The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1916-07-10
'sYOu Have Seen 1t Tri-
umphant Here" Says
Redfield
POINTS TO WASTE
IN u. s. INDUSTRY
Tells How Others Prof
tied BY Our Neg
lect
BY WILLIAM C.. REDFiglD,
Secretary Of Commerce.


needy hardly tell you that In
the period before the war-a pc
riod. by the way. from which we
have departed never to return
thereto either In principle or prac.
tice--there were three great com.
petitors in the worlds markets:
England. Germany and ourselves.
Others indeed there were In that
| commercial arena but these were
the big three" Germany was gain.
ing ground: Great Britain was dog.
gedly holding her own: America, a
good third. had built up an asgre-
gate export trade OF about $2,500,.
100000 per annum. OF which the
| group OF fully-flnished manufactures
was the largest single factor. and
that growing most rapidly. We
were. however. debtor nation. de-
| pending for funds with which to
conduct our own internal develop
ment upon the surplus wealth OF our
foreign competitors. which we had
10 borrow to supply our needs.
AS we look about us the scene d
all changed. The debtor has be-
come a creditor. The borrower then
| is the lender now. Great nations
officially gather American securities
owned by their citizens that they
may use them TO pay the debts they
| owe us. There has been a great
gain in the good will OF American
business In the foreign field. There
has been a vastly greater gain In
the good will OF American business
toward the foreign field.
We speak Just after the close OF
the fiscal year. The details for the
final days OF that year are not COM
plete. but II Is safe to say that our
export trade in that year has been
$4,000. 900, 900. with an import trade.
chiefly Of raw materials for our
busy mills. OF over $4,000. 00o. 900
We have what we call visible
trade balance OF nearly or quite ST..
900, 900 900. These are unprecedent.
ed facts.
| We had two years ago almost no
banks abroad. Now they are begin
ming TO dot the earth. and re-
cent legislation will enhance their
growth. Two years ago the govern
ment had no permanent force
abroad exclusively given 10 promot-
;ro Ac,artear enc,~areo Mo- th,t
force Is In full vigor and IL sup
ported by a new and powerful or.
ganization at home. Two years ago
we borrowed today we lend. Amer.
lean trade follows the American In.
vestment.
What shall the future be- Ger
tainly that future will be what We
Americans make II. II will not be
the result OF legislation but OF ac-
ton. IL will be as large as our own
conceptions OF our power. modified
by a stern purpose to make that
power real and keep II powerful.
II Is perhaps not without reason
that the word "salesmanship" has
the word man" in the very center
Of II. You do not need here any
or your TO be told the value Of a
man. Look back 20 years and see
what men have done here In Detroit
meanwhile. You have seen man
power triumphant over dificulty.
over distance. over competition. un-
I'll, were each product of Detroit 90
carry a nag with the city name
upon II, the banners Of Detroit
would decorate tho highways OF the
world. Man power has here made
false and pitiful the power OF
phrases. Small need to worry over
the rate OF wage as con
trolling factor in competition when
the cheapest goods in a great In.
dustry are known by all to be made
by the men who are paid the most.
II r. horrible 10 think OF the waste
in the past years OF American In.
dustry. We held business conven-
tons and let the eagle scream and
enthused over the greatness OF
America, while others grew rich on
what we were negiecting. II Is un-
doubtedly true that half a million
available horsepower In hot gases
escape from our wasteful coke
ovens. Everyone knows II TO be
true that the great German dyestuff
industry has been built up out OF
the scientific use OF materials OF
which we were at once the largest
producers OF the raw stuKs and the
largest consumers Of the finished
stufYs. We cheerfully burned and
otherwise destroyed many thousands
OF tons of paper-making material
and imported nearly half OF our pa
per stock from abroad. Indeed. II Is
true that these men needed protec.
tion, but II was protection from
themselves they needed.
We shall see, no doubt, when the
war shall end. and In a measure de-
pending upon when that end shall