Omaha daily bee., 1911-09-24
fcopyright 1e11. BY Frank G. carpenter.l

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ISNYEH9I day and every night for the 800 work
SS4G1sASb ing days of the year Would 1T not
pay to take care Of it, Suppose you
sold on every one of those days total of about
900, and the year something like 81 $780,
100000 Would not you want to increase It?
That is what Uncle Sam is doing as to our
foreign trade. His exports in 1908 sold for over
81 800 100000. They were almost much last
year, and they will run close to the same amount
this. We among the chief merchants in the
great market house of the world We still led
by Great Britain and Germany, but our foreign
trade is rapidly growing, and the day will come
when we shall be the biggest traders of the whole
world.
This letter will tell you some of the means by
which Uncle Sam, patriarch, is increasing that
trade. There two departments which are espe-
ciay devoted to It, One is the agricultural branch
of the government, which has to do with our crop
exports, and the other is the Department of Com
merce and Labor, which deals with both manufac-
lures and crops, The crops have always had large
part in the business. The manufactures are Of
more recent growth, but they promise in time to
surpass all that which comes from the soil.
Our Big Industrial Business
Have you any idea how much our manufacture
ing business amounts to? dislike to use figures;
they so little when they get into the millions
ha dan interview not long ago with Mrs Hetty
she told me her mind refused to work on anything
over 81 100000 My mind is tuned by $40 900,
and the word billion means nothing but exceed
ingly large" The only way to realize such concep-
lions is by homely comparisons.
Well in figures the products we make an
nually in factories are worth 81 900 900 900
or $4,000 600 900; they so many that If every
man, woman and child on this big round earth
could have an equal share of them the amount held
by each would be just $40. II they all divided
among our own 100, OOO. 900 population each of us
would have $3.50 worth, and the share OF each
family would be $3.50 or more.
Again, look at the money invested in our
manufacturing business The capital is about equal
to the product, and the cost OF the materials an
nually used is somewhere between IS, 900 900 900
and $4,000 600, 900. The industries here taken
into account only those confined to the factories
and the men employed in them are SOC, 900 or 60O-
600. The census divides our great industries into
fourteen groups, and OF them 1--WE are each making
products Of more than $1,000, O0O, 900 q year.
Moreover, the amounts are steadily increasing
and we need more foreign trade TO keep the hands
busy. Our foreign sales already foot up $685.
100000, and had the markets we could easily
make it a billion They now amount to about az
per cent more than they were in 1900, and over
double the amount OF our exports Of manufactures
in the year 1890. Indeed, we are rapidly climbing
to the top among the nations which are selling the
most goods made by machine and by hand We
now rank third, being only exceeded by Great
Britain and Germany.
Uncle Sans Export Bureau
All this is preliminary to a talk which have
Just had with Mr.. A. H. Baldwin, the chief of the
bureau OF manufactures OF the Department of
Commerce and Labor, and of the story of how
Uncle Sam is trying to push foreign trade. This
bureau was established to collect information as
to where and how the goods should be shipped. 1t
is operated in conjunction with the consular service
and gathers all sorts OF information for our manu-
facturers who would do business abroad It pub
fishes daily paper made up of the reports of the
consuls they come In and has on hand vast
amount Of confidential information which it for
wards to those factories which supply foreign
needs.
This daily Is about the only paper published
by the United States government. The copy issued