New Britain herald., 1915-06-26
U. 5. ONLY COUNTRY
 PROFlTING BY VAR
Capital Awaiting Investment Is
 Plentiful, Says CleEs
Especial 10 the Herald. 1,

ducted under so many complex con- ditions as at present Not even dur ing our Civil War was the situation so confusing, for then the conflict was at least within our own borders and the consequences were much more easily measured than in the case Of the highly complicated European struggle now convulsing the entire civilized world. ' So numerous and so violent are the forces at work that no reliable judgment can be formed as to their ultimate effects; and the wisest men are those who try to walk day by day rather than taking long strides into the future. Opinions ss to what will happen are Of question able value, where the forces at work are so vast, so unexpected, so voi-.l canic and so utterly ungovernabie. { This ghastly war is moving slowly. very slowly, toWards.a a finish that still seems quite remote. The fall of Lem berg may prove a serious reverse to the allies; it may not It certainly affords another illustration of Ger manysy marvellous military efficiency; but even such efficiency may finally have to give way to time, exhaustion and superior resources. < <
 The demofalization of our foreign trade brought on by the war contin- ues unabated Imports have been coming in somewhat more freely, re- sulting fortunately in, much needed improvement in our customs revenue. Our exports also continue very heavy, owing chiefly to shipments of food stuffs, also of war material which are going outwards on a steadily in- creasing movement. It now appears that war contracts are being accept ed on much yaster scale than ever supposed Instead of the earlier statements of orders being exagger- ated, it is now realized that the vol ume of these contracts has frequent ly been under-estimated, because of the secrecy concerning them. Some careful estimates figure that muni- tion contracts valued at over $50O,-a 000,0O0 have already been. placed in the United States. Immense orders have also been placed for other war supplies which it is calculated would bring the total up to about $780, 0O0 0O0, the bulk of which will be spent with the steel trade. But this is only about half the credits which according to good authorities, have
 
 $50O,000, 900 for Great Britain, $50O,- 100000 for Russia, 0.000. 900 for France and 100000 for Italy. A number of our largest industrial plants have taken contracts of between $50, 100000 and $100,000,000 each. These figures are simply astonishing and beyond all precedent. They will be considered as the satisfactory side of the account; if such word as satisfactory can be applied to organ ized murder and destruction. The United States is the only country in the world that is profiting by this war, and such profits will be con- fined to the few and must inevitably be offset by the incalculable losses inflicted upon the many. Figure as we may, the world will be much the poorer for this catastrophe for years to come.
 Vigorous Reconstruction.
 When peace arrives reconstruction will follow in vigorous fashion. Eu-H rope vii lbe so absorbed in rebuild ing, and so crippled in productive ca pacity as to have little to sell in the form of merchandise to this coun7 try. The disruption of established business conditions, the raising of new tariff walls, the making of new trea- ties, the overcoming of bitter prej- udices and the necessity of making endless new adjustments will all tend to keep our foreign trade in a state of chaos long after peace is estab- lished. Our imports will naturally be more affected in volume than ex- ports, because of Europes inability to sell. Our exports of agricultural products may not be seriously i'm paired; in fact we may have to feed Europe while her whole energy is given over to rebuilding; but there will be much less reason for confi- dence in our ability to win foreign markets for cur manufacturers a year or two hence than there is now. True, new opportunities will be offered. but when fighting is done with, Germany will make an intense effort to recover her lost markets. Low prices, hard work and adaptability will slowly but surely overcome present prejudices. Great Britain will be obliged to make an equally strenuous effort if she ex- poets to hold any newly gained mar kets Of our ability to compete with these energetic rivals, who will un- dcubtedly oMrate on a cheaper and better established basis than ourselves there is as yet no positive assur- ance The whole future of the com mercial world is highly unsettled. and all operations connected herewith will have to take into consideration the numerous hazards, as well as the un- question: ble opportunities which will arise from the settlement of old trou bles and a fresh development of the worlds resources.
 Homo Conditions Satisfactory.
 Home conditions are fairly satis- factory. General trade is quiet, and does not improve as rapidly as desired