foreign trade. ♪ >> next on american history tv's railamerica, round-trip, the usa and world trade. in 1952 encyclopaedia britannica the 20thented by century fund. the film features a foreign trade skeptic who sets out to answer his concerns by interviewing workers, a scholar, locationsrialists in abroad and across the u.s.. this is about 20 minutes. ♪

>> what do you know? not on the titles and i am the guy who is best to go to fit -- supposed to get the

subject rolling. where should we began? oil. and that is a good start already. writing a freight along with that stuff is not the most comfortable way to see the country, but we will learn are more by taking a streamliner. >> [indiscernible] ♪ >> that was quite a trip.

i think we are going overseas. know about this foreign trade? i have heard a lot of evil asking visit do us any good, or is it just getting to the -- people asking does it do us any good, or is it just giving to the rest of the world? >> hey, what you doing here? find out trying to about foreign trade, and what is the point of it all? >> you have come to the right place. >> we take place -- stuff to where they need it. it is going to 25 different countries. it was of the railroad, they would not have any cargo. we get the general idea, but we would like to move around a bit and ask someone else around foreign trade. maybe we can speed to some of the people abroad who built that stuff on the flat cars.

perhaps there is someone on this train who can help us. he seems interested. excuse me, what is that foreign stuff doing here? are the united nations moving in? >> do you know the united nations people, sir? >> too many foreigners. >> i couldn't help overhearing your remarks. that foreign or thing, that bothers me. , when we took 18 bonds, you do not think of us as those foreigners then. pardon, but not all of us understand french. war, i guided bombers.

and now we need a material to keep them going again. >> exactly. had to call in a welding expert to fix her up a bit. she probably will not stay fixed. keep her hell together until that new one outside of your dining car window gets here 3-d canasta gets here. driver to't ask your hurry it up a bit, could you? >> if you know anything about machines, you would know it is a crime to turn down work on a machine like that. it needs new equipment. -- really i need appreciate it. >> we have to pay for it.

and the only way we can get the money is to sell some of our stuff to do. going toou americans feel when our boots turned up in your country? >> that doesn't sound so good to me. i mean, he needs a new machine, but i do not want to see some american lose his job. >> yes, but we have to import to. >> wait a minute. i am not going to be the fall guy on this deal. >> looks like we have to find out where we are. some of our friends up all -- a broad think we should send abroad the goods we need, but some of our friends at home are afraid the goods are going to compete with our own products. i think we have heard the arguments before. i think we need to call someone

and to give us the facts. this is dr. winfield. he is an economist with a lot of practical experience in foreign affairs. do you think you can help straighten this out on this, dr.? >> you're right, all this did happen up for -- before. it has been well documented. she'll be take a look at the record? for 1920.he figures thingat year, we have some a little more exciting. >> i have a film here that will make things much clearer. for 10 years after the first world war, there was a great demand for our products all over the world. this grumbled for world markets -- scramble for what markets -- world markets resulted in shortsighted thinking. some people reasoned that all we

had to do was get our products on ships and it was all guaranteed. we wanted our billion dollars, and the only way the other fellow was to get dollars was to sell us something or send us gold. point of view, everything was rosy, but from the other fella's point of view, everything was different. tarriff kicked in, other nations had to set us gold, but we were getting more than we could possibly use. in fact, we ended up with two world monetary supplies. >> i don't get it. >> that's just it.

nobody really got it. only the countries that had gold could buy freely from us. the others had to take the goods elsewhere. foreign trade dried up and this extension waited the worldwide depression. don't blame our depression on the lack of foreign trade. our foreign trade has always amounted to less than 10% of our total business. if you ask our friend paul hoffman, he will back me up. afraid you're wrong. the crippling of foreign trade was not the only factor of depression, but it was an important one. that 10%, that is an overall figure. in many industries, that figure runs much higher, and that extra production for exports is a very vital factor. it not only means more jobs, but also means lower cost for lower

prices for the whole market as well as the export market. if he says it's good it must be ok. wait a minute. what about all this manufacturing. is that setting our competitors up in business? of a lot of machinery to south america. what are they think about it? >> this worries me. these people are going to have so many factory they will not be buying from us anymore. all of these ships bringing in manufacturing equipment will be toing half of their trips sell to us. they're working for $.80 a day. the wages in our factories are much higher. do you think our people will not more cars, figures -- refrigerators, and radios? won't you makeut

