Only once were the sessions held in this country - in September, 1912, at Boston, Massachusetts. Until the last three or four years of its existence, the International Congress was influenced largely by European business interests. Its main purposes were to promote in every way possible cordial relationships between the nations and to smooth the way for their commercial intercourse. Between the biennial meetings, the International Congress functioned through a permanent committee, though without permanent headquarters and a staff of workers. At the close of the war, the question was raised as to whether the International Congress should be revived or whether a new body better adapted to the existing economic conditions should be created to take its place. While this and general reconstruction problems of Europe were under consideration, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America called an International Trade Conference which met at Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the autumn of 1919, at which prominent business men from Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Italy conferred with representative delegates from the United States. It was at this conference that steps were taken which resulted ultimately in the formation of the International Chamber of Commerce, its organization meeting being held in June, 1920, at Paris. Purpose and membership. By reference to the constitution it appears that the purpose of the International Chamber of Commerce is to facilitate the commercial intercourse of countries, to secure harmony of action on all international questions affecting finance, industry, and commerce, to encourage progress, and to promote peace and cordial relations among countries and their citizens by the coöperation of business men and organizations devoted to the development of commerce and industry. There are two types of members, organization and associate members, belonging to the various countries which may be designated by the council of the International Chamber. Organization membership is open to national and local financial, industrial, and commercial organizations which are representative of the interests which they stand for and which are not conducted for personal profit or partisan purposes. Associate membership is available to corporations, firms, and individuals engaged in business whose organizations are eligible to membership. It is provided that a general meeting shall be held at least once in two years. Provisions are made for determining the number of delegates to such meetings that each organization member may appoint, and it appears that the governments of countries represented in the membership also may be asked to appoint delegates. The first general meeting of the International Chamber of Commerce was held in London in 1921. Between five and six hundred delegates were present from twenty-eight different countries, the United States leading with 268 representatives and Great Britain with 123. A number of resolutions were adopted at the conclusion of the congress which are given in full in a pamphlet issued from the international headquarters at Paris. Benefits to be derived from the International Chamber. Mr. John H. Fahey, who was chairman of the organization committee of the International Chamber of Commerce and who was formerly president of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, has stated: 1 A definite benefit to all the people of the world is to be derived from having a voluntary body, such as the International Chamber of Commerce, thoroughly representative of many nations, ready to discuss and adjust such important questions as finance, transportation, raw materials, production, shipping, unfair competition, and numerous other phases of international trade. 1 From an excellent article by Mr. Fahey entitled "The International Chamber of Commerce," published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. XCIV, No. 183, March, 1921. The International Chamber of Commerce is not a tradepromoting institution in the same sense as are the various American business men's organizations discussed in this chapter. The latter carry on their activities primarily in the interests of America's overseas business, and in recognition of the fact that there is competition in such trade, and that there is now and has been for centuries past a struggle between nations for commercial supremacy. The viewpoint of the International Chamber is wider than this in that it aims to put the world's international trading on a higher basis than that which has existed in the past. Summary. In all probability there are some of the opinion that the foregoing outline of our trade-promoting institutions and services does not embrace certain organizations whose activities are such as to merit their inclusion here; but no attempt has been made to make an exhaustive list. What has been said regarding such outstanding and typical organizations as have been referred to, however, should convey to the reader the impression that our government and business men alike are tremendously interested and active in the expansion of our foreign commerce, particularly the export trade. In this work there may be more or less duplication of effort; but what is being done is prompted by the belief that efforts directed along the lines indicated above sooner or later bring tangible results. Most people will probably admit, however, that it is very difficult to evaluate accurately the importance of this activity or that; and it may be that certain well-intended efforts to promote the export trade, though meeting with the unqualified approval of men with large business interests whose judgments merit respect, fail to accomplish their purpose because of the failure to recognize in full the fundamental principles upon which the trade of nations with each other is based. An attempt has been made to indicate these principles from time to time in the preceding chapters, and what already has been said need not be recounted here. All efforts to promote our foreign commerce on the part of our government or business men's organizations should be conducted in the light of these principles and in recognition of the sound doctrine uttered by that distinguished scholar, Professor Taussig, in his address' on "How to Promote Foreign Trade" delivered in April, 1918, at Chicago before the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, a short extract from which follows: The labor and capital which we put into our exported commodities serve to procure for us the imported commodities. That labor and that capital may be said with perfect accuracy to produce the imported commodities. In the same way, the labor which the Dakota farmers put into wheat growing procures for them, and may be said to produce for them, the shoes, iron, and sugar which they buy from New England and Pennsylvania and Colorado; and the labor which the New England operatives put into manufacturing boots and textiles procures for them- may be said to produce for them the wheat and flour which they buy. The prosperity of any one geographical group depends both upon its turning out a large quantity of the immediate products of labor and upon its exchanging those products for other products. Our foreign trade, our combined imports and exports, promote our prosperity as a people if we produce effectively and cheaply commodities which we export, and if we also exchange those exported commodities on advantageous terms for the imports. It is the firstnamed factor which is the more important: the gain which we secure from our foreign trade depends chiefly on the effectiveness with which we apply our labor to produce exports. And, finally, in our business dealings in the field of international commerce an enlightened consistent commercial policy on the part of our government is imperative; at no time in the history of the world has the need been greater than at present. 1 1 Published in Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 32, 1917-1918. See also another reference as given in footnote on p. 224. CHAPTER XIII THE PROMOTION OF FOREIGN TRADE IN GREAT General situation. At the beginning of the last chapter certain data regarding the rapid development of the foreign trade of the world in a period of about two decades preceding the outbreak of the World War were presented. This great expansion of international trade was marked by the growth of increasingly keen competition among the principal competing nations. To meet the competition encountered in foreign fields, no expedient that was regarded in the country in question as being beneficial to its trade was overlooked; a great variety of devices in the nature of trade-promoting machinery was resorted to. Not only were the three leading competitors - the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States -exerting themselves strenuously in undertaking to perfect their machinery for carrying on foreign trade, each in accordance with its national ideals, but the minor competitors also were giving considerable attention to the matter. Such was the general situation at the outbreak of the war. During the progress of the war, the nations involved came to realize, as never before, the real value of organization and coöperation in the accomplishment of a definite purpose. Furthermore, methods of organization, unpracticed before the war, came into use. Having learned to appreciate the importance of organization and coöperation when nations were at war, it was natural, when peace had been declared, that there should be carried over and applied to reconstruction problems the same principles and practices which had proved so effective in war times. Accordingly, in practically all of |