The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-06-05
} Shall We Have a
/ Floating Exposition?

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The twentieth century will undoubt-
edly be prolific Of marvellous enter
prises, and among them may possibly
figure the gigantic scheme suggested
by Mr.. 0. P. Austin, Chief Of the Bu-
reau of StatiStics, in a recent number
Of the Geographic Magazine. This is
nothing less than floating exposition,
to carry samples Of our merchandise
around the world, bringing buyer and
seller in personal contact, and estab-
fishing that mutual understanding Of
wants and conditions which would be
an enormous factor in promoting
trade. Happy in the knowledge Of OUT
superlative excellence as agricultur-
lists, as handicraftsmen, as producers
of everything the world requires, both
for it's sustenance and for it's tools Of
trade, we have hitherto neglected to
display to the world at large the tangi-
BILE evidence Of our skill.
Expositions held at great cities are
Of necessity limited in scope. Time
and money are required to visit them,
and however great may be the num-
Der Of travellers to a given point to
see an exhibition Of the products Of
the worlds workers, those who re-
main at home are of greater number.
These are the buyers whose trade
might be secured by the ingenious
plan imagined by Mr.. Austin, whose
wealth of statistics enables him to dis
burse facts with q liberal hand. From
these we learn that the imports Of
Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Amer
ican countries south of the United
States amount to over two billion dol
lars year. No Monroe doctrine can
prevent our South-American friends
from bestowing their patronage where
they will; but if We hustled" to show
our misguided fellow-Americans that
1t would be vastly to their interest
to trade with us, goodly part Of this
colossal sum might reach the pockets
of our Traders. Nearly all of the i'm
portations referred to are Of the very
class Of goods which our people want
to -foodstuffs, textiles, mineral
oils, machinery and manufactures of
all kinds; yet our sales to these grand
divisions in the best year Of our COM
merce, 1900, only amounted to about
S2OO,OOO,OOO, OF about ten per cent. of
their purchases. Most of the cities
through which these two billion dol
lars worth Of goods are distributed
lie on the sea-coast, and could be easi-
ly reached by fleet of vessels loaded
with samples of American products
and manufactures. The chief obstu-
Gle to the introduction of American
goods in these countries is the lack of
knowledge Of our producers as to local
trade requirements.
The internal traffic of the United
States is carried on principally among
six geographical divisions. In New
England dairying, trucking, and mi1ed
farming have received their fullest de.
Velopment, and the same may be said
of New York and parts of other Middle
States. The entire Northeast, includ.
ing New England, New York, and the
leading Middle States, is also so large
ly engaged in manufacturing as to
comprise wlat may be called the in
dustrial section Of our country.
The second division may be desig-
mated the cotton belt; Kansas and Ne
braska the corn and winter-wheat belt;
Montana and Wyoming the spring
wheat belt; the Rocky Mountain States
are devoted to the production Of wool
and livestock; the Pacific Coast States
are still primarily agricultural
wheat, barley, livestock. timber, and
fruits. constitute the basis Of their
prosperity. This geographical group
ing Of economic activities lies at the
basis of the internal commerce of the
United States.
A floating exhibition, carrying sam
pies Of these varied and marvellous
productions of our soils fecundity and
our peoples ingenuity, would be re-
alizati0n Of the tales of faerie to the
inhabitants OF other lands than ours
Olive Logan, in Harper's Weekly.