Evening star., 1925-07-15
TRADE |SAT HEIGHT,
HOOVER DECLARES
Conditions Leave Little Room
for Complaint, He Says, in
Preface to Report.

American business conditions dur
ing 1924 left little room for complaint,
Secretary Hoover said today in fore
word to the Commerce Department S
history of trade for the year. Publica-
ton of this document. known as the
department year book, summarizing
statistics of production and distribu-
ton covering the Nations trade, CO
incided with announcement of foreign
trade figures disclosing a balance of
$1,042, ,6S1 ,497 in favor of this country
in the last fiscal year.
Mr.. Hoover in his foreword to the
year book said that 1924 had been
marked by very complete employment
of the Nations working force; that
agriculture had experienced ''some
partial recovery from three years of
extreme difficulty; that transporta-
building and construction had estab-
lished new records. and that the gen.
eral production and distribution of ar
ticles for consumption had been meas
urably satisfactory.
There were some less satisfactory
elements in the business situation, but
the general results were held to be
gratifying.
Shipping Improved.
"The shipping board showed some
Improvement in 1924" Mr.. Hoover
said, although it has not yet reached
a basis of stability. The textile indus
tries experienced more inactivity than
other manufacturing industries. The
bituminouS coal industry is in great
difficulties due to complex causes,
partly the hold-over from excessive
expansion during the war. But, gen.
hau lA1lt faNU
naming which can be attributed to
the effect of the war.
Mr.. Hoover said that prices Of ag.
ricultural products had taken a shift
for the better, indicating, he added,
that while the number of farmers in
this country has remained constant
since 1914, the consumers have in
creased greatly. by and large. the
average price of all agricultural
produce now approximates the gen
eral level of commodity prices"
Foreign trade for the calendar year
1924 showed an increase over 1928 of
10 per cent in exports at S4,591 900 :
600, and a decrease Of per cent in
imports at 1851 900 900. The most
permanently significant change in our
export movement, Mr.. Hoover added,
was an increase Of ~ per cent in
manufactured goods. as compared
y
exports exceeded imports by $3.50, ,0O0.-
600. A large fraction of the heavy
merchandise balance in our favor was
taken care Of by our loans to foreign
countries of nearly one billion dollars
Foreign Trade Better.
International trade relations of the
United States are still affected by the
foreign economic situation, although
greater stability has been attained in
Europe, due to the settlement of rep
arations and to the successful efforts
of many countries at balancing Of
budgets and sterilization of their cur
rencies.
Mr.. Hoover pointed out that publ
cation of the results of the manufac-
turerS' census for the year 1923 brings
out vividly the rapid progress in in
dustrial efficiency and in elimination
of economic waste during recent years.
The figures show that our manufac-
turing output has increased by fully
so per cent over that of 1914, and
shows a substantial gain over 1919.
Against this large increase in
products the number of wage earners
increased by only 25 per cent. as be-
tween 1914 and 1923, and it is inter
esting to note that the horsepower
used increased so per cent in the same
period. Wages for 1928 and 1924 were
generally maintained at about 100 per
cent higher than in 1913, and with
the cost of living on a basis of about
10 per cent over the pre-war level our
labor is receiving a large share of
the result of this increased efficiency
in the highest real wages of our his
tory. The higher real wage has been
expressed both in advancing stand
ards of living and in greater savings
on the part of the masses of the popu-
lation.''