The evening times., 1902-06-04

LA-Ir James c McEaI!y, the Unit
ed States Consul General al Guate-
. mala, Writes 70 the State Department
as Follows:
The opportunity FOR the introductiou
. Of American goods into Guatemala was
Eever so good as at present. Our shoes
and haberdashery are constantly ia de-
mand, while other articles Of United
States manufacture are sought TIE
. business houses here. while partially
yielding 20 these iacossart dema nds- say
that the conditions imposed hy United
States firms VIII not permit them to
handle American goods exclusively. al
though they freely acknowledged their
+ superiority \ general complaint Is
tEaJ American houses viii not send rep
reseutatiyes to show their goods
The catalogue or circular system Of
advertising does nor appeal TO the deal
! ers o. Guatemala unless The goods he
already known have 10 doubt tha-
an actual display OF American go0Gs
would win an order where q catalogue
or other printed advertisement would
not be noticed. This has been recently
demonstrated in the matter Of sH0es-
. Numerous display cards showing tHc
perfect style of our shoes aaG been sent
! TO dealers here. but with 10 good re-
suit s ieH months ago d Teprc5rGta-
tive of ore Of our large Western houses
arrived IN Guatemala and displayed his
wares for Inspection His success was
- complete surprise TO him. and ne in
formed ne shat. In future. he believed
his orders would be increased. TIL
same Is true Of other articles Many
houses in the United States write t'a
consul InrlOsinE a sample OF their
goods with he polite request that he
+ hand il 10 enc Cl The leading business
houses dealing in that particular HuE-
While every consular officer in the ser
vice feels q degree OF pride IN having
goods OF American make come into his
territory. ne may not have enough tech
nical Information as 10 cotton fabrics.
hardware. paints. oils. varnfsh. etc. fer
his recommendation OF tIc goods TO be
accepted Dealers usually know what
they want and know also the quality o.
/ the articles presented for their inspoc-
ton
While all concede the superior quail
ity o. American machinery. the UNI
veTSIi complaint IS that II IS TOO deli
CatclE and iugTicateIy constructed. and
necCssitaJes the importation OF ma
ChiniEr 10 operate it. IC js said that
the smaller sFpuTtenanCes. together
with rivcts and bolts come singIy- and
That the Inefficient ArS ican packing
usually causes ErCakage of these
parts which must be supplied before
-he machine tau be operated, neccssi-
tatinS . delay Of months. On the other
hand tisa people say that European ma
chinery Is so simply constructed that
almost anyone con operate il after j:
has been Put together. that the smaller
parts come in duplicate. and If one is
lost 0T broken no delay in sending for
another IS necessary
United States flour is universally
used, being imported from San Fran
cisco by the Pacific mail steamers.
The th~eadhare complaint against
American packing IS reiterated by local
dealers Is one OF the drawbacks 10 OuI
trade While n some cases their criti-
ciSm - just / can say that we are i'm
proving ! have seen some american
packing that VIII compare favoTaoIy
with the French. which is most artistic
and practical The French use q Eight
wood fer cases. which are then wrapped
viii burIap- This is an advantage TO
the importer, as the freight ana tariff
ore estimated On The gross weight Tie
american shipper i said to use hea7-
material FOR packing cases
The tax on United States tobacco i
proEi8ito-y- and all tobacco - import
"a iEto Guatemala from the neigh5or-
Ing republics. there being treaty be
tween Salvador, Costa Riea Nicaragua
Honduras. and Guatemala for the free
exchange of natural products.
IN the matter Of stationery, cheap
ness rules the market. and this. with
the credits granted by Europeans. wins
he trade for them. Credits for six and
nine months are freely given, after
which time S per cent interest on the
account Is charged
The proprietor Of the leading furnish
ing house in Guatemala tells me that
American dealers are too independent
and do not always keep their promises.
This man, however. buys many Ameri-
can goods and has ordered a large line
OF shoes He says that any advice Of
feFed as TO packing Is regarded IS an
attempt to interfere with the business
OF the exporter Since shippers. as
rule. have never been in this country and
therefore can have no knowledge Of the
peculiar system OF handling goods. the
wishes Of the buyer should be law in this
regard The goods are lowered from the
ship to the lighter and are often roughly
handled The same process IS repeated
in taking the goods from the lighter TO
the pier.
The sons Cf German business men /
to this country come over and /
take a place with some firm here and
remain for two or three years They F..
thus become acquainted with conditions .
Cf trade. as well as with the manner Of {
catering 10 it. Their knowledge Of the /
wants Of the natives is one Of the rea-.
sons why German goods control this .
market. The representatives OF Euro
-YCER-0! n cnN