Evening star., 1921-06-26

OF experience following the armlstlce,
is of very great importance. 1t Is
upon the shoulders Of these men that
the task falls OF restoring to full
operation. with as little delay as pos
sible. the worlds facilities for doing
business which were so sadly disrupt
ed by the war
THE statesmen of the nations may
devote themselves TO the adjustment
of political problems. which of neces-
sity have a vast influence on economic
development, but. after all. it is to
the business and financial leaders that
the world must look actually to put
its practical everyday affairs in work
ing order again.
Need Is for Cooperation.
Wise statesmen today not only
welcome. but seek. the counsel and ad~
vice of the industrial, commercial anu
financial forces. and those forces can
hardly expect that progress in res
toration will be as rapid as il should
be. unless they are prepared to offe'
their cooperation.
such cooperation can hardly be
effective or useful unless it is of4an-
lied, and the suggestions offered ~
the commertiat interests are the Pss
suit of careful study snI a full n-
change of views on the part Of ak
perienced men Of the different q tn
tries.
aside from suggestion to ard 20
operation with the governments ii is
clear that there is much that -
business men and bankers Of the lead
ing countries may do on their owg
account to remove obstacles to -
free flow of commerce. without wait
ing for the negotiations of states
men or the legislation of parliaments
and congresses.
"Certainly. if the worlds business
leaders have nothing to contribute to-
ward the solution of present problems
if, beset as they are on every lid !
with dfScouraging and dishearteninS
conditions they are unable to con-
tribute by their thought and efforts
| toward the application of remedies
the outlook for better conditions dur
ing the next ten years is not particu-
larly happy.
To Seek Practical Methods.
I'm the past. the commercial and
! financial organizations of the various
/ countries nave given aid OF i:.....c=-,-
urable value in dealing with disturbed
| conditions and there can be no doubt
of their ability to render similar serv-
| ice now.
The meeting at London, therefore.
should be an OCCASION for agreement
; among the representatives of world
business on practical steps which may
be taken to improve present CONNER
, cial conditions.
The meeting in Paris, in June of
last year, when the foundation of the
! international chamber was laid, was
largely for purposes of organization.
the creation of a permanent organiza-
| tion, which was unanimously ap-
| proved by all the countries participat-
| ing. was of itself notable thing.
with the creation of a permanent
, headquarters for the international
Chamber of Commerce, the organiza-
T! ton of staff of experts in connection
! Herewith, as well as the cooperation
! of commissioners. representing each
of the countries permanently attached
| to the headquarters, the business and
/ financial interests of the world now
/ command for the first time a piece of
! machinery capable of rendering prac-
| tical assistance such as has never be-
' fore existed. With this organization
ut work for months in advance of the
London sessions there is every reason
to believe that significant steps may
, be taken toward the promotion of
better world commercial conditions
and the establishment of some order
, in the place of the chaos which now
.xists.
United Stntes Has Big stake.
Certainly no country in the world
can have greater stake in the In
, ternational Chamber of Commerce
than the United States Every intelli-
; gent business man in the country now
understands if he failed to understand
before, that, with it's present enor-
, nous capacity for production. the
United States cannot hope for stabil-
ity of business conditions, and a real
foundation for domestic prosperity
| unless we are able to dispose regular
ly of our surplus products.
I'VE are unable to do that TODAY and
our stocks of foodstuffs and raw ma
terials have accumulated to the point
where it becomes necessary to limit
production, while our factories by the
thousand are wholly idle or working
on only part time because our former
customers and the new buyers de-
veloped during the past four years
are unable to purchase.
I'VE have been forced into world.
wide commercial and financial activ-
ity in fields where our understanding
is limited. The confidence with which
many Of our business men undertook
business abroad few years ago has
been shaken severely by the expert
ences of the last eighteen months. and
we now see that there is much for us
to learn in connection with world
problems.
I'VE must make up our minds that
we will learn. that we are ready to
take steps to insure our prosperity at
home, and that in fair competition
with other countries of the world we
are not afraid to take our part in ex-
pansion abroad. If we are to do these
things. however, it is obvious that
there is no feature OF the undertaking
to which we may address ourselves