Evening star., 1904-03-22
OUR TRADE INVASION
How It's Helped Along by
the Bureau of Statistics.
DAILY PAPER ISSUED
GIVING REPORTS OF CoNsULs ALL
OVER THE WORLD.
Information of Great Value to Manu-
facturers and Exporters-Our
Commerce Analysed.

1 have spent an interesting day studying
the methods of our new commercial strate-
gy bureau and talking with the man who
is to a large extent generating our trade
invasion of the world.
Under the act creating the Department
of Commerce and Labor the bureau of
statistics of the Treasury Department and
the bureau of foreign commerce of the
State Department were consolidated and
transferred to the new department. Oscar
Phelps Austin. former chief of the Treasury
Departments statistical bureau is chief of
this enlarged institution, officially known
as the bureau of statistics of the Depart
ment of Commerce and Labor.
Mr.. Austin is native of Illinois, and six
years ago, when placed in charge of the
treasurys statistical work. he was hailed
as lone of Mckinley's young men," He
had been writer since boyhood-a re-
porter, editor and the Washington corre-
spondent for a number of metropolitan
dail1es He was, moreover. a linguist, and
was the author of a series of historical
novels for boys Lyman Gage, then Secre
tary OF the Treasury. picked him out as the
man best equipped to analyza our COM
mercfal relations Secretary Gage had un-
dying faith in the young newspaper man.
MI. Ausuns bureau is conspicuous just
is in the balance. In his enlarged function
he is at the head of a force of sixty-odd
workers In one long hall in his bureau
ne showed me row after row of high desks
at which skilled Statisticians were figuring
up the details of our commerce with every
country of the world. In q small room a
draughtsman was at work upon a large
colored map of eastern ASIA on which the
Yankee commercial invasion of the orient
is to be studied in detail. 1t shows the
treaty ports of tie yellow nations in large
black circles and the foreign lease ports IN
red, while at the corners are reproduced
detail maps of such important cities as PORT
Arthur and Vladivostok
Governments Only Daily Paper.
Mr.. Austin's bureau is our only govern
ment institution which issues a daily news
paper, and the publication of this is a story
in itself. Beneath the headlines of this
journal is the statement: Issued daily. ex-
cept Sundays and legal holidays" OF this
unique paper Mr. Austin is editor or-in-chier
ana under him work managing editor, an
exchange editor. four other subeditors two
transiators and a reportoral staff of no
less than $50 men, AL of our consuIs gen.
eral, consuls and commercial agents scat
tereo as they are from the antirodes to the
arctlc, IN the distant isles of the Pacific
and from far Cathay to the Cape of Good
Hope, are instructed to serve as rerorters
for Mr.. Austins daily.
Ihis Is how the news is gathered: Mr.
Austin makes assignments transmitted tn
the consulates through the Secretary of
Commerce and Labor and the Secretary
OF State In other words, he makes sue-
seStons as to what commercial informa-
ton should be gathered in distant lands
OF course our consular officers arc a1wavs
on the lookout for news which will he of
value to our business men, and s'cor,y,- ia
daily received from them In the editorial
Sanctum of this government daily saw
Il led iuh
script waiting 20 be put through the mill
Uncle Sam is fastidious in the matter of
TINS copy. 1t must be written upon n spe-
c1al make of paper known as consular
cap -iong sheets of the legal size water
marked Department of State L s" The
several sheets forming each manuscrint
are scrupulously tied together with what is
known as official tricolor'.-silk cord
blue-twisted together. This tricolOr cord
has been used on all State Department
manuscripts TO" seVenty-five years and any
sheets of official writing not so bound
would be looked upon askance.
The Managing Editor.
AS the patches of copy come in daily
from the consular officers they mass
through the hands of Mr.. Frederick Emory
at the Department of State who extracts
any data of diplomatic or confidential
nature. From him they pass next to Mr.
Jas Z. Monaghan, chief of the division
OF consular reports. bureau of statistics
VINO acts as managing editor of the daily
traoe journal. Mr.. Monaghan served five
years as consul at Mannheim and seven
years in the same duty at Chemnitz He
speaks Spanish. Italian French German
and Dutch. and has been professor or
economics at the University of Wisconsin.
He divides the sacks of inscribed consular
cap among his staff of assistants who In
dustriously ply heir blue pencils through
out each working day
iney take out the p.th of the news from
each report and rush it over to the State
Departments branch printery E,yeru
morning eacn newspaper CORE sponde,t in
washington. w each board of ira .e. chamher
OF OF commerce, stock exchange, CONNIE rial
library ana each individual inpo-tsr or ex
porter in the country receives y .on,, ne
thls daily journal in the malls. IT con-
laiils not only the consular rep p)rts as tha,,
conn 1n' nut extracts from foreign news
papers making speciality of comrerci.I
intelligence from foreign commnrcinI 49,,
hais ana loregn consular reports The h.,
reau of statistics receives all of tbasa ~
elsh pubilcatlons in exchange for it's own
CONSULAR reports. But it should be mention
ed that ours is the onIy o,I,n+r,- ~ .l
world which issues daily II gest of na,,.f 80 me
lar intelligence vi cohsu-
HaE-tone illustrations em5cIIfsb tbe ,,o..
etonh ,me iloie extensive daily reports For in.
stance those describing Russian nroo, u
IN Mancnnrla are profuse with ,,ia, 80 -
nc me 10" conspicuous cities of H7rhi, 90
Dalny. The variety of themes JiscnsS,d q 1''n ~.
this journal may be judged erom th.|so !! IN
tgs @n,fh noted In handful of cepes
Fog by Electricity" Mercantile EIpe. ng
!Posoned apfn french IsefSdn Automobile Railroad"
contamination of Oysters NV sa,,i' mus
MOST Powerful Automobile. "soar' r.
of Algeria" @oap Tree
me bureau issues also montb,v ,.h,.,.
~ SIMPLY collection of all daIi,s of each
n lhonth. on neatly bound and ,rcuI1ted VI eacn
'0Do commercial institutions arI dihong
IN ''iu addtio feea consular reports for referenc
IN auoItioh. there are three animal n,,hii,
lohs-a summary by our ronsi,ia puoi'ca
perGlai tpa IRhoin relations abroad. review our or
al statement of exports 10 M ~ Ecner-
a!stricts e from each of our foreign consnIsr
Business Men Can Assign Topics.
The American business man "a, ct,
topics fof this great force of cons,,a u
porters For instance. the Associo,,aa
Manufacturers of Agricultural Imrlar'