responsibility of the United States for the welfare of the Empire and probably
prevent injurious competetion in other parts of the world, it may well be gladly
accepted. It will be more difficult to regulate the competition between the
Dominions and the United States for the British market in certain primary
products. One of the necessities of the post-war arrangement may well be that
the United States should be put in a position of equality with the Dominions
in this respect.
16. More difficult will be the avoidance of indiscriminate competition in
exports to those parts of the world, and in those goods in which there is no
obvious advantage of transport to either country. The principal place where
such rivalry may occur is Latin America and the difficulty of coming to an
arrangement will be enhanced by the fear of the Latin American States that it
may be obtained at their expense. But the triangular trade between Latin
America, Europe and the United States is to the great advantage of all three
continents, and it is believed that this fact is becoming increasingly obvious
to the United States. In the Far East so much will have to be done in the way
of reconstruction that it may be hoped that methods can be found to share this
et between the two countries and Japan without undue competi
17. Many schemes have already been made for the regulation of international
trade and investment in the post-war period, but it is unlikely that these
will be accepted by either Britain or the United States except as a temporary
expedient. Only by revealing the advantages of such plans in a successful
experiment made for immediate necessities, could public opinion be induced to
accept them as a permanent organization.
Most likely of all to cause friction between the two countries is the
regulation of shipping after the war. For some little time there will be a
shortage of shipping space that some joint regulation will be almost
indispensable and during this period Britain will hardly be able to attempt to
regain her position in these routes she has abandoned because of the war. But
this position will not last for long and there will be a surplus of shipping
as there was after the last war. The United States will show a great reluctance
to abandon the advantages she has obtained owing to British preoccupation
elsewhere. There has been much evidence that public opinion in the United States
eady attaches considerable importance to the gains already m
18. These economic problems involve practically all the rest of the world
and cannot be solved without the cooperation of other countries. In the
immediate post-war