CHARACTER AND IMPORTANCE OF AMERICAN FOREIGN TRADE. 21

emphasize the increased demand of the factories for such supplies.
Thus, imports of crude rubber increased from $30,000,000 to $95,000,
000, hides and skins from $56,000,000 to $10,000,000, raw silk from
$44,000,000 to $81,000,000, tin from $21,000,000 to $47,000,000, and
wool from $19,000,000 to $32,000,000. Further industrial development
 will necessarily involve further increase in such imports and
at the same time will probably diminish the surplus of native raw
materials available for export. It is obvious, therefore, that in the
future the exports of finished factory products and of such raw or
semimanufactured materials as copper, cement, coal, etc., of which
the country has abundant supplies available, must be more largely
used to exchange for the needed products of other countries.
It is in such lines that cooperative action can be made most effective
 in export trade. As this report shows, there are formidable
combinations of foreign buyers or producers affecting international
trade in many of these commodities. Cooperation for export trade
among American producers is needed to enable them to deal effectively
 with these foreign combinations. Such action would probably
materially increase the profit in the export trade in such commodities.

SECTION 2. IMPORTANCE OF THE FOREIGN TRADE.

The activities of different portions of the country are so interwoven
 and interdependent that changes in the business of any one
section materially affect the prosperity of all the others. While
particular items of foreign trade directly affect particular sections
and interests, the indirect effects extend to all parts of the country.
Certain aspects of this condition are of particular importance.
Thus exports are required to pay for foreign capital, services, and
goods, irrespective of what locality utilizes the capital or enjoys the
services. Not only are exports important to the country as a means
of paying debts, but a further advantage is derived, not only by the
manufacturers but also by the public, through the broadening of
the market for the products of the country. In such respects as
these foreign trade is of great importance to the United States as a
whole.
Foreign capital.—Much of the country’s development has proceeded
 from the investment here of capital secured abroad. This
capital has gone into railroads, public utilities, farms, mines, and
industrial undertakings of all kinds. It is represented by stocks,
bonds, notes, and the direct ownership of properties. Estimates of
the amount of such investments here at the outbreak of the war
vary, but all authorities agree that the total was large. Thus early
in 1915 foreigners held approximately $2,700,000,000 par value of
American railway securities. On January 1, 1915, they were said to
hold $150,000,000 par value of United States Steel Corporation