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Author: 
 
 Roberts, George Evans 
 
 Title: 
 
 The function of imports in 
 our foreign trade 
 
 Place: 
 
 [New York] 
 
 Date : 
 
 [1 920] 
 
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 ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED - EXISTMQ BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD 
 
 Boberts, George Evan, 1857- 
 
 ... The function of imports in our foreign trade,/b5| 
 George E. Roberts ... [New York, The National city 
 bank of New York, 1920] ^ . 
 
 il4i p. ,23*"^ (Fordgn; commerce series, no. 2) 
 
 "An- address delivered before the seventh National foreign trade con- ?3 
 vention, San Ffandsco, California, May 12, 1920." 
 
 1. U. S.— Comm. i. Title. 
 
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Foreign Commerce Series 
 
 NUMBER TWO 
 
 The Function of Imports in 
 Our Foreign Trade 
 
 fly 
 
 V 
 
 The National City Bank of New York 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 School of Business 
 
Foreign Commerce Series 
 
 Number Ttoo 
 
 The Function of Imports in 
 Our Foreign Trade 
 
 Br 
 
 GEORGE E. ROBERTS 
 Vice-President 
 The Nationid Cify Bank if New Yerk 
 
 LIBRARY 
 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS 
 
 An addnm idmted b^we Ae 
 Seventh Naiional Foreign Trade Comention 
 
 San FroneUeo, California 
 May 12, 1920 
 
3 HO 
 
 THE FUNCTION OF IMPORTS 
 IN OUR FOREIGN TRADE 
 
 THE great War has brought about certain changes of a funda- 
 mental character affecting trade and financial relations be- 
 tween the United States and other countries, and those changes 
 must be fully comprehended if we are to plan intelligently far the 
 future. Our trade relatk»Ei8 in the past have devdoped in haraMmy 
 with our past position as a borrowing naticm, a d^tcnr naticm cm 
 account of foreign investments. We were a new country of vast 
 undeveloped resources, affording opportunity for cheap production 
 of foodstuffs and raw materials, of which the world, and particularly 
 the countries of Europe, were in need. Our population grew rapidly 
 by immigration from Europe, and, in the earlier years of our develop- 
 ment, £rom the countries of Eurqpe most advanced in the arts of 
 industry and in accumulations of capital. It was natural undor 
 these drcumstances and with the development of steam power in 
 transportation, that capital should flow freely from Europe to 
 this country for investment, and the earnings of this capital, un- 
 less reinvested here, were a charge against us in the international 
 exchanges. 
 
 Ecftiilibriiim of Exdhange 
 Tms situation existed not only in the early years of devdopment. 
 
 « 1 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ities were largely increased hi the period of expansion which began 
 about 1900. During the ten years next precedmg the outbreak of 
 the War the average annual balance of trade in favor of the United 
 States on merchandise account was approximately $500,000,000, and 
 it was practically offset by the balance in what has been called the 
 invisible accountr— in other words, by interest and dividend pay- 
 ments upcm Amancan securities hdd abroad, dbarges of fordgi 
 shifting against our commerce, earnings of foreign insurance cchu- 
 panies in 1^ country, conmdssions of foreign bankers, expenditures 
 of American tourists abroad, remittances of our foreign-bom residents 
 to relatives in the old countries, etc. 
 
 It Is evident that the War has disturbed this old state of equi- 
 librium. We have bought back most of the American securities which 
 were held abroad and the interest and dividends upon them here- 
 
THE FUNCTION OF IMPORTS 
 
 aHer wiU remain at home. We are bmlding a great fleet of merchant 
 ships with the intentioa of carrying a larger portion of the over-seas 
 trade, and we have become creditors to Europe in a very large 
 amount. Including the loans of ^ United States Government to 
 the governments associated with H In the War, the bdanoe In our 
 favor upon interest account is doubtless omfflderably above $500,- 
 000,000 per annum. 
 
