The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-20
HOPE OF BUSINESS MN
THAT ST. PAUL MANUFACTURERS
MAY HOLD THEIR OWN
ABROAD
HOW TO WIDEN THE MARKET
1t Was the Subject of Thoughtful
Discussion at Commercial Club
Banquet Last
Night.

| At the banquet rendered last night by
the Commercial club to the .manufactur-
ers of st. Paul, the attendance of 200
represented every branch of trade in the
city. President A. K. Pruden, of the
Commercial club, acted as POSTMASTER
and directed a programme OF interesting
| addresses upon topics of vital interest to
the growth and development of the city
The club rooms were tastefully decorat-
ed, and the tables were enriched with
beautiful flowers and an elaborate display
Of snowy linen and silver
The principal address Of the evening
was that of E. w. 8. Tingle, of the Phil
adelphia Commercial museum He COM
mented on the fact of his previous resi-
dence in the city, and spoke of the con-
nection OF the Commercial club with the
Philadelphia museum, in that it was upon
! the list of advisory commercial bodies
| Mr.. Ttngle paid especial attention to the
value of the museum in its possible con-
nection with the development of St. Paul
manufacturing institutions, and showed
its value, incidentally to the Northwest
If suitable congressional action to aid it
can be secured. He spoke briefly of the
recent international trades congress in
Philadelphia, and Of the immense value
to manufacturing interests of the United
States through coming in touch with the
$50 representatives of different branches of
trade throughout the world. Speaking
more directly concerning the welfare Of
| ST. Paul. he said in part:
I'VE collect every conceivable kind Of
!
eign houses and confidential facts to aid
home exporters. To illustrate the extent
of operations, l might say that our cor
respondence bureau is equipped to trans
late business letters into twenty-six Ian
! guages. This alone is of immense value
In extending our trade.
SO great has the museum already be-
| come that the financial benefit received
| directly from It's operation by home man
| ufacturers last year was more than ST.,
100000. The indirect benefit was far great
er. We wish to extend the benefits of
the museum to the Northwest, and for
this reason ask for support for the bill.
| granting an appropriation of 100000 an
| nually for the extension Of the work We
hope to establish a bureau in st. Paul,
| where any manufacturer can go and
! without expense find out what it will cost
| him to place his goods on any market in
| the WOTlU, what competition ne WILL UeClp
what firms will handle his goods there
and, where he can see for himself,
samples of competitive goods bought on
| that market.
with James ]. Hills line to the coast,
| with his new line of steamships which
will soon carry goods from St. Paul to
Siberia and China with as little trans
| shipping as to the lumber camps OF North
ern Michigan, ST. Paul will have an open
ircr Por har Of aUta
Mr.. Hill realizes this simply because he
has greater foresight than some of his
neighbors.. He appreciates the extent of
the coming development of the Orient
and seeks to supply transportation facil-
tiles. This field IS one in which st. Paul
merchants can successfully compete. For
this reason the necessity of some bureau
Of accurate information is becoming ap
parent. Today you have approximately
Is, 900 Workingmen employed in St. Paul.
You have also g. home demand for your
goods such as has not been felt In the
past five years While not wishing to
take pessimistic view, can safely pre-
dict that your home demand will slacken
eventually, and then what next?
The plain conclusion is that we must
have a foreign demand for our goods.
If such demand is created and main
tained home consumption will sink to
second place in the question of keeping
the men employed. Ten years ago the
United States exports Of manufactured
goods amounted to $3.50, 10000. For the
past year they were valued at $3.50, 600, 900.
Even with these figures the foreign mar
ket is comparatively unopened.
There are a few facts which I wish
to bring to your attention before speak
ing more particularly of the institution
I represent. One of these Is that Ger
man competition Is becoming dangerous
to the United States. That nation makes
searching and scientific investigation of
foreign openings, sells strictly according
to sample and increases its trade yearly.
This the United States does not do and
the development Of our home industries
is vitality affected by the fact.
For four years I was connected with
the United States consular service. Dur
ing this time I became familiar with
German methods, as compared and OPP
posed to those of United States manufac-
turers. Manufacturers of the United
States do not receive the greatest possible
advantage from this service and do not
become familiar with its possibilities.
With the elimination of the spoilmans
graft and by placing this service upon
| sound basis, 1t could become of immense
value In securing and disseminating infor-
| nation concerning the foreign market.
The Germans realize the value of their
service, and through 1t are constantly i'm
proving their fields of operation. These
are suggestions worthy of thought
President Pruden introduced Presi-
dent j. B. Johnson, of the Northwestern
| Manufacturers association. He spoke of
| the excellent work of the organization in
booming st. Pauls manufacturing in
| terests and expressed the hope that the
city would soon have an auditorium
where twice a year the association could
make exhibits and where q permanent
| exhibit of foreign made articles could be
maintained. He spoke Of the enterprise Of
Kansas City in building an auditorium
adequate to its needs and believed that
| it had greatly aided manufacture. He
advocated the extension of manufacturing
! enterprises and held that the future de-
| Velopment of the city was vitality con-
| cerned in their growth.
B. F. Beardsey, chairman of the city
| development committee of the CONNER
! cial club, spoke on the subject, THE Up
| building Of a City" w. r. Dorr spoke
| OF the development of manufacturing in
| the city, giving few facts concerning
! the growth of the enterprise with which
| he Is connected. e. Vanish spoke briefly
| of the past history of the city, showing
| that in 1850 the gross value of it's manu-.
| featuring industries was $58;000 with six
| ty-three employees and a total gross wage
of $18,546 The city then ranked as the
| thirty-fifth OF the country. In 1880 he
showed that ST. Paul had industries with
gross valuation of 600 and a total
number of employees of q, 000 These werS
paid gross wages of $500, 900 and the city
ranked nineteenth: In 1890 the gross val
uation was 1892 900, Co.,, the number en-