The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1879-01-18
OURI0sITIEs OF THE AMERICAN
EXPORT TRADE.

These are, lack Of means Of transportation, |
high rates Of interest on capital, high rates
of marine insurance, carelessness in pack |
ing, waste Of material in manufacturing, |
aud an omission to make concessions 10 |
the local prejudices of outside barbarians
A good time will probably come when
these will all be removed, and then adieu
to communism, pauperism, half-time, over
production, aud all the other real or imag- |
mary evils of the day. Subsidies to steam
ship lines will be regarded with contempt,
and many other incredible things from the
present point Of view win come to pass.
Meantime, Yankee pluck, even with all
the odds above mentioned against it, is
making gallant race, and is fast closing
upon its antagonists. This is especially
true of the past few years-since 1875.
Taking the figures Of 1s75.6-7 as a ba-
sis, we have advanced at the rate Of &c.
000,0 900 in two years. Our exports to-day
are more than double those of 1860, in
which year there was very heavy export
trade, the one article Of cotton alone a.
mounting to over 500 900, 900, more than
twice the cotton export of 1855. In the
fiscal year ending June 80, 1873, the in
crease over 1877 was nearly s65, 900, 900,
or about l l per cent, and this notwith-
standing the greatly lessened demand for
war material consequent upon the cessa-
tion Of hostilities abroad.
The possibilities of the future are enor-
nous. To say that our progress promises
to equal that of the past three years is to
claim too little. The least we may look
for will be an expansion on the compound
interest plan.
Our dry goods are superior to those of
England, and are preferred wherever they
are entered into direct competition with
them. Not to put too fine point upon
it, English cotton goods are composed of
ono part cotton and three parts clay or
other filling, while those manufactured
here are without make-weight Of any kind.
American iron is naturally of three or four
times the tenacity of English iron, and 50
on TO the end Of the list.
In variety or excellence of raw material,
no country on the face of the globe can
begin to compete with us. European me-
chanics bear no comparison in skill or in-
/ telllgence WIN ours.
An American will turn out four times
the quantity Of work that German or an
Englishman will in the same time, and he
will do it much better. Wages and the
price of living have become so reduced on
this side Of the ocean that in many instan-
ces they are lower than in Europe. We
have the aid Of an unlimited variety Of
labor saving machinery, great deal of
which is not known abroad, and nearly all
in use there has been imported from this
country.
A German gentleman informed the wri-
ter that, recently wishing to establish
branch house in his native city, Berlin, he
employed the carpenter who has the pa
tronnge of the court, and is therefore sup
posed to be OF unexceptionable skill, to
put up for him wood and glass partition
similar to those used in counting houses
iu this country. The job occuried six
weeks, whereas here six days would have
been sufficient. All the mouldings had to
be made by hand with clumsy, old-fash-
ioned tools, and the workmen seemed to
be mere machines running in a groove,
aud ambitious only to accomplish as little
in given time as possible.
An American lady in Vienna, in hur-
ry to catch train, went into a saddlers
shop-trunk stores are unknown there
to order strap for her trunk. She was
told that it could not be made in less than
day. In New York, supposing there
were none in stock, special machine
would have turned it out in two minutes.
Incidents might be multiplied indefinitely
to illustrate this branch Of the subject
Every American who has ever travelled
abroad can furnish several from his per-
sonal experience. Should proof be needed
that all that has been said is true, it may
be found in abundance in the columns Of
the English newspapers. These are filled
with complaints of American competition
and consequent loss of home trade. One
paper-the British Mail-tells Of house
in Birmingham which Is manufacturing
yankee pattern household sundries, such
as egg-whisks, nutmeg-graters, etc., and
placing them on the market as American
goods. In another we learn that several
extensive paddock makers in the South
Staffordshire district are "busy at work on
an order for padlocks made upon favor
itc United States pattern" and American
manufacturers are warned to Immediately
, register their trademarks in Great Britain
under the new treaty. Could any palmer
acknowledgment Of defeat be given than
this2
la all American exports-including
breadstufs s--since the foundation of the
Republic, three commodities have stood
forth prominent in amount and value
cotton, tobacco and cheese, and of these
cotton has been king Yet will ii be be-
lieved that in 1884 an American ship
which carried eight bags of cotton into
Liverpool was seized on the ground that
so much cotton could not be the product
of the United States2
In the fiscal year 1860, during which
the largest crop was raised and the great
est quantity was exported, 1867 $3.50, 1888
pounds were sent abroad, over l ,265 ,OOO,-
900 going to Great Britain.
Tobacco to the amount of 55 900 mounds