Evening Star Newspaper, April 11, 1933, Page 10

RECPROCAL TRADE URGED BY ROPER Secretary in Forum Address Emphasizes Necessity of Promised Fair Play. Emphasizing that the benefits of foreign trade must be reciprocal and not one-sided, Daniel C. Roper, Secre- tary of Commerce, asserted in a radio afidress on “Restoring the World's Commerce” last night that in his opinion, the time has come when all thinking Ameticans should recognize that our purchases from abroad are an essential feature of our international trade. Secretary Roper’s address. made in| the National Radio Forum arranged by | Washington Star and broadcast | over a coast-to-coast network of the National Broadcasting Co. was the| second of a series of forum speeches | by members of President Roosevelt's cabinet. Pointing out that the United States {s committed to a policy of fair play in its future international economic re- lations under leadership of President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull, Mr. Roper stated that although the | principle of the new policy implies con- | sideration for our own manufacturers, | farmers and other workers, it should not imply protection for a few special Interests at the expense of the Ameri- can_consuming public. The stagnation of the movement of | goods between nations is not only one of the most serious results of the world | depression, Secretary Roper said, but it is at the same time a fundamental Teason for tke prolongation of this un- happy state of affairs. It is futile to talk of ending the depression here or in any other country to a satisfactory extent without studying means for the restoration of international trade, he | stated. Helpful Thinking Attitudes, m Roper's address, in full, As a lic official, I am, in fact, & trustee for those who support and sus- tain our Government. I am, therefore, pleased to have this opportunity to confer with you radio-listening citizens, acquaint you with our plans and seek counsel and advice. I wonder how many of us, as we sit tonight in our homes or in other radio centers, listening to this friendly con- versation, realize the importance to our- selves, to our homes and to the larger community we call the State and the Nation, of creating helpful attitudes of thinking.” We can, through thinking, cultivate either a constructive or a de- structive approach to the solution of Pulbllc probl:ms.h ! remember that many years ago & wise and well ballasted man s:ig to me: “Young man, your approach to people in your thinking will largely control your success or failure in solv- ing life’s problems. The constructive approach to the person you meet.” said he, “is to assume that the person is a gentleman until he has proved himself | otherwise. The destructive approach is to assume that he is not a gentleman until he proves himself to be a gentle- man” If this holds true in our per- sonal relations with men, how much truer it is in our public relations as citizens. As citizens we have duties to geflerm that are very high and noble. one of these are more important than to establish support leadership in vmom!c meh In line oug| approach you to- - belief that we are united | to our country and in | our desire to co-operate in her in- terest. Public opinion is the greatest force in our social fabric, and 1t is at its best when formed by the construc- tive attitude which you and I. and all of us, take toward our Government and its problems. If our larger “citizenship thinking” s constructive and co-opera- tive, thére is no battle that the Ameri- can people cannot win. We are familiar with the “Three Musketeers” and their valorous deeds. When the young, Gascon, D'Artagan, Jjoined them, they took an oath, “One for all and all for one,” and that oath animated all of their thinking and en- ergized all of their mightiest accom- plishments. If the American people, in this emergency, were to take such an oath. should adopt, if you please, such & motto to guide them, what could we not do? r economic and social troubles would soon pass away. One of the things that makes the Children of Israel such a mighty nation is that they are bound by old cove- nants. The rainbow in the heavens is one of them. An overshadowing prom- ise is another. Governments like ours have always recognized and now recog- nize the existence of covenants between the people who are governed and them- selves, the trustees, to whom the people have for the time being confided the | administration of their public affairs. Application of Principle. Let us see how this principle applies to the Department of Commerce. The last Congress appropriated for this de- partment, for the fiscal year 1933 the sum of about $45,000,000. The Con- gress, after a careful consideration of all the facts