 Transfer of ^^Invisihle'' Account Balance 
 
 What effect wiU this shift of the balance d payments m the 
 "invisible" account have upon our foreign trade? How many people 
 have realized that there is a relationship between the two classes of 
 payments, or that they have influence upon each other? And yet a 
 moment's lefleclion will show that the payments and receipts of a 
 country in Inteniational relations must balance in the aggregate. 
 Nothing is given away. Eagw as everybody is tor trade, nobody 
 wants to sell unless he recwves in some f«m what he considen an 
 equivalent; and a country which is a debtor on caintal account 
 must not only pay for all the goods it imports but keep up its intorest 
 payments besides. It follows, therefore, that a borrowing country 
 nonnafly exports more commodities than it imports and that a lend- 
 ing country normally mqports more than it exports. "NormaUy" 
 m this case means "in the long run" and without taking account of 
 new lending operations. 
 
 In the past it was necessary for the United States to have a 
 trade balance erf approximatdy 1500,000,000 per year in order to 
 pay the charges accruing against tt abroad; but m the future it will 
 be necessary for the United States to have a balance <rf perhaps an 
 equal amount in its favor in order to collect the interest running in 
 its favor and against other countries. 
 
 BAtm Countvy Most Have FvfonhU Trade Balance 
 
 This may sound to some people Uke a startUng and even alarm- 
 ing change. Our own history has accustomed us to thinking that we 
 must have a trade balance in our favor in order to be in a sound 
 and prosperous conditicm, but that was true because we were in a 
 debtor portion. We had to have an excess of eiqporte over imports 
 sufficient to meet the other diarges In the account against us, or we 
 
 had to settle the difference in gold or securities, and if gold was with- 
 drawn from our bank reserves for the purpose it meant a contraction 
 of credit, a check to enterprise and probably a period of falling 
 prices and business depression. Our beUef in the necessity for a 
 favorable trade balance has been based upon our own experience 
 that good times came with the trade balance and that bed times 
 came when the balance turned agaimt us, but we must now ccm- 
 sider that our position is reversed, that our own requirements are 
 reversed, and that the countries which are now debtor to us need 
 to have the favorable trade balance for the same reason that we 
 formerly required it. It is in the interest of both sides that the 
 debtor country shall have the favorable trade balance, because that 
 is the only ccmdition under which it can meet its didigations. 
 
 Europe's Debt to Us Cannot Be Settled in Gold 
 
 As BETWEEN individuals there are only three ways in which a 
 settlement can be made. You pay in cash, or you pay in trade, or 
 you give your note, which of course is not a fined settlement, but a 
 postponement to a more convenient time. As between nations the 
 situation is just the same. You pay in gold, which is the cash of 
 international transactimis, or you pay in trade, you pay in securi- 
 ties which are evidence erf continuing obligations. Now, we know 
 Uiat toi&ga countries will not be able to pay us in gold, for the total 
 production of gold in the world outside of the United States is less 
 than $400,000,000 per year, and even if the debtor countries were 
 able to send us considerable sums in gold, the effect would be to 
 cause a further inflation of prices in this country, which would be 
 to our disadvantage in foreign trade and an injury to us at home. 
 It would be idle and unintdligent for us to meet in ccmv^ticms and 
 I^an to build up a great eaqport trade expettixig to collect tJie pro- 
 ceeds in gold. 
 
 We have done too much of this in the past. We have given all 
 our thought to exports, to sdling our products in other countries, 
 without considering how the foreign customers we are seeking will 
 be able to make payments for their purchases. That problem is 
 just as much ours as theirs, for they cannot solve it without our 
 help, and they cannot buy unless they are able to render reciprocal 
 services to us. 
 
THE FUNCTION OF IMPORTS 
 
 How a Foreign PiurdbaMr Makes Wm Pteyment 
 
 In normal times an exporter gives little attention to how a foreign 
 puicham will make payment. He turns his foreign drafts over to 
 bis bankw and gels credit for them, with scarcely a thought as to 
 the means by which these drafts are settled. He doesn't leaBie 
 that they are paid with the proceeds of foragn products coming mto 
 the country. The services of the banker relieve him of the necessity 
 of personally arrangirg the barter of his goods in foreign markets, 
 but fundamentaUy trade is barter and it must be thought of as such 
 to understand it. 
 
 Nothing but the disorganized state of industry m Europe and the 
 l^essing necessities of the world enable our exports to continue as 
 at present. They buy of us because there is no alternative. But the 
 woM will not remain forever in its present state. Gradually order 
 will be restored, producticm will be resumed and business will get 
 back to a competitiye basis. We must consider what our position 
 will be when that time comes. 
 
