Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-19
AMERICAN MADE GOODS
WHY THEY ARE NOT PURCHASED
IN THE PHILIPPINES.
A Merchant There Gives the Reason
Because They Are Not Pack
ed Properly.

ed Properly.
Special Correspondence of The Star.
MANILA, p. l.. November 1, 1906.
The statement published in a Washing
ton newspaper to the effect that the en-
ployes of business house in that city had
made up their minds to put dent i'll the
reputation of Houdini. the handcuff and
lock breaker, who was showing al one of the
local thea tiers. by fastening him in pack
ing case and then mailing up the case as
they would for shipment out of town,
brought a smile to the faces of those peo-
pie in the Philippines who read the story
and know something of American methods
of packing. An official of the custom
house who has been in the service several
years actually laughed. He no lock
breaker with an international reputation.
he said, but he would wager years pay
in nice round canant dollars that there Is
not American business firm that could
pack him up in such a way he could not
get out provided, of course, they would
use no other materials than those used in
preparing their goods for foreign ship
ment. And thereon hangs grievance. 1t
is one of the pet grievances of the people
of the Philippines and has opened the
eyes of the Americans here to of the
reasons that American-made goods do not
dominate the markets of the world. This
grievance is of the variety which ma >eS
it impossible to buy anything American
made in the Philippine Islands without
paying two three times what it is
worth. And it is all because American
manufacturing. concerns do not take the
trouble to pack things the way they ought
to do, if they want to get and hold foreign
trade.
Foreign Goods First Looked For.
It might be mean thing to say and
still meaner and unpatriotic thing to do,
but it is fact nevertheless that Ameri-
cans in the far east and elsewhere, so we
are told, will not attempt to buy American
made goods of any kind until they have
exhausted efforts to get the foreign-made
article; all of which time they might need a
thing, and badly, too, which they know is
manufactured at home But it is a fact. Just
little while ago newspaper man here
thought he needed an ice box at his home.
He visited the place OLA friend of his who
keeps this sort of thing in stock, and right
a the door he found the thing he wanted.
1t was exactly the same kind of an ice
box he had left with his mother-in-law
when he broke up housekeeping to sail TO
the orient. 1t looked like an Old friend
and he made up his mind to buy it. He
remembered he had paid IS or thereaDouts
for its duplicate in Washington IA year or
SO ago. He asked his friend how much it
was worth. The friend looked at the
ticket and figured while on paper.
II can let you have that Tor forty pesos
$50 he said.
Great jumping Jehosa PLAT: Rebher!'
Bunco and likewise rats, replied the news
aper man playfully. State your bottom
price and don't scare me like that
I'm not kidding you. That's the price
of little chest of that kind. It's the
smallest thing We have. OF course, can
give you larger ifty you want it
But the price, man--the price. Why. l
bought a thing like that at home little
over year ago for about 81, coin of the
realm.
Sure you did, said the man. who knows
all about ice boxes, suavey. "Of course
you did, but you're not home now, and
you want to let that fact soak in. See?
You're buying it in the Philippines. and
if / let you have that little chest for forty
pesos and haul it out to your house ! will
just have enough money left on the sale
to pay for the carriage. and nothing to
represent what | ought to charge for let
ting it lumber up the front of the store
here for three months. Sabe? And l
want to add that we amt going to buy
ice boxes like that any more. We amt
agoing to handle them. We're just going
to lay in a supply of the dinky little Eng
lish and German cold-storage p ants and
foist 'em off on the deeply hurt and in
jured people at about half the dinero we
charge for of those nice little Home,
Sweet Home" affairs. And We know just
well you do that there isn't al Eng
lish ice box made that is half good
the American breed But we amt in bust
ness for the purpose of spreading patriot
ism and boosting American trade. We
are here to make our board and lodging
and an occasional 'dobe cigarette, each
or any of which we likely to miss If
do business in American ice chests
Why these feeling remarks? Why this
forcefulness of verpiage? Why these con-
-emptuous utterances?" inquired the scribe.
Not Packed Properly.
Son, you see that box there? Well,
there's of 'em up above and about
fourteen in the row, and they're al higher
priced than that one. Gladly will | tell
you why. Gladly will | give away this Sc
cret of the trade. In an unguarded mo-
nent of philanthropy and in response to
many requests we ordered twenty-five Ice
chests of that particular make from the
United States The price we paid for them
would have permitted us to sell them for
1888, or whatever the things sell for at
home. That's what We paid the manu-
facturer and We are compelled to pay for
everything we get from the United States
in advance. Sabe? In advance. Our rat
ing with Bradstreet and Dunn is a little
DIT higher than some of the dinky little
shops on 9th avenue or 7th street that
buy those things and pay for them out
of the proceeds of their sale. But we had
to pay cash down with the order. Then
had to pay the freight across the Pa
cifc-a matter of about 81 apiece for each
and every ice box And then he had to
pay an ad valorem duty of % per cent
before we could get em past the custom
house, and when we got EN- here and
opened up the cases we found six out of
the twenty-five smashed to smitherines.
Sabe? Now just do little addition and
figure out how much these nice cheap lit
tie ice chests cost US. We might even
have let people have 'em at a reasonable
price If we could have returned those that
were broken. Our English and German
cousins do that. But not so with the bust
ness-like American. Nothing doing in the
returning business. Sabe? We do not get
a single shipment from the United States
but what at least 10 per cent and some
times. many times, as high as 90 per cent
Sh cd Mt