Evening star., 1934-04-01
Surprises in Uncle
Sans '33 Cash Book
BY HARDEN COLFAX.

hCkl OAIlS o64n Idei1 OUOk lpi
1898 Is examined some surprises will
be found therein.
A first glance at the balance Of
international payments of the United
States" discovers . favorable balance
of trade services and gold items
amounting to some s425000. 900. On
further examination, however, II Is
seen that this Is largely Offset by the
withdrawal by foreigners of dollar
balances" which is reflected in the
year in q net loss of some s232. 900 900
In gold through actual export and
through "ear-marking" - segregating
in our financial institutions amounts
| due foreign governments and indi-
| viduals.
For decade the Department of
Commerce, In studying foreign trade,
! has prepared an annual picture of our
economic relationship with the rest
Of the world. This is known as the
balance of international payments. "
1t is made up of figures showing the
country's merchandise trade balance,
the underwriting of foreign securities,
advance sales Of any kind. problems
Of merchant marine, gold shipments
in short, Uncle Sans general status
as an international banker and
trader.
Americas international balance OF
payments for the calendar year 1888
has Just been completed by the
| finance and investment division of the
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic
Commerce. It shows the value Of our
| Of imports by 1925, 900 last year.
Then there were, on the credit side.
the net interest and dividends paid
on American investments abroad.
amounting to some $3.50. 900 900. We
had a net export of gold of $780,
| 100000 and another 100000, 900
worth of miscellaneous" credits.
How were we paid for these? Partly
| in service items, including s367,-
900, 900 from returns on foreign in
vestments held by Americans: s20,-
900 900 of war debt payments and
SIS. 900 900 from miscellaneous serv-
| ice" items. Tourist expenditures
netted foreign countries some S220.'
100000. This, of course, is merely
another kind of etimes
humorously referred to as importing
into Americans instead Of importing
into America" The immigrant re.
mittances of $l50,000, 900 may also
be thought of as variation of i'm.
ports, in which We have imported
labor. but made payment in Q foreign
country.
Other miscellaneous items of The
invisible" imports bring up the tota
to s475, ,o00, 900. leaving a net obliga.
ton to us by foreign countries ol
some s425 100000.
The survey admits that the year,
movement In the exchange value ol
the dollar introduced certain NOR,
or less abnormal factors which &C.
counted for occasional unexpected
variations" In the years internationa
transfers. while the effect of dollar
depreciation in foreign trade was no,
Immediately perceptible, nevertheless
once the currency was deprecated to
more or less stable basis, as In the
last two months Of 1888, the familiar
! theory tended to apply more uni
+, versally, with the result that exports
increased rapidly and imports were
| checked.
In these days. when we are seeing
a revival Of interest In foreign trade,
when the President Is seeking power
from Congress to negotiate special
tariff arrangements with other ms
tions, and when the Secretary Of
Agriculture Is telling US that we must
choose between highly regimented
isolation" and trade with the rest oi
the world on q larger scale. it is in
teresting to note the item Of short.
term" capital In our balance for 1888
This accounts for some $510, 0,000, ,00t
and 1t relates itself significantly II
our financial world relations. eithel
concerning merchandise Transaction
or the market for foreign securities.
| y r
It is improbable that there will be
any considerable market for foreign
securities In the United States In the
immediate future. The large capita
n,oEkets viii probably continue Il