 *«FaTOff«Ue Ezdiaiige*' Really Unfavorable to Our Exporters 
 
 Wb have been accustomed to say that the exchanges are in our 
 favor when the dcdlar rates above the other currencies. They are 
 in our favor in the sense that for the moment we are selling more 
 than we are buying, and that the doUar holds the commanding 
 position in the markets d the world. They are in our favor for 
 buying purposes; they are m our fav» f<w imputing purposes, but 
 they are not in our favor for selling purposes. Ddlar drafts at a 
 premium mean that American goods cost more to foreign customers; 
 a premium upon doUar exchange is an obstacle to our export trade 
 which we will be compelled to reckon with. 
 
 The case of our neighbor, Canada, affords an opportunity to 
 study the effects of an unbalanced trade, and to observe the in- 
 fluences which naturally come into play to restore the balance. The 
 balance m favw <rf the United States in trade with Canada in three 
 years has averaged over 1300,000,000 per year. If the total of all 
 payments running each way were the same, the drafte drawn m 
 each country on the other would meet hi the dearing hcHises and 
 offset each other, and exchange would be at par. But with these 
 
 IN OUR FOREIGN TRADE 
 
 heavy balances running against Canada there is need for Canadians 
 to make greater payments in the United States than the credits 
 created by thdr exp(»rts wiH cover. 
 
 Canada has balances in her favor in trade with other countries, 
 but those countries also are in debt to the United States, so that 
 those balances cannot be used (at settlwent here. Under ordinary 
 omditions, the Canadian banks would ship gold, but the total 
 gdd reserves of Canada are not much above $200,000,000, and 
 the reserves might be drained entirely away. 
 
 Besalt of Canada's Demand Upmi Us 
 
 The situation is that there is a greater demand in Canada for 
 means of making settlements in the United States than can be 
 readily satisfied, with the result that exchange has beoi forced to a 
 premium. In the fall of 1918 the premium was about 2 p^ cent, 
 in the fli»ing of 1919 it was about 3 per cent, in the early fall <^ 
 1919 it was 4 per cent, in November it was 5 per cent, in January, 
 1920, it was 10 per cent and in February it was 15 per cent. This 
 premium is not fixed in the United States; it results from competi- 
 tion in Canada for the means of payment in the United States. 
 It is not a reflection upon the credit of Canadian traders; the Cana- 
 dian purchaser may have amgle funds with his own bankers to 
 make the paymoats. It is not a reflection upon Canadian bankm 
 or Canadian money. Canadian Government credit is not invc^ed 
 at fffi. It is not a situation caused by bankers or that can be remedied 
 by bankers. The situation arises from a state of one-sided trade, and 
 from the difficulty under such conditions of making payments in 
 another country and a different currency. 
 
 The premium is an open offer to anyone who will come forward 
 and provide means of payment in the United States. It amounts to 
 an inducement in the nature of a bounty for Canadians to export 
 products to the United States and sell the exchange thus created. 
 The Canadian paper and pulp manufacturers are makii^ a hand- 
 scmie additional fwdit on their sales in the United States by selling 
 their American drafts at a premium. 
 
 And while it oocourages eiqports from Canada to this country it 
 burdens and discourages eqpcnrts from this country to Canada. The 
 
THE FUNCTION OF IMPORTS 
 
 Canadian purchaser of Amerkan goods must pay the price in this 
 country and then pay a premium of 10 or 15 per cent to dytain the 
 
 means of payment. 
 
 Importance of Canada as Our Customer 
 
 Canada, among all countries, next to Great Britain, is the best 
 customer for American goods, but the Canadians cannot buy with- 
 out the means of paying. Our trade is being curtailed, partly by the 
 added cost resulting horn the exchange rates and partly by a dehb- 
 erate policy. There is public agitation m Canada agamst any pur- 
 chases in the United States except of goods that are mdispODsaUe, 
 and talk of an embargo. 
 
 Our eiporters are dealing with the situation as best they can. 
 Some of them are dividmg the cost of exchange with thdr Canadian 
 customers, some of them are accepting pay m Canadian funds, and 
 converting those funds into Canadian securities or other permanent 
 investments on that side of the Hne, which is all right if they can 
 spare the capital from their busmess. Others have abandoned the 
 Canadian trade. All of the fcxregmng expedients are of only tem- 
 porary vahie. If the balances omtinue to pile up, the exchange 
 situation mevitably will grow wme. There is no stopping pdnt 
 until the balances cease to accumulate. 
 
