The Washington herald., 1908-01-14
TRADE FAILURES ABROAD
By FREDERIC. J. HASKIN.

/ The recent stringency in the money
market naturally had a telling effect on
our industrial concerns. and more than
one manufacturer has found things slow
/ in the great home market which has here
/ tofore been his mainsJay With so much
goods still unsold, the manufacturers
/ could make this III wind blow them good
/ by sending their statesmen into foreign
/ fields and placing their goods with other
/ nations. There, not only is a ready sale
/ to be found for them, but, to judge from
/ consular reports. the people are eagerly
asking for them. Had we needed these
reports last year. over 10000 1000 might
have been diverted from the pockets Of
| European to those Of American manu-
! factureTs
/ If the people of the United States ex-
ported as much per capita. as the people
/ Of Netherlands, our annual export trade
would amount to come Sl2.0o0, 0o0, 600; if
we sold as much as the people OF Bel
gium, il would aggregate nearly $780,
! 100000; and if we did as well as the people
/ Of England we would have over $1,000
900 to the credit side Of our foreign
/ trade ledger. AS it is, our export trade
/ annually amounts TO about 81 800 600 000
/ This is not due to any lack Of productive
capacity on the part of the people, nor
TO any inferiority Of the wares they have
to offer the world. Extravagaut con-
sumption at home and a failure to meet
conditions abroad are the things which
i have made us one of the smallest per
capita. exporters among the leading na-
tions of the world Even Canada, where
conditions ike unto ours obtain has an
/ export trade amounting TO SS3a per
! capita. where ours amounts to S20,A
The daily reports from our consuls
scattered throughout the world tell a
woeful tale of the things we miss, Of
the opportunities which literally beg for
! improvement. The situation is well de-
| scribed by Mai. }. NJ. Carson, OF the Bu-
reau of Manufactures. He says that
the reason for the relatively small share
of the United States in the imports Of her
| Southern neighbors. may be described by
/ the one brief phrase-indifference of the
| American merchant. and the failure of
| the American manufacturer to appreci-
| ate the value of the opportunities that
Iappeal to him. Every country, from
/ Texas to the Straits of Magellan, is un-
dergoing wonderful agricultural and IN
dustriaI development, and needs vast
amounts of machinery, implements, and
/ everything else that enters into the in
dustrial economy of a growing nation
| All of them are made in America, and
the South American believes that made
/ in America" is the bast hall mark of
trade They want to buy Of US, and the
one thing which keeps them from doing
so, according to Mai. Carson, IS the fail
ure Of our merchants and manufacturers
20 meet their requirements.
The complaints that come in through
the consular service are OF failures 10
extend credits, failures to fill orders ac-
| cording to specifications failures to
pack goods so as to insure prompt and
| safe delivery. and failure to carry out
/ shipping specifications. A six months
credit basis is the established custom in
South America. and whatever the people
In North America may think OF it. it is
| there to stay, and the only way to get
! business is to extend that sort of credit.
An instance of this kind is that of a
Mexican wholesale house which ordered
a carload of sheet zinc from an American
zinc producer. When the telegraphie or
der was received, the Mexican firm was
notified that the cash would have to be
forthcoming before the order was filed.