so closely identified with governments as to have much the same power. In matters of shipping, credits, exchange, tariffs, embargoes, and opportunity to acquire foreign reserves, the actual and potential disadvantage to American interests is obvious.
TENDENCIES TOWARD INTERNATIONAL COÖPERATION AND POSSIBILITY OF INTERNATIONAL CONTROL OF MINERALS
Under the pre-war conditions, unrestricted competition in world trade by private enterprise had led to a certain kind of internationalization of mineral deposits based on natural conditions of availability. There is a natural tendency to work back as quickly as possible to this condition, but new elements have entered which seem to make it difficult for governments to keep their hands off. The participation of governments in world mineral trade, when not modified by international coöperation or some other higher form of control, seems to be having a tendency in the opposite direction—to be closing the doors of equal opportunity and preventing the natural world use of the world's resources.
These new conditions, together with others outlined in the preceding section, have made it necessary to pay more attention to the possibilities of international coöperation than ever before,—not as a restrictive measure, except temporarily in regard to the Central European powers,—but as a means of insuring open channels of movement for raw materials, and of insuring equal economic opportunities to all. Many of our mineral industries have already appealed to our government for coöperation and aid in their international dealings. Further, mineral industries in private hands in the various Allied countries have attempted to get together to arrange for private coöperation, and appealed to the Peace Conference for authority to do so. In certain cases the necessity for coöperative action became so apparent that pressure was brought to bear on the Peace Conference for the forming of some sort of international economic body which would make possible some of these steps. These movements were all dictated by considerations of self-interest, but self-interest broadened and educated by a knowledge of the world's situation.