 I use the case <^ Canada as an illustraticm because the situation 
 there is clearly the result of an unbalanced trade. Exchange rates 
 with some of the countries of Europe are affected by inflated and 
 
 depreciated currencies, but while there is doubtless a degree <rf m- 
 flation in Canada we cannot say there is any more than in the United 
 States. The situation as to the two countries therefore affords a 
 clear demonstration of the effect of a one-sided trade upon exchange 
 rates and oi the vital part which exchange rates play m foreign trade. 
 
 Factors That Will Bring Our Foreign Trade into Balance 
 
 The plain truth is that if m our relations with the rest of the 
 world the balance of payments runs omtinually in our favor, both on 
 trade account and on interest account, exchange rates will rise 
 
 against us as the balances increase, discouraging exports and enoour- 
 agmg imports, until the t^ade is brought substantially mto balance. 
 
 IN OUR FOREIGN TRADE 
 
 Every situation like this brings a lot of people to the front with 
 remedies. There are proposals Ux an international currency, an 
 mtemational gdd reserve, an international clearing house, an inter- 
 national bank and far a Government foreign bank on our own 
 account. All of these proposals overlook the fundamental truth 
 that trade is essentially barter and in the long run must settle itself. 
 Grold is a convenient medium for settUng balances which run one 
 way for a few months and the other way for a few months, but 
 mtemational trade is on such a great scale that the amount of gold 
 available for payments is small in o(»nparisoii. Thare isn't gold 
 enough in all Europe to pay its adverse trade balance with 1^ 
 United States last year. Moreover, no country will allow its banking 
 reserves to be disturbed unduly. We ourselves would be as quick as 
 any to establish an embargo if our gold reserves were seriously 
 threatened. The plain fact is that in the nature of things trade must 
 be kept on the basb of barter; it must be brought into balance, 
 and high exchange rates are the natural and only effective means 
 a{ bringing it into balance. 
 
 A New Economic Situation 
 
 We are confronted then with a new economic situation, which we 
 ore bound to recognize. We must give attention as good mercheuits 
 to the conditions which con&ont our would-be customers and the 
 means which they possess for making paym^ts. The purchafflng 
 power of every country is in its own powars of productiim, and 
 unless it can use those powers and market the products of its in- 
 dustries, it will not be in position to pay or buy. The whole scheme 
 for which this Association is organized, the promotion of foreign 
 trade, might as well be abandoned, unless we are ready to consider 
 the development of real trade, the exchange of our products for the 
 products of other peoples. 
 
 It is a mistake for us to advocate foreign trade, as is sometimes 
 done, on the ground that we have so greatly increased our general 
 productive capacity that we cannot consume the output of our 
 industries. That is not true in a general s^ise, including all the in- 
 dustries. The people oi the United States oouM easily ccmsume a 
 volume <^ production equivalent to twice the present industrial 
 capacity of the country, provicted i»oduction was adjusted and 
 
THE FUNCTION OF IMPORTS 
 
 balanced to their wants. Everybody would like to have twice as 
 much house-foom, an autcmiobile, or two automobiles, and other 
 thmgs In keeping. There is no limit npcta oar ability to consume; 
 the limit is on our ability to {HToduce. But in some lines <^ i»oduction 
 
 we have developed our capacity beyond the demands of our people 
 for those products, and we want to exchange such products for other 
 things of which we are in need. We cannot dispose of them, or use 
 that industrial capacity, except on a basis of exchange. That is the 
 real situatioii as to foreign trade. 
 
 Proposal for Greater Liberality Toward ImporU 
 
 Now WHAT are we going to do about it? And, particularly, what 
 
 will be the attitude of associatwns like this, organised for the pro- 
 motion of foreign trade? The subject undoubtedly presents some 
 difficulties. A proposal to adopt a policy of greater liberality toward 
 imports than this country has maintamed habitually in the past 
 will run counter to the l(Mig-established views of many people, arouse 
 apprehensions and periiaps create scmie dissension even within the 
 Association itself, but the question must be dealt with, one way or 
 the other. An argument can be made for a policy of exclnsion and 
 isolation, keeping out all foreign products which are oompetitiye 
 in any degree with our own and restricting our exports correspond- 
 ingly; and another argument may be made in favor of a more Uberal 
 policy which will afford an importunity for a larger development of 
 trade on mutually advantageous lines; but no well-supported argu- 
 ment can be made in favor of trying to expand our exports without 
 increasing our impOTts. That is a waste <rf energy; it mMy canpot 
 be done. We must choose a consistent course. 
 
