foreign markets. In proportion as our manufacturers catch up with the
domestic market, and in proportion as their knowledge of foreign
markets increases, it is likely that they will give more and more
attention to customers in other countries.

But though a very small proportion of our products are sent abroad,
the foreign trade of the United States exceeds in value the foreign
trade of any other country. This predominance is due, not so much to
our search for foreign markets, as to the steady demand in other
countries for three classes of goods in the production of which we
have a distinct advantage. These three classes of goods are, first,
raw materials of which we have a great abundance, such as cotton and
copper; second, specialties invented and patented by Americans, such
as inexpensive automobiles, typewriters, and phonographs; and, third,
commodities which may be advantageously produced by large-scale
methods, such as agricultural machinery and the cheaper grades of
textiles.

62. SUMMARY AND FORECAST.--We have very briefly surveyed some of the
basic facts of American industry. On the one hand, the favorable
location and the rich natural resources of the United States have
furnished a substantial basis for industrial progress. On the other
hand, we must note that the American people are energetic and
versatile,--combining, to a happy degree, the qualities of initiative
and originality, perseverance and adaptability. The great wealth and
prosperity of the country as a whole have been the result of the
combination of a favorable land and an able people.

This is not the whole of the story, of course. It must be admitted
that, with all of our wealth, we continue to face serious charges of