The Washington times., 1925-09-10
US. STANDSFOR.
OPEN TRADE
POLICY
DR.. Walsh Outlines Motives in
TaIg to Foreign
Service Class
BY EDMUND A. WALSH,
S. j., Phi. D.,

S. j., Phi. D.,
Regent, School of Foreign Service.
Georgetown University.
World trade, in common with
most phases of modern life, has
become vastly more complex than
ever it was in the past. There
were times in the history OF IN
ternational commerce when one
power dominated the scene, the
Phoenicians in their days, or the
Genoese, or the Venetians, or the
Hanseatic League, or Spain, or
Portugal, or Holland. But the
flags of every maritime nation dot
the high seas today in keenest
competition.
Immense in Volume
A recent computation made in the
Bureau of Fornign and DoneStlc
Commerce at Washington SHOWS
that the foreign trade, 1. e., exports
and imports, of forty-six nations last
year reached the impressive tota.
of approximately $49,OOo'oOO,ooV.
Suppose we divide the world popu-
Iation Of 100 ,000. 900 into that Zig
ure. The resulting lth-turnover
OF approximately $28 per capita Will
enable us to visualize how intimate
~ and extensively foreign trade
affects the individual, whereas pre-
viously its effects were restricted
both in area and volume to the
major commercial nations.
This increased facility in trans
portation and communications has re-
suited in bringing distant shores
and peoples nearer together. The
world has grown narrower. Con-
comitantly, the organization Of
world business, based on worldwide
credit, becomes more and more sen.
sitive as 1t develops, as happens in
all forms of organic life. The more
highly organized the structure, the
more delicate the nervous system.
This growing coordination OF bust
ness enterprises creates a mutual
dependency so that even a small
break or interruption in transmits
sion may vitality affect the whole
circuit.
World Supply
The price we pay for domestic
grain is frequently determined. not
by local supply. but by world. de-
mand. And the biologists are
warning US that the world supply
OF basic minerals is being so rapidly
consumed that grave political con-
sequences are not improbable.
Geology and geography may soon
Be the ultimate determinants of
peace and war. Professor Leith. of
the University Of Wisconsin, tells us
in q recent illuminating study Of
the problems involved in 1.-The Con
troll Of Mineral Resources" that one
begins to hear the phrase ''interna.
tionalization" Of mineral resources.
It comes up in connection with the
League Of Nations with the peace
settlement and with various projects
for world peace.
The world struggle for petroleum
needs no recounting to the Ameri-
can public, the largest consume of |
gasoline in the world. Let me only |
remind you that our share of the |
total estimated world supply OF TO- |
600, 900 900 barrels is approximately
10000, 100000 barrels. This repre,
sents about IA per cent Of the world |
supply. But unlike the rest of
the world, which is consuming ;ts
reserve at the rate Of about six
tenths OF one per cent per annum,
we are using our supply at the
rate Of nearly 6 per cent per annum
This means that, if the rate of
usage is not checked, or If new
dGPOSAtE dIG IlOI discovered, We
shall have exhausted our reserve
in less than twenty years. As
it is, we consume far more each
year than we allocate for domestic
use, being obliged to import some.
thing like 100000 900 barrels per
annum.
The Key to Peace
These statistics are not merely
interesting facts. Facts" says
Macaulay, ''are the mere dross of
history. It is from the abstract
truth which interpenetrates them.
like gold in the ore, that the mass
derives its value" Now, these
facts have a definite meaning and
suggest conclusions of highest i'm
portance for the peace of the
world
No student of international re-
lations will require proof Of the
proposition that in the proper COLI
sound commercial policy, lies the
key to universal peace and inter
national stability.
The making of such sound COM
mercial policy is as important as
the making and maintaining Of
sound political policy in in erna-
tional relations. In modern time it
il truism to remind ourselves
that politics and economics are now
but two sides of the same coin.
We have evolved a definite,
rational, political creed in these
United States, political philosophy
proved and confirmed by one hun
dred and fifty years of experience,
a body of political principles en-
bodied for all to read in the Dec
laration of Independence, in the
Constitution of the United States,
and such periodic utterances as
the Monroe Doctrine. 1t has kept
us free and independent nation
during political and dynastic changes
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