The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-12
WAR MAKES GREAT CHANGES MTRADE CURRENTS ABROAD America Finds Her Owr Raw Products Under .ne
 Spur of Necessity POTASH OFFERS ONE
 OF BEST EXAMPLES Exports of Breadstuffs Have h. creased Fourfold-Newport News
 Alone Handled 40,OO0,O0O
 Bushels of Grain
Ky HOLLAND


 the other changes in the United States ,c- easioned by the war in Europe there is none which is of more importance than that which has characterized our inter- national trade and the early search by men of science In the United States for natural resources whereby in the future we may not be dependent upon other na- tons for raw materials which are utilized In our manufactories.
 Edison set the example when. having been deprived as manufacturer of certain acids or chemicals compounds which in the past he has bought in Germany, he perieeted at his own works apparatus by means of which he could at home secure these materials. When speaking of this achievement Edison said that there are plenty of resources in the United States hitherto not utilized, which could be so developed as to make us independent of manufacturers in other lands upon whom American manufacturers have relied for certain raw materials. Men of science in many laboratories are now undertaking to discover a formula by means of which the United States can manufacture its own dyestuffs.
 Potash In America
 we nave always been dependent upon Euro De for our supply of potash It may oe that as one of the results of the war We shall have developed our own re- sources so greatly that hereafter we can secure at home all the potash we nead n T. IS only a few years since the United ,,ra,' iounu itself no longer dependent upoiI ltaiY Tor its sulphur Science taught lne Way whereby the apparently inexbaua- uole deposits of sulphur under inc soil or Louisiana can be secured This nav De true of potash
 eehe or the men of science in Washing toh are persuaded that seaWeed which contains a considerable pcrcenta ge of not ash Will within few years, be so nil ecu ecu 'hat Aiaska will furnish to the United states considerable part of the pota sh We need each year. A aeve1onn,a,,t ns that Kind would not have been pndar lakeh at this time had not the war in buiope seriously impaired our ability to S"ie heedeu potash. day or two A 70 attenuation was received in this city 'ial an oregon corporation has purcha sed nitrate ,. oi potash lands in eastern Oregon With intent speedily to develop then, N hlle too great confidence Is not nlaoaa III the reports which refI of very yraat ueposits Of nitrate of potash In eastern oregon, nevertheless 1t is believed in tbie 1 clly that these mines may to a consider 1 ape extent make good our needs for not- @o" Niiich nave been so greatly curtailed oS reason of the war in Europe
 II may be that as result of the yor | American resources hitherto ,,ndevaloras Will De so greatly developed that after tba wal IS ended Germany, even England wiII not longer find market in the Tinted states for raw material. for which we nave been dependent upon Germany and England anu
 Phenomena At Newport News 9ohle or the changes occas stoned by inc war i'll our international trade have been ! mpnehomehal m III s2e and in character l l ne late (. P. Huntington. when he to'.iuea e'ty al Newport News, Va ex-
 rro',e aiia' II misht bcome great port i rom which cotton, tobacco, coal and ether products of the south would he sent defoss the seas. MT. Huntington uead oiteh 10 speak of Newport News as q | port destined to rank with some of tbe I larger ports of the United States SO far as shipment or cotton, tobacco and coal concerned. Had Mr. Huntington 1 uVed long enough he would have been aniazed at the reports which came from i Newport News in June of this year telljn q ol the shipment of grain. Mr, Hunting loi never contemplated large shipments 1 or grain, possibly because in his life 1 time the south and southwest were chiefly occupied with the production of cotton. el Tn the year which ended on June :N 10 st there were shipped from Newport News 40,oo0oO0 bushels of grain So great shipment s that undoubtedly reflects some of the new influences occas sioned by the war In Europe. The grain shipments rom Newport News have substantially matched the exports of coal and of gen eiai cargoes. Newport News was A very busy export city in 1915. It more than ooupled Its exports compared with , those of the year 1914. A considera ble part of these exports reflected orders Which came from belligerent nations GaiVeston has in her export business reflected the influences of the European war, having sent from her wharfs across the sea large cargoes of grain, although Galveston is commonly regarded as the great city for cotton.
 The most striking of the changes in our international trade which reflect 1hs influences of the European war is dis closed in the statistics which tell of our exports of breadstuffs. In Il months of the past fiscal year We sold and sent to countries across the sea breadstuffs who's, money value was S530. GOO. GOO That is al- most exactly one-half of the visible CT apparent trade balance in favor of the United States established by international | trade in the past fiscal year. In the II months of the preceding year with which comparison is madethe money value of cur exports of breadstuffs was only sl44- l 100000 Many persons presumed at the time last year these figures were pub ! lished that they demonstrated how rap. l dly we were losing our export trade in | breadstufs. There can be no explana l nf tifn ttNag nc f.xlI