Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-06
TRADE POLICIES
OF THE FUTURE
Dangers in Selfish Reorganiza-
tion of the Worlds
Commerce.
By GILBERT VIVIAN sELDES
SPccto' Correspondent EUcniug Pgbic Ledger


| 1914 or considerably behind.
! In two respects il is decidedly behind II
| has two examples. dangerous in the extreme,
| where sound economies have been sacrificed
| either to war-emotions (Which Is not the
| same thing war-princpes) or TO- simple
| exploitation. one of these is. Of course, the
| Paris Conference, which deliberately threw
| over all principles of economics as an after
| war measure. Proof of this can be found
| In the refusal Of the British Parliament TO
! touch the conference report The second
| instance is the return Of a group Of econo-
| mtsts who believe that Africa should be eX-
! plotted IN order to pay off the war debt. ana
| imply that the wealth of Africa may well
he irretrtcvably lost so long as the next NIFTY
| wears are prosperous for certain British IN
| divduas or fer the British state
These two instances are mentioned because
| they Indicate the totally chaotic state OF
| opinion on economies It has long been clear
| that the Germans lied when they said that
| TINS was an economic commercial war:
| IT is nothing Of the sort. But it has been
MAD" the occasion for an economic war
| which is absolutely certain to lead to an
! other military war in the end
Lot me cite another matter of some inn
! portaucc on n friendly scale The United
| states is building up merchant marine
| which. If We escape the submarines will be
! Of enormous value after the war. Great Brit
ain is doing the same Germany has her mer-
| chant noct intact or increased. tn port at
any rate, my patriotic feelings prompt mo -
going into competition We may go out for
the South American trade. We will collide
with the established British trade. And un.
loss some sort Of international mercantile
policy is thought out before the collision
comes it would he better for us if the Ger
mans sank every one Of our merchant ships,
better for MS if we had never built them,
better If we had kept out of the war and seen
the pride of civilization sink in the dust Be
cause If do not work out some sort Of
arrangement with these other Powers VIII
prepare struggle beside which the present
war will he punY in cxtont-although the
present war has in it an idea greater than
the conflict of merchant ships can carry.
Now the same thing is true Of Germany.
We cannot expect to commander her ships
and tell her t. go raise pigs and he agri
cultural nation. We have to face the fact
of Gcrmany's industrial strength and value
10 the world, If we do not want CONNER
Cial war--which may mean in the end war
of peoples determined not to starvc-wc must
not permit the competition of commerce
carrying to begin. ! do not believe that in
the present exacerbated state of national
nerves any will seriously listen to
proposal for intcruationalizing ocean carriers
neither am an economist to prove the thing
feasible. But II ought to he understood that
we run grave danger of letting ourselves
in for "a cutthroat economic war after this
war is over, The idealists may all be dead.
Undeveloped Countries
ApplN the same tn0ugnt TO unucNeloDeu
territory. Russia is considered undeveloped
by those with an eye to industry Would we
permit Germany to- stake n claim and say |
that no British American goods should |
come in? We would not! Yet we cheerfully |
losl at the colonies and dominions in the |
Black Belt Of Africa and preferential |
tariffs arranged so that the dominating coun- |
try refuses to allow trade from or to any |
other country. Great Britain is notable |
exception to this sort of StranglinE. In the |
of the French influence there ig double |
loss because France cannot herself carry on |
the total commerce, so II is simply wasted. |
Will the nations neutralize or internation-
alize the trade Of Africa?
Will we do anything toward making the |
ports Of the world free and the carriers of |
the world independent of nationality?
or will grab?
The Balkan wars were "A rather hideous
example of mixed motives. of which can
disengage two: nationalism and commerce. |
Serbia desired to- rcunite the Austran-Serbs |
to her and TO he a great nation; she also
desired an outlet to the sea. Once she struck
toward the AdriatiC. one she struck toward
SaloniCa. Austria blocked her at DuraZzo;
Austria egGed Bulgaria on to block her at
Salonica. Rumania meanwhile agreed with
Serbia for an International railroad line to-
ward the Adriatic; il Bosnia becomes Serbian
after the war this line will give Rumania
an outlet which is not controlled as her
Black Sea outlet is by another unfriendly
Power.
In that maze of conflicting interests we
catch only a small portion of the world
confusion in commerce. But we see also
the redemption. For the treaty still exists
by which Greece allows Serbia free passage
through the port of Salonica. Free ports,
free passage, freedom to carry and to trade
are all the essentials Of international friend
ship. How far is the world prepared to go
in for these things?
Torrtorially the United States is without
interest in either Europe or Africa COM
sl1I tE1tn
as a carrying and exporting nation, And
1t is the duty of the United States to work
out principles of economic peace as honest |
as its Principles Of political peace or its prin-
ciples # territorial Adjustment For the
longer we concentrate on such vague phrases
rs the rights of small nations without con-
siderng, for example. the duties of small |
nations or the wrong which small nations :.
can do to great ones. so much weaker do
we make our case fer peace.
League of the Nations"
The elements Of peace-talk are strangely
conceived, The simple fact that the United |
states has pledged itself to cooperate as an
Atlantic Power with France and most nota-
bly, with Britain is obviously the first of |
these. 1t does not mean that we put ourselves |
entirely under the protection Of the British |
fleet IL means that we propose to take our |
share in the protection of the world with that |
feet and that therefore we make ourselves |
conformity responsible for the policies that |
fleet undertakes to uphold II means that |
for good i'll we are bound to consider |
Britain as an ally, and it is up to us TO see |
that we can apfA owe of her policies. We |
have also to accept the commercial implica- |
items. We cannot allow Germany to challenge |
the sea-supremacy which we uphold but we |
can allow her to pass freely on the seas, |
That IL different matter.
The growth in population Cf GERMANY is |
another factor we have to consider because |
it enters into every reckoning. II Germany |
has to colonize, what international arrange |
ment can we make?
The change In the rate Of Industrial nro- |
duction within the last ten years and more. |
particularly in Europe within the last three
years is phenomenon as important. ner-
haps as the introduction Of steam into in |
dustry 1t increases thes pace of competitIon |