New-York tribune., 1919-10-26
Cooperation in Trade an
Outgrowth of Conference
International League Vital Development at Meeting
of Worlds Trade Leaders; Misunderstanding
Cleared Up and Way Paved for Closer Relations
BY Merryle Stanley Rukeyser
4 TLANTIC CITY, Oct. 25.-Out of

and commercial enterprises OF Europe
they stepped to contde to America their
needs for the munitions Of peace
Nen for the most part unframed in
d1lomacy comprised the forty-two o
members of the missions from Great
A,its.a. Flnnss, Italy and Belgium who
rubbed elbows with Americas first men
of business here all week at the Inter
national Trade Conference.
The character of the men participate
N, shaped the progress of the con-
tinuous meeting. which in many ways
+ss unique in the annals Of interna-
. ,;onal relations. The voice of the fac
tory-not the court-was distinctly
heard. Not in the ethereal realm of
diplomacy. but in the plain, matter of
fact world where human beings dwell,
tho conversations, formal and informal,
we're imprisoned.
The men who formed these embassies
Of commerce are far away from the
field of politics and debate in normal
times. when the habits of the world
are unbroken. In the past they have
been TOO preoccupied with the job of
running the world to set out in an
argosy to foreign lands leisurely to
interchange ideas. They always used
men of varying capabilities, who de-
light in appearances and are quite con-
tent to act as rubber stamps for the
foreign Offices which gave them ere
dentials.
But now. with all Europe somewhere
near the crossroads which lead either
to eventual prosperity or ultimate
chaos, no job for the commercial pri-
mates of the Old World was deemed
more necessary or practical than COM
ing to America, which to them means
the greatest reservoir in the world, not
only of raw materials. gold and credit,
but also of sympathetic fellowship and
good feeling.
These inter-Allied delegates came to
tell US that with Americas intelligent
cooperation our cousins on the other
side of the great sea. on whose west
ern shore this playground of America
is situated, could muddle through some
how But they suggested, too. that
Americas wholehearted aid was sine
qua non of all their optimism.
To Tour the Country
II seems too early to estimate what
of permanent value has been accom-
plished by these "shirtsleeve' pour
parlers. The visit to America has just
begun. The foreign delegates leave
Atlantic City tonight on tour through
Industrial America. which will last until
November % These sessions here
though perhaps constituting the most
important purely trade congress ever
held in the United States, were merely
preliminary. The dlscussions' when n:
began in the Hotel Traymore and in
Young's Million Dollar Pier, will be
followed up with intimate chats with
the directors of Americas industrial
life in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, st. Louis,
Kansas City, Minneapolis, Chicago, De-
trot. Cleveland. Buffalo, Rochester.
Boston and other peaks on the nations
map of business.
The 400 American business men who
we're selected by the Chamber OF Com
merce of the United States and grouped
into various trade committees to dls-
cuss concrete subjects, such as coal.
reconstruction supplies and petroleum,
with the men from overseas were able
10 speak with authority for the bust
ness men of America And their dec-
sions are expected to receive sympa-
,hetic attention from the government of
the United States. The conferences
especially the informal ones which were
held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednes-
day before the big public assemblages
at which more than 5000 delegates
we're present, began, were no less than
semi official in character. Experts from
ment Of Commerce, the Treasury. De
partment and the Shipping Board sat
in at the conferences TO advise the
American delegates. In each OF the
foreign missions except the British the
foreign governments had at least one
official government representative, anc
the Americans felt assured that the
results Of the conference in their broac
outline would be approved by the for
eign governments.
From the outset the observer coul6
perceive that the position Of the Brit
ish mission was unique. It's members
at once asservated that they were
legally authorized to bind no one. The,
also stated in unmistakable words tha
they were in no sense supplcants
They wanted to give, 8 we'll as to take
They were bent on repairing tn
broken structures of world trade, no
in quest Of extraordinary devices o
succor They indicated that thev were
prepared to extend helping hand t
those nations Of the Continent whicl
we're still more seriously wrecked b.
the ravages of war.
On the very day that J. P. Morgan
Co. announced a s25O,oo0,oO0 loan t.
Great Britain Sir James Hopes Simp
son. of the British mission. told tn
American committee on finance am
credit: "The vast majority of British
ers never go into any contract unies
they see their way clear to pay. W
have not come to ask help Of any or
ganization. We ask only that no OBJ
struction be placed in the way Of ordl
nary, normal business transactions
An Unprecedented Meeting
In assessing the power behind thcs
foreign delegations the person VIII
tries to read the present and the futur
through the crystal ball of the pas
will indeed be puzzled. For there is n
precedent for this international trad
conference. The nearest approaches
" were quite unlike it.
Back in 1912, in those ancient day
when America was still debtor natIoT
a meeting Of chambers of commerce @
various nations was held in Bostor
EDWARD A. Filene has been an interest
81 follower Of these annual meeting
.ince the frat one was held in Lleg
IN 1908, and under his inspiration on
OF the meetings was staged in Amer
iea. In 1914 the last Of these confer
ences wan held at Paris. The 1912 cor
Terence was the only American neal
precedent for the present meeting c
me minds Of the traders Of the Ne
world and the Old.
There liz som ething in the preser
conference which turns ones thought
back 10 the epic days of'19l7, whe
missions Of the Allies came, not simu
,ansouely, but suecessivcly TO Amcric
% speak frankly Of their needs !