everything you need in the future? thee can never compete in production industry. the more industrialized week become, the more our people will be able to buy. i will be wishing you and your ship mary bon voyage. people do not have dollars to pay us with. why should we spend out of the country without getting something useful in return? >> anything useful? i have been trying to explain this. you can't convince that guy by talking to him. why don't you find out more that shipment is going? we are not going to be your all-night you know. that was the quickest trip to cleveland i ever made. the intrusion,

but are you expecting a shipment from switzerland? >> is it here? --we thought eight miles an we thought a hundred miles away, why do you have to get it from switzerland? don't we make everything from we went -- in not.land? >> i'm afraid people that realize it, but a lot of our specialized equipment is made in europe. someof our life largest -- of our largest, most special, and most smallest. these chains, you will not find them made in america. the ones beside come from abroad. you look surprised. couldyour 10-year-old son list a lot more of these been you could at his age.

hey, where are you going? >> remove that coffee. it is from brazil and the oftleman does not approve foreign products. what is this, a silk neck time? -- necktie? way with it. are you away are the that watch came fromist switzerland? and that suit? i understand your embarrassment, but off with it. [laughter] >> you certainly get a job on him. it coming to him. there is something that bothers me. i know need -- other folks eat our stuff and i suppose we need some of theirs. but i do not know what happens when other folks growth -- grow

stuff cheaper than i can grow it. i want to be protected somehow. be selling my in your country, how can i buy your machinery? >> i don't want anyone to suffer, but how can i compete with someone who is only half the wages i get? how is that fair? where would we be if we started yelling about protective terrorists or your part of the country? it does not make sense. iffs for your tarr part of the country. how is that fair.

that does not make sense. ♪ >> that is pretty good. it is like us guys making automobiles. in england, the same assembly-line job pays about half what we get, but their cars cost twice as much. and i still don't know where that leaves me. >> let's let some sunlight in on our friends problem. and let's get some fresh air for

ourselves. >> you remember those walls. walls that some folks in farms and factories would like to keep along here. the protective industries are not the ones that contribute most to our protective american standard of living. it is not time you got around to me. i am the consumer, the one who has to pay for all of this protection. perhaps you can explain that. >> we are paying billions of dollars year for goods be produced more efficiently and cheaply abroad. those are the things we should make up our minds to import and efforts on our own

agricultural and industrial products we can turn out more efficiently then anyone else. there is a better chance for kids in an industry that stands on its own feet and is not propped up by subsidies, and that goes for agriculture as well. >> you mean i should grow some other crops? >> that is right. that is one thing our government can do. is justoseful thinking as necessary on an international scale. today, fortunately in the united nations, we have a fighting chance to bring order and common sense into our trade relations with other countries. here we are, right on the floor of the economic and social council. here is where we can see and hear better.

speaking french] >> i think there is a roughly this. we have now, with a platform that can flesh out the international trade wars. we have come a pretty long way from the time when countries have altered their trade forements with no regard the well-being of their neighbors. in fact, it seems to me that the peace and welfare of our world today will depend largely on the measure of their success. that must be our train. island that's to get to a clear track. there are a couple of things i wanted to say before i go. you know, we cannot dump all of our

problems and forget about them. we want to me that if to keep the wheels turning, we have to see that everybody dust can get a fair chance to stay in business. a fair chance to stay in business full --. ♪ announcer: you are watching american history tv, all weekend every weekend on c-span3. to join night conversation, did -- to join the conversation,

like us on facebook. next, historians and/or authors discuss the legacy of reconstruction. abrahamculate about lincoln's lands for the post-civil war period had he not been assassinated and discuss the effectiveness of programs put forward by his successors, johnson and grant. they also discussed the u.s. supreme court during reconstruction and draw parallels between the time and the civil rights movement today. the new york historical society hosted this 90-minute event. [applause] >> well, good morning, everyone. welcome. thank you for coming out on a rare, warm winter morning in new york.