The age-herald., 1901-11-19
MEXICAN TRADE WITH
 AMERICA INCREASING

Washington, November 1s-The re- newed attention to trade conditions be- tween the United States and the Ameri- can countries lying south of her borders. due, in part. to the meeting of the Pan- American Congress at the City of Mex ico lends special interest to state ment by a British official in Mexico, Con- sul Biorklund, which has just reached the treasury bureau of statistics That of ficer calls attention sharply to the fact that in the one American country in the south with which the United States has satisfactory transportation facilities, Mexico, the trade of the United States has vastly outgrown that of other na- tions. Fifty years ago the trade of Mex leo was carried on by British houses, and as late as 1S72-73 was in fairly flourishlng condition, but since the op- ening of the Mexican Central and Mexi- can National Railways. American manu- lecturers have yearly increased their trade with the Republic. Today the Brit ish trade Is confined to a few agencies (there being no important commercial establlshments), who, by means of sam ples and catalogues. undertake the ex- ecution of orders. Some of the large Brit ish houses employ travellers, who can always count on their usual customers for orders, but other houses frequently sefid out such unsuitable men, often for eigners, that they are unable to get a single order. MT. Biorllund calls attention to the following points that have been very much overlooked by many British traders:
 "There are over 900 different classifi- cations in the Mexican tariff. and lists of articles that clearly specify those in w.nch a doubt might exist are issued by the Minister of Finance. With these. which can be obtained on application, and the bringinal tariff. there is no req son why so many mistakes should be mAde in consular invoices More care should be taken in drawing up these documents, which duty should not be left to junior clerks, as Is too often the case. Mistakes are of daily occurrence with consequent fines, and the consignee has mostly to suffer the loss. All these G..Aculties could be obviated if there were a more careful observance of the tariff reguiarities.
 More attention is required to the ques- ton of packing. This does not consist only in a good outer case (which in many cases is better than the boxes made on the continent, but it is the way the con- tents are packed in the case. Merchants or customers abroad often give instruc- tions as to the packing of certain arti- cles, not only to secure their safe ar rival but also on account of the duties that may be leviable on those goods. If these instructions were properly carried out it would save a great deal of trou- ble on both sides.
 Great delay in execution of orders in the United Kingdom is another serious drawback to the extension of trade. Or ders from Mexico could certainly be filled in, say, three months, but 1t is often more than double that before ship ment Is advised. This has more than once been the cause of important orders being sent to the United States or some European country where the order has been filled at once.
 Still another point that deserves the attention of the British trader in gener- al is the failure to give estimates or de- scriptions when asked for In such cases an order may depend upon a full and in telligible description being given to the would-be customer in metric weights and measures"