The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-12-22
KLEIN Sees GAINS
IN FOREIGN TRADE
OF UNITED STATES
Tells Philadelphia Export
Club of Steady I'm
provement.
TONNAGE HOLDS UP
Gross Value of Shipments
Down, Owing to Lower
49, Prices.
TONNAGE HOLDS Ur

81 PHILADELPHIA. Dec zl.-Hold
your head up. your feet are now on
solid ground" is the advice Of DR..
Julius Klein 10 the 'panicky" in
elined American exporter. DR.. Klein.
who Is Director OF Herbert Hoovers
Bureau Of Foreign and Domestic
Commerce. Of the Department Of
Commerce. spoke before the Phila-
delphia Export Club.
-rsgwhile It would be idle to ignore
the wounds suffered by Americas
foreign trade in the past year. there
Is nothing radically wrong with the
export situation" DR.. Klein said.
According to the director. careful
surveys OF foreign fields show un-
mistakable signs of certain. IL slow,
Improvement. The principles of
rational merchandising are the same
today as before the war. There is
no cause for dependency. burt there
is a great deal of need for the ex-
ercise OF prudence and shrewdness."
Or. Klein declared.
For the benefit of those who can
lean export horizon the director
made use of few export statistics.
He said: The decrease in the value
of American export trade in the fs-
cal year 1920-21 as compared with
the preceding year was due largely
to lower prices rather than to d.
minished quantities. Considering ex-
ports for that year from a weight
basis. we find Increases OF 81 per
cent for the groups of raw materials
and OF 80 per cent for foodstufrs,
with a slight decrease for such
manufactured products as can be
Indicated by weight.
Eject OF War Expansion.
In the opinion OF the director, the
expansion of American Industrial
sctlvity during the war had a pro-
found effect upon the interest OF our
manufacturers in foreign trade.
Whereas before the war approx
mately less than 10 per cent of our
total output OF commodities found
its way IN foreign trade, the proper
tion today has more than doubled"
DR.. Klein said.
To expedite recovery from the Pc
Rod of business depression from
which We are now slowly emerging,
DR.. Klein said that there must be
evidence OF a greater amount of
care in planning sales programs,
coupled with thorough under
standing OF the principles OF eco
nonlic production. while the Uni
ted States is bound to succeed in the
future because of its rapidly in-
proving Industrial technique, which
was enormously expanded during
the war. especially along those es-
sential lines OF standardized mass
production with the elimination OF
all waste. II is in these elements OF
greater efficiency In production and
distribution that American manufac-
turers will encounter the most keen
European competition, the Director
declared.
The present situation" DR.. Klein
said, urgently requires the careful
selection Of well equipped American
acknowledgements not only In
Languages. but especially in their
acquaintance with the trade policies
of their houses-and also in the Sc
lection Of representatives in foreign
countries Our exporters must under
no circumstances lapse into the old
pre-war careless attitude of en-
trusting their export business to
foreign representatives whose racial
and social ties are with our COM
petitors rather than with ourselves
This means that we must under no
circumstances put our commercial
future In Latin America or in Russia
in the hands OF German agencies,
and that our business in the Far
East should be conducted as far as
possible through American houses.
or at least through native rather
than European agencies"
Reviews world Markets.
In reviewing the markets of the
world the director said that while
the economic recovery of Europe is
necessarily slow and dificult and
that while the situation contains
great dangers IL Is not at all as
gloomy as some statements would
make II appear" He said that the
rombatant states of Europe. except
Russia. have shown steady gains in
social and political stability and
that great progress has been made
In the recovery of agriculture, in
dustry. foreign trade and communal
cations since the armistice. He said
the one field Of continuous degener-
ltiou in Europe Is that of govern
ment finance and that the most owl
TENT and most dangerous of these
unbalanced imitation situations is
Germany.
Turning to the Far East. he said
that the chief difficulty there Is in
The unfavorsble rate Of exchange.
condition. which. in his opinion. will
be in time rectified by the action Of
The usual economic forces. especially
BY the restoration Of the normal
relation between exports and i'm
ports, which IL already under way.
The director said that the inability
u Latin America to buy American
merchandise Is not due to internal
economic troubles of q basic char
,cter but to the fact that the world
. temporarily not buying the goods
that region has to sell. GOOD
lines will return TO Latin America
IN sound basis when the rest Of
he world. Industrial nations par
icufariy, such as the United States
ind Great Britain. are in a position
20 buy more of the products OF
ATTN America" DIR. Klein declared,
.dding that there are signs that an
improved condition in this respect is
row setting in as is evidenced by
he steady rise In Latin-American
rxehange rates.
Dr. Klein said that the Bureau Of
Foreign and Domestic Commerce.
vas now equipped to be of real
ervice to American exporters in re-
living foreign sales and that that