Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-06
AMERICAN NOMADS
LEARN OF u. S. TRADE
Everywhere One Goes Abroad They APP
preciate Scope and Importance of
Our Foreign Business.

connection with those matters certain
favorable elements would seem to be
appearing--but whatever the prospects
for export recovery may be, we must
recognize quite frankly that our over
seas selling has been passing through
"doldrums" period.
Foreign Trade q Stabilizer.
Yet the fact will bear emphatic repe-
tition that foreign trade is q stabilizer.
1t takes up the slack. 1t tends TO keep
the industrial machinery moving stead
lily. In various cases q factory's eX-
ports make possible q more complete
utilization of the industrial equipment
and, consequently, lower prices. Viewed
from another angle. export trade Is
something that operates to fill in gaps.
If business should be dull here In our
own country, an active demand for our
goods may be developing abroad. II
crops are unsatisfactory at home,
farmers in other lands may have
reaped rich harvests and be eager TO
spend the garnered gold. II thousands
of American college boys persist in
going around bare headed, and the
hat trade is adversely affected by this
fact, millions of Chinese, moved by
the modern spirit may at the same
time be cutting off their queues and
developing a demand for American
hats and caps-or the same result may
be brought about by an edict in Turkey
banning the feZ, or by the tendency
in Egypt to discard that picturesque
native headgear the tarbooSh.
Thus, throughout the world, the ex-
tremeS offset each other-hot seasons
against cold seasons; wealth against
dearth; new styles against old tastes:
ready responsiveness against ingrained
conservatism. American export indus
tries, supplying merchandise to every
country in the world, find in the diverse
needs and conditions of those foreign
regions q dependable regulator or bal
ance wheel" the functioning Of which
is not seriously affected by speculative
frenzies or debacles in Broad street.
1t would be futile to deny, of course,
that the influence of the New York
Stock Exchange In foreign countries
is far-reaching, and that an unfavor-
able situation in the securities market
may tend to diminish certain foreign
markets for our goods. But, in view
of the immensely and almost incon-
ceivable variety Of the foreign field,
the principle that I have stated will
be found, I believe, to be generally
applicable.
Then take the question Of the in
fluence exerted by our investments
abroad. Stock exchange disturbances
may operate to lessen the flow Of loans
to foreign enterprises, but the vast
body Of our foreign investments which
antedatWd october, 1929, remain as one
Of our great economic rampartS. At
the present moment our private long
term investments abroad mot includ-
ing war debts or short-term invest
ments) are probably in excess OF $l4.-'
600 900 900, and their yield to the
Americans who furnished that money
must be very close to $500 900 900
year.
Assured Income Necessary Asset.
It is needless to elaborate on the
stabilizing power Of an assured income
Of that prodigious sum each year. In
! most powerful tones It speaks for it
self. We hear much about the iron
and electric slaves" that we modern
| Americans have come to command
that is, the titanic forces inherent in
machinery and in power. What our
foreign investments are doing is to
in measure, to utilize comparable
forces, with a portion Of the benefits
accruing to ourselves. Those invest
ments contribute nightly to world
| roSperity-which means better bust
ness for us. President Hoover we'll said
that 1.-The making of loans to foreign
countries for productive purposes not
only increases our direct exports, but
builds up the prosperity OF foreign peo-
piles and Is an economic blessing to
both sides of the transaction"
So, in these things that present them
selves so often in concrete and striking
aspects to the American nomad as he
| travels here and there across the face OF
the earth, we flnd factors that reinforce
our commercial confidence and that
| tend to minimize any disquietude that
might arise from Stock Exchange &C.
currences like those which we have
witnessed with such keen regret.
other Factors Defined.
And there are many similarly re-
assuring factors here at home, in the
! structure Of our business and the char
acteristics of our people, as well as the
magnificent gifts that nature lavished
! on our land. The vast army of vaca-
! tionistS who are now setting out on
| their journeyings within the boundaries
| Of the United States will become more
keenly aware of our natural resources,
the efficiency with which those re-
sources are being utilized and the dis
erection and public spirit with which.
for the most part. they are administered
OOudy. ADCy Will SCC JIlG bIGulCL1uOuS
equipment which we devote to produc-
tive effort in this country. They will
feel, consciously or unconsciouSly, the
! American enthusiasm for cooperation
and mutual helpfulness and that ad-
mirable quality of our people which l
may call economic adaptability." Our
people possess residence because in
many cases they are only two or three
generations away from the pioneer-the
courageous American path-breaker and
conqueror Of nature who was confronted
with the toughest, toughest problems
and performed prodigious feats in
coping with the wilderness and con-
| verting it to human use. Out in the
open spaces our vacationists may
realize what such q struggle meant and
what heritage 1t has bequeathed.
Wall Street Not Reliable Barometer.
The barometer of Wall Street prices
cannot be considered a complete or
| even a major criterion Of those deep
and vital elements Of the Nations
economic strength. The tourist season
should do much to broaden our horizons
economically as well as culturally--
to diSsipate any mood OF excessive con-
centration on the happenings within
the canyons of lower Manhattan Island.
We may appreciate and keenly deplore
such losses as have been sustained
within those man-made chasms. but
we are justified, think, in feeling that
the vacationist who marvels at the hap
penings within the glowing canyons of
the West cannot help attaining the
truer and the more wholesome view.
So one can only say to the tremendous
| Tourist crowds