Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-21

tut we ought 20 send the Swiss every.
oEIhlng under the sun. AS it is. some OF
nfour goods are gradually creeping IN.
n nave written letters here on American
eIoeSks, have bought ink ribbons at Amer,-
8 can typewriter stores. and / replenish
4 my camera with American films. /
louno drug store in Lucerne which
priced itself on its American patent ueG-
4 Iclaes. and last. but not least ] warmed
my chilled bones with 2 jisger if Arncri-
! can wtiskey 81 - hut saloon Oh the very
top OF the Alps
SWISS VIEW OF AMERICAN Trade.
In order TO get the trade. however.
We must understand tho country We
must send our drunmers here and let
them study the people / had chat last
night with Mr.. Alfred Georg, the secre-
tary OF the Geneva chamber OF commerce.
Mr. Georg was at one time connected
with the Swiss legation at Washington
go that he understands the United States
and he has at the same time q thorough
knowledge Of Switzerland and it's com
mercial relations. Said he:
The United States IS now annually
selling about Sl5GO0, 600 worth OF goods to
Switzerland. She could sell more were
it not Tor the new regulations which
your government has lately insti-
tuted IS to our trade. By the
treaty of 1850 under which we
have been working for half century
Switzerland was put under the favored
nation clause. All concessions that were
granted TO other nations were granted to
her. and as : result we exacted OF Ameri-
can imports our minimum tariff. Then the
United States began TO grant TO other
countries concessions which she refused
10 Switzerland We protested that this
was contrary to The treaty. and you gave
Us notice that you would change the
treaty. and you did SO. The result was
that We put American goods on the gen
eral tariff, and your imports have not
gained. What we need is q Encouragement
OF our trade relations and the establish
.nent OF something like reciprocity"
but will this increase cur Swiss trader
'1t will. We have to import many
things. and our yearly Imports run high
into the millions. In 1900 we imported
1920. 10000 worth OF foreign goods. and
this importation must 80 on from year to
year. Much OF what we want IS raised
or made in The United States. We can
not feed ourselves, and We must have
raw materials. Altogether We now buy
from other countries 20 per cent. CT all
we consume. and our imports are, IN
fact, from thirty 60 forty million dollars
more than our exports every year"
= LARGE LOSING BUSINESS.
'If that is So" said 7. ':you seem TO be
doing a large losing business. II you I'm
port S220o00.eoo year and only sell
s160. o9a. 900 your country must be falling
away behind every Scar. IS 1t not 500"
Yes" replied Mr. Georg.
land this has been going on foy years"
said I according to the statistics
Switzerland ought to be bankrupt
yes" replied The Swiss. at ought to
be If figures tell the truth. but they do
not always tell all the truth. According
to them our aggregate deficiencies within
ten years have been something like
$500, coo. coo. and nevertheless Switzerland
was never richer than Il Is to-day. The |
reason IS that we have sources of income
that do not appear in the statistics. Our |
people have investments 81 other coun-
tries which bring in 2 great deal Of |