Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-03-22

planned coup on the part OF the big
who knew they could
buy back at al Immense profit the
stocks whose paper value they so ruth
lessly slaughtered.
OF course the situation was repres |
ented to the White House as serious
the first day of the furry. But the
President denomiuated it AS a gam |
bler's panic and took no more interest |
in iu. Still there was an urgent de |
maid for money from New York and
to save good many inDocent persons,
Secretary CortelyOu opened the Treas
ury Department and relieved the
situation" as has been done so many
times before by buying bonds and re
leasing banks from their obligations
TO retire 81 much currency monthly.
Now the crisis is over there is con-
siderable speculation as to what the
railroads are going to do. Especially
Ia it wondered whether the railroad
presidents who were to have come to
the White House to see the President
will persist in that intention. Already
one of them, Mr.. McCrea of the Penn
sylvania. has announced that he Will
not come without special invitation,
and as he of course will not get that,
it looks as though the whole scheme of
the visit would fall through. Wheth
or the officials come to Washington or
whether they do not, there Is C rtain
to be considerable additional railroad
legislation at the next session Of Con-
gress, and before the magnates get
through, they probably will wish they
had taken counsel with the President
when they had good chance.
One Of the most important moves on
the part Of the government recently
was that Of the consular examination
held here This week. There were fifteen
or twenty men. mostly young men
who took the examination. The deci-
sions have not been published and will
uOt uO LOA oOl4O bluCs Ouu ~ hAcI hS thO
beginning of real reform in the con
sular service when the best man will
get the job. And the possibilities OF
foreign trade for this country are SO
immense and heretofore have been go
neglected. that anything looking to i'm
provement in this line Is to be welcOm-
| ed.
The applicants were appointed to
take the examination very much as the
cadets are appointed for examination
ut West Point or Annapolis. Oae Of
the first qualifications OF a candidate
was a good working knowledge OF
French, German, Spanish or Russian.
| A section of the examination was de-
voted to language, and beside this
| were a series of examinations on con-
mercial resources of the United States,
trade and banking laws of foreign
countries, international law and poll
tical economy, and few similar
\ things. One Can imagine an examins-
tion of that sort being put to many OF
the political henchmen, retired scheOl
teachers and ministers and other dere-
licts, with whom the service has been
loaded in past years. But the innova-
tion has been made. and the appoint
ments will follow in due time on a
strictly competitive basis.
Speaking of the consular service and
| foreign trade calls to mind lecture
that D. P. Austin, chief of the Bureau
, of Statistics deli vered in Washington
this week Ii was on the same line
! of foreign trade and contained good
many truths that we're SO Oh and
30 patent that it would seem
needless to impress them on wide awake
American manufacturers except for
the fact that they have been ham Der-
cd at in government reports for years
past and seem to make absolutely no
that the possibilities of trade between
this country and the Far East were
almost limitless or the clothing and
household utensils that were impo, ted
into the Oriental countries, be said
that 80 per cent. came from Europe,
and only one per cent. from he United
States. In explanation, he said that
the trouble was that too many Ameri
can manufacturers relied on foreign
agents who would rather push the
goods of their own country than Of
the United States But be said that
an equally serious error on the part
Of American manufacturers was that
they tiled to educate Foreigners, espe-
cially Orientals, up to using stock
goods of American manufacturer rath.
er than to cater to the trade as they
found 1t. For instance, if certain
pattern of cotton or cloth goods made
hit with the people of the Malay
Archipelago, the agents Of the French,
English and German firms on the
ground would hurry samples home to
their own houses and Immediately
goods would be manufactured to suit
the market and would be forthcoming
in quantities. But with the American
houses 1t was different. They wanted
the natives to accept the latest New
York styles whether it was in dress
goods or rat traps. and they lost trade
while they were trying to educate the
natives into using something / hey did
not want. This is an old story with
government officials who have had to
deal with American foreign trade re
lati0ns. But it is lesson that Amer
lean manufacturers seem woefully
slow to learn, and until they do learn
1t the foreign trade of the country is