"There is potash in plenty in the great Republic, especially in the alkali lakes of Nebraska and Southern California. Potash is now obtained from the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and from the vast kelp beds of the Pacific coast. American chemists are also extracting potash (by the Cottrell process) from the dust of cement-kilns and blast-furnaces. So the German monopoly will pass, and many others with it. America will produce her own dyes and optical instruments, though I may not linger on the details of this supplanting. "American genius has long been busy with these things; another year or two will see her wholly independent of German supplies. The potash monopoly--from the mines of Stassfurt in Saxony--was undeniably a problem; there are still richer sources in Alsace, as we all know Germany's resolve to hold that province through thick and thin. America needs 500,000 tons of potash every year, for the sandy soils of the Atlantic seaboard, and also for the citrus fruits of Florida, the tobacco of Georgia and the Carolinas, the potatoes and garden produce of Maryland." SHUTTING OFF GERMAN TRADE Pessimistic anticipations of German statesmen regarding the curtailing of German trade were realized when the War Trade Board in the United States began to deal with the question of American exports to neutrals. The report of the Board, published in 1918, contains the following passage: "Neutral exports of foodstuffs to the Central Powers have declined from last year's corresponding exports in amounts estimated at from 65 to 85 per cent., depending on the neutral, and there has been a decrease in the export of many other important commodities. "In November, 1917, we became party to Great Britain's tentative agreement with Norway, as a result of which action on our part 1,400,000 tons dead-weight of Norwegian shipping were chartered into the service of the United States and Great Britain for the period of the war. Shortly following, temporary agreements were concluded with Holland and with Sweden. That with Holland gives us the use, for periods up to 90 days, of 450,000 tons dead-weight of her shipping which had heretofore, for a long period, lain idle. The agreement with Sweden gives us the use for three months of tonnage estimated at 250,000 tons dead-weight which had not theretofore been employed in services useful to us.