The times., 1901-04-07
British EnSularifH.


In an exceedingly clever essay printed
in The Worlds Work" an English
writer. Mr. T. Sharper Knowlson, ar
/ cues tnat the insularity which, under
/ former conditions. was a distinct ad
vantage TO the Briton protecting him
| from contact with deIeterious European
influences. and promoting the growth Of
a sturdy type of manhood. now works
/ To his disadvantage in the industrial
and commercial struggle which marks
( the opening Of the twentieth century.
He says:
..WIdlst the nations Of Europe were dealing
with tlat discriminating fact of geography which
compelled them to have frontiers, England got
far ahead of her competitors in the commercial
race But Europe became more cautious IN mat
tiers Of war; trade era began 10 assert ltSei
among Continental peoples, with the result that
the busy German has won success that Is now
| a proyerh Meanwhile the American had been
sieepeasly active. and he Is invading every mar
ket with success. This Is the story OF Eng
land loss; and little does iusilarity count as
p benefit nowadays that the American million
aiTe takes pity the crowded nature OF London
streets and undertakes TO make locomotion more
rapid and comfortable by the subterranean two
penny tube
Mr.. Knowlson asserts that his coun-
! trymen are not yet awake 10 the i'm
! portance and involved dangers 20 them
/ of the commercial war which is now
| going on and daily becoming more Sc
rious British Consuls are doing their
duty in exemplary fashion, urging
traders to supply cheaper classes Of
goods. to mack them WELL and to be
content with small orders at first. But
the traders generally argue that mer-
chandise which paid well in their
| fathers time ought to be sufficient now
for any market, that the style of pack
ing in vogue a century ago cannot be
improved: that if they cannot get large
orders they want none; and that there
is no sense in the contention that Eng
lish commercial travellers in a foreign
country ought to be familiar with its
language and its trade conditions. Gus
toms. and demands. Meantime, the au-
thor says. the British Government is
inert. It has gone so far as TO send
commercial attaches to Paris. Berlin,
Madrid Constantinople, and Vienna;
and "as an experiment" it has decided
to appoint commercial agents in Russia.
Switzerland, and America. 1t also
maintains an intelligence office at
tached to the Board of Trade in Lon
don. located in a room ten feet square.
So it would seem that the Government
no less than the masses of the British
people is dense to the gravity of the
economic peril which cCnfronts the En-
pire. Summing up, Mr.. Knowlson says:
ssThe outlook 10 candid mind is depressing.
An EHglishman is usually candid. but If candor
means a gloomy outlook. il oends his Of
enjoyment and spoiis the possibility of sport
We have the strange paradox that the most
cosmopolitan Of geographical peoples Is the least
cosmopolitan in spirit The atmosphere now
quivers with many uncertainties between ma
tion and nation; but one thing Is certain. name
ly. that If Great Britain continues in her conf
mercia slumbers the sceptre OF supremacy viii
pass TO the New World in the West"
Mir. ,Knowlson's pessimism may be
justified by tEe facts of the situation,
but probably he undertakes the extent
to which conviction in regard to present
economic and commercial conditions is
coming TO the British mind In the
same issue of the magazine in which
his paper is published there is another
by Mr.. Chalmers Roberts, an American
in London, who predicts that an awak-
ening is at hand: that the door of easy
{
is soon TO be closed; and that. notwith-
standing the devotion Of the British
public to the doctrine of free trade, IL
would be well for those who are profit
ing by the open conditions still exist
ing To make hay while the sun shines
Mr. Roberts gives them some saIutary
warning on a number of points He
particularly admonishes them not to
neglect small, developed foreign trade
when the home market happens to be
capable of absorbing all their wares for
the time being. Foreign trade once
dropped must be built up de novo. and
even may not be regained Again, he
tells his countrymen that trade in
Great Britain must be built up on
merit and this is something which
many American exporters have yet To
learn. It is quality alone which wins,
never cheapness, and seldom novelty.
/ Customers once obtained are very con
stant. No petty cutting Of prices will
lure them from known and tried pro-
ducer. The American manufacture To
win its way. must be distinctly better
than its British rival for it has TO
| overcome. besides, sort of logged
patriotism About the only sensible
thing we have ever seen from the pen
Of Albion w. TourRee. author of THE
/ Fools Errand" and other works Of
imagination, is contained in report
made by him as Consul at Bordeaux. in
which he says:
"Om foreign trade is a new thing: but IL is in
the hearts OF the American people. especially the
msHtifact urcrs. that il must be pushed Thousands
of them determined TO get a fOothold on
foreign soil But most Of them hunt at long
range. They send advertising matter printed in
English 20 q consul in q city where not one in
d thousand reads English. and perhaps none Of
the consumers they wish 90 reach; ask the consul
q score Of impossible questions and request a
list Of addresses oi dealers n their line. They
get the 8ddre-Ses desired. send 30 each dealer
Iunte advertising matter IN English and perhaps
write 10 them. giving them q iull history Of
their establishments aud how thev wish 10 sell
Z. o. %. al New York, cash ten days sight
draft with B. J.. attached The WOuld-be ex-
porter fails to get foreign trade simply because
De deserves 90 fal. Trade once secured may he
held without the drummer. but the travelling
salesman D. tie only agency HAT can secure
and develop a profitable foreign trade. This j.
the secret of the immense increase IN German
commerce since 1873. Every country of the
world and all the islands Of the seas are ful OF
the impeIuwhable. sood-natured and persistent
German drummcfs'
Finally. according to Mr. Roberts.
Brother Jonathan realizes even less
than his anxious foreign rivals what
threatening figure I'm the markets of the
world he is Far-seeine English trad
ers are fast investing IN American en-