Imperial Valley press., 1921-05-27
N()RL.t) TRADE: {:
AMI: RIGA s
Creates
Probe N
Henry NJ. Robinson Tells
Bankers Convention Re
adjustment VIII Come
When Foreign Economic
Troubles Are Settled.

CORONADO, May 27.-Coming to
the California State Bankers conven-
ton almost directly from a series of
conferepves with other executives of
the American Bankers Association at
Pinehurst, North Carolina, and from
meetings with the United States
! Chamber of Commerce at Atlantic
I City, and the American Society of In
! ternational Law at Washington, where
tnc various problems of Americahfo,
eign trade were carefully considered,
Henry NJ. Robinson, president cf the
First National Bank Of Los Angeles
and of the Los Angeles Trust and
Savings bank. and one Of the best
/ known authorities on international
finance in the United States, today
outlined definitely to California banL-
ers the real heart Of tae problem which
the United States faces.
Pointing out that within the month
he had~aeayd both Secretary Of State
Hughes and Elihu Root endorse the
flat and unqualified statement that
while in the past religious and political
causes have been the base Of war, eco
romic pressure and ambition will from
now on be the underlying motive for
any immediate trouble which may de-
velop between nations. Robinson SAID
! in part:
"Frankly, because Of temporary diff
/ ficulties, our people have At the pres
ent time dropped back from any posi-
ton of idealistie helpfUlness ami now
desire to know exactly where they
stand in their material relations with
the rest of the world.
Merely for the sake Of not confrs-
! ing the argument, let Us take in this
discussion the position that We owe no
duty to anyone but ourselves. Let us
approach our subject from Inc angle,
What does it profit America :? and
eliminate any ideaism oi any thought
of the other feIlc 4 in our discussion
lof foreign credits.
| In America we look upon our labor
troubles ard our taxes a5 the gTca,
and most serious problems. The de-
velopment Of oar foreign trade looks
easy, hut it is both she hardest prob
/ lem which we face and the first which
we should attack, for until our foreign
trade is developed and we find mar
/ ket for our excess products, there
must be a slowing un in our production
and difficulty in the readjustment of
our labor problems, while those goods
which we do market must carry a
heavier tax than they would carry if
the tax load could be spread over in
ternational, as well as over our do
mestic, sales.
"Our difficulty in regard to inter
national trad lies in the fact that We
have, during the last century, beer
developing domestic trade in the con
quering of this continent, instead OF
developing international trade anC
building up relations win other ma
tions. The result is that we have per
mitted other nations TO act as Ou1
merchants, our brokers and our IN
Surance agents.
Before the war We sold our eNces.
products abroad through the British
the Germans and the nationals Of othe-
countries now in competition with us
Those products We're carried in fOrelg1
ships to foreign markets, the sale
were financed by foreign money, ant
all we were interested in was the FAC
that somewhere, somehow, a marke
for our products was found. In thi
we built up the foreign trade OF Oh
rivals at our own expense.
"When the slump came after tn
war, American merchants suffere
first because, naturally. our Britisl
friends saw to it that the goods o
their own nationals were marketc
: first. The result was that in the var
ious ports of the world or:>"rs 70
American goods were the first can
celled, and of goods ON hand the Amer
, can products were the last to be sole
"The truths brought home to u
have demonstrated that we can o
: longer continue our isolated positio
1 and that, Of nee2ssjtv and for our oW
protection, we must have our oW