The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-10-30

an important factor In the development
OF her foreign tradt.
AT the present time when the bal
anee Of trade IS - adverse TO the
united kingdom atat the present rate y
viii amount to $500, 900, 900 this year,
the necessity Of greatly increasing to-
tai exports is becoming more and more
apparent. No Englishnlan has any ex-
cuse for net sppreeiattng this fact be-
cause II has been dirned into his ears
consistently since the arm stice.
Through the editorial and news columns
q The daily news aqd N numerous trads
q lie sddrssses Of public men this
sell, evident truth has been emphasized
and re-Anlphasised. II ean be taken for
granted then that British commerce
and Industry are awake to the needs OF
the future. AS q part OF this program
q great deal of emphasis IS being
placed on the need for speeding UP pro-
ductieH and the point Is made that this
or an employees question, but a national
matter In which every citizen must sink
or swim together
In the matter of production England
Is probably betteEsprepared to make con-
sistent and rapid progress than any
other benigerent European country. For
one thing the labor scarcity due to the
1~N VI W Nql iag pNNb w ~ D.
measure Femedied, out Of the three
stfviees-army, navy and airs, 900 900
men have already been demobiliZed and
from this huge mass Of ablebedied men
only about $4,000 have not yet been
absorbed in Industry. The continuation
Of the import restrictions on numerous
Commodities TO change from war condi
industry during the period Of demobili-
zation. The se-ealled unstable key in
dustries are still to be protected for an
indefinite time by the prohibition
against the importation OF such goods
trade.
against by suitable legislation and the
board of trade is to be equipped with
emergency powers 10 check . sudden
and undue Importation Of goods ~
prices altogether below the cost of pro
duction in the united kingdom owing
to the collapse Of exchange. This Ast
named measure Is aimed particularly a
Germany where the sovereign brings 5.
marks as against 30 before the war.
The deprecated value If the SOW,
ersign, which means that American
products imported inso n united king,
dom cost the importer considerably
more than when exchange is normal
will likewise tend to stimulate British
~produetion IN competing lines. England
can therefore now concentrate OH speed,
ing up production In most industries
and vigorous efforts are certainly beine
made already In this direction,
VIII England be able to manufacture
many lines of goods more eheaply thar
The United States In the future as II
the past? Some British manufacturer
with whom | have talked aye convinced
that she will; others are equally pessi-
nistic in their views. SO many factors
Influence the situation on both sides
of the Atlantic that II is scarcely pos.
slble al this time to prophecy with any
degree of accuracy as to the ultimate
answer. This much is certain, however
English manufacturers unquestionabIJ
have every incentive to attempt to &C.
Ct riplish this result Ana american
foreign trade, II II IL to maintain q per,
manent place In the van Of world com
meree, must make up its mind once and
for all that production costs must bt
pared down To the last penny