The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-03-10
OUR need
OF FOREIGN
MARKETS

Few people realize how extensive
the national output Of manufactured
goods in the United States has be-
come. A very graphic impression of
its magnitude is furnished by the
statement that we produce almost one
half of the leading raw materials for
the entire world and over a fourth of
the manufactured products in use with
but per cent. Of the worlds area
and 6 per cent. of the worlds popula-
ton.
In the minds Of many who have
followed the trend of the develop
ment of our foreign trade, this fact
is regarded as fair proof that we can
turn out plenty Of goods to meet the
needs of foreign markets Our prob
lem in foreign trade is looked upon
as a problem Of selling goods made
in the U. s. A" and of organizing
properly our export business, rather
than as problem Of manufacture
ing.
A very significant change has CONS
about in the last twenty-five years.
We have changed from a nation pri-
marily agricultural to a nation pri-
marily engaged in manufacturing In
our earlier days our huge exports
were derived chiefly from our won
derfully fertile grain fields, our vase
mineral deposits and our enormous
cotton plantations. Eighty-f1ve per
cent. of our exports in 1880 were
crude materials and food stuffs.
In 1913 the proportion had altered
till only 81 per cent. of our foreign
shipments consisted of these raw ma
terials, and a year later the value of
our fabricated exports was greater by
many millions than that of all the ex-
ports of cotton, grain, iron, copper
and the like. This is regarded as
very significant thing. 1t, means, to
the men in all manufacturing lines of
business in Bridgeport and elsewhere,
that American manufactures are find
ing a growing market abroad.
That this market will be further
developed is certainty. The steady
tendency Of the past thirty-five years
forecasts the future. This growth
in foreign trade has been going on
year by year, decade by decade. But
it was going on SO quietly that until
recently it was not attracting much
attention. Exporters knew about it,
and exporting houses and ocean trans
portation companies realized what
tremendous factor it was becoming.
While our population has increased
rapidly, it's growth has not been fast
enough to keep pace with the ire
mendous development in the output
Of our manufacturing plants. We
have reached the point where our
mills and factories in many lines can
proruce enough to satisfy domestic
consumption in from seven to ten
months. In order to keep these mills
and factories working the year round,
it is essential to build up foreign
markets for our surplus produc-
ton.
For this basic reason this tendency
toward increasing exports of manu-
featured goods has been going on
steadily and surely for more than a
generation. Then suddenly and
without warning came the great Eur
open war. For a while the COM
MERGE of the world was stunned Par
tial recovery followed when thousands
Of new customers came to us for the
goods formerly provided by the great
exporting nations Of Europe. The
result has been to carry forward the
export trade of the United States by
short cut across the lot" to point