The star-progress. (Opelousas, La.) 1917-1921, 1920-12-15

il the interior OF tn5 CHIl0"
have played a comparatively small
part IL the development OF our fore
ign trade. As a result Of the war THIS
country has been forced into man.
new industrial and financial activities
that reach out into every foreign coun-
trv activities which affect the welfare
~ the smaller communities nearly as
much as they do those of the larger
cities. Manufacturers in small towns
throughout the United States have be
come interested in the possibilities OF
foreign markets, and they naturally
are looking to their local banks to adj
wise them regarding their foreign
trade problems, both actual and poten-
ltial. We believe that the time has
,come for the interior bank to realize
that its business is the same as all
others-that the biggest thing it has to
sell Is service, and that at the pres
ent moment one of its greatest oppor-
tunities for service is to aid in the
development of American foreign
trade.
We have learned by recent expert
ence that the factories of America are
today SO huge and their output at full
capacity is so great that the domestic
4rade that we can run full time all
the time. To do less than that means
homes in America in which the bread
winner is out of work. 1t means part
time" in many factories. or mills that
are entirely shut down. Additional
orders from any source tend to reduce
overhead expenses Of production, and
tend also to reduce the cost of raw
materials by increasing the quantity
bought. All the advantages of large
scale production come into play when
these export orders are received.
Increased orders from foreign coun-
tries tend to change the seasonal de-
mands to year round demands The
manufacturer who has a market for
his goods in South America for in
stance, possesses a great advantage,
because the seasons there are exact
ny tn ereverse of our own. And so, be-
cause the markets Of all the world are
greater and steadier than the markets
of any one country, the American man
.ufacturer and merchant must cultivate
the foreign field, and the interior
bank, in cooperation with the interna-
tional bank, must be prepared to offer
facilities necessary for the prompt and
Aefficient handling of foreign trade
transactions.
The Stake of the Interior Bank
That the interior bank is vitality in
aerested in the development of foreign
trade is evident from the fact that a
large proportion of the manufactured
goods exported from the United States
are produced in towns with a popula-
ton of fifty thousand or less. There
are two thousand one hundred and
forty-nine towns of this size. AS to
our import trade, it is only necessary
to point out that Akron, Ohio, with a
population of one hundred and fifty
thousand, buys about one.fourth Of all
the crude rubber in the world. IN four
hundred and sixteent cities OF ten
thousand to twenty-five thousand in
1914, the total value of manufactured
products was $S.261.395,OOO
Cities of fifty thousand and under
make up a large proportion Of our
manufacturing area and present al
most unlimited possibilities from the
foreign trade standpoint. There are
one hundred and thirty-three towns Of
this size in Indiana, and exactly sim
liar number in Massachusetts. The
most curso~y Of examination OF the
manufacturing facilities Of these hun
dreds of email towns reveals their pos
sibilities from a foreign trade point Of
view. And the manufacturers in those
towns are no longer cropping in the
dark in regard to foreign affairs. Prac-
,tically all Of them are members OF pow
erful trade associations. They jour.
lney in large numbers from the small
interior towns to New York or San
francisco to attend foreign trade con
ventions, and they are .diligent read
ers Of foreign trade publications. But,
in far too many cases, when they go
back home they do not find in their
own town the facilities for obtaining
the information for transacting their
foreign business. Export shipments
are made constantly from all these
small towns. Imports Of new material
needed in our industries are constant
~ flowing from the seaboard TO the
anterior All these transactions in
wolves the service of banks. The in
terror hank may interpose itself as q
useful link in the system of overseas
trade.
interest Of Interior Towns in Foreigr
Trade
How wisely distributed is the inter