Show EXPORTS PAY TOE IMPORTS Mr SCHURZ has stated what is essential in the development of our commerce in this succinct way IThat we should have something t sell 2That we should adapt the goods we wish to sell to the requirements and tastes of those to whom we wish t sell them 3 That we should be able to sell our goods as cheaply as goods of the same kind and quality as sold by other people in the same I market 4That i wo sell to foreign nations we must be willing to buy from tbem onesided international inter-national trade being a contradiction hi itself We suppose the first three of these propositions prop-ositions will not be disputed There are however persons who question the correctness correct-ness of the fourth I There exists with some a belief that it would be possible for people of this country to sell for gold only that is to sell to the people of other nations without in turn buying anything from them This mediaeval superstition is quite upset up-set when we remember that no nation has coin enough t pay in gold or silver coin for the imports of a single year much less those of centuries i Moreover in this country especially there is no profit when gold is imported i payment for goods An example will make this clear Wheat i worth 50 cents a I bushel both here and abroad I we s l a bushel of wheat in Liverpool we get 50 I cents for it as we get hero But 00 cents will purchase twelve pounds of sugar in Liverpool and only six pounds here and alike a-like proportion holds in the case of numerous numer-ous articles I we bring back the money it will be worth no more here than the wheat was worth there is no profit on the l exchange And so barring the tariff we I should bring the sugar A little study of the workings of international interna-tional trade removes several false notions notons that nearly every person has begin withIn with-In the first place the importation of goods is not carried on by the same set of men who carry on the export trade and the goods imported are not always sent to the place whence the importation comes The money in use between different countries consists of bills of exchange or drafts which the sender of each cargo i writes out and sells to a broker I A sends to London a cargo of wheat he sells toabroker B this bill drawn on C to whom the wheat has been sent NEW YORK Nov 211 1890 Exchange for 1000 Sixty days after sight pay to B one thousand pounds sterling for value received charge the same to account of A To C London England The broker B pays somewhat less than 1000 for the bill then sends it to his agent in London to collect the amount from C NQw D of London sends a cargo of hardware hard-ware into this country to Ewho does not send cash back to D but buys a bill from a broker and sends this bill in payment for the cargo of hardware he receives D receives re-ceives the bill and gets money for it from a broker in London The broker B by selling this bill to E which we will suppose is 1000 in value has collected the 1000 ducjhim in London and ho notifies his London agent to pay D this amount when the latter presents the bill of exchange for it Thus the American docs not receive his pay in English pounds for what he sends to England but in American dollars and the English exporter receives his pay in English pounds while the brokers who effect the exchange charge 1 certain commission com-mission for their labor and clear the transactions trans-actions with perhaps a slight final exchange of gold when the transactions do not exactly balance Now a glance at our custom house tables of exports and imports show that these two items about balance each other Thus we have no other conclusion than that exports are the pay for imports |