Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

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P»^ R E A L E S TAT E mm AND B UILDERS Vol. CII. Nl'.VV YORK, AU(;UST M. 1918 No. 9 Backing Up Our Ships With American DoUars T United States Is Now a Greditor Nation and in a Favorable Position to Bnild Up Huge Foreign Trade By EDWARD N. HURLEY, Chainnan United States Shippiiig Board. IIE United States is tlie greatest coffee consuming larnier aiĸJ consiinier e\en more than the mamifacturer nation in tlie workl. and exporter. When we get the American merchant \Ve buy every year f rom Brazil about $100,000,000 marine into the daily thought of every producer, and ■worth of coffee. Potentially, that should be the great- est influence for sales of our own products to Brazil. Actually, this coffee consumption has yielded to the United States only a fraction of its potential benefits. European shipping concerns have controUed prac- tically all shipments from Rio de Janeiro and Santos to New Y'ork and New Orleans. About two-thirds of the coft'ee comes to New York and one-third to New Or- leans. An average of three ships a month were re- quired in normal times to carry to New Orleans the 2,000,000 bags for the South and Middle West. In a well-balanced trade, these ships wQuld have been avail- able for return cargoes of American products. The Middle West, especiall}', might have been in an advantageous position, because it could command lcwer railroad rates to New Orleans than New York. But the ships of this coffee fleet, all under foreign liags, made no eft'ort to secure return cargoes. After dis- charging coffee, they loaded with cotton and other raw materials for European manufacturers. They steamed away to Europe, took on cargoes of manufactured goods made largely from American raw materials, and carried these back to Brazil. Lacking ships to South America and banks on that (-ontinent our coffee importers had to pay exchange and commission to European banks. The foreign ships upon which we depended provided a smooth highway for Brazilian coft'ee into New Orleans, greased the way for American raw materials to reach European mills, and carried European goods to Brazil, where they were paid for with the Brazilians' profits on sales of coffee to the United States. These foreign ships were so routed that they rendered their first service to the European ex- porter, tlieir second service to the Brazilian coff'ee grower—and we came in for service after that. Our foreign trade has been full of opportunities like Uiis. But, lacking American merchant ships and Ameri- can banking facilities in other countries, we have let the foreigner improve the opportunities. Now we are building a real merchant inarine. Ameri- can hanks are estaljlishing foreign branches. The Anierican ship and the American dollar are going to work together, and the more attention we pay to this great field of business the harder they will work ior us. Shiiibuilding for war purposes has made a tremend- ous appeal to the American imagination. We nuist now put our merchant marine into the Nation's thought in just the same way. These are the Nation's ships. They will increase prosperity for people in the corn belt even more than those on the seaboard. They wiH serve the otir boys and girls play with shipping toys, and Ameri- can youth consider the sea in choosing a career, then we shall have something upon which to build foreign trade, foreign exchange, foreign investment. War has made us a real creditor nation. We have bought back from European investors billions of dol- lars worth of .Vmerican securities. We now own our own railroads and factories, and hold the bonds issued by our state, county, and municipal governinents. We have lent billions of dollars to the Allies, and will lend them billions more before the war ends. We have opened book accounts with nations not actively engaged in the war who want to bu_y goods on credit froni us. Best of all, \ve have begun to learn new habits of thrift and invcstment through buying liberty bonds, so that peace ought to find us with the niortgage of foreign investments on this country paid off and money in pocket to lend other nations. The world owes us a great deal of monej'. But our principal debtors are the great manufacturing and ex- porting nations, like England, France, and Italy. Naturally, they will pay their debts iii goods as far as possible, and much of the trade which grows out of these obligations will take the form of shijîments of -'kmerican raw materials to make the goods with which they.will pay us. Necessity will also lead them to be active sellers of manufactured goods in South .America, the British colonies, and the Orient, and in that trade there will never be either American competition or jealousy over husiness that properly belongs to thein, because \ve realize the enormous sacrifices they have made for humanity, and wish to see them return to peaceful prosperity as fast as possible. But there is trade to be built on new shipping routes between this and other countries. More than that, ihere is service to be rendered other countries by our ships and money. Let us take Brazil as an illustration. When Ameri- caii ships go to Rio and Santos for coffee, they will carry American ofĩĩcers and seamen. There are no bet- ter salesmen or creators of good will iii tlu- world than the men who man merchant ships running on regular lines froni one country to the other. For their eniploy- ment dcpciuls lar.gely upon freight traffĩc. WMth our coft'ee, brou.ght to us in American ships, and paid for in .American manufactures sent back to Brazil, our officers and sailors will work like those of other nations to get frei,ght. With our manufacturers making payments in goods IContimted 0)» pagc 236)