The Portland daily press., 1891-10-21
JAPAN's WONDERFUL PRODUCTS.
we See None Of Them, Neither Tea.
silks, Porcelain Nor Tobacco.

lTokio Letter in Phadt Iphia Press7
Anele IS at present an earnest effort being
naue py Japanese manufacturers to encour-
age ana establish direct trade between
themselves ana dealers In the United Statas
Ii such thing can be established .nd
tnere Is no valid reason why it should not.
tneJapan's trade with America, both import
ana export, will be increased by many mil
lions OF dollars annually but more than this
tne people OF America will for the first time
nave tne opportunity of judging the merits
country. A"' away
The majority Of Americans have an idea.
no u0uDt. that apart frem tea and silk
Japanese merely manufacture pretty curio ms
PAPER rams, Dreakable tea-trays and fiimsy
s@cieens-ali artistic, b ut in no wise durable.
These are, however, by no means renresan.
latve Japanese industries, but are for the
nost part manufactured merely for export.
ana their use would be derided here. The
reason ior the demand for these fiimsy arti-
Iars ~ uue 10 the fact that Americans are
largely ignorant of the existence of a better
class OF goods. and also because of the sys-
teri OF agencies which now exists, that would
SO increase the price of reputable goods as
10 render them unstable.
II Is for this reason that Americans when
slpplng tea that comes from Japan, and I'M
aglne because 1t costs them 81 pound that
1t is good. are in reality drinking an Infusion
OF an artifcially colored article, costing
ABOUT II sen cents pound, end which
would pc regarded as almost unfit for use
mere. 1t is for this reason also that the
lacquer trays you get over there crack and
| get furnished so soon, the screens soon look
battered and the gold embroidery looks
The majority of Japanese goods bought by
the American purchaser are procured as fol-
lows: The manufacturer sells to some
| Japanese commission house, this firm sells
to the American commission dealer In one of
| the treaty ports: He sells to some commits
sion house In America. They sell to the
wholesaler. He sells to the retailer, and the
ultimate buyer gets the goods plus Tin most
lnstances) 90 to 100 per. cent commission.
Naturally superior articles, costing;an honest
figure, would be beyond the price of even the
liberal American purses when increased at
| this rate
The Japanese merchants are beginning to
realize that they are not fairly represented
In America, and are already anxiously look
Ing forward for speedy remedy. The COM
mission dealers In the treaty ports are equal
ly anxious that the native manufacturers
shall be entirely ignorant of the American
system OF business. But the change will
soon come, for the Japanese way of doing
business has been remodeled and is now
| practically the same as the American. Even
some of their banks have agencies in Amer
lea, notably the Yokohama Specie Bank in
New York. In this way drafts can be
drawn, credits established and the standing
| OF firms ascertalned without difficulty. Let
us for moment consider the improvement
such direct trade would make in the Ameri-
| can supply alone.
In the first place you would get true Jap
| anese tea from certain districts, and not an
aggl enumeration of all kinds under fancy
names scorched to death and colored with
Prussian blue and soapstone to make it
green. Then the textures and patterns of
silks made Tor home use are infinitely more
beautiful and of better quality than the ma
Jorlty OF the stock imported.
a store window full of these dainty goods
would create a Juror among the fair shoppers
OF Chestnut street.
The finer grades of porcelain are really
cheap, and could be sold in Philadelphia at
prices far less than French or English poTce-
lalns, while In some respects their beauty is
greater. Good japanese lacquer will not
crack or peel off. neither does it lose it 5
Drllliancy, but it will stand boiling hot wat
er and the hardest wear without injury
Little, If any, Of 1t Is seen outside of bric-a-
brac stores Ia America, while here 1t is put
to almost every conceivable use.
Among the Japanese goods that are prac-
LEGALLY unknown 70 Americans, and yet that
would meet with ready sale. are wall
| papers, especially the so-called ivory en-
| Dossed wallpaper, which can be scrubbed
with soap and water; their fine stationery,
Including the most delicate linen and parch-
Japanese cotton goods, which are artistic
and durable, divers household utensils
wonderfully cheap and very useful; tobacco,
the better brands of which surpass Turkish
tobacco In delicate flavor and aroma; cigar
cites of the same tobacco and packed in ar
tistlc packages-truly delightful smoke
and so on, Tor we might enumerate many
more articles.
Your utter ignorance of the better class OF
Japanese goods comes, therefore, from the
absence Of any direct intercourse between
the producers here and the consumers over
in America. Ii is to be trusted that now that
| the Japanese merchants are about to take
the initiative, that the wholesalers in Ameri
ca will be quick to make the best of the op
| portunity by responding promptly.