The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1917-19??, 1917-10-18
WORLD TRADE AT END OF WAR

New York, Oct. 17.-What a differ
ent world of trade this will be afte
the war was pictured to the Southern
Commercial Congress here by Secre
tary Redfield in an address telling
Of the cutting of the threads of Ger
many's foreign commerce by her owl
act, and of the awakening of America
and her @llas to the danger of having
their industries dependent upon for
eign and possibly unfriendly sources
of supply.
"When peace shall come and hel
merchants take up the task OF restor-
ing Germany's ruined commerce, they
will find that is is a strange worlo
which they seek to Renter" said the
secretary. There will be difficult
case in the path of the future peace.
full penetration of which they seen
not to dream.
Commercial frightfulness, like its
military namesake, will have passed
away.
1T will hardly be said again to any
secretary of commerce of the United
States that German dyestuff Vereil
will not permit, the establishment OF
an American dyestuff industry The
monopolies on which German foreigl
commerce in large part seemed t.
rest secure have passed away. Oui
friends beyond the sea and we our
selves have learned the danger of hay
ing our industries wholly dependent
on foreign sources of supply which
may become unfriendly.
1T is pitiful to read extracts from
the German press which seem to show
that they expect to take up the TASK
of rebuilding their commerce where
they laid it down. They reckon the
worlds demand for potash as pure
ly German asset. 1t was so, but, il,
is no longer. They were the worlds
source of dyestuffs. That opportunity
has gone. 1t was they to whom the
world looked for optical glass We dc
not look there now. They were The
source of supply of chemical porce-
lain. We make it today, as well as
they
Il need not tell you of the com
mercial value of what we call good
will or point the advantage of doin6
business as a going concern The
great markets of the world have been
and are to be found among the natl
ons who have parted company with
Germany in the present struggle. Hel
past mistakes have been found among
themselves The peoples of these
lands are not likely by one comon
impulse to turn quickly to Germany
for renewal of the commercial in
tenourse which was broken by he1
act. 1t must be renewed under cir
cumstances of peculiar hardship.
"As it will be strange world upon
which the German merchant will look
out when war shall close, so let mt
add it will be in a large measure q
strange world upon which the Amer
can merchant will look out at the
same time. When embargoes are ove4
and trading with the enemy acts shall
have ceased to trouble, we also shall
see things differently. The novelty
will not on our part arise from separ-
alton, but the reverse. We have gain
ed and are gaining better understand
ing of the world we live in. Scales
of provincialism have fallen from oul
eyes.
when our sons have fought and
died together with those of Great
Britain, France. Italy, Russia and our
other honored friends, things cannot
be as they were before that happened.
Each knows the other better than he
did. Old lines of separation have
gone. Our vision is enlarged Appli-
ed to commerce this means that We
understand other peoples and know
their needs better. and know what
better we may do to supply them.
Our men with vision are reaching
out into all the lands.
In the coming days when normal
commercial intercourse throughout
the world shall replace present re-
stricted conditions we recognize as
matter of course that the nations as
sociated with us in this war are pre-
pairing for their proper share of the
worlds business when the war shall
close.
"Delieving as we do, however, that
commerce is not war but mutual in
tercourse to mutual gain, we look
without fear and with strong appro-
val upon every effort of our friends