Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-29
THINGS LOOKING UP
New York Merchants Find Fall
Trade Above Expectations.
HINT AS TARIFF REVISION
Prospects of Better Times Bring
Back Foreigners.
THEY HAVE BEEN WELL POSTED
Panic Ruined jewelers., Brought
Down Hotel Rates and Hurt
Rich Men Most.
HINT AS TO TARIFF REVISION
THEY HAVE BEEN WELL POSTED
Ely WILLIAM F. CURTIS
Special Correspondence of The star and The
Chicago Record Herald.

| BY WILLIAM +. CURTIS.
| Special Correspondence of The Star and The
Chicago Record-Herad.
| NEW YORK. November -. 1903.
The retail merchants in New York agree
| that the fall trade is much larger than
! they expected, taking into consideration
| the effects of the panic, which have not
| entirely passed off: the fact that 1t is
| presidential year, and that Congress is
about to revise the tariff with a POSSIBLE
| ity of changing the rates of duty upon
many classes of goods. l find however
| that there is no concern among American
| importers or American manufacturers
| who compete with imported goods. They
| are convinced that the disposition of the
l. congressional committees Is to advance
| rather than to reduce duties; to increase
| rather than diminish the protection that
now is extended over American Inanufac-
lures.
Plan of Tariff Revision Proposed.
| Those who are in the confidence OF the
members of the finance committee of the
! Senate and the ways and means COM
mittee of the House have received as
| surances that if any important change is
made in the existing tariff it will be by
-
after the French and German plan. This
| Will give a maximum and Il minimum, to
! be applied according to circumstances,
| and the present rates will be adopted as
the minimum. The maximum rates will
| be from 10 to - per cent higher than
| the present schedules, and tha President
| will be authorized to apply them to i'm
ports from countries which discriminate
| against American merchandise and par
| tlcularly our agricultural products.
| M.
porHrs that the present rates upon all
| competing imports will remain UNI
| changed. Therefore, as soon as the re-
suit OF the election was known-and in
| fact, as soon as the importers became sat
| istied that Taft would be elected-they
| released immense quantities OF goods in
| the bonded warehouses and cabled larger
| orders than have been given for more
| than d year.
Immense Orders Sent to Europe.
A gentleman who is familiar with the
foreign trade tells me that the orders
cabled to Europe within week after
election amounted in the aggregate to
$1O0.GOO,0O0. and they include all of the
many kinds of merchandise we are in the
habit of bringing from Europe and Japan.
although the proportion OF lligl-priced
| fabrics is not so large as usual.
| Wednesday after election 500 Invoices
of goods were Withdrawn from the
| bonded warehouses, and Thursday 727,
! whereas the average is about 500 a day
In flush times. During the past year 800
or 400 was considered a good business.
More than s1,5O00o0 was paid in duties
| on the day after election, and the aver
| age is about $500 coo a day, in COM
parison with 100000 and 100000 day
| during the twelve previous months. Mr..
| Fowler the collector of the port of New
| York. tells Inc that the revenues collected
| here from customs during the month Of
! November will be double those of any
month OF the previous year. and he be-
| lieves the imports will increase steadily
| from this time on.
! Mr.. FOwler's predictions confirmed
! by several large importers with whom 1
have talked and who are familiar with
| the trade.
| The foreign firms and the agents OF
| foreign manufactures are keeping their
| thoughts to themselves. They are pre-
| pared for an increase of duties upon
| many articles, particular y from Germany
and France, because of the restrictions
| imposed by those countries upon our
agricultural products. but they explain
! that the notifications in the regulations
! OF the custom house are much more i'm
portant TO them than d reduction OF the
tariff. They say the American people,
the consumers, will have to pay the ad-
| vance. while the notifications i'll the reg
| ulations make their business easier and
relieve them from many annoyances
| that they have suffered.
Foreigners Coming Back.
| The foreigners who went home after
the panic because they could not find
| employment In this country have evil
IDENTIFY heard that Taft is elected and
that there will be renewal of indus
/ try in this country. So they are coming
| back in large numbers. Every steamer
that has arrived during the last two
weeks has been crowded with third-class
passengers, although they We're running
| with empty hunks in the Steerage ever
since the LIST of January. From January
! to November there was falling off
| of Si2.0J1 from last year in the arrival
| of Storage passengers. and during the
| same time the number of StecraSe pas
sengers leaving the United States was
! :26.6l1 i'll excess of the corresponding
| period of 1907. That means loss OF
| more than million population to the
| United States on account of The panic
| In other words. if the suspension of our
| industries had not occurred last fab, the
| tide Of immigration would have con-
| tinued as it was in 1905 and 1897, and
| so many people who vera thrown out or
| employment would not have returned TO
| their native country.
| The number of second-class passengers
| arriving was 56, 7O7 less shan it was q
year ago, and the number departing ws5
2.19O larger.
At the offices Of the big steamship lines
! am told that the presidential campaign
| in the United States has been watched
| with serious interest at all ports of de-
! parture in Europe, and that their agents
| in Italy, Hungary and the other states
| of the AuStro- II ungarian empire, in Pn-
| land Bohemia and other sections from
which our emigrants come, nave been sup
| piled with frequent bulletins describing
| the political situation and the prospects.
| At least four weeks before the election
| all of the steamship and immigration
| agencies i'll Europe were advised that the
| election of Taft WAS practically settled.
and this prediction was confirmed by
| cable several times up to election day,
| so that the steamships which left Ger
man, Belgian and Italian ports during
the week following election day We're
crowded with immigrants who had made
their preparations for departure. The
| Amerika, which was the first steamer
| to leave Germany after November ),
| brought a list of LOO Steerage passen-
| gers, twice as many as have arrived by
any steamer within year. Every steam
| err that has come into the port OF New
| York from Europe since that time has
had a crowded storage, and that Is one
of the most significant signs of the re-
vival of prosperity.
Employment Agents Post Them.
Nearly all Of the immigrants who are
coming in now have been here before and
left last winter and last spring for the
old country because they were thrown out
of employment. Most of them have con-