A BRIEF SURVEY

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 89, 12 October 1920, Page 3

A BRIEF SURVEY

t - SOME AMERICAN PROBLEMS i , TRADE AND EXCHANGE. \-. ■ J • Mr. E. J. Shackleford, who represents the Middleton (Ohio) Rolling Mills, in course of conversation with a representative of The Pogt had much that was interesting'to say. of the t United States, whence he.has just arrived. Speaking of conditions of the steel and iron trades, in which New Zealand is-much interested as a:i importer, he said that serious trouble had.resulted through the taking of all available railway wagons for the carriage of coal. This action was taken by the Government, which feared a, great coal shortage this winter. The output of the mines had fallen to an alarming degree, and it looked at one time as if the reduced coal output would end in disaster. Hence the Government's requisition of all suitable rolling stock for the., carriage of coal. Merchandise of all' other kinds had to give place, consequently there was very serious, dela} leading to the shutting down of many manufactories and some iron and steel plants with consequent unemployment. The Government's action too was further prompted by threatened strikes in the various coal mines. Conditions are now relieved; but American manufacturers would for some time be too busy to bother about export trade. There was a vast domestic demand yet to be satisfied. ( Labour troubles were not -infrequent in the iron and steel trades. There were none at the Middleton works. They got along very well together. The workers ' were mostly foreigners—Slovaks, Hungarians, Poles, and so on. These people were incapable of doing anything to help themselves; but if they were looked after and helped they responded readily enough. They would go to slums if slums were anywhere to go to.' At the Middleton works they were looked after, and decent houses provided for them ; also clubs and recreation facilities were | given to them. They would assimilate with the rest of the people if they were looked after in this way; .but they had no initiative of their own to do so. If they were left alone they would remain isolated.. Given favourable conditions these people would assimilate and become decent citizens. j, PRICES HOLDING UP. j Speaking of prices of iron and steel manufactures, Mr. Shackleford said he could nowhere ( discern signs of reduction. The exchange position admittedly made trading with Britain and the British Dominions difficult. For instance, the American manufacturer of certain steel and iron products under the present conversion rate could not compete with Britain in New Zealand. If the conversion rate in the United States was normal to-day, American goods landed in New Zealand would be practically £10, to £15 per ton cheaper than, present English prices. But this disparity did not much disturb the American manufacturer, who had all he could do to meet the present home demand, and only a few firms were concerned about their export trade. From commerce the conversation passed to the negro. This colour problem, Mr. Shackleford said, is becoming a very serious one. There were 13,000,000 coloured people in the United States. Many of them were educated and capable people. They resented very,much the drawing of the colour line. Their object is to eliminate that distinction. They claim equal rights all round. They want to mix and frateTiiise with the whites ; and they want to be considered as their equals in every respect,' not to be classed and treated'as "niggers." There,is a lot of trouble ahead for the United States before the problem can be considered solved. The South understood the position, but the North was slow to "do so. It is realising it now. The people, white and coloured!, W>H not ,mix. There are prejudices far deeper on the part of the whites than any statute will ever be able to remove. The South knew it well enough, but,until the migration vof the coloured people northwards and westwards set in the North did not know it and could not appreciate it. You now find the coloured man everywhere in the North. It is making the white people think long and deeply as to what to do about it, for mix they will not, cannot, with the coloured people. THE JAPANESE. , There was something the same in California with respect to the Japanese; The people of that State were genuinely j alarmed at the establishment of the^ Japanese as landowners and tradere. There was something more than commercial rivalry behind the objection to the Japanese. IV-*vas racial. The way it is done is smple. • A Japanese in California has what is called his "picture bride." She goes out to be married to him. They have children, and these children are by birth citizens of the United States. By virtue of this citizenship, although they ■are infants, they become' land-holders. This is legal. The parents or guardians are their trustees during the period of infancy ; but of course these parents are really the landowners, and so the thing. goea on. There is genuine alarm in California over this sort of thing, and it is not groundless. Thf Californiang may not admire all things Australian, but they do think Australia is to be admired for its consistent adherence to a "white" policy.