The evening times., 1900-04-18


Company Complaining of Methods
Ised since the BOer War Began.
Consul General Stowe, Of Cape Town,
! says.
In the United States. on shipment Of a
/ bill of goods, drafts. both sight and time.
are drawn. draft, bill Of lading attached
/ On receipt by the bank at the place Of
destination, the draft is presented to the
/ cons1gnee, accepted, and the bill Of lading
turned over to him. He gets the goods
from the transportation company. sells
| them, and pays the draft at its maturity.
In other words. the consignee is allowed
| the time agreed upon in which TO pay for
/ the goods. l submit the following letter,
/ which explains itself, for the purpose OF
calling TO the attention Of the manufac-
] turers and producers OF the United States
I the cificulties and annoyances which mer-
chants and agents here must undergo.
AS the banks insist upon collecting the
draft on arrival Tor delivery Of bill OF lad
ing is refusedJ, advise that it be stated
on the face OF the draft that upon accep-
tanee by the consignee the goods shall be
delivered May / add that il would be a
wise step if the newspapers OF the United
States who receive the Consular Reports
would mention this item:
Colonial American Importing Company.
Manufacturer Agents,
National Bank building
Cape Town. January %. 1900
Col J. C. Stowe, Consul General, L. 5. 4, Cape
Town:
Dear Sir: VIII you kindly allow us % point
out 10 you some of the trials and triluiatiois
lf lrU rffr her Ngl fgl1T
goods.
There seems TO be a feeling in the States that
because there is war between England and the
two republics Cf this country il is unsafe TO ship
goods to any port Of Africa.
We know manufacturers with q very good trade
here who had been selling goods az ninety days
who are now drawing at sight because OF the
uncertainty al the war. This creates dissati-iIC-
uon with the importer, and often is a hardship TO
him, as in such cases he not only must pay
the draft upon presentation (n0 DAYS OF grace In
this culcny), but he must pay the duty. clearing
charges, etc. as We'll. which often amount 20
as much as the original cost Of the goods.
The bulk al the goods sent into this country
is sold On ninety days time-that is, goods are
shipped prepaid to the order % the consiguor
and conSignoe is drawn upon for the amount Of
the goods and charges - port Of destination al
ninety days sight The bill Of lading is cndors-
ed over 90 the Consignee. and all documents in
CludIng copy Of invoice, attached 10 draft and
put through the banks for discount or collection
a
turer or merchant ssllS his goods ninety
Cays' time and makes draft al ninety days, that
oou-ic ace would expect upon accepting such draft
90 Lsrs the documents handed Cy,- 90 him SO he
could get bis goods az once: but this is not in
harmony with south African banking
II grsds are sent in this manner without special
instructions written either on the draft or paper
attached. the banks here say 10 means they are
not Co deliver documents unless they receive pay
Ucnt. and Iu such cases. where CousigUCc refuses
70 accept draft unless documents are handed over
tie draft g. protested and the goods are pIt into
bond (Which means an enormous eXpCusC) to
await Instructions from the shipper.
II, rather than make shipper any trouble. con-
sguCc concludes 90 pay the draft and take the
goods, h, viii receive rebate on Tire exchange
at the rate gt per cent per auuum on The
I amount while hc IS charged az the present time
2as per cent bis draft. You viii thc rebate
amounts 20 nothing iH COMPARISON 20 the amount
charged.
We had q cas-, in poiaI where We sold bin of
goods 10 one of our clients here he has been in
business over ten wears and has very good cred
. it. The goods were sold on ninety days. and
shipped and drawn for ninety days. hu7 our firm
neglected 20 instruct the bank to deliver dCCu-
meuts upon acceptance; and. although The
amount was small and the bank knew and aC-
kuowlcdgUd thar CUnSiguoe was perfectly good,
yet they would not deliver documents without
special Instructions o. 90 S0. Our client, as he
said. on principle. would not accept the draft
unless the documents were handed over 90 him.
lie bought the goods on ninety days, exchange
was the intention Of shippers 90 give ninety days
and therefore be refused 20 accept the draft.
The bank came 20 us as agents of the house
which shipped the goods. and We told them the
house perfectly good and would stand be-
hind the draft. but they said the house did not
have anyehing 20 DO with the draft. tie bank
had bought il. and IL must be- paid before the
documents would be delivered A. this was all
that would satisfy them, We gave tb,m our
check and took the bill Of our client for the
amount Il either meant this a loss Of our
client 10 tie shippers.
We have had several such cases as this, and
we kuc-. Of one bank here which has over a
hundred drafts Of this kind that have been re-
fused and protested Our friends at home do not
need 70 think that because bill has been pro-
tested Ia will not be paid for this Is more ike
r. TO be caused by the peculiar banking system
of the country than hy inability 10 pay On the
part Of the consigHecs.
The banks are doing greater business In the
coast ports az the present time than ever before
In talking 20 the manager Cf one Of the leading
banks In relation 20 the scare in the States about
shipping here, he said ho could not why
they should be afraid 20 ship 90 Cape Town. for
there was more money here than ever before. -
Another banker said. The amount Of business
being done bv this bank at the present time ex-
ceeds ANYTHING we have ever done before"
Cape Town is not feeling the war; in fact as
FAR aS local trade is concerned IL never was 81
good the present time. Port Elizabeth and Fast
London. being essentially forwarding towns, feel
the loss Of the up-c0uutrv business much more
than DO az this pOrt but at the same time
their local trade has also increased 20 such an
extent that we do not look for any serious fail
UrCs az those ports as result OF the We
are receiving reports from our special agents and
al-o from the bankers az these ports individual
firms. and far bills lave been met and there
are no present iQdications Of there being any
truiibie In the future.
The proloDgation Of the simply means more
husincss for the coast towns. very little is he
ing grown in this country 10 keep the people
during the next year.
knowing the confidence American manufactuT-
CTS have i'm YOUR judgment. We place these facts
before you, thinking they would be Of interest 20
YOU. and that you viii be able 10 bring the mat
ter before American shippers in such a manner
that these troubles may be obviated. Yours very
truly,
COLONIAL-ANERICAN IMPORTING CO.
Per 4. II. MASON.