Show t A Business C Problem I Ik ke k- k 4 OUR A e OUR pocketbook eventually may be afi afi af- af j ii i i i by thi this very Important business development ent The rhe tide of foreign trade has turned and the balance of trade has swung against the United States That's how the economists express it In Jn simpler words our ur uri i t country is now buying more from foreign countries than it is selling to them In 1 I. I March the latest reported by the our exports totaled about dollars That's N what we sold to 2 i er coun countrIes es 1 In the ne same month we wet t Ji imported million dollars worth goods This means that we are out sixty sixty one million dollars for March foreign April will show another loss And it IJ inot not improbable that the loss will become 1 tn n despite anything that may be done to 10 il t m t to regain an and hold the big trade lead I ye Ke built up during the war Our excess of imports over over exports will v 9 n become a political bone of controversy lif it t continues Nothing plea pleases es the average national politician ian more more than to be able to shadow box with the tariff To reason lately r tely on the subject we must remember this 1 iS Since nc the beginning of the war war we e have loaned o ned foreign countries part particularly Europe billions of dollars It naturally was quite easy to build up a a. tremendous export business when Y we V were willing to extend tremendous credits supply ou our customers with money for or buying C CS' CS N S' S We now have about half of the worlds world's gold gp d. d There isn't enough gold left in Europe f 1 io pay us ev even n 30 cents on the dollar of what they owe us Any child with a fair knowledge f simple arithmetic can see therefore that I J the only way we can get back the money we f loaned to foreign countries is to let them pay us In goods materials import materials import more than we export t Its It's a simple matter of merch merchandising fAnd tAnd 1 any crossroads storekeeper knows that d it doesn't do him any good to have an en enor- enor orous or- or ous business unless he gets paid for it is a a. limit to charge accounts in f foreign reign fade the same as with individuals buying at atthe atthe th the grocery store or me meat t market IThe 4 The rhe London banker F. F C. C Goodenough recently told the American Bankers' Bankers Hon that on account of tariff bars Great Britain could pay her lIer debt to America only r by exporting from Canada or other British possessions raw raw- material or supplies acceptable acceptable accept accept- able to the United States It doesn't matter uh where the stuff comes from but Ameri- Ameri t ns soon will have to decide this Shall Sha l we g- g go ahead ahead doing foreign business credit credit and s supplying cust customers mers with money buy from us Or should we be content to mP rt t than jp more we export as the only pose postle pos- pos tle e way to get paid for what we have already a ii |