Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-10-07

WASHINGTON, D. c., October 1.-THE
w treasury del artment is just wonder
ing how much the on the street
knows about finance, how many OF them ap,
peciate so simple thing as the province OF
bank, know what bond really u.s. c&r tell
what is meant by exchange.
This last term, exchange, is now causing par,
ticular concern. Exchange makes 1t necessary
that the nations of Europe should pay tee
for the privilege of buying goods IN the Omtee
nations pay five cents in exchange that they
may spend dollar here but the less favored
pay as much as fifty cents for that privilege.
The treasury department. which does its
worrying through the agency of the federal
reserve board, knows that foreign peoples are
have to, and that presently ships will STOP
sailing from Philadelphia to Stockholm, because
of exchange and that factories in Youngstown
may be shutting down because of the same
taking of tribute
This matter of exchange, in fact, is the very
cornerstone of the foreign tade situation. Oul
business with all the world depends on its
readjustment 1t is now badly out of order
To understand exchange we must remember
that America was thrust by great war into
position of trade dominance, was taken to the
mountain top and shown the martS of the world
waiting to be taken.
Four years devoted ntensively to ationing
the god of war had built for us an industrial
machine such as no nation ever before pos.
sesSed The machinists we had trained refused
to go back to driving delivery wagons. Our
merchant fleet was at the deck with steam up
We must sell, sell, SELL
This much America saw. To this program
she inStnctively pledged herself We would
sell our goods the world around. Wherever g
traveller puts his foot on dock there he should
see a box labeled "Made in U. S. A."
This to the average American is the whole
Of tho troAa Eupn To he inf "a
turer, the exporter, there is but II one view
that of establishing markets for American goods
The idea of buying abroad, of importing extern
Sively into the United States, is unpopular. The
United States, it is held should be Selt-Support
ing Imports should be discouraged The i'm
porter is an unpatriotic, unpopular individual
His business is stupendous, as a matter Of
fact but he is almost surreptitious about it
The big fact not yet clearly perceived is
that, without an import trade we can have nc
permanent export trade. We will prosper for 3
day and then find our goods piling up on oul
shelves. This thing called exchange will get us
And since we a democracy, since ma
tional action depends upon public understand
ing or fall Mr.. American. You must come
to understand that trade between two coun-
tries is actual exchange of goods if it is to
survive. A mere selling of COOS by one
country to another is the blowing of com
mercial bubble which can exist for but mo-
ment. You have got to buy as we'll as sell
Otherwise exchange will make it impossible for
you to sell.
Before the war we sold about two billion
dollars worth of goods abroad every year, and
bought million and a half. Out of the halt
billion to our credit we paid the transportation
charge to foreign ships. Then paid interest
on American securities that were held abroad
Finally added to this the money that Ameri-
can tourists each year spent in Europe These
items brought the outlay up to the income
There was trade in its broadest sense between