United States International Trade A Bird's-Eye View of Our Export Trade, As Seen by a Banker. By RICHARD S. HAWES President, American Bankers' Association and Vice-President, First National Bank of St. Louis The following is taken from an address by Mr. Hawes, December 19, 1919, before the Annual Sales Convention of the Meyer Brothers Drug Co., at the Planters Hotel, St. Louis: The Drug Trade Concerned in Export Conditions "Something I consider pertinent to the welfare of you, gentlemen, as salesmen is our international trade. I am deeply concerned in that as a banker and you are deeply concerned in it as a salesman. "Few of you realize, I think, that unless the avenue of international trade is kept open, unless we are able to sell our surplus production, a natural dam will be made which will stop the flow of commerce and production in this country. What has happened in the last six months in this country came because of the enormous trade of the European nations here and the lack of gold in the European nations. When Richard S. Hawes Says We Must Erase the Radical Element From Our Midst you realize America has about 50 per cent of the gold of the world, you can understand our very strong position in the gold supply. "Inflation of paper money not secured by gold reserve and the lack of gold made it absolutely impos sible for the European nations to maintain the standard of their money in this country. We have seen a great nation like Britain have its exchange go down from $4.85 to $3.67. Think of it-25 per cent decline. Now, you realize that whenever a Briton buys some drugs from you, gentlemen, he has got first to pay your profit, then he has to pay the enormous freight, and then he has to pay 25 per cent more in exchange. I have heard it said that in cotton alone the price of exchange has brought the price of cotton from 40 cents to 75 cents per pound to the consumer in Britain. Think of that, and what it means and will mean within a six months' period unless the financiers of America find a way of changing that status. The Bankers Looking for a Workable Plan "We purpose to meet the first of the month to devise ways and means of establishing European trade in this country, and also to bring into the avenue of commerce the investing of you and I in foreign securities. The people of America have got to help solve this international question. It is a question of finance. "I have told you about the condition of the banks. The credit isn't available in the banks. We must go back to the people again by methods which we will devise. I hope in a very short while to see a system of foreign securities which will bring the scale of exchange up to about even. "With this thought I would like to have you, gentlemen, carry away with you the thought that if the exchange question is not adjusted within a reasonable number of months, I personally predict you will see a reduction in the production of this country of fully 25 to 35 per cent; and when you reduce the production of this country you reduce the purchasing power of your citizens just to that extent, so we must find the means of financing the international trade. Help Yourself Get up in the world by steady saving. The safe and easy way to do this is to buy War Savings Stamps on every pay day. They are always worth more than you paid for them. Put larger sums into Treasury Savings Certificates or Liberty Bonds. Ask how at any banking institution. Drugs and Narcotics Not Synonymous Newspapers somehow have gotten into the lamentable custom of using the word "drugs" when a pharmacist would say "narcotics." This leads to headlines of startling and misleading nature. The arrest and prosecution of illegitimate narcotic dealers is frequently reported in a way that would indicate that the culprits are druggists. Our readers should explain the situation to the editors of local papers. The narcotic peddlers are bringing reproach on the good name of pharmacy. Is Pharmacy According to Professor Charles H. Your Hobby? La Wall, pharmacy holds its own in spite of commercialism and other handicaps because so many in the calling find pharmacy answers the purpose of a hobby as well as being an occupation of interest. Pharmacy presents an opportunity for service to one's fellow man. It also affords mental development through the acquisition of knowledge. The old saying, "Once a druggist, always a druggist," is explained by the proposition that pharmacy is really a hobby for those who become initiated into the higher degrees. A hobby may, through force of circumstances, be forsaken but it is never forgotten. Salesmen Convention Side Lights The Meyer Druggist Artist Was In Attendance THE MEYER DRUG EXPOSITION The Master Hand Behind the Scene While each exhibit was the work of a buyer in that particular department, the general scheme of the display was the work of a committee, with Henry L. Hudson, Ph.G., chairman, and J. A. Stafford, J. M. Gale, and E. F. Helbig, associates. Mr. Hudson, buyer of stationery, cameras, and leather goods, is also an experienced retail druggist, who has constantly kept in touch with the retail trade to which he now gives service as a buyer