The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-11-25

deavorinE to get down to fighting
weight. The dropping of superfiuities
is one of the steps in this direction
But Just at this point comes In hest
tatfon that is natural In the case of
boxer preparing for an encounter
I It Is not considered wise to train down
I TOO hne, as II Is called, and get
rid OF LII the flesh possible. This holds
! good with regard to the country when
It comes to determining what things
are essential and what are not AL
| though, off hand. II would seem an
| easy matter TO decide which industries
| are needed to help win the war ana
/ which are superfiuous or A positive
! drawback. IL ceases TO he SO simple o
task when all the circumstances are
taken into account. When the coun-
| ell OF national defense announced its
! purpose OF curtailing or sunpressinE
| n ION essential Industries, business men
| began TO get npprehensive. and formal
1 objections were soon interposed From
! the chamber Of commerce of the Uni
ted States came a report OF special
committee, which considered the sub
3eet mainly from It's effects on for
I essn trade rnd exchange ana this
alone showed the need OF great eau
! ton. II was conceded that the fra
! question was that IF trans portation,
/ and that all foreign trade must be
made subsidiary to the absolute neces-
sly of supplying men, food, and war
supplies to Europe.
i Foreign Trade and Exchange.
/ But when ships GO one way loaded
! should tho V come hack empty or In
| ballast Again, II is absolutely neces-
| sary that vast qua ntities OF raw mater
| ials he imported IL for no other pur-
| pose than tn enable the factories here
| TO make them TN into munitions and
| other articles needed by the military
/ ana naval forces as we'll as In civilian
/ life, Rubber. copper. iron ore. nitrates
! tungsten, wool, coffee, sugar. tea. and
+ oils are oniy q few of such articles
/ These things bought abroad run In
; value up to about Sc 010 900 600 a
| year. They must be paid for either in
! money or in goads. IF paid In money
! II would mean the speedy exhaustion
I of tlas gold and s14paE-siaaptY- *-tha
country, with it's dire flna ncial con-
sequences such calamity would
more than Offset many victories FRI the
field and might. indeed. prevent such
victories being obtained. SO II be-
comes necessary TO export to foreign
! countries what goods are needed there
| in order to pay the part or whole or
] the amounts due for purchases there
I This IS especially the case now, whan
( ii Is no longer possible to pay AsiRtic
| or South American or South African
countries by credits on Great Britain
! or other European nations. Futher-
more in making payment In goods 10
countries from which we obtain sup
| plies we can only do so IN goods OF
] the kind which the people Of those
/ countries wish 10 buy. Now. suppos~
, ing thai in Argentina, for exa RI Pile
tfhe people wantsto buy from rs pianos.
or expensive automobiles, or silk
( stockings perfumery or candy. Must
we not. in order to supply them, keep
I going the industries which make these
/ articles, even though they may be
/ rightly considered non essential from
I the domestic standpoint?
I Looking Toward the F,rture.
! Considerations such as these and
/ what is implied ny them serve to show
~the need Of caution and great de-
/ liberation in taking action In the mat
/ ter, and render IL doubtful II any hard
+ @nd fast lines will be drawn as to in
! dustries or practices except such az
l. are beyond question rets rdents to the
successful prosecution of the war. II
! must be considered also that the war
, is not to last forever. and that after
/ IL is ended II will be necessary for this
| country to have foreign outlets for Its
/ superffuous production of manufac-
! tured goods end even for some of it's
I ~ w material, such ~ cotton. sTaia,
/ oil. coal. and the like. The absence
/ OF German competition In a number OF
/ foreign countries has given American
| manufacturers the greatest opportuni-
! ties to make a market in them for the
/ domestic products. This ls an added
/ reason why no unnecessary check
| should be put on exports. Tor this
! and other reasons the chamber or
! commerce OF the United States urged
/ that 'the normal business structure
should be maintained as far as posi-
/ Bile and no non-essentia1 industry
| closed down. so that some organiza-
| tions may be retained for speedy de-
veloprnent after the close 10 the war"
| IT is gratifying to learn that special
/ bureau is to he esta blished to investi-
! gate and render decision in matters of
| this kind
| Animal Imports Can Wait.
| IT becomes evident from time to
time that much remains to be done to
bring about the efficiency which the
war needs call for. Sometimes 1t
looks as though sense OF proportion
| were wanting and at other times as II
| there was a lack of coordination.
| Thus. when sugar famine seemed
! imminent, the candy stores were run
( ming full tilt. Again. when attempts
| were made 70 restrict imports as well
| as exports with view to using ship
! ping only for essentials, all sorts OF
! odd things appeared on the manifests
of vessels which could by no stretch OF
| fancy be considered as necessities. It
was only few days ago, for exam pie.
wher the arrival at IAN Atlantic
<f -1v frs.r