 America's Opportunity in World Markets 
 
 In my opinion it is inconceivable that the people of the United 
 States will adopt permanently a pohcy which lays all emphasis upon 
 being self-contained and whidb would restrict and handicap those in- 
 dustries which are able to compete in all markets, for the sake of other 
 industries which do not have like possibilities of growth. The largest 
 posdbifities for the country fie in the industries iduch can make thd^ 
 way in world markets. The genius of our people will not be satisfied 
 without a chance in the markets of the world. The facilities for travel 
 
 IN OUR FOREIGN TRADE 
 
 and transportation are such that it is inevitable that trade shall 
 reach across national boundaries, and it is favorable to national 
 efficiency and deivelopment and in the c(xnmon interest industrial 
 progress that this shall be the case. In saying tins, however, I am 
 not making a declaration in favor of any radical change from the 
 pohcy which is embodied in our laws today. Nothing should be done 
 that will change materially the position of the great essential indus- 
 tries of the country in which thousands of people are employed and 
 millions of ciqpital are invested. It is not desirable to unsettie these 
 industries, and to a great extmt they are quite secure in thdr own 
 strength. 
 
 Industry is undergoing constant changes, the volume of trade is 
 rapidly increasing, and if we are guided in the future by recognition 
 of the reciprocal nature of all permanent l^de it is not fikdy that 
 tariff changes materially affecting existing industries will need to 
 be made. 
 
 A Creditor to Europe — ^a Debtor to South America 
 
 We are in the debtor position on trade account toward South 
 America and Asia, and in a creditor position toward Europe, Africa 
 and the other countries of North America. Conditions are unfav- 
 orable to an expansion of our exports to Europe and Canada, but 
 favorable to such expansion in South American and Asia, providing 
 we continue to receive the products of the latter upon preset terms. 
 These products are mainly foodstuffs and raw materials whkh are 
 required in our industries and they come into competition with our 
 own products only in the sense that the domestic supply is insuffi- 
 cient to meet our wants. Wool and hides are examples of these 
 products. There is no reason to beUeve that the domestic supply 
 of these commodities can be made equal to our needs, and that bdng 
 true it follows that any charges whidi may be laid upon our importa- 
 tkm will raise the levd €i costs for our mtm consumpticm, and 
 tend to put the industries dep^dent upon these materials at a 
 disadvantage in competition with foreign rivals. 
 
 Receiving Raw Materials on Free Basis 
 
 The general level of prices for foodstuffs and raw materials has 
 risen so much all over the world that there seems to be no occasion 
 
THE FUNCTION OF IMPORTS 
 
 for ralsmg them higher in this country by artificial means. The 
 groat rise of fanning land values in this country in the last twenty 
 years Indicates that the prices of fann {Kroducts have been gen- 
 erally on a rOTunerative basis. Although they may dedine to 
 some extent, it is generally agreed that they will not fefl to pre- 
 war prices. 
 
 We are now receiving foodsti^s and raw materials, which are the 
 
 principal products of South America and Aria, practically on a firee 
 basis, and it is in the interest of our export trade to those quarters 
 that this status should not be altered. These are hopeful fields 
 for an expansion of our exports, but they will not be if we 
 set up obstructions to the natural flow of their products to our 
 markets. 
 
 Any duties laid upon this class of imports will come back in full 
 measure upon the entire population and be a handicap to the ex- 
 porting industries which use them. 
 
