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The Commoner
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VOL. 15, NO. 2
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Foreign Trade
t Abstract of Bpcoch dollvored by Secretary
Bryan boforo the national chamber of commerce,
February 3, 1915.)
In speaking of the extension of American trade
with foroign nations thoro are several factors to
bd considered.
First, economic questions. In order to bo suc
cessful rivals of other nations wo must furnish
goods equal in quality and at as low a price. If
wo can not do this wo can not hope to meet the
competition which wo shall And in foreign fields,
but I am confident we can moot competition; wo
aro in fact doing so. In addition to quality and
price, wo must consider also the methods of
packing, of shipping without breakage and the
various systems of credit. Complaint has boon
'jnado that somo of our exporters do not suffici
ently 'consider the wishes of customers in the
. matter of packing.
"' 'Second: Banking facilities encdurage, and lack
r '6'f 'banking facilities discourago foreign trade.
Wo are" fortunate in tho fact that the how cur-
; foncV law contemplates 'the establishment of
ttamcb'bankB in foroign lands. This" is probably
'tlio greatest single stop that has been taken to
ward the 'onlarging of our foreign trade. Ad
vantage" b already being taken of" this new law,
1'iH(lit id probable that before many years wo
"rih'all haVe branch banks in all of tho Latin-
"Amdrican countries and in China. These branch
banks will bo of immense advantage to' our ox-
"por'tors;" they wilK bring tho-American 'business
o(n into financial relationship with the foreign
'ihirchaser and make their dealings more direct.
..VTiiird: Transportation between our own and
pthor foreign countries Is an essential factor in
line, development of trade. The present war has
sjiown us the disadvantages to which we are sub
jected whon wo rely upon foreign ships to carry
our merchandise. The interruption of trade in
cident to any great war throws a heavy burden
,unon tho neutral nations. Steps have already
boon taken to largely increase our merchant ma
rine and the shipping "bill is a still more import
ant step toward independence upon tho seas.
Ships under government control will serve a
loublo purpose, one permanent in its nature and
;he other important in an emergency such as
low exists. The permanent advantage of govern
ment ships is to be found in the fact that they can
establish new trade routes, acting as pioneers,
and going where private ships would be afraid
fjo venture. It takes time to establish new routes
and those who lay out -such routes are liable, to
Incur a temporary financial loss. As soon as
there is sufficient trade to make the routes profit
able for private ships it will be easy to find ships,
out In the open competition of the seas the pio
neer ship has no assurance that i. can reimburse
itself for the money spent in the development of
new trade. A government ship can do in this
respect what a private ship would not do. In
addition to our permanent needs we have urgent
'temporary demands to consider. There are nu
merous reasons why the government should be
prepared to meet such an emergency as that
which now confronts us. Our traffic is interrupt
ed and, available ships are so scarce that freight
rates have risen enormously. Government com
petition would tend to prevent the -injustice from
which our commerce is now suffering.
v -' Fourth: The government, acting for all the
people, has already responded to recognized
needs in establishing the branch banks and in
the provision made for a merchant marine. It
is now attempting to render further service
through government owned ships but there is
another avenue for governmental activity The
consular sorvice works in the interest of trade,
gathering statistics, furnishing information and
Jpndlng a helping hand to thosr who buy and
sell abroad, Through our diplomatic, relations,
also,, tho government is in a position to assist
those of its citizens who embark in foreign en
terprises. While friendship can not make up for
economic disadvantages or for lack of banking
pr transportation facilities, still friendship is a
factor that can not bo overlooked. The various
departments connected with foreign trade are in
full sympathy with the president in his efforts
to cultivate the good will of our American neigh
bors. These efforts have been manifested in
many ways and in connection with our dealings
with a number of countries, but I venture to call
special attention to one mattdr in which the
members of this body will, I am sure, feel a deep
Interest, namely, tho Colombian treaty. For
eleven years tho relations botween this country
and Colombia have been abnormal. Several un
successful efforts have been made to adjust these
differences and there is now pending before tho
senate a treaty which has recently been negoti
ated, It has been ratified by Cdldmbia, and tho
influence df its ratification by the United States
will bo felt in all Latin-American countries Co
lombia and Panama ate' unable to establish dip
lomatic relatidns until Colombia and the United
States have reached an understanding ; hence all
the republics In Central and South America, feel
ing a sympathetic 'interest in these nations, will
be favorably affected by the termination of this
misunderstanding. Tho pending treaty does not
re-open the questions at issue in 1903. It simply
deals with the situation as. it exists today, and
attempts to reach an honorable settlement which
will be satisfactory to both nations and thus re
store the friendship which so long existed be
tween tho United States and Colombia.
Two strikers were- killed and others shot down
at Roosevelt, N. J .the .other week in a clash
with deputies who claimed to be protecting the
property of the company. The strikers "Were
Hungarians and Slavs-, ' ,who had been in the
t country but a few months, and who rebelled at
'being compelled to.w.prlc'in a leather .harness
and push wheelbarrows that carried 400 pounds
of molten fertilizer for 16 cents an hour, "fte
corporation which employed them was one of
those that sought the, continuance of high tariff
rates on the ground tliat only thereby ."-could
American labor .be protected from the.co'mpeti-
.L1UX1 Ui. lUlUl&U. 1U.JJUI .
- V I.
