Official Report of the National Foreign Trade Convention (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: NATIONAL FOREIGN TRADE CONVENTION Hotel Raleigh, Washington, D. C. OPENING SESSION Wednesday, May 27, 1914, 10 a. m. Mr. Alba B. Johnson presiding. The President: We shall be glad if all of those in the back of the room, and in the other room, will come forward as soon as possible, so that we can proceed with the meeting. I would like to ask those who are to read papers, and the Vice-Presidents of the Convention, if they will be good enough to come forward and take seats upon the platform? I wish to repeat the request which was just made, that the honorary Vice-Presidents of the Convention will be good enough to come forward and take their places upon the platform. I would like to extend the same invitation to the members of the General Committee. There are a number of reasons that make it a little important for the business men of our country to give special consideration at this time to a forward movement for increasing our export trade. Foremost among these reasons is the completion of the Panama Canal involving an expenditure of over four hundred millions of dollars and involving unprecedented achievements in engineering and in science. The completion of the Panama Canal involves also the rearrangement of a certain part of the business of this continent. To a lesser degree it further involves a rearrangement of the commerce of the globe. This country has borne the burden and the expense of its construction not wholly nor largely as aselfish matter personal to ourselves, but as a service to the entire civilized world. It is fitting, therefore, that we should, so far as it is in our power, take thoughtful measures to reap that part of the benefits of this great undertaking which belong to us as a nation. As a part of the preparation also for this great forward m...