The record-union., 1898-10-01
Failure Of Manufacturers to Cater
to Foreign Tastes
Causes Large Loss Of Trade Which Might
Come to the United States.
CareIessness in Filling Orders and
Negligence. in Correspondence
Among the Causes for Heavy
Loss to This Country.

NEW YORK, Sept. 3O-A special to
the Tribune" from Washington sayss
The Consular officers of the United
| States continue to warn manufacturers
and shippers of the penalties they must
pay for the neglect or refusal to cater
/ to- foreign tastes and demands In
| these dispatches recently ii was shown
| that Canadian manufacturers of furni-
! ture have built up paying trade in
| England at the expense of the manu-
/ facturerS of the United States, simply
| because the latter We're not willing to
| conform to English tastes and preju-
| dices but insisted on trying to educate
| their foreign customers to prefer the
| American styles. Now comes Consul
| Halstead of Birmingham with a warn
ing which may or may not be needed.
| According to his reports the American
| shippers are taxing business methods
| as' We'll as obstinate in their determina-
| tion to cram their own tastes and no
| tions in the English markets. Among
| other things he says, under date OF
| August 10Th:
The jewelry and fancy goods manu-
| facturers of Great Britain make ar
| ticles on a foTty-line scale In meas
ures for the common metals and ar
| ticles, a line is one-twelfth of an inch,
but in the fancy trade a line is one
| fortieth of an inch.
To-day a declaration of returned
American goods was sworn before me,
meaning, of course, a big loss to an
American manufacturer and due to his
| failure to make goods in accordance
with the exact specifications in the
order. A Birmingham manufacturer
/ ordered from A m ma mn Ifa et11r
lot of indestructible pearl, giving a
measurement he required in lines Not
knowing what lines meant to the
! fancy trade. the American, without
making inquiry, had recourse to the
metric system, and his goods are by
| this time. on the way back TO him.
Two weeks ago $500 worth OF
| fountain pens were sent back to
manufacturer in an American city. The
| Birmingham purchaser said: They
| wera without question better than 1
| ordered but they are not like the
sample, and I am not in the business
of educating the public to new things,
but sell them what they want; and
| these goods go back
"A, few days ago I was shown sixteen
letters from sixteen firms, all well
| known in their line in America On
twelve of these letters there was in
sufficient postage most of which had
only a 2-cent stamp to carry them
| This meant that the Birmingham man,
who wanted to buy from some OF these
American firms had to pay double the
| deficiency in postage and his frame of
mind and opinion of American business
methods can be imagined. Steamer
mails from the United States frequent
Z IL
urday, and if there's Isl deficient postage
letters will not be delivered at hotels,
etc. until Monday, and the travelling
representatives lose time waiting for
home instructions much oftener than
could bel realized! by any one not aware
how general is the failure of American
firms to pay full postage. One Ameri-
can house tells it's agent that a def
cheney of postage is a guarantee that a
letter will be delivered to the right
party, as no one else would pay the
postage penalty in order to get the
letter
IF an English OFT al continental house
sends a telegram, a letter always fol-
lows, even to points near by. contain
ing a copy of the telegram. Very few
United States houses do this, even
with cablegrams, and a failure to de-
liver means loss of valuable time to
me- The letter is sent to a foreign
point, a letter press copy follows by
the next steamer as certainly as the
second exchange follows the, first.
With bills of lading the European
house, does not depend ON the triplicate
copy forwarded by the shipping agent,
but it sends it's duplicate copy to the
assignee, retaining the original Amer
lean houses are constantly neglecting
this and American goods are constantly
being held i'm foreign custom houses"