Some of the .newspaper critics ot President
Wilson's Jackson day speech insist that he show
ed irritability w;hen he declared that "democrats
who will not play on the team should get off the
team." Qn the contrary he showed plain com
mon sense. A team, made up of individual stars
whose playing is actuated by a desire to enhance
their own individual records without regard to
the success of the team itself wins fewer games
than one where everybody plays together, and
very few will ever be won by a team whose mem
bers chose their own occasions for appearing in
club uniform.
Let- it not be forgotten in the debate over
whether the government shall or shall not en
- gage in the ownership of ships, that if it had not
been for the legislation enacted by thi$ repub
lican party which dissipated the merchant -marine
of the United States, there would now be
enough American bpttoms to carry our ocean
freight. That legislation was designed to foster
monopoly and to help the manufacturers. It
drove our vessels off tho seas and put a premium
on foreign registry.
Some one sought to call the attention of those
republican congressmen who are trembling so
hard over what they insist is the uhprepared
ness of the United States for war, that if we ac
cepted their advice and build the dreadnoughts
they desire, they would be absoleto before they
would ever bo called upon for use. The only na
tions that anyone has ever regarded as a menace
to world peace are exhausting themselves so rap
idly that they will not have strength enough to
assault any other, nation for at least a score of
years.
Former President Taft Is evidently determined
to prove that those critics who pronounced him
a reactionary in the 1912 campaign were correct.
His latest effort was made in a speech in which
he declared that the direct primary had failed
of its purpose and that better men were certain
to be selected by a convention than by the peo
plo. It all depends, of course, on whom a man
prefers to put his trust.
Despite all of the improvements in the machin
ery of war, it is still a matter of men and guns
as it always has been since fighting began in this
world. Tho best-trained .men and tho largest
battalions are winning the infantry attacks and
the longest-ranged guns, which means the bic
gest, are giving victory in sieges and in the bat
tles on the sea.
President Wilson made the confident predic
tion in a speech the other day that "we are on
?..eV0A i ? n?W ea, 0f enterPrise and prosper
ity." And having taken a leading part in clear
ing away all of the barriers to a great business
revival the president is in a position to make
a prophecy based on something better than mere
Deserving Democrats
In order that the readers of. Tho Commoner
may have before them the letter which Mr. Bry
an wrote Mr. Vick. in regard to the appointment
of "deserving democrats," the following extract
is given:
"Now that you have arrived and are acquaint
ing yourself with the situation'; can you let me
know what positions you have at your disposal
with which to reward deserving democrats'
Whenever you desire a suggestion from me in
regard to a man for any place there call on me
You have had enough experience In politics to
know how -valuable workers are when a cam
paign is on, and how difficult it is to find suitable
rewards for all the deserving. I do not know to
what "extent a knowledge of Spanish is necessary
for employes. Let me know what is required,
together with the salary, and when appointments-Are.
likely to be made."
' The .democratic administration, the state de
partment' included, is enforcing the civil service
more honestly, and conscientiously "than it has
ever been enforced by a 'republican administra
tion.' 'No' republicans are being dismissed for
political reasons and .appointments in the civil
service are being made without regard to pol
itics, There are a few places,' however the
, number is .relatively very small which are not
under the .civil service. These offices were held
by republicans who were appointed for political
reasons. Such appointments, as have been made
by this administration have been made in the
filling of these offices. The republican news
papers, and those newspapers which, nominally
independent or democratic, join witli republicans
in opposing anything really' democratic, assume
that a democrat is unfit for office and that, if
appointed, ho is appointed purely for political
reasons. The real democrats of the . country,
those who have after nearly a quarter of a cen
. tury's struggle succeeded in wresting' the gov
ernment from the hands of the- predatory inter
ests, will not adopt the republican view, nor will
they find fault with the administration for giving
preference to democrats in filling such offices as
are entirely outside of the civil service offices
which republicans did not put under the civil
service even when they found that their party
was going out of power. The affairs of the coun
try will not suffer at the hands of democratic
officials Those .who are willing to make polit
ical sacrifices in the interest of 'good government
can not fairly be regarded as inferior in their
intelligence or patriotism to republicans who,
either actively or through indifference, have en
abled the special interests to control the govern
ment for their pecuniary benefit.
W. J. BRYAN.
JEFFERSON ON PATRONAGE
Wliile president, in 1802, 'Thomas Jefferson
wrote 'to 'Elbrldge Gerry as follows:
"The safety of the government absolutely re
quired that its direction in its higher depart
ments should be taken into friendly hands. Its
safety did not even admit that the .whole of its
immense patronage should be left at the com
mand of its enemies to be exercised secretly or
openly to re-establish the tyrannical and dilapi
dating system of the preceding .administration,
and, their deleterious principles of government."
Five years later, while still president, he
wrote to John Page:
"No government (can) discharge Its' duties
to the best advantage of its citizens, if its agents
(are) in a regular course of thwarting instead
of executing all its measures, and (are) employ
ing patronage and influence of their office against
the government and its measures."
And yet the republicans and assistant repuu- -licans
take it as an offense if any democrat ex-sK
presses a desire to have the carrying out of tho
policies of the administration entrusted to those
in sympathy with those, rather than to those who
desire a return of the republican party to power.
Others may criticise "Billy" Sunday if they
will, but if I may be allowed to speak of him in
baseball language I shall not complain of the
way he "curves" the ball or ''twists" the lan
guage so long as he makes the Devil "strike out."
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