Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-07-31
lSi HORSES IN GERMANY
Obstacle Put i'm the Way of
Those Seeking Market.

United States Consul Keenan,, Bremen,
Germany, in the Consular Reports for
june" tells of the outlook for American
horses in Germany, as follows:
1.-THE Danish, Austrian and Russian
horses usually supplied this market with
work horses. The Austrian and Russian
horses being light, the Danish was the
only real competitor the American horse
had in northern Germany. Int the Ameri-
can are really prefa-ra1 by those who
use them, and are sought after before
any of the others. Buyers from Swc-
den purchase American horses in Bro
men and Hamburg.
I'm the beginning some of the Ameri-
can dealers were embarrassed because
the American horses had not been tried,
and it was consequently not known how
valuable they would prove to be. A
more serious difficulty, however, was
caused by the German dealers resorting
in many instances to formation of COM
bines' against the American dealer. An
example was shown in the case of an
American who shipped horses from Ham
burg to Leipsic. The dealers in Leipsic
who control the trade apparently agreed
to freeze out the American by seeing
to it that no more than nominal offers
were made for his horses. The horses
were taken from Leipsic to
Berlin, where the same operation was re-
peated with success. Another dealer from
Bremen shipped some horses to Leipsic
shortly after this. The same practice
was attempted with him, but more eau
tiously than with the previous dealer, for
the horses were really desired. Three
hundred marks apiece was the highest
offer made. but the American was a
positive man, and declared the horses
they could sell for something near their
market value, and thereupon began to
reload upon the cars for shipment back
to Bremen. Believing the American to
be in earnest the Le:psic dealers raised
their offer and bought the horses fer
| $50 marks (s17S.5O) apiece straight through,
| Some of these horses retailed afterwards
| in Leipsic for 400 marks ($333. 2O).
"A very little experience of this kind
soon demonstrated that It was not pos
sible for an American to sell horses to
advantage in Germany An American
can not retail at all. for the reason that
the German consumer will not buy from
him. The American dealers, consequent
ly, concluded to consign their stock tc
| Tic NeIIildH uedler, WHO IHdheS SURF
profit and runs no risks.
After the fact became established thai
the American horses were wanted and
that consumers were willing to pay from
1000 to 1000 marks ($238 to $476) for them
according to size and quality, the Ger
man dealers concluded they would i'm
port the horses themselves and take al
of the profits, which, they argued, mus
be great, for the reason that the horse:
could be bought in the United States "a
from $40 to $50 apiece. But. as may b,
imagined, their expectations were no
fully realized American dealers of ex
perience were able to buy and ship t.
better advantage than strangers coulC
do, although the German never meets
with similar obstacles in the United
States that the Americans do in Ger
many. The American dealers are, con
sequently, still in the business"