The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1922-03-02
Students Of Local Business
College Hear Instructive
Talk BY G. L. listed
TRACES EXPANSION OF
COMMERCE OF AMERICA
States That Manufacturing IL
Expanding Rapidly as
Well as Agriculture

4. l.. listed, manager or the CrOok-
ston Lumber company mill, delivered
an address before the students of the
Bemidji Business college Wednesday
evening, choosing for his subject:
"The Commerce of the United
the handmaiden of civilization. cater
States" He said in part:
at has been said that commerce is
ing to the wants of men and enabling
him to exchange what he has in super
abundance for those other commodi-
ties not produced in his locality. We
say then that the law of supply and
demand is the basis of commerce.
"The wide-awake, progressive COLI
mercial nations of today are not con-
tent to produce only those commodi-
ties nature has most cleverly indicat-
ed for each district, but are ever
looking for new fields to conquer.
"In case a nation lacks the raw
materials essential to the develop
ment and maintainance on a large
scale of the industry of manufacture
ing, she mediately constructs OF az
ranges for transportation facilities
necessary to a world wide trade al,o
brings from far-off lands those raw
materials it lacks, converts them int }
finished products, and often sell the
surplus back to the very countries
from which it obtained the essential
raw material.
''Improved transportation faclli-
ties have had almost everything to
do with the volume of commerce o1
today. When transportation was ex-
pensive and dangerous, extensive
commerce coul3 only be carried o.l
profitably in those commodities pos
sessing high value, else the charges
would make it prohibitive.
"Water transportation has always
been the cheapest, and from earliest
times those nations having good
harbors and ports have led IN word
commerce. Until steam was made the
motive power of both land and water
transportation, worldwide commerCe
was for the most part confined to
those regions near the sea.
"The last half century, with its
marvellous developments in industry
and it's worldwide improvements IN
transportation facilities on both land
and water, has witnessed the gre atcst
growth of the centuries in the inter
national exchange of commodities,
eliminating in 1913 when the conf
bined value Of all articles entering
the trade between nations, exceeded
$4,000, 900, which was just about
double that of the year 1900.
''There has been a marvellous
growth Of the industry of manufac-
turing in the United States, notably
since the opening of the present CEN
tury, whreby nearly one-half of oui
exports have come to consist of man.
ufactured articles, that are entering
into the keenest competition in the
markets of the world. The United
States produces more iron, coal, cop
per, petroleum, and cotton, the basic
raw material used in modern manu-
featuring, than any other nation.
"The change in the balance OF
trade, whereby exports exceeded i'm
ports in value, marks new era. In
the year 1874 the value of the nations
exports exceeded that of the lnl-
ports by $18,876,000. In 1875 the
balance swung back in favor of I'M
ports but since that date the trace
balance has been. against the United
States only three times. in 1oS8-1cS9
and 1858. =,
In summarizing, Mr.. listed said:
"The foreign trade of the United
States increased from $152,OOO IN
1910 to $4,25S,O0O,000 in 1914 or
about 28-fold in these 104 years. In
the same period the population m
creased from 1900, 900 to 81 100000
or about 14-fold. Our foreign trade,
then. has increased at twice as great
a ratio as our population, the per
fCnntinuad on naQe & "