The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-29
DEMOCRATIC PARTY NOT 0N DEFENSIVE BECAUSE OF TARIFF Secretary Redfield Praises Legislative Work of Sena- tor Oscar Underwood LOCAL CONDITIONS
 IN BUSINESS WORLD Believes Russia Will Prove One of Americas Best Customers Fol
 lowing the Close of the
 European War

The democratic party will not be placed on the defensive by any claims that the Underwood tariff bill has not come up to expectations, according to William c. Redfield secretary of com merce, who is the guest of Birmingham today. The Underwood tariff has made good and it's operations have and will continue to prove beneficial. to the country, he said.
 "The republicans tried for a time to create a feeling throughout the country that the democrats had made a failure of the tariff legislation, but their ef- forts met with failure,'' said Secretary Redfield. The Underwood bill has come fully up to expectations, and more. and the party will not be made to suffer that legislation which was featured by your townsman. MT. Underwood has rendered great service in the House and has had large hand in framing the legislation which ena abled the admins traton to keep the pledges made the people in the Baltimore platform. We expect his services in the Senate to be equally as important.
 When I was a member of Congress from the Brooklyn district, MT. Under wood was the democratic leader and I knew him well personally. Like all the other members of Congress who served with him, I have the highest regard for him personally as well as for his ability as a legislat tor"
 A TRADE EXPERT
 Secretary Redfield has been the leader in the national effort to expand this countrys trade with foreign countries and it is in that line probab bly, that he has rendered the greatest service as cab inet officer. Being himself a very suc- cessful business man and manufacturer and in touch with enterprises of large magnitude, he was able immediately after entering the cabinet to start a suited in great good to the business in- terests of the country and to his wise management of the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce has been due much of the credit for the growth of our trade since the war in Europe began
 But the secretary is by no means of l the opinion that we will lose the ground gained as soon as the struggle abroad
 ceases. "The outlook for our foreigr trade is most optimistic, he said last
 night We have just begun to realize the possibilities which await us in this line Not only are we building up a good trade with Central and South America, which we did not have in the past but our business men and manu- lecturers are learning how to get more of this business. We have never gone after this foreign trade properly in the
 past and when we did go after it we did not do it in the right way. We are gradually meeting every obstacle which had blocked our path in the past and l expect a constant increase in the future. T believe that Russia Is going to be one of the most fertile fields for Amer ican trade after the war. That great country is going to develop her matchless resources and the American business
 man must be the one to sell the goods. With trade of Russia and the hold we have secured and are constantly increas- ing in all the countries to the south of us, we can expect to increase our busi- ness with foreign countries. 7
 NO DEPRESSION
 "No, there will be no widespread de- pression after the war. There will sim ply be an adjustment to meet the new conditions, but we need fear no serious consequences. Certain lines of business will have to undergo a change, but many other lines of business which have been more or less hindered by the war, will open up as they have not done for some years. Taken as a whole, the business conditions of the country are most en- couraging and we have nothing to worry about so far as the future Is concerned. We simply must go after the business and use our best efforts to devise ways of holding it and the result will be more satisfactory than many of us thought possible a few years ago."
 Although Secretary Redfield has taken a remarkable personal interest in every detail of the departments activities. that bureau to which he has given his greatest thought has been the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce. This bureau, under his wise leadership and constant care, has been very real aid to the growth of American foreign com merce. Under his direction the bureau has been reorganized. It is a wholly different service from that which ex- isted three years ago-larger in outlook, broader in equipment. Then there were no branch offices distributed about the country; now there are eight, two of which are located at Atlanta and New Orleans. Then there were no commercial attaches. now there are 10.
 The appropriations for promoting Amer ican commerce have been many times greater than those ever granted under a previous administration and the ef- fectiveness of the work done under the appropriations is shown by the orders directly received by American manu- lecturers through the intervention of the bureau which have, taken by themselves alone, been of such a nature as to many times more than repay the annual cost of the entire bureau.
 Exa-