for the largest wholesale drug house in the world. With One Hundred Real Live, Hustling Salesmen, All Pulling for Service to the Retail Trade Business Conditions in General Druggists Should Help Restore Industrial and Financial Equilibrium The drug business cannot be conducted apart from business conditions in general. The anxious nature of industrial and financial affairs comes home to the druggist as forcibly as in any other calling. The drug trade, with its various branches, possesses and maintains a special sense of equilibrium, as was demonstrated during the World War. Now, in this reconstruction period it seems to remain for the druggist to not only desist from rocking the boat but to exercise a sane influence on those who are resorting to dramatic theories and dangerous threats. Public opinion crystallizes slowly. The drug trade is in a position to materially help in the formation of clear, clean-cut crystallization of a stable form. Meantime do not forget that you are a pharmacist and that your calling comes as close to life and death as that of the physician. Serve the public as a pharmacist and, above all, maintain the dignity of the honorable calling. The review of general business which follows is based on a report issued by the Federal Bank of St. Louis and maintains particularly for conditions in Federal Reserve District No. 8. show an aggregate increase since November 14 of approximately $12,000,000 for the thirty-five reporting banks in this district. Manufacturing Increasing A few plants, such as those manufacturing glass and clay products, were compelled to shut down on account of the fuel shortage. These are exceptional cases, however, and most factories managed in one way or another to meet the difficulty. Restricted train schedules, which resulted in some freight congestion, were perhaps the most serious element in the situation. Manufacturers of boots and shoes say their business is steady. As has been the case for the past several months, they have larger orders on hand for future delivery than they have ever had before. The demand is still strong for certain classes of goods, though many dealers are pretty well stocked up. Clothing manufacturers say their orders are very large, some stating that the demand for futures exceeds normal. November business was about on a par with that in October. Firms anticipate a good business in 1920. There are still complaints of a shortage of skilled labor. Due to building activity and to the accumulated demand resulting from curtailed production during the coal strike, manufacturers of clay products say they have orders on hand to run them from sixty to ninety days. ་ Manufacturers of electrical supplies say their business was in some cases as much as 100 per cent beyond that in November last year and 50 per cent ahead of last month's. There is an exceptionally good demand for all kinds of electrical specialties. Production is hampered, in a measure, by inability to get raw materials. Execute Your Dreams Good thoughts are no better than good dreams unless they be executed.-[Emerson. Forgetfulness This is a serious fault. Important matters are often overlooked and the excuse is "I forgot." It doesn't pay to forget, because it leaves a bad impression as to reliability and dependability. Those who continually forget are not to be trusted in important matters. It may mean the loss of thousands of dollars. And yet the one that will come out truthfully and acknowledges the fault, instead of inventing excuses to cover it, is entitled to another chance. Promises are easily made and quite often quickly forgotten by the makerbut not by others. "When the Devil was sick, the Devil a monk would be; When the Devil was well, the Devil a monk was he." The person who expects to retain the friendship and confidence of those with whom he may be associated, either in a business or social way, must not forget. If for any reason matters cannot be attended to or promises kept, a proper explanation must be given before it is asked for. In business it is especially necessary that nothing important be forgotten. There is too much involved. For that reason certain methods are employed to overcome the possibility of lapse of memory. Records are kept that if followed leaves nothing to chance. With all the precautions taken and the systems installed it will prove ineffectual unless they are properly followed. It is comparatively easy to arrange a system that will answer every purpose if properly carried out. It is difficult to install a system that is absolutely fool proof. No one should trust entirely to memory. It plays strange pranks. Make a memorandum of important matters and keep it before you until disposed of. That is the only safe and sane way to insure against Forgetfulness. The only things that it is safe to forget are the bad-those that the sooner forgotten the better. Everything good should be impressed upon the memory and frequently each proves of great future value. Without a good memory knowledge gained by experience may not be available at the right time. FORGETFULNESS IS DANGEROUS. Struly F. Simpson Assistant Manager, Meyer Brothers Drug Co. |