The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-03
FOREIGN MARKETS,

ship of the protection fetch it has long
| been evident that the prosperity of this
country must be dependent in the
future upon the extension of its mar
kets abroad, as we'll as at home. Plac-
ing protective legislation first and
foremost, as we always have, our for
eign market has had to depend solely
| upon the enterprise and push of Amer
| lean producers and manufacturers, not
only without Legislative assistance, but
directly in the face of legislative OBJ
struction. Every duty that Is placed
upon imports is, to greater or less
extent, a prohibition upon exports. In
! the broad and general course of trade
commodities are paid for with COM
modities, and the nation of which we
refuse to buy will not become our GUS
toner further than it's needs require.
Good business policy demands that we
devote our energies from this time on
to larger extent to the building up
Of foreign markets. We have reached
/ a point where, with or without pro-
|
longs to us. The need of protection"
in the strict and literal sense of that
| term is today a pretentiouS humbug.
The American manufacturer In almost
! any line of business cannot only COM
pete with all Corners in his own terri
tory, but is able to underseIl his foreign
competitors in their markets. For us
there waits an expansion of in
dustry, a renewal of activity in all
| lines and splendid increase of profits,
by establishing ourselves in the mar
kets Of Europe and of South Amer
lea, and taking away, as we certainly
can, by virtue of our superior re-
sources, the trade that now belongs to
England. Germany and France.
If this is true, as it is, with refer
ence to manufactured articles, it is
a thousand-fold truer when applied to
breadstuffs, produce and live stock
In an interesting interview in yes
terdays G o b e, Mr.. e. w. S. Tingle,
consul at Brunswick, Germany shows
how great an opportunity there is for
the American farmer. He points out
the fact that there exists, not only in
Germany but elsewhere in Europe,
splendid market for dairy products and
for horses. That market is ours to
command whenever we are willing to
invade 1t with common sense meth
DDS of business. There is only one
way of building up stable and eX-
tensive foreign trade, and the people
of this country have as yet understood
it little and practiced it less. The Eng
lish and the Germans have secured
their great commercial successes by es-
! tablishing branch houses or agencies
of their own on the ground where they
have trusted to the commission sys-
tenn, seeking to introduce commodities
into a market where they were I'M
known and regarded with doubt and
distrust, through the agency Of local
! dealers selling on a commission. 1t is
| hopeless to do more than make an oc-
casional and scarcely profitable sale by
this method. The local dealer shares
the prejudices of his countrymen
| against the foreigner, and is not going
/ to push an article from abroad if SUBJ
stantially the same commission is Of
! fered to him for the sale of the same
! article of domestic origin. Through
the cities of South America one
may find everywhere branches of
| British or German concerns, doing
| business through their own employees,
| and building up q trade that keeps the
| factories of the home country busy, and
supplies employment for millions of
! workingmen who would be obliged to
emigrate were there no demand for
| their labor beyond that furnished by
| the home trade. Just as soon as the
interests of the United States that seek
! to expand their market adopt the same
policy our exports will increase by
hundreds of millions.
In the particular case referred to by
worth while for the dairymen of Min
nesota to interest themselves and
! take the first step toward securing a
| hold upon the foreign market There
is a demand for first-class butter and
! a much greater demand for cheese
that the creameries of Minnesota could
well supply. AT the prices that are
quoted there would be no difficulty in
paying all export charges and the sal
! aries of all middlemen and still reaping
! handsome profit after underselling
everybody in the markets of Germany
or England. The first step on our own
side has already been taken This
consists in the organization of the pro-
ducers themselves. No one man en-
gagged in the dairying business could
undertake an enterprise so considera-
BILE. But, as the dairy interests Of
Minnesota have now completed an or
ganization, the Minnesota Dairy Board
of Trade ought, it seems to us, at
the earliest moment, to consider the
! propriety Of sending a representative
| abroad to remain there and build I'D q
foreign market for the Minnesota
product.
The expense of such an Undertaking
is not great. A good, live man, OPEN
ing headquarters in any of the chief
commercial cities Of Germany or Eng
land, could soon spread abroad the
! 20, If 0,,I