then before it, reduced the sum for the operations of the depart- ment during the fiscal year 1934 to about $36,000,000. This administration, impelled by the pledge to the people of keeping Gov- ernment expenses within Government income, has, within the last 30 days, carefully re-estimated Government revenues for 1934 and with the revised figures as a basis is making through the director of the budget a reapportion- ment of this income among the several departments. The Department of Com- merce under this reapportionment can spend in 1934 only about $26,000,000 instead of more than $40,000,000 as in 1933, This is the first time in the history of our Government, so far as I know, that an administration has suggested | that it is not wise or safe to use money which the Congress itself has already appropriated. It is an exemplification of the age-old proverb, “those who pey the fiddler should call the tune.” ‘The taxpayer has been paying the fiddler all these years; surely it is time | he should exercise his right to call the tune. This administration recognizes its pledge to this effect and is studying, analyzing, and adjusting facilities ac- cordingly. But, my friends, while we will be operating on a budget that is more than a third less than now being spent by the department, we will not necessarily curtail the required use- fulness of the department. It is pro- posed to simplify its agencies, where- ever possible; to reduce the staff where an agency or bureau is overmanned; to work economies that necessity de- mands; and to raise the “esprit de corps” of the department to a higher level, thereby accomplishing more per capita. What we desire is the spirit of the musketeers, the spirit that seems at this moment to be reanimating the American people. This spirit is never Jacking in important groups of Federal employes. This readjustment is exactly what all well-managed businesses have been doing during the last three years. Full Feeling After Meals Don't suffer agony after eating. That full ing, he 8, ching and 8- | The Government is simply the last en- terprise of the people to follow suit. ‘The Federal Government gets its finan- clal support from the taxpaying public | | and must of necessity, therefore, adjust | | expenses to conditions in industry and commerce. | Courage Replacing Fear. Business and commercial agencies | everywhere are profiting by their study | of the factors that have figured so prominently in the progress of the last 30 days. Courage is taking the place of fear; confidence is driving off the specter of panic; and action, rather than supine submission to the attacks of fate, is becoming the order of the day. Courage in the face of adversity, | confidence in the destiny of the Nation, | and a capacity for taking prompt and | efficient action are not fundamental | qualities that have suddenly been ac- | quired by our people. They are traits | that always have played a vital part |in the steady advance of the United | States to the position it holds today among nations. Yet these character- THE | istics in recent months did appear to be submerged. Strong, clear-headed | leadership was evidently needed to give | { working orders and to bring these in- | herent qualities again to their domi- | nant place in American psychology. | Developments during the last few | weeks have done more than restore the | confidence of the American people. They have convinced the rest of the| world, too, that the leadership of this country is in competent hands. States- men and economists abroad, who had begun to regard with concern the ap- parent inability of the United States to set its house in order, are now Joining in expressions of ‘admiration | and respect for the new spirit that ani- mates our Nation. It is indeed a matter of more than Sympathetic interest to other nations that this country should advance along the road to recovery. All the world has been going through the same sort of troubles that we have. The economic difficulties of one nation have their inevitable effect upon all. So, too, if & country whose world position is as important as that of the United States can lead the way to recovery, beneficial effects are bound to be felt in other parts of the world. This is especially true when we include among the measures we are taking to restore prosperity here at home, a program of intelligent (nternational co-operation. It is futile to talk of ending the de- pression here or in any other country to a satisfactory extent without study- ing means for the restoratiofl of inter- national trade. The stagnation of the movement of goods between nations is not only one of the most serious re- sults of the world depression, it is at ;-he ‘:ema u‘me l‘l’undtnmul Teason for prolongation of