The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-25

tracts for bridges. etc. our people have
achieved brilliant successes because they
have come abroad and done the business
directly with purchasers. The enormous
increase of the German export trade dur
ing the past twenty years is d monument
to the efficiency of the good-natured, per
sistent, nightly educated German drum
mer- who, with sample bag and order
book. backed by subsidized steamship
lines and German branch banks in for
eisn marts, has camped in the reuotest
markets Of the earth until he has prac-
ticaIIy made them his own.
1t is an ungracious though sometimes
a wholesome duty to point out some of
the other errors into which certain of our
exporters have fallen through careless
overCOnfdeuce or ignorance of foreign
conditions, and to state from the stand
point Of the German importer some of his
grounds Of complaint. The first Of these
charges is that American exporters are
in many cases too lax and irresponsible
in the fulfillment Of contracts. As an ex-
ample of what is meant by this, the fol
lowing i-cident VIII serve: In August of
last year a furnace company in a South
eTn State sold through an agent in Ger
many to a steel manufacturer in the
Lower Rhine region 800 tons of pigiron
with the express stipulation that 400 tons
should be shipped 50 as tc be landed at
Rotterdam on or before November Is. and
the remainder TO be landed at Hamburg
not later than the same date, so as to be
shipped up the EIbe to SiIesia before the
close Of navigation There had been a
deaTth Of pigirou in Germany during the
summer and early autumn of last year,
and the purchaser waited impatfentIy for
the American material Letters and teIe-
ms q 10
tory reply. The autumn boom in steel
manufacture had begun in the United
States and he was taking care of his
friends at home Finally, on the 10Th of
December, 200 tons arrived at Hamburg.
/ The EIhe was then frozen so that it had
| to be shipped inland by rail The remain
ing loo tons of that order and the 4O10
| tons for Rotterdam failed to arrive. and
the order was Cancelled The RhineIand
steel maker accepted the nOn-deiivery be-
cause an important decline liz the demand
and prices Of steel had meanwhile occur
red in Germany and he could dispense
with the American pigiron- But had this
been otherwise, he might have bought the
whole 5000 tons in England. Germany or
aEIyW here. paid the market price for it
anu collected the difference between that
ana his contract from the agent who sold
MN the american metal and failed to de
liver It according to agreement. 1t should
DC clearly understood that under German
laws non-fulhllment of contract is a mis-
demeanOr for which the delinquent can be
made to pay both actual and contingent
damages
Among eases Of this kind which have
/ been complained of at this consulate dur
ing the past few months have been one
in which a large shipment of grease for
: candle making was found adulterated
with y per cent Of water. and the ex-
/ porter made a stubborn fight against al
lowing the discount justified by such
fraudulent qualities; others in which ma
ChiueTy has been damaged in transit by
reason OF fraii, imperfect packing, and
scores OF cases in which California prUnes
and other dried fruits are not graded at
all, except that one layer OF selected
pieces representing the grade sold is laid
/ on the top. while the remainder Of the
I box is filed with small, discoiored, and
wholly inferior fruit belonging TO dit
ferent grade and bearing a wholly inferi-
or price
in 20 market of Europe viii any trick
cry - this kind-any lapse whatever
from absolute honesty and good faith in
the fuIfiIImeut of a coutTact-entaI such
fatal consequences as in Germany. where
every detail OF commercial pTteLlse IS
strictly regulated by law, and where the
purity and excellence Of food products
are guarded and enforced with a igor
which is all but fanaUcai.
Another point that few American CX-
pOrterE seem TO grasp IS that articles
made from several different mateTials-5is
wood, steel, nickel and coppeT-aTe uni
fOFnIy classified for duty in Germany IN
der the constituent material which bears
the highest rate Of duty. This has led
to sOuIe queer and seemingly irrational
decisions. as, for instance where canned
vegetables were classified as tInwaTe be
cause the duty rate on tin IS far higher
than on yegeta bIes-
While il is probable that the imports
of American machine tools, electrical and
even agricultural machinery, may show
| Il marked. decline during the current year
as compared with 1896 and 1898, there IS
yet an unsatisfied demand for wide
range Of novelties and special inventions
in which American ingenuity ana auColt-
ness IL manufacture have produced some
thing stTikingly superior to what is known
or used in this country
As an Indication Of what IS meant may
be cited the recent enquiry Of a leading
importing firm at Berlin. which sollcits
information and propositions from makers
of the most modern ana hIRhly improved
centrifugal machinery for chemical and
laundry purposes. filling machines for
charging small paper bags with groceries
and medical preparations. filling bottles
with salts, etc. and machinery for max
iny pastiIIes and lozeEges Of all kinds
Dealers with experience ample resources
ana knowledge of the German market are
numerous and ready. It is the American
salesman with samples and specifications
who is generally lacking.
Finally the American manufactures
who seeks to establish a market IN an old
and weII-suppiied country like Germany
should realize that 1t costs something TO
advertise and Introduce new article, ami
ought TO be willing to pay part Of the eN-
pense Of the enterprise. This he can do
by an allowance for advertising purposes,
or by granting a longer credit for the
goods themselves Before giving the eX-
elusive agency Of i product to single
firm. the exporter should know with
whom he is dealing: but. once satisfied on
that point absolute faith should be kept
Many an American exporter has spoiled
his chance with the best German import
ers by sending mailed circulars and pTOpO-
sitiOns broadcast. whereas the article was
one which required a special representa-
tive agency for its proper introduction
Few responsible houses viii undertake
the introduction Of a new kind of mer-
chandise which any competing firm can
obtain direct from the American expor-
ter In all these respects, business men
are very much alike the world over. and
II is always wholesome process for the
seller to imagine himself on all questions
Of detail in the position of the buyer, and
consider what he would or would not be
willing 10 do if their relations were re-
yeTsed.
THE MANILA COOKING MAIN.
Preachers Protest Against the Grant