New Britain herald., 1917-12-13
REDF|ELD'S REPORT
INTERESTING ONE
Item Tells Of Measures for Max
Ing Most Of American Trade

trade opportunity are foremost in
Secretary Redfeld's report of tho
many activities of the Department of
| commerce presented yesterday to
congress. The department probably
conducts more different phases of
government work than any other, and
"nlle all are touched upon in the long
report, measures for promoting for
elgn trade and an account of the
years commercial operations stand
at the top of the list.
The visible balance Of trade in
favor of the United States on mer-
chandlse transactions for the fiscal
year ended June 80. 1917, was 3d.
634. 45O, $685. says the report. THE
total of our merchandise export trade
was $6,293, So6, 900 and of our import
trade $2.659, 355,1S5. During the three
months period from the close of the
fiscal year to October 1 the merchan-
disc exports have been $1,319, 213,625.
The imports s729,97S,O17, and the net
visible balance $3.50, 235,608
The department earnestly hopes
for the passage early in the coming
session of the so-called Webb BILL now
pending in the senate. This measure
Will have an important bearing in
promoting our foreign commerce. 1t
Will strengthen one of the weakest
points In our foreign trade and will
give confidence to many a manufac-
turer and merchant to undertake for
e1gn business from which now, for
lack of the authority this measure will
give, he feels himself excluded
This country now holds the great
est reserve of gold the world has
ever seen. 1t is a great economic
prize. On it, as a secure base, rests
our national, state, municipal, cor
porate. and private credits. Let it
be seriously diminished and the VOL
ume of credits that we can give is
thereby diminished also. There are
but few ways in which this reserve,
based on which our credits depend,
can be adequately protected from eco
nomic attack. Among these methods
are loans abroad, investments abroad,
sales abroad, services abroad. BY one
or another of these methods or bv
combinations of them we can keep
the current of exchange so flowing
that our gold reserve may resist SER
ious diminution. In so doingtwe con-
serve our power to give credit, which
is to say our power to do business on
large scale. This means employ
ment, activity, occupation. We are
becoming accustomed to loans abroad
We are beginning. but as yet only be-
ginning, to make investm ents abroad
on any considerable scale. We are not
yet rendering services abroad on a
large scale, such as insurance or
transportation.
I'VE must hold as fully as we can
the volume of our foreign commerce
intact. If we fail to take these eco
nomic movements at their true value,
the result will be upon our own heads
and we shall only have ourselves to
blame. We may, indeed, continue as
a going concern, but we cannot hold
a place Of financial and industrial
and commercial power in the world
unless we keep the credit giving pow
err. This situation is comparatively
new to Americans; it has come upon
us suddenly; it has risen out Of the
shock OF war. It is the more neces-
sary therefore to make it plain that
If we would prosper to the full we
can no longer think the thoughts Of
former days of relative isolation. We
are in the family of a financial and
commercial world, and if we would
keep our place and influence therein
we must play our due part as one of
the family.
1.-THE establishment of free ports at
strategic points on our coast would
be potent factor in maintaining and
extending our foreign trade. Proper
ly placed. constructed, equipped, or
ganized, and operated, they would add
to the employment of labor and to
the returns of capital. BY industries
and warehouses located in the free
port areas, the cost of duty on ma
terialS used in the manufacture of
articles exported from those ports
would be reduced. the cost of carriage
might be substantially eliminated, the
expense of railway transportation
could be lessened. NThe opportunity
for use of our inland waterways could
be improved and goods could thus be
manufactured for export on the water
front in such way as to save much
expense. Any who may fear that
there will be difficulty in readjusting
our costs to meet foreign competition
after the war should become advocates
Of free ports, because through the
establishment of industries in such
ports it will be possible to save eco
nomic wastes which weigh heavily
against us but which under our pres
ent system are unavoidable. The pro-
cesses of manufacturing for export
would be greatly simplified when they
involved the use of foreign dutiable
materials and the procedure under the
customs law could be made more easy
not only without risk of losing rev.
enue, but with possible gain to the
taxable values of the country
Testimony offered by American
business men at home and abroad and
by our diplomatic representatives
gives assurance that the commercial
attache service is amply fulfilling it's
mission
"The results attained during the