unha) state of affairs, o Not Complicated Matter. There is nothing complicated about this relationship between the prosperity of a country and its trade with the rest of the world. Let us see how it works out in our own case. The United States offers the greatest market that -the | world has ever known. No other nation has ever advanced to a state where so many of its people are able to satisfy their wants by the purchase of goods. Therefore, if it be possible for any na- tion to-prosper as a self-contained unit, developing its resources for the exclu- sive benefit of its own people without trying to export its goods, that nation is the United States. But apart from the importance of our export trade in manufactured prod- ucts, American agriculture is also de- pendent to a great extent upon for- eign outlets for its products. Even last year, when the value of our ex- ports had shrunk to the lowest point in more than a quarter of a century, for- eign markets furnished means of sub- sistence to important groups of our farm population. During 1932, in spite of unparalleled handicaps, more than one-half of the raw cotton produced in the United States was sold abroad. So Wwas more than one-quarter of our leaf tobacco and a like percentage of our mhrd. One hundred and thirty-six fon bushels of wheat—more than one-seventh of that important crop last year—went to foreign markets. The. problem of restoring the pros- perity of our farmers with their pur- chasing power is one of the most urg- ent leavors now confronting this Nation. The.farmer needs to get more for his labor, and the entire country realizes the importance of this start- ing point in our economic upbuilding. The farmer himself needs also to real ize that controlling influence to be ex- ercised by him are a more intelligent regulation of production as well as a less restricted foreign trade. Our cotton growers, for example, may by crop-pro- duction control be enabled to obtain a fair return for that part of their crop | consumed here in the United States, but | they cannot be wholly prosperous un- til they can sell at a reasonable profit the 50 per cent of their cotton which must be shipped to other parts of the world. ‘The value of all American exports in 1932 was less than for more than twenty-five years. Our purchases from abroad in 1932 were at approximately the level reached during the years 1906 to 1910. Let us not make the mistake of ignoring this great decline in our | purchases from other countries when and get what you want. EVENING STAR. WASHINGTO Discusses Trade Problems SECRETARY ROPER. —Star Staff Photo. we discuss foreign trade. While we may properly seek for a so-called “fa- vorable” balance of trade, with our ex- | ports 1n excess of our imports, we must |not concern ourselves solely with our | | sales to other countries and assume that | our purchases will take care of them- selves. | " Last year our total world trade drop- | ped in value nearly 35 per cent as com- | pared with 1931, which was a very un- | propitious year for trade both at home and abroad. International trade through- out the whole world declined in about the same pr jon. In other words, we were simply drifting with the tide, in company with other commercial na- tions. We lamented this loss of busi- ness but made no constructive move to stem the ebbing tide. U. 8. St1ll In Lead. ‘With world exports and imports stead- ily dwindling away, there is small com- fort in the fact that the United States is still the leading exporting nation of the world. The distinction of being the richest man in the poor-house is an empty honor, | our impossible tariff situation. | be made known to the world that the | to break through trade barriers far greater respect, and their influence in the general effort toward construc- tive accomplishments will be much - creased, if they can come into the court of world negotiations. with ‘“clean hands” and admitted recognition of the self-evident condition resulting from It must United States is now committed to a policy of fair play in its future interna- tional ecohomic relations. Under the ieadership of President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull, the United | States is committed to a changed and thus hopeful policy. Remarkable Progress Made. Such remarkable progress has been made during the last month in attack- ing urgent problems of a purely do- mestic nature that the President was able to announce a few days ago that he would presently “ask the Congress for legislation enabling us to initiate practical reciprocal tariff lgreementi an establish foreign markets for farm and ‘With the crushing weight of economic depression bearing down _everywhere, | shrinkage in the demand for imported |goods was inevitable. To