The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-04-13
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
FREDERIC }. HASKIN, Director,
Washington, d. c.
TRADE AFTER THE WAR.

TRADE AFTER THE WAR.
Washington, D. c., April 10.-If the
United States is to maintain the hold
Oh foreign trade which it has gained
| in the past two years, now is the
time to prepare. Now is the time to
talk of cooperation among exporters,
of foreign markets, oe building up
m erchant marine and of diverting
labor now employed in war industries
to factories manufacturing articles
for peace-time consumption.
other countries are paying great
attention to these things, in spite of
| their preoccupation with the war.
Great Britain is reported to be APP
| pointing commissions at the rate OF
several a month to collect information
on variou. questions affecting the
foreign trade of the empire after the
war. In the rehabilitation of her
ruined towns and factories. France is
| improving the opportunity to install
better methods and better equipment
to facilitate after-war production
And Japan is cautiously playing
| dangerous hand, with her mind in
tent on the commercial struggle that
is booked to follow peace.
A glance at the legislation now
pending in congress shows that our
| owr government is not totally I'M
aware of the need of preparation for
| future commercial competition. The
Webb bill. permitting exporters to
| organize for foreign trade-a prac-
tice heretofore handicapped by the
Sherman antitrust LAWS evidence
of this In addition to it. there are
the proposal to establish L Foreign
Exchange bank under the direction
of Federal Reserve board: the For
| eign Trade Mark bill authorizing dis
tinctive trade marks for articles sent
! oh
time cities to declare themselves free
ports uEder conditions laid down by
the secretary of commerce
& The department of commerce, more
! over is now urging an appropriation
of 800. 900 for investigating emporium
tiles for foreign trade in the Far East.
The countries of the Far East have
population of about S01.O00,000 peo-
| ple-or about So per cent of the pop
ulation of the principal countries of
the world excluding the United States.
While their buying power per capita
| is lot as great as the of Latin-Amer-
! lea, it will Increase enormously after
| the war.
| The possibilities of this market can
/ not be overlooked by those interested
| in American trade expansion. Great
Britain has recently appointed sew
eral agents, under its new department
| of overseas trade, for special trade in
legations in the Far East. while the
= y
| possible step to establish and maintain
a hold on eastern markets
! China is known to favor American
| goods, but as yet American exporters
are unfamiliar with Chinese markets
! In 1916 this country contributed less
/ than 3 per cent of the total goods i'm
i ported by the countries of the Far
East, and a large portion of this per
cent went to the Philippines. The de-
partment of Commerce believes that
q aSta in GRO fi1cr
a division for the extension of Ameri-
rcan trade in the Far East, with a force
| of thirteen men in Washington, in
! Guiding the chief of the division and
agents-one to be stationed in San
Francisco and the other in Seattle
and a travelling staff of at least nine
trade commissioners to be sent to the
! East for direct Investigations.
| Officials of the Department of Com
merce believe that in the period d.
rectly following the war, the chief in
| ternational competition will be in raw
materials rather than in markets
| There will be a tremendous demand
from domestic markets which nations
Will have to supply before they can
start exporting on a large scale. 1t
will take the world several years to
| recover from the waste of raw ma
man textile mills, for example. will
have to supply the German people
with a great deal of cloth before thew
start manufacturing for foreign mar
| kets.
| In support of this theory these off,
! Gals point to the fact that Great Bri-
tain is now engaged in checking I'D the
| resources of its colonies, with a view
to developing them as rapidly as pos
sible. For instance, a commission IS
now investigating the question of In
dian cotton, to determine how its pro-
auction can best be stimulated and
how much money would be required
for the proper development of this
staple.
japan. too. is seeking sources of
raw materials China has the coal
and iron that Japan lacks, hence the
recent tightening of her grip on China.
Even the Dutch East Indies have re
| Gently attracted Nippon,s attention.
AT least, it is significant that an ex-
nlplt OF raw materials from the
Dutch East Indies has recently been
| held in Japanese commercial muse
manifestations that have grown up
| IN Japan since the war began
| While raw materials will undoubt-
edly play a most important part in
the period of reconstruction imnedi-
ately following the war, reports from
Europe show that every country is ex-
pecting a period of keen competition
for foreign trade. England is making
no secret of the fact. 1t speaks quite
frankly about recovering its former
commercial and financial SUPREMACY
and of using its foreign trade to get
| out of debt.
| To this end the propaganda for in
| creased production and decreased
| consumption is already being circu-
lated turnout the United Kingdom
Even after the war is over it will be
the patriotic duty of the Britisher to
teconomize, so that a large surplus of
manufactured articles may be shipped
| abroad.
/ Meantime, an inventory is being
| taken of the nations industries under
the ministry of reconstruction. the
ministry of munitions. the depa rtment
of the foreign office and the board
of trade. Nearly a hundred govern