-
port, and it goes to all countries
manufacturing cotton goods. Broad
/ y speaking all raw materials will
be paralyzed in Europe. There will
be increased demand in some lines,
but interruption of demand in 9TH
ers.'
Germany has built up great
foreign trade which will suffer ter
ribly and the United States may be
able to secure some of it. The best
| opportunity for us is in neutral
markets and particularly South
, America and Asia. If peace was es-
, tablished in Mexico on basis that
inspired confidence the greatest Of
all opportunities would be there. If
the United States had the capital to
spare it would now have the chance
! to make itself the headquarters for
all North and South America. But
to do so it must step into the place
which London, Paris and Berlin
have occupied as lender to those
countries. If it can finance their
development they will look to us in
the future.
Just now, however, we are busy
buying back from Europe our own
securities hurled at us with head
long haste. We have all we can at
tend to doing that.
"This return of our own securi-
ties is rapidly taking up all our
loose capital and If the stock ex-
change had remained open, threat
ened to seriously impair our work.
ing capital, stop all construction
work and add to the unemployment.
1t is well enough to buy back our
own securities in normal, gradual
way, but we can't buy them all back
at once and go on with our normal
progress and development at home
at the same time. And that will
be the difficulty about our stepping
into the place of England, Germany
and France in South America. We
could buy out all their interests
there very cheap just now and it
would be a great bargain for us,
but we can't do that and take our
own securities from Europe, too.
"This is the big lesson of the sit
uation. No part of the world can
really profit by the calamities of the
rest. Our rapid progress in the Unit
ed States has been made with the
help of European capital; If there is