The Washington herald., 1917-08-06
HOLLAND LETTER
The Biggest Daily
Financial News Feature of
the County's Best Newspapers.

4 NV y Ssh NSWsRoPcaes
The more the statement which was
issued few days ago by the United
States Steel Corporation Is studied
the clearer the comprehension of the
vast and profound meaning which was
contained between the lines of this
statement. 1t has been spoken of as a
rather interesting fact that upon the
day the steel corporations statement
was published there also appeared In
print report showing that the az
gresate foreign trade of the United
states in the fiscal year which ended
on June Goth was almost ten billion
dollars. Each of these reports, that
OF the steel corporation and the one
which came form the government at
washington, really supplements the
other, for the reasons which made
IL possible for the United States to
secure in twelve months an interna-
uonal trade of the money value of
nearly ten billion dollars, are in part
the reason why the United States
Steel Corporation was able to report
that its earnings in the last three
months OF the past fiscal year were
almost exactly one hundred and forty-
five million dollars.
OF course the war in Eurone A.
plains In great measure the magnitude a
OF these figures, and yet for a time
aIter the war began the steel COR
poratlon was occupied almost ex-
| ciusiYey In manufacturing COM
nodlties for the domestic market ana
Ior export. Many of these commodi-
ues found their destination in the
Inunition factories, but with that des-
tlnatlon The steel corporation had
hothlng TO do. A year and a baIf
ago some Of the officers of III. cor
poraion estimated that a littIa ovsr
sixty per cent of the products Of the
corporation were purchased by the
industries which were engaged In
manufacturing munitions of war,
Ihere have been many comnert.
occasioned by the unprecedantaS
statement OF the steel corporation
Ohe which was most comroni,,
nearG Is that had the Supreme Court
washington or the lower court
uecloed that the steel corporatjon
was organized and operated IN vjo-
iatloh Oh the Federal statutes. there-
Oy compelling its dissoltion q,
would have been impossible FOR tha
Urporatlon TO make a statement 81
an comparable with the one isspaS
.he other day. Certainly II wouId
nave been impossible to 80, s.Id.
1ifty-three million dollars, as The 60
poraion has done, out OF net .err
lngs with which to pay the nresnn,n-
1--WE tax the government will eYac,
on account OF excess profits No.
would the government have received
from this corporation an agereaata
OF taxes which may amount vuithtn
Two years to as much as two bun-
ared millions had the corpora tion
oeeh dlsJointed as was the case VIII
the standard Oil Company.
Although the formal statement ,.-
sued Dy the corporation is as color-
Iess as Is the report Of an aotuarv
OF auditor, nevertheless, the intInoa.
IONS are clear throughout the renor.
that the business which has baen
carried on upon so great a scala a.
10 make possible net earnings on one
hundred and forty-five millions IN
three months, reflects efficiency and
Ihe great value OF coordination ara
cooperation, including the harmoniz-
ing or plants. Therefore, the gov
ernment can itself now turn VIII
confidence to the corporation for The
production OF an enormous amount ~
material OF which the goyernment
stands In imperative need. That
would not have been possible had
the corporation been broken up as
the Department Of Justice at wash
lngton has asked the courts to com
| mand that it be.
another feature of this statement
which has occasioned much comment
Is the fact that its net earnings for
single quarter are far greater than
lts net earnings for the entire year
IVA. whether the statement made
the other day is to be considered as
Identifying the high water mark OF
the production Of this corporation, II
is certain that the statement made
lot the last three months of 1914 in
uicateo low water mark not only
Tor this corporation but for general
business conditions throughout the
| United States. In two and a half
years the corporation has leaped
from almost nothing in the way of
net earnings to an income which II
II be continued for twelve months
VIII reach approximately six hundred
| million dollars. But prosperity OF
| that kind is no more than symbolIc
or Indicative of general prosperity in
the United States, stimulated, II Il
true. by war conditions.
Our international trade for the
| twelve months that ended June 30,
! approximately ten billion dollars. Is
regarded by the experts here as
fairly good indication that the trade
in the present fiscal year will be of
a money value equal to ten billions
| and perhaps in excess of It. The
balance OF trade in favor of the
United States in these two years
| should go far toward meeting the
extraordinary demands OF the gov
ernment upon the people for sub
scription to loans.
Furthermore, 1t seems to be the
common opinion that the apparent bal
ance of trade in our favor is approxi-
mately the real balance. That view
Is based in part upon the fact that
other nations have been compelled to
send gold to the United States to aid
| In payment Of balances. Before the
European war began our favorable
and visible trade balances was heavily
cut into by various items, such, for
instance, as travellers credit which
sometimes amounted to S1O0, 1000, 900 a
year; also by freight and insurance
rates and by our payment of interest
upon the American securities that
were held abroad. But in the past
fiscal year there have been practically
no travellers credits issued and our
payments to foreign investors in
American securities on account of in
terest must have been greatly lessen
ed since many millions Of these Sc
curities have been absorbed by Amer
lean investors.
There Is one feature contained in the
report Of our foreign commerce which
is gratifying for 1t shows that In the
past fiscal year there was a large in.
crease in the money value of our i'm