Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-23

formerly kept an army of agents in the
! field, not only to sell its machines but to
! prevent farmers from buying machines of
| other companies. Those agents were paid
| good salaries and expenses, which cost
the companies engaged in this rivalry
| hundreds of thousands of dollars year
| This same rivalry made a great deal of
| unnecessary advertising, which has since
| been reduced to reasonable amounts. The
saving in the advertising bills alone has
been at least $500 year to each COM
pany. but l cannot give you any accurate
| estimate of the saving in salaries. Moth
| ing has been saved in commissions. The
profits of local agents are the same as
before the. consolidation. Their incomes
are entirely dependent upon the volume
| of business transacted by them We fur
nisn them all the machines they can sell
| at given price fixed by contract for
year or some other stated period. and
their compensation is the difference be-
| tween that figure and the price for which
they sell the machines. AS we have not
sold so many machines since the consoli-
dation as we did before. the incomes of
our agents have been diminished in cor
responding ratio"
How many agents solicitors, clerks,
mechanics and other employees have your
"On September @, 1902, before the con-
solldation. the several companies had 261
general agents. Now We have only nine
| ty-eight; they had 1881 other saIaried
employees; now we have 1926. Our rec
ords show that the combined companies
had Al ,O97 local agents in this country
before the consolidation. On August l.
1907, we had 1892. which means a
total reduction in our sales department
of 1926 employees. However the same
opportunity is afforded the farmer for
securing new machines. as well repairs
for his old machines, as when the several
compa MES We're independent. The reduc-
ton in the number of local agents has
been brought about largely by the enact
ment of laws prohibiting exclusive con-
tracts. Now exclusive contracts are not
made with local agents, every one of
whom is permitted TO handle, and does
handle, a matter of fact, machines
made by our competitors well as our
own.
Our manufacturing department in
Guides fourteen plants In which $4,000
persons, more or less, are employed This
includes about 1900 young women who
are engaged in spinning Irvine and every
twenty-four hours they produce enough
to encircle the world.
Campaign for Foreign Markets.
This enumeration of employees does
not include those who are engaged in
foreign countries continued Mr.. Funk.
The competition in the home market
has compelled the company to seek Gus
toners In Europe, South America, Africa
and Australia, where, by the energy and
industry of its agents, 1t has doubled
-e exports of harvesting machines from
the United States within the last four
years, which 1t could not have done but
for the increased capital and facilities
made available by the consolidation. In
our foreign trade we sell for higher prices
and make larger profits than at home
Indeed. In no other country do the farm
%k@;. H.
in the United States. In 1902 there were
sold l97, 292 machines in foreign countries
for $40, 433C COO; in 1906 this country sold
CAB machines in foreign countries for
$50 1919, 600.
The International Harvester Companv
Is educating the farmers Of the world
In American methods of agriculture. We
nave large number of agents living in
Siberia today with their families, teach
Ing muJ1ks how to grow wheat and harvest
1t. We have similar missionaries I'm South
Africa and South America and in every
country of the world Some of our mis-
slonaries have gone as far as water and
rail would carry them, and have then
crossed the mountains with their ma
CHIMES on the backs of mules to show
the natives how to plow the soil and
plant and gather their crops with Ameri-
can machinery. We have at least LOGO
educatlng the world at the expense of
the International Harvester COMPANY To
use American machinery and to create
market Tor American merchandise
thousands Spent in Experiments.
we have spent a million and
haif OF dollars to promote the cul-
ovation of raw material for Irvine in this
country The manufacturers of the
United states pay $17,O0O,0O0 year for
imported nber which We believe to be
unnecessary, and We are trying to find a
substitute, which, If we are successful
Will transfer $10,000,000 year from the
pockets of foreigners to those of the
American farmers. We believe that flax
straw, which has heretofore been waste
product, may be utilized as a substitute
Tor the hbers of Yucatan and Manila
and our company paid $685. last year
and 1890, 600 this year to back that opin-
ion.'
One of the objections to the trust bas
been fear that the eliminat ton of rivalry
would arrest invention that the manufac-
turers would stick to their old patterns
without making improvements" l sug-
gested.
That is a great mistake" said Mr.
Funk. IF you will inquire at the Patent
Office you will learn that more patents
have been applied for and granted to the
so-called trusts than before the CONSOLE
dat1on. In our case we keep a staff of
$50 experts continually engaged in work
ing out suggestions for improvements in
our agricultural machinery; trying to per
rect our present types of machines and
to develop new types with view TO
economy and to make the work of the
farmer easier. We are taking out new
patents every month, but the old funda-
mental patents upon which self-binders
are made expired long ago and are free
to anybody. The new patents are for de-
tails. Larger sums of money have been
expended by the International Harvester
Company in its experimental departments
than by the individual companies before
the consolidation. We have had a num-
Der OF our best men working for five
years and have already expended $3.50, 600
trying to perfect a machine that will re-
iieve the farmer Of his heaviest and most
tedious work in the cornfield, and we
haven't got it YETI
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