The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-14

ee a little over a year ago that our exports would be raipdly diminished ana some of the financiers who have asserted that by, reason of the lack of credit facilities we must necessarily curtau our exports are confounded by tho figures recently reported from Washington. In fact. almost all the forecasts of which the country has hal an abundance in the past year seems to have been far out of the way By the end of the present fiscal year it may be possible to report that our export trade for the year reached the enormous total in money value of near ly 5000, 100000. Certainly that fig urs will be reached if the Washing ton report of our export trade for March is maintained Tn the statistics for that trade in April and June. It has been said by one of the ablest of our financiers that the persistence or the export movement under the cir mstances confounds all expert opiEion.N
 There remains the question of the payment for these exports. The ex-
 pert trade is, of course, being more and more offset by the increase in inn ports. This increase If itself is spoken Of as perfect demonstration of the ac. tivity of American industry and of the atility of the American people to pur.
 chase raw or finished material sold to this country by other nations. WHERE ARE CREDITS FOUND? The wonder is where and how our American exporters manage to aid their customers In other lands. It must have ben done chiefly through the use Of credits. Yet we are constantly told that credit is strained almost to the breaking point.
 Undoubtedly the banks of New York aided directly by the larger banks throughout the>eountry have been able I to supply our exporters with credits with which this foreisn trade has been financed.
 THE PROMISE OF THE CROPS l One disturbing factor is frankly rec | ogDized by those who are looking for ward to the harvest of next summer an6 fall It may be that if the rather depressing spring outlook for the crops is justified by the event, then some serious, although not dangerous, con ditions are causing apprehension in l the fall and winter. Two influences are causing apprehension lest we may have the poorest harvest in many years. One is the weather, although l in some parts of the northwest wealth @, conditions have been unusually fa- lvorable, especially for corn. But the | phenomenal characteristic of the eli Innate in the early spring which has 1 been characteristic Of the climate over
 many parts of the country, has certain | ly caused very late beginning in the 1 cultivation of the small grains and also of cotton. Then again there Is the labor situation with the decrease in acreage. The outlook for the cot ] ten seems to be such as to justify the leading cotton producers in re- porting of holding cotton so that II may command as much as 60 cents a pound Cotton planting in the south is at least a month late, and there is reported to be a greater shortage of labor than is the case in some of the agricultural districts of the north. | Nevertheless, the outlook for the first six months of the new fisca. year. which begins on July 1, is re.
 gsrded as hopeful and it is believed
 that between July and January i Il
 win be discovered that the peak ot high prices for commodities wa.
 reached in the late winter and spring
 of this year.