The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-30

tivity, enterprise, and commercial ability
Of German traders. We are told, for In
stance, In regard to the trade with Mexico,
that in the cheaper goods those Of German
and American make, such as hardware and
cutlery, are found to be Of superior finish to
those of English make, and so sell better.
Then, too, It is asserted that English firms
are very wanting in enterprise, and fail
to create English agencies in Mexico, with
out which new branches Of trade cannot be
opened. Passing to the Russian market,
We learn from a Consul's report on the Mini
Novgorod Exhibition of 1895 that IF we
[Englishmenl intend to retain our trade
with Russia VIC must employ better edu-
Gated travellers, who can converse with
Russian buyers, and thus learn their re-
quirements. Our travellers" the Consul
continues, "are handicapped at the start"
and he refers to "the negligence Of our
manufacturers who have allowed the Ger
mans to secure much Of the trade that
should nave come 20 US" II we turn to
some of the less important markets, we
observe that the value Of imports from
Great Britain to Roumania has decreased
since 1893 by So, 900, 900, while the i'm
ports from Germany and Austria-H Hungary
have steadily progressed. About Tunis we
are informed by the British Consul. General
that English goods were formerly much
sought after, and 1t is much to be regretted
that they are now scarcely to be found in
the Tunisian market" 1t seems, indeed,
that in Tunis British machinery is now al
most entirely superseded. With respect to
Chill we read "Though many Of the prin-
cipal houses at Valparaiso are British
firms, the German houses now far exceed
the English In number; and in the matter
of imports this is q question of some i'm.
portance." We are further told that
there is q constant immigration into
Chill Of well.educated, competent Ger
mans, who work hard, max themselves
particularly useful in commercial houses,
and ultimately prove successful in bust
ness. Another British Consul, after stat
ing that Germany possesses in Ham,
burg one of the best harbors in the world,
AYERS that Germans are not only capable
of competing, but are actually competing
with us in markets which we have consid-
cred exclusively our own" Sir CLAUDE
MACDONALD, speaking at first hand with
reference to China, says: "Our commercial
interests in this empire far exceed those Of
any other nation, but, great as our position
is, it will be speedily undermined by our
many rivals IL we do not reform our bust
ness methods" In face of such handwrit-
ing on the wall, there is little comfort for
Englishmen in the assurance that I'VE still
~preponderate greatly as a country manufac-
turing for export"
To- ottarnDttnr 70 ao,o,,nt fNr thaoa Dha-
nomena, Sir PHILIP MAGNUs lays but little
stress upon the increasing population of
Germany, or upon the fact that working
hours are longer and wages lower in that
country than in England. He attaches
somewhat more Importance to the fact that
goods are carried at lower rates on German
than on English railways. For example,
cotton yarns are carried from Manchester
to Hull at the rate of Is shillings per ton ;
they would be carried the same distance in
Germany for IL shillings. To convey saws
and tools from Sheffield to Hull costs Is
shillings per ton the same distance could
be covered in Germany for 6 shillings and
z pence. The carriage of hardware from
Birmingham to Liverpool costs over 10
shillings per ton; for the same distance in
utTIlhuJ ~ "OuluC OSU DuU OSullllukS. Liz
transfer, finally, in general machinery from
Leeds to Hull for export entails an outlay
of 12l2 shillings per ton; 1t could be made
over the same distance in Germany for 4l2
shillings. These figures Justify Sir BERN
HARD S~AMUELsoN, who has lately made a
report upon the subject, in the conclusion
that Except as to iron ore, coal and coke
in certain cases, and a few other articles
under special circumstances, the railway
rates are 80 much lower in those coun-
tries Germany, Belgium, and Holland) as
to place our traders at a serious dis
advantage" 1t is elsewhere, however,
that Sir PHILIP MAGNUs looks for the
principal cause of the rapid advance in
and manufactures, which during
the last fifteen or twenty years Germany
undoubtedly has gained. That advance he
deems directly traceable to the assistance
given by the State in Germany through
technical education and otherwise to indus
trial enterprise. The expenditure on Ger
man education, although seemingly lavish,
has been returned to the country a hundred
fold in the products of improved trade.
Not only in the equipment of their schools,
but also in the methods of instruction and
in the organization of their whole sys,
TEN of education, the Germans excel the
English. After due allowance has been
made for all contributing causes, includ-
ing the thrifty habits of the German
people, the fact that they take life more
seriously than do the English, and their
admitted contentment with a somewhat
lower standard of material comfort, the one
tact that stands out prominently, differ
entiating the conditions in the two coun-
tries, is the superiority of German instruc,
tion and its closer adaptation to the wants
and requirements Of the people. This 1t is
which has enabled the Germans to gain on
the English In the science of production
and in the art of distribution.
Mayors and the Tax Rate.
1t is an axiom among the uninitiated that