Omaha daily bee., 1919-12-15
. Foreign Trade Facts and
HINTS.
From the New York Times.

The report OF the secretary OF commerce
now in private life, dates back to June. The
last fiscal year made world records for imports,
exports and the credit balance between nations,
but forecasts for the current calendar year,
which are practically complete except Tor de-
tails, indicate a change in both quantity and
quality Of our foreign business For the fiscal
year there was balance due us on merchandise
movement Of $397s l34,947, but the balance for
the calendar year will be $1,000000000 less. No
one will be surprised at the decrease in exports
of munitions and their materials as the months
pass away from war. and therefore toward
total of exports is no greater is due to the
change in the character of the trade, Our
foodstuffs are still in demand, and must be
until another harvest, but there is an increasing
demand for the products of our labor in the
form of materials more or less ready for con-
sumption. How trade makes trade is shown
by the fact that our larger exports OF manu-
factures necesstate increase of our imports OF
materials for manufacture, the figures being
Sl.o50,000000 for this calendar year. or nearly
$50O0OO000 more than in either 1918 or l9l7
Our total exports and imports for both the cal
endar and fiscal years are above SlO,0O0,0O0,O00
or more than doble our prewar total.
Evidently the momentum OF trade between
the nations which have not and the nation
which has is SO great that it defes the diff
oulties of which tinanciers make so much. The
difficulties in the exchange OF currencies are
daily greater, but the exchange of goods pro-
ceeds nevertheless. The suggestion is that the
exchange of currencies affects but few, while
the exchange of goods affects all In normal
times the sale OF goods for pounds sterling
meant the exchange of goods for something
which could be brought away from England,
and which would buy other goods anywhere
in the world. But the sale Of goods for pounds
now means the exchange of something of uni
versal demand for currency which cannot be
brought away from England, and which can be
spent there only at high prices, and often
times cannot be spent for what is wanted.
We are lamenting that our dollars have lost
halt their purchasing power at home, but they
have an advantage over other currencies be-
cause nearly all countries want dollars to spend
here, as the volume OF our exports shows. 1t
is not strictly true to say that there is separa
ton between the exchanges of goods and of cur
rencies, but it cannot be maintained that the
hitherto unknown relations in the currency ex-
changes have the effect upon the exchanges of
goods which would be expected Normally the
exchanges of goods and currencies are equally
free. Now the exchanges of goods are free,
but the exchanges of currencies are hampered
in many ways.
The world has now greater merchant ton
mage than at any time in history. Our own
shipyafds for the fiscal year built more ships
than the worlds annual construction before the
war; American tonnage in the worlds over
sea trade in the fiscal year was skiold that
before the war There is no mechanical OBJ
struction to the exchanges of goods, and the
demand matches the worlds distress But there
is nothing left undone to make the exchanges
of currencies for each other or for goods, diff |
fcult, dangerous, expensive Substitutes for
true money are in use everywhere. There is
under present conditions minimum of ex-
changes of goods for currencies, together with
a maximum of exchanges of goods for goods,
merchants supplanting bankers. unless both |
functions are united in merchant bankers.
This condition is unstable. The worlds /
wants will not await the leisurely process of !
our unionists and lawmakers. We lose our
profits, and millions abroad lose their health
or lives, while our strikers delay and decrease
the production of goods which might procure |
for us other goods. The machinery for the
creation of dollar credits, which might enable
us to sell abroad our surplus product, for which
the foreign buyers cannot supply goods in bar
ter, has hung fire for months, and takes the |
form preferred by congress rather than that
known to be best by those who do such bust
ness. The surprise that are doing so WE'LL |
nevertheless, is poor substitute for gratif-
cation over how much better we might be do
ing.