The Washington herald., 1921-07-12
lSAYSLEGISL ALTON HINDERS
GREAT TRADE POSSIBIL LTTIES
Authority Declares China Trade Act Delay
Costly to U S.. Merchants There.

To the Editor, The Washington Herald:
In practically every mail which
receive from the Far East there
is an account OF another American
foreign trading Arm being forced
to close up shop and return home.
Every ship out Of Shanghai is car
rying its qrota of disappointed and
discouraged Americans" writes my
CORRESPONDENT Among these con-
Germs are many that we're very
promising a few years ago-con-
Germs that participated in the sale
of millions of dollars worth of
American products such a. machin-
cry. automobiles. cotton, cation
goods, electrical equipment. shoes,
wheat. fruit products from the Ps-
cific Coast, and so on down through
the list of products of the United
States. IF the present pace con-
tinues." concludes my correspondent,
America soon will be back IN her
old position of before the war. when
we did only about per cent of
China's foreign trade and our i'm
pOENdhI COhAu OC ~ 90
the fingers OF one hand. 1t Is moth
ing short Of monumental crime
that we have permitted this con-
dition to come about, and more es-
pecially so now that the Germans are
coming back to China in such num-
bers"
Reasons for Failures.
Many of these failures may, Of
course, be ascribed to the general
world business slump, which Is af-
fecting China the same as Amer
lea, Japan and Europe, but 1t is
a noticeable fact that the slump
is affecting Americans more than
IT is affecting our competitors In
the China trade. And this in the
face of the fact that We occupy the
premier position in world finance
and Industrial output. We must
look for the reason outside OF the
trade depression. and we do not
have to go far to nnd it: The chief
cause of the inability OF our man
ufacturers 10 hold their own in the
competitive markets of the world
is due to the slowness Of Congress
to pass legislation necessary to en-
able our merchants to hold their
own when they go outside of the
country to trade. At home we are
great believers in equality OF op-
portunity, and so far as legisla-
tion can provide equality of op-
portunity, we take the necessary
steps, but just as soon as an Amer
lean merchant attempts to extend
his activities abroad, to gain world
markets, he finds that he must night
alone This naturally narrows our
foreign trading firms to a few large
aggregations of capital that are aba
to stand the competition of for
eigners, and even they are finding
il harder and harder to operate.
Practically everybody is agreed
that a revival of foreign trade con-
stitutes the quickest shortcut to
business revival at home. Manu-
featuring industries developed dur
ing the war in practically every
line of endeavor must have for
eign markets for the products Of
our farms and mines. All over the
world there Is a demand for our
merchandise. but we don't seem able
to function. What is the reason?
In Limelixht Daring War.
The writer has for several years
been rather closely identified with
the development of American busi-
ness with China Before the war
we didn't count for much out there.
the Germans, the British, the
French and the Japanese predomf-
mating. Then the war came on. and
our markets remained open while
those of Europe were closed to
everything except war industries.
Our trade with China jumped from
6 per cent to approximately II per
cent of China's total foreign COM
merce, and our goods brought gen.
eral satisfaction. 1t was possible
to purchase practically every we'll
known American product in the
Chinese shops, and new factories
grew up everywhere that were
equipped throughout with Amerf-
can machinery and engineering
supplies We captured nearly all
of the trade that Germany had IN
China, and we were making inroads
upon the trade of some of the other
nations that had been firmly en-
trenched out there. The Chinese
were and are friendly toward US,
and there is nothing they desire
so much as a great development or
American business in their coun-
try.
No Need for Merchant Marine.
But the war came to an end, and
then We began to slide backward to
our old position Certainly this was
not due to the activities of our mer-
chants. II given an equal oppor-
tunity, I'll put the American mer-
poad;uCf-anfo of Dr..oe