Evening star., 1934-11-21
EXPORT REVIVAL
HELD IMPERATIVE
U. S. Must Regain Trade or
Find New Economies,
Ezekiel Declares.

Failure to re-establish a consider
able portion of American foreign
trade will force a complete reorgan-
ization of the economic life of this
country, DR.. Mordecai Ezekiel, econ
omist of the Agricultural Adjustment
Administration, declared today. As
an alternative to this reorganization,
he said, the United States faces
level of stabilized poverty for mil
lions of its people.
DR.. Ezekiel's statement was made
before the Land Grant College Asso-
citation in convention here, the sub
ject of his address being The Inter-
est of Agriculture in Reciprocal Trade
Agreements.
Trade Acts Held Dodges.
Describing many of the trade stim-
ulation devices attempted recently as
lodges to try to evade the basic
fact" DR.. Ezekiel declared America
must be prepared to buy goods and
services in large quantities If it would
restore its export trade.
At the same time, he warned. trade
agreements which tend to force direct
bilateral trade may reduce rather
than increase the volume of our farm
exports. Instead, he said, triangular
or multilateral agreements should be
made
I'm talking of foreign trade" DR..
Ezekiel said, I'VE must face the fact
that we cannot sell abroad if we will
not buy Concessions from other
countries will do little good unless
we so change our tariffs that We ac-
tually bring in greatly increased
quantities of foreign products. Only
in that way can our customers abroad
get the dollars to buy our products.
We have used many dodges to try
to evade this basic fact.
Grave Readjustments Seen.
eff we are not successful in re-
establishing considerable portion
of our exports. then grave readjust-
ments lie ahead. New uses must be
found for millions of acres, and new
employment for hundreds of thou
sands of people, in the cotton wheat,
tobacco and commanding belts.
Railways that serve seaportS, and
port facilities and seaboard indus
tries which depend on foreign trade.
may need to be relocated. Our whole
industrial organization, which tied
in with the rest of the world at a
score of ocean gateways, might have
to be materially recast. Perhaps in
terror centers would become domi-
nant. while Boston, New York, Phila-
dotNhio and nthnr would
cease to grow.
Both in farming and in industry
alike, upon successful restoration of
foreign trade depends our ability to
re-employ our previous organization
of economic activity. Barring foreign
trade restoration, we must reorganize
the whole economic life of this coun-
try far more draStically than any one
has yet viSualized-or else accept
permanent level of stabilized poverty
for millions of our people
Restricted Production Hit.
Agreeing in a measure with the
theories expressed earlier in the day
by Prof George F. Warren, Cornell
University economist, George N Peek,
president of the Federal Export-Im-
port Banks, last night secuted the
practice of restricted production as
means of restoring prosperity.
IF We concede that ell wealth
comes from productive effort" Mr..
Peek said, at is hard for me to
understand how We can increase our
wealth by continued restriction of
production. In this connection may
I observe that it has been demon
strated in the United States that
restriction of acreage does not neces-
sarily mean restriction of production;
further, that restriction of acreage in
many respects involves a measure re-
pugnant to human nature and, move
over. the hazards of production the
world over are much the same and
are largely unpredictable."
AS an alternative, Mr.. Peek de-
clared. exports of agricultural prod
ucts must be increased-a difficult
objective and one which he said would
require "a two-price system for some
commodities-one for domestic con-
sumption and another for foreign
markets" Such a practice, he said,
has prevailed with regard to indus
trldl prOQuCtS.
Sees Depression End.
Prof. Warren had expressed the be-
lief the country will pull itself out
of the depression, but warned there
is no expectation that prices in gold
can return to the predepression level
if the former gold-using countries
continue to use gold for money or
continue to bid for gold.
1T is probable" he continued,
'that some rise ultimately will occur
in prices expressed in gold, but this
is likely to come after general world
recovery has occurred, rather than
as an aid in recovery. Conditions are
still getting worse in that considerable
part of the world that is attempting
to retain its predepression currency"
Prof. Warren repeated previous
warnings that a more reliable meas
ure of value should be devised as a
roaone nf provoptiy,o roo,,rronoa of