The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-01-15

they consist chiefly of manufactured
articles. the chief value of when Is
impaired to them not so much by the
material of which they are made as
by the work that enters into them.
In other words, America furnishes the
materials and the rest of the world
does the work.
There are, of course. exceptions TO
this rule But our manufactured pro-
ducts in demand elsewhere consist al
most entirely of those which can De
turned out quickly, effectively ana
cheaply by machinery, and in which
a high grade of artistic and individ-
ual workmanship does not figure. Ag-
ricultural implements and tools, sew
ing machines, shoes. building hardware
and the like We produce and sell every
where, says the Minneapolis Journal.
In some special lines requiring n1g1
workmanship like machine tools, type
writer's, watches. and even silverware,
we have attained a perfection that
foreign competitors have not been able
to reach But the bulk of our exports
is made up of raw materialS-cOt-
ton, petroleum, copper, grain, pro-
visions and the like. We send over
$10,000.000 worth of exports to France
every year, and Of that amount, less
than 81. 600, 900 is devoted to machinery,
almost the sole item in which quality
and efficiency are the prime considera-
tions.
This is the sort of export trade that
exhausts the country's natural resource
es without building up it's industrial
standards. The remedy may be sought
in such countries as France and Ger
many, where the intensive principle
has been applied with such signal sue
cess to industrial processes. A high
standard of individual workmanship
has been attained in both countries,
each in it's own way, and the result is
that both are rich and prosperous. de-
spite their poverty of natural resOurc-
eS.
In France the eSthetic sense has
been developed to such an extent that
the products of the country easily
surmOunt all tariff barriers because of
their unique artistic quality. The
cost of the material forms so small
a proportion of the cost Of French
products in numerous lines that nearly
the entire profit of manufacture and
sale goes back to that country and it's
wOrkmen. We Americans appreciate
and desire to possess such products
but we do not make them. In Ger
many. scientific and artistic processes
have been brought to high degree of
but development has not
stopped there. The Germans have
evolved methods of merchandising
thing the world has heretofore seen.
They have not merely learned how to
make things better than anyone else:
they have also learned how to make
markets for them everywhere.
What we need. therefore, is better
industrial education. with greater en-
phasis on it's esthetic and artistic side
that is. on its individual side. Our
finest workmen are specialists who
learn to do one thing with marvellous
speed and effectiveness. Our inventors
are constantly aiding, by their inge
NOUS devices. the minute division of
labor. Meanwhile we are getting far
Their away from those highly profitable
forms of industry where the quality
and not the cheapness Of the product
is the chief consideration.
The popularity of the nandicraft
is one favorable sign of the
return to the individualistic ideal. But
the handicrafters need encouragement,
either public or private, for such
would yield rich returns
in the betterment of our industrial ac-
tivities.