add to the | | national difficulties brought about by the drastic decline in purchasipg power and the lowering price levels, the gov- | ernments of the world have contributed to the difficulties of international trade by lmpussns artificial restrictions, such as high tariffs, import quotas, direct pro- hibition of certain imports, and restric- tions upon the purchase of foreign ex- | change. Such measures, on the part of other countries, have usually been taken to remedy urgent conditions of internal fi- nance or as a desperate attempt to bal- |ance their international payments by | curtailing imports in ratio to declining |exports. But whatever the motives be- hind them, these artificial restrictions are rapidly strangling what is left of in- ternational trade. Last year, more than half of the sixty-five nations of commercial import- ance increased their trade barriers by one means or another, thus progressively deepening the world depression. In- dividually, each nation felt there was | nothing else to be done. Finally, how- ever, to these came a realization that the only way out of an impgssible sit- uation was through international co- operation. So, at the Lausanne Con- ference last July the League of Nations was invited to convoke a World Mone- tary and Economic Conference. Pre- liminary meetings of experts have been held at Geneva since that time in pre- paration for the conference, which is expected to take place this Summer. ‘The United States was invited to par- ticipate in this effort to bring about international co-operation, and the in- vitation was accepted. Yet there must | | have been a grave question in the minds of those concerned as to what | contribution our delegates might be able to make.. Any sincere attempt to re- store the movement of goods between natfons must involve a lowering of ex- isting trade barriers. And how could | our delegates suggest what other na- | tions should do in this connection while we ourselves severely restrict trade by | an unreasonable and most extreme tariff policy. | I do not suggest that we should per- mit our tariff rates to be fixed by any world conference. Nobody suggests that. I do suggest, however, that our representatives will be listened to with | The fact that Anheuser-Busch brew the most famous bottled beer in the world speaks well for their malting meth- od. Switch today to BUDWEISER MALT f ( Jucdiecsict Ry MaLT SYH ANTICIPATION industrial products.” This statement was made in a mes- sage recommending legislation for the relief of our debt-ridden farmers. There was no irrelevancy in mention- ing this subject in connection with the refinancing of farm indebtedness. Mr. Roosevelt has long recognized the in- timate relationship between the well- being of our farm population and the restoration of our international trade. Let me quote from one of his earlier statements: “Another immediate necessity is to provide a means of bringing about, through Government effort, a substan- tial reduction in the difference be- | tween the prices of things the farmer sells and the things the farmer hufs. One way of correcting that disparity is by restoring international trade through tariff adjustments. “This tariff consists in PASSENGERE— EXPRESS—U. 8. AR MAIL CIR TRAVEL * Information Reservations for all airline destinations EASTERN AIR TRANSPORT SYSTEM Street, N.W. (National 7161) ston Airport (National 3615) WASHINGTON-NEW YORK EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR e R ] Greater Shaving Comfort Here's good news for men who dread their daily & Barnard's “Razor Aid”*Shav- ing Cream instantly produces a rich, creamy lather that makes stubborn whiskers s “meek as a lamb.” Enables you to get a smooth, comfortable shave without effort. Leaves your face cool and refreshed, too, because it Is “Menthol-Iced.” Get the giant size S0c tube for 39c today at Peoples Drug Stores. Barnard's Shaving Cream Budweiser MALT LIVES UP TO ITS FAMOUS NAME - D. C, TUESDAY, ) and | cles and policies which I regard as vital | piness. of our efforts to deceive our- uring the recent years, it is fundamental that we cannot sell goods other nations without rmitting them to sell goods to us. is means a mutually profitable exchange of sur- Ppluses. It is indeed significantly hopeful for a constructive program for the ap- proaching World Economic Conference that the President, through the Secre- tary of State, invited 11 prominent na- tions to send leaders to Washington for | parleys preparatory for a constructive | agenda for the later London confer- ence This points to the highway of fair | play. It looks to the fact that we have | no right to expect more generous treat- | ‘ment on the part of other nations, with | Tespect to our exports, than we are | willing to accord to them in return. This does not mean that we should open the American market unrestrict- | edly to the competitive products that | can be sold here by other countries | more cheaply than we can produce them. The principle of fair play at | home implies consideration for our own | manufacturers and for our farmers and other workers. The new policy would be helpful to all American producers who are at all efficient. But it should not imply protection for a few special in- terests at the expense of the American consuming public. An Inconsistent Policy. } There is no consistency in a policy | under which our Government concen- | trates its trade-promotive efforts on the export of American goods while placing every possible obstacle in the way of the imports that are necessary if, our for- eign customers are to be able to pay for | our goods and thereby mreet their obli- | gations to us. | I am not proposing that American | business and agriculture should aban-| don any legitimate activity that will| stimulate the sale of American farm and factory products in foreign coun- tries. That is all a part of the healthy competition that plays its part in in- ternational trade, just as it does in do- mestic commerce. But I think the time has come when all thinking Americans should recognize that our purchases from abroad are an equally essential feature of our international trade. As Secretary of Commerce it will be my endeavor to view this matter with a ballasted prospective, emphasizing that the benefits of foreign trade must be reciprocal and not one-sided in any re- spect. My conception of the proper governmental attitude toward foreign trade is that it should be one of whole- hearted encouragement of a balanced economy that includes buying as well as selling. Now, my patient and friendly listen- ers, if I have been too outspoken, too! But you see, I was doing the buying, after all. And by looking around thoroughly, and being insistent, I finally got the kind of car I wanted . . . and for the money I wanted to pay. Rockne . . . built by the Studebaker people, you know. This Rockne is marvelously built for one thing. Everything abgut its mechanism is solid and strong like an expensive car. That’s the thing that impresses you the first minute you And Studebaker has made sure that Rockne is com- pletely equipped with all besides upholstering it as richly as though it sold for $200 more. When you open up your throttle, Rockne shows you some new things about power. Its rubber floated MODERN AUTO SALES 2303 14th St. N.W, Columbia 9396 BOYD-CARLIN MOTOR CO. Alexandria, Va. WOODSON MOTORS CO. Silver Sprins, Md. A I'VB had an extraordinary experience the past few weeks. I've been trying out a number of low-priced automobiles. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they have me pegged as a pest in a lot of salesrooms. 2185 Champlain 1182 Conn. Ave. PRIL 11, 1933. M,hmmtmmmemmmdmmmicun our objectives and our accept as my excuse my deep interest in | and the restoration of our people to|this end. With thanks our common country and in the agen- | greater comfort and securer future hap- | teous attention; I bid Certainly we do not differ in ! night. A complete synopsis of the first instail- ment of this baffling mystery appears in the issue on sale foday. START IT NOW!I THE SATURDAY ON SALlL TODAY EVENING POST 5° engine doesn’t register a single tremor : ; ; but oh, how it responds! It’s not only quiet in high but in second, too. And I'm talking after driving everything in the Rockne price range. Take my word for it, you’ll be foolish to put a dime down on any low-priced car until you first drive a Rockne. I've tried the others . . . and I know. They’re not putting a bargain price on Rockne, mind you. But they’re not charging you anything extra for the Studebaker experience and quality that go into it! And it’s a peach . . . it’s a TRY A ROCKNE . . AND YOU'LL BUY A ROCKNE Rockne offers you a six-cylinder, 70-horsepower engine floated in live rubber . . . free wheeling, synchronized ' shift, silent second . . . automatic switch-key storting . . . double-drop, rigid “X" frame . . . one-piece all steel bodies of full aerodynamic design . electro-plated pistons .« « silent threaded spring shackles . . . hydraulic shack absorbers . . . extra large capacity batteries . . . extra powerful brakes . . . contoured upholstery with special coil springs . . . smaller wheels, lower over-all height. drive it. the modern advancements— CITY DEALERS LEE D. BUTLER, Inec. s g o NEARBY DEALERS BROSIUS BROS. & GORMLEY, Ine. Rockville, Md. ALBER & McNEILL, Inc. 1418 P 8t. N.W. Decatur 1447 COLLEGE PARK AUTO PLACE College Park, Md. Greenwood 2698 JOHN T. PARRAN Indian Head, Md. ROCKNE SIX BUILT BY STUDEBAKER