The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1916-01-13
Cheap Goods VS.. Cheap Money

end Of talk about extending cur COM
merce with South America and the
Orient. The high Tariff, it was claim
ed, had always been an obstacle 10 the
growth Of this commerce; but when
the Underwood Tariff law went into
effect predictions were made that our
export trade with those countries
would soon show a wonderful increase.
Later on, however, it was explained
that something more Was needed.
Tariffs, we are now told, play
small part in the matter. Foreign
trade is more largely question OF
finance. We must be able 10 grant
longer credits 10 would-be buyers be-
fore we can hope to compete with Eng
land and Germany for this trade. AS
one authority says: 1T has long been
automatic of trade with South America
that South America would buy where
she could borrow"
Now we are also told that the Cur
rency law was expressly designed to
overcome this difficulty by increasing
the lending powers Of our books, and
Secretaries McAdoo, Redfield and Dr..
Pratt, Of the Bureau Of Foreign Com
merce, are busily engaged on scheme
by which credits will be extended to
exporting merchants so that they can
in turn grant longer credits to South
American buyers than they could OBJ
tain from the exporting merchants OF
other countries. This policy, it is
claimed, will give Us control OF the
markets Of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico
and other countries where money is
scarce.
1t is a plausible scheme, but expert
ence and reason do not warrant the be
lief that it will accomplish the desired
object.
During the past half century our ex
port trade has grown more rapidly thar
that Of any other country. This hal
century was a period OF high Tariffs
The increase in exports was greatest
in those products that were most effect
ually Protected by the Tariff, that is,
in manufactured goods. Many Of these
products have supplanted English PRO
ducts in foreign markets, and not
" have displaced English goods il
England's own markets. And ye
during this entire period Of filtv year
money rates we're much lower in Eng
land than in the United States. Lon
don was the worlds financial center
England was the greatest Of creditc
nations; while the United States wa
the worlds greatest debtor nation an
the greatest borrower. If the abilit
to grant longer crenits was the dete
mining factor in promoting export trad
England's trade should have grow
more rapidly than that Of the Unite
States.
A still more conspicuous disproof
this theory is furnished by the exper
ence of Germany. Thirty-five yea
ago Germany's export trade cut sma
figure in the worlds comm 7rce. b
after 1880 it began to spread out, an
since the opening Of the Twentie'
century ii has grown more rapidly
that OF any ether country txceptlr
United States. Goods marked MAJ
in Germany" are now found in eve
quarter Of the globe. Besides su
planting English goods on loreii
mark cts; German goods have also /
vaded England's own home market
But it is in the trade with South Anne
lea that Germany has made the gre;
est progress. Iu the decade before t
world war she was fast overhaulil
England, and, according to one 6;
man authority, If this contest HI
been delayed for another decade G;
many would have swept England
the board"
All this progress was gained unt
precisely tho same conditions
those which obtained during the p
gress OF our own foreign trade.
dates from rh. establishment OF Z
marck's high Tariff policy in lS'
and has been growing ilster and