Import control?

Title

Import control?

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XXIV (No. 12) December 1948

Year

1948

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

Editorial

Fulltext

Editorials “... to promote the general welfare” Truman’s Thanksgiving Day Procla mation It would be instructive and inspiring to read through a collection of the Thanksgiving Day pro clamations issued in America, first by some of the early colonial gover nors and in later years by the Pres idents of the United States and the Governors of the different States, be ginning with that first proclamation of the wise Gov ernor William Bradford in Plymouth Colony after the first harvest in 1621. Taken together they would afford us a general ized and spiritualized and deeply solemn review of the vicissitudes through which the people of the United States have passed, covering periods of peace and war, of want and plenty, of ease and distress, of confidence and hesitation, of toil and strife and per il, and glorious vindication. And through all these documents we would discern that there runs, like a golden thread, that accent of faith,—faith in God, in destiny, in life, faith in man. President Truman’s proclamation of last month was one such as the head of no other nation could have issued. But only briefly he referred to the richness of the country’s blessings, and then not only to its bountiful harvests and abundant production of goods, but to its undiminished spiritual endowments, and he immediately went on to say that these re sources have permitted America to aid the needy and helpless of other lands. He also declared that America was privileged to participate in international efforts to advance human welfare, and that it is profoundly grateful for the existence of an international forum (the United Na tions) where differences among nations may be sub mitted to world opinion with a view to harmonious adjustment (not with a view to self-justifieation). • He prayed for^wisdom in the nation’s jpiw" to the problems which confront it, coupling i supplication the statement that it believt i iu T.\_/dignity of man and his right to guard nu h £_.its himself and for other peo-i- the e* . That was for Stalin and Company. In closing he called upon the American people to continue to render generous assistance to the hun gry and homeless of other lands, “thus renewing our devotion to the cause of good-will among men.” ^That is the spirit of a people who today are burdened with a public debt which in 1946 reached a level equal to over $7,000 for every family in the country, now reduced to $6,303, but still about twice the whole annual income of a typical family. But they do not despair and do not tire of well-doing be cause they believe in God, in themselves, and in their fellow men. It was rumored last month in business circles that President Quirino would issue an executive or der on or about November 15, to beImport come effective January 1 of next Control? year, instituting the so-called luxury import control system which he is authorized to establish under Republic Act No. 330. The fact that at this writing,—early December, sucl^an order has not yet been issued, is giving rise to speculation and to a hope that the Presiderirmay be hesitating as to the wisdom of the step and that he may finally decide against taking'it at all. Though so short a delay*-if a dblay*it;is, would by itself hardly justify this hope, there is otherwise plenty of reason to think that a chief executive who has the kn^-dge of economics which the President has, migjZX^J-^i' to such a decision. And if, apart M't uuZess of the decision, technical grounds je these could easily be found in the highly ■tful v .stitutionality of Act' No. 330. ^Tity granted the President under the ;erm’n._-cs^ in any event, at the end of next year, ? Although this period uf what is now practically 'tone year cohid of course be extended by Con J’s, there is no certainty that it would do st. The country would probably tire very quickly of import control if it is not actually opposed to it already. There never was any public demand for the measure, and the artificial shortages and the further rises in prices to which it would lead, would certainly not be popular. The people’s feeling in regard to this might make itself felt in the elections. Even if we thought the best of import control, what would be the sense in setting up intricate and expensive bureaucratic machinery for the purpose of this control, for the sake of what little if any good that might come of it within the brief period of a year ? However, this Journal and the business commun ity as a whole has held from the first that no good would come of such control and that, on the contrary, it would do the Philippines much harm. This is all the more true as the terms “luxury” and “non-essen tial” are not defined in the law and as it developed that the advisory Import Control Board included un der these heads many articles which are not generally regarded as luxury or non-essential goods. Our accepted system of economic enterprise is a dynamic and self-regulating system to which extensive government controls are unnatural and abnormal. Im port controls are generally resorted to only in excep tional times, if then, as a physician resorts to glandu lar therapy when a dangerous imbalance exists in a patient. As Mr. Most said in his article in last month’s Journal: “Import control is strong medicine and one taken only by a sick country”. There is no real lack of balance in