 Maiket for Foraigii Invcatmciita 
 
 In conclusion, it should be said that the readjustments incidental 
 to our transition firom the conditions of a debtor country to those of 
 a creditor country may be greatly eased and facilitated by the 
 development m the United States of a market for tomga invest- 
 ments. It is understood that the interest runnmg on the outstandmg 
 obligations of foreign governments to the United States Government 
 will be funded for several years, and therefore will not in the mean- 
 time aflfect the exchange situation. If our people will take a lesson 
 fit«n the history of the upbuikiing of the great fc^gn trade of 
 Great Britain and Germany, they will take advantage of low ex- 
 change rates to secure permanent investmoits which will be h^pM 
 to trade in the future. Both of these countries have played a large- 
 part not only in the expansion of international commerce but in 
 the increase of world production, by supplying capital in the form 
 <rf industrial equipment for the countries of undeveloped natural 
 resources. They kept exchange rates from rising against them 
 by admitting freely the products of the countries where they 
 were building up their expwts and by re-investliig in part the in- 
 come derived from those countries for further expansioii of tlwtf 
 interests 
 
 IN OUR FOREIGN TRADE 
 
 National Prosperity in Balanced Trade 
 
 These are the polides whidi have Ivought success to the countries 
 that have preceded us in the devek^»n^t oi worid trade. They will 
 
 be practising the same methods in the future, studying the needs 
 and interests of the people whose trade they are seeking. We can 
 have success upon the same terms, but upon no other. In the long 
 run and taking the large view, the greatest prosperity for every 
 country is to be found in such a balanced and mutually-supporting 
 state intematioiial trade as stimulates indi^try and i^osperity 
 cverywhope. 
 
 This is a fundamental proposition which in its broad significance 
 cannot be controverted, but in the eagerness of individuals to sell 
 and amid the aiq[n^diensions which arise from vigorous competition, 
 the people of every country are i»one to overestimate the dangers 
 which threaten them from the competition of oth^ countries. It is 
 possible for one country, by reason of natural advantages or by 
 painstaking efforts, to obtain a dominant position in a single in- 
 dustry, but the same reasons which prevent a great one-sided trade in 
 favor of the United States likewise forbid such a trade in favor of any 
 other country. It is impossible for any country to mcnM^mlize the 
 trade of the world. Great foitain always ha& imported mare com- 
 modities than she expcnrted. Germany was increasing her foF&ga 
 trade rapidly, but for the five years preceding 1914 her imports 
 exceeded her exports. 
 
 Produetton li&e Measure of Buying Power 
 
 The people of no country can do more than work all the time, 
 and however efficient they may be in production they will not be 
 able on the whole to do any more than supply their own wants, 
 because their wants will develop as fast as their production, which 
 is the measure of their buying pow». It does not follow that they 
 win supply all thfflr own wants directly ; they never do that ; a country 
 naturally sends abroad a part of its producticm in exchange for the 
 production of other countries, but the population of every country 
 will gladly consume the equivalent of its own production, and in 
 the long run is bound to do so. 
 
 I have had finends express great ccmoem to me about the future 
 competition of different countries; scnnetimes it has been Great 
 
\ 
 
 T HE FUNCTION OF IMPORTS 
 
 Britain, wnnetimes it has been Garmany; sometimes it has been 
 Japan. Any of these countries may specialize in certain industries 
 and become fonnidaUa oompelHon in them, but nothing is more 
 certain than that noi» of these countries in any goieral sense can 
 
 crowd other countries out of industry. None of th«n in the long run 
 will sell any more than it buys or make in the aggregate any more 
 commodities than it consumes. None of them will make goods for 
 other countries without wanting something in return. 
 
 Bogey td **Cheap Japanese LaW 
 
 Japan is sometimes mentioned as a threatening competitor be- 
 cause of the low wage rates prevailing there, but wages are low in 
 Japan because the madune equii«ient of the country has been small 
 and the productive capacity of the country has been small. Japan 
 can hardly produce enough to satisfy the growing wants oi her own 
 people. Their consumption and their wants will keep pace with 
 any increase in productive capacity that they can accomplish. 
 Their imports grow as fast as their exports, and so it is everywhere. 
 
 One of the grievances alleged against the labor organizations is 
 that they sometimes limit the output, acting upon the theory that 
 there is only a limited amount of work to be done, and that it is to 
 then* interest to make it go as far and pay as much in wages as pos- 
 sil^. Every such conception of industry and business is funda- 
 mentally wrong. There is no Umit to the amount of w<Nrk to be done 
 or the amount of busine^ to be had, because there is no limit to 
 the amount of wealth that may be mated from the natural resouroes 
 or to the consumptive demands of the world's popidaticm. 
 
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