The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-07


there is manifestIy reason to hope TO
the speedy disappearance Of this lates
and biggest of religious humbugs.
|
British InsuInrity.
In an exceedingly clever essay printed
in The Worlds Work. an Englisl
writer, Mr.. T. Sharper Knowlson, ar
CUES that the insularity which, under
former conditions. was a distinct ad
vantage TO the Briton. protecting hin
from contact with deleterious European
influences, and promoting the growth OF
sturdy type of manhood. now work:
to his disadvantage in the industrial
and commercial struggle which marks
the opening of the twentieth century
He says:
whilst the nations of Europe dealing
| with that 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 began to assert itself
among Continental peoples, with the result that
| the hl'sy German has success that Is now
proverb. Meanwhile the American had been
| seeplessly active. and he is invading every mar
! ket with success This is the story of Eng
land loss; and SO little does insularity count
| benefit nowadays that the American million
| aire takes pity on 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 10 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
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 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. II has gone so far as to send
commercial attaches to Paris. Berlin,
Madrid, Constantinople. and Vienna;
and as an experiment" 1t 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:
'iThe outlook to a candid mind is depressing
An Englisllman is usually candid but if candor
means gloomy outlook, it ofends his of
enjoyment and spoils 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 as between ma
tion and nation; but one thing is certain,
~, that if Great Britain continues in her cofn-
mercial slumbers. the sceptre of supremacy viii
pass to the New World in the West
Mir. Knowlson's pessimism may be
justified by the facts of the situation,
but probably he undertakes the extent
TO which conviction in regard to present
economic and commercial conditions is
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
access TO British markets for foreigners
is soon to be closed; and that. notwith-
standing the devotion of the British
public to the doctrine of free trade, 1t
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 salutary
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. Ii is quality alone which wins.
never cheapness, and seldom novelty
Customers once obtained are very con-
slant. 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. a sort of logged
patriotism About the only sensible |
thing we have ever seen from the pen |
of Albion w. Tourgee. author of THE |
FOOLS Errand' and other works of |
is contained in a report |
made by him as Consul at Bordeaux. in |
which he says:
''Our foreign trade is new thing. but il * in |
the hearts OF the American people. especially the |
that il must be pushed Thousands
Of them determined to get foothold on |
foreign soil. But most Of them hunt at long
range. They send advertising matter printed in |
English to . consul IN city where not one in
a thousand reads English. and perhaps none of
The consumers they wish reach; ask the consul
q score OF impossible questions and REQUEST a |
list of addresses Of dealers in their line They
get the addresses desired, send 80 each dealer
more advertising matter in English and perhaps
write to them. giving them iull history Of |
heir establishments aud ho.y they wish to seiI
l. o. b. at New York. cash at ten dav. sight
draft with b. l.. attached. The would-be ex-
porter fails 10 get foreign trade simply because
be deserves 10 iail. Trade once secured may be
held without the drummer, but the travelling |
salesman Is the only agency that can secure |
md develop a profitable foreign trade This /,
The secret Of the immense increase in German
world and all the islands OF the seas are full Of |
he impeIturbable, sood-nstured aud persistent
iernan dfummcfs."
Finally, according to Mr. Roberts,
Brother Jonathan realizes even less
han his anXious forsipn tivaIe ,,,bat - |