our foreign trade and the fact that our visible imports have ex ceeded our exports since the war is entirely natural', even fortunate, as we have pointed out in past issues of the Journal. Equally natural and satisfactory is the fact that our exports have been rapidly increas ing and our imports proportionately decreasing. A more even balance as between the visible imports and exports will come of itself in due time. An arbitrary reduction in certain imports is neither necessary nor would it be healthful. The Philippines is not a sick country, at least in this respect, but the import con trol medicine would make it sick. The projected import control would be most un wise for various reasons which we have pointed out from time to time, but principally so because it is al ways dangerous to tamper with the great and power ful and beneficial economic laws of supply and de mand which give our system of individual free en terprise its dynamic impulsion. The whole of the economic energies of a country are normally devoted to increasing production and in creasing domestic and foreign trade. It is from that that advancement and prosperity spring. How truly mad it is to seek to retard, check, and block this en ergy and impetus in any way instead of giving it every encouragement. Checking exports is like holding a man back from his work. Checking imports, even socalled luxuries and non-essentials (rarely really ao), is like reducing a man’s diet and taking away from him other things he needs for his work and living. The whole “idea” of economic enterprise is more', more of every good thing; not less. Dr. Frank Waring, Chairman of the War Dam age Commission, recently returned from a visit to the United States, delivered his remarks Dr. Waring’s to the Advertising Club of the PhilWarning ippines too late, unfortunately, for their publication in this issue of the Journal. We wish, therefore, to call our readers’ at tention to their publication in full in the Manila Daily Bulletin for December 7 and also to an editorial in the same issue, commenting on Dr. Waring’s remarks, entitled “Fair Warning”. Among other things Dr. Waring said, was the following: “While in the United States, I talked with officials of three large reputable and responsible American firms. Inde pendently, these officials told me that their firms had consi dered the possibility of establishing sizeable branch plants in the Philippines with the intention of not only serving the do mestic market, but also of utilizing Manila as a distributing center for the Far East. In each case these firms have de cided against the proposal, and, although I argued to the best of my ability, pointing out the economic opportunities, they remained obdurate.’’ Earlier in his speech, Dr. Waring had said: “In a previous talk referring to American investors, I said, ‘these bankers and business men believed that, in addi tion to favorable opportunities, investors would require a favor able political climate in which the seeds that they sow could prosper and yield a mutually beneficial harvest’. "And what is the political climate today? Upon my re cent return from the United States I found public statements by three friends of mine which have caused me concern and given me food for thought. One spoke of the necessity of ‘economic self-sufficiency’. Another referred in complimen tary terms to the encouragement of ‘economic protectionism’. A third stated that ‘we are determined to wrest the bulk of our trade from alien hands’. And in the October issue of the journal of the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines there appears an editorial and an extensive article urging the re vival of the National Economic Protectionism Association... “Economic protectionism has an unfortunate connotation to those who might consider investments abroad. It usually means uneconomic interference with the normal and profit able channels of trade...” Dr. Waring stated that he concurs with the views on import control which the Advertising Club recent ly expressed in a letter to the Secretary of Commerce. “It would seem”, he said— “that it would be unnecessary to impose quota restraints upon imports if attention were given to the expansion of exports and the establishment of industries for domestic consumption which, if soundly conceived, would reduce the demand for imports. Should it nevertheless be deemed wise and expe dient to reduce the volume of imports of luxury goods, this could be accomplished by the imposition of internal excise taxes. If this were done, imports would be decreased because of the higher costs and, to the extent that these luxury goods were sold, government revenues would be enhanced. Moreover, the advantages of free competition would still be maintained and the government would not be placed in the embarrassing position of attempting to determine what firms would be per mitted to remain in business under a quota system. You may be interested to know that your views are shared by the members of the Philippine Committee of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce before whom I spoke last month.... ” As to Dr. Waring’s speech, the Bulletin stated, in part: . ■ “It was not a political speech. It contained no platitudes, bu flowery and meaningless compliments, and was not in tended to gain wide popular approval. But it would take a •purposeful twisting of the presented facts and a deliberate •misrepresentation of the speaker’s attitude to interpret it as 425

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