The Washington herald., 1912-11-17

JJ new 6uklA1Q IlOutI cECNlCu aAy- ~
srs in Chicago, ST. Louis. Kansas City
and the Northwest. and was loaned on,
Everywhere on farm mortgages and houses
and lots. The economic pressure In that
part OF our country drove the people tc
use their heads end to be energetic, alert
and reBourceful.
such countries as England and Ger
many, experiencing the same sort cf
pressure. put large sums Of money In
railways, banks, manufactures and mer-
camille establishments situated In foreign
lands. They strongly and skillfully or.
ganized themselves In all parts of the
earth and that Is the competition this
country IL meeting and must meet In the
future. Some one has said that the ex-
port trade Of a nation begins with the
export Of men, OF shrewd managers and
capable statesmen. Young Germans and
Englishmen are educated for business IN
distant regions. They learn languages.
Few Americans can speak out Of their
native tongue. II seems to me there Is a
fine opportunity for young Americans to
take up German, French. Spanish, and
Portuguese and then to become trade
specialists in South America and Europe.
Our people have the ability, the enthus.
iasm and the products with which to con-
quer a good share OF the trade OF the uni
verse"
Are any foreign manufacturers sue
cessfully competing in this country with
our own manufacturer / asked.
Plenty OF them" Mr.. Baldwin answer
ed. I'VE don't stop to think that Con-
gress annually appropriates about q bill
lion of dollars with which to pay the ex-
penses of the national government and
that a large part Of the money Is col
lected at our ports on goods brought here
g. al n - - 80
our markets. Germany pays the freight
age across the Atlantic and the customs
duty besides on 100000 of cheap hose
which are sold In American stores to
American customers. France ships us
great cargoes OF wine and manufactured
silk. Japan sells US copper ingots, mat
ting. and pottery, not to mention nearly
all OF its tea and t45. 900 900 of its raw silk.
In plain, well-made and ingenious things.
we can hold our own against the rest of
the world. In some cheap things. how
ever. We are at a disadvantage because
of our higher scale OF wages. Then we
are lacking in artistic ability and 20 itch
Americans go abroad for pottery, iino
silks, and miscellaneous merchandise that
is high in price"
The Secret of German Success.
You spoke OF Germany awhile ago." I
said.
Yes. and / should like to speak OF 1t
again." Mr.. Baldwin replied. The Ger
mans are making extraordinary heaHway
industrially. We think they are very re-
markable business men-that they are
brilliantly progressive, sagacious, and SCI
entifc. 1t is a thankless task, ! suppose,
to uncover a superstition. but the fact of
the matter Is that Germany has won its
commanding place in industry simply
through the unromantic agency OF organ
iZation. Its p~bple were emigrating by
the shipload aHa y was losing its popu-
lation because CE the economic pressure
that l have already mentioned. Some
thing had TO be done TO stop the drain, to
keep the people at home. StatesmanshIp
saw what was needed and thus the Ger
man government itself became the chief
instrumentality for the promotion of Ger
man industry and trade. Helping II, sre
the schools, manufacturers. bankers, SCI
entists, and commercial bodies. There is
team work, as baseball players say. all
over the nation. Money Is the national
watchword and emigrant ships leaving
German ports are now empty of natives.
"A German manufacturer can go to his
local board of trade and get the route
and the freight to any point in cIyiliza-
ton or heathendom. The state railway
AAA bANC hlAi q bpCIAdl IdNe u Ine near
est port on the seacoast. His bankers will
finance his shipment, will loan him the
money to manufacture his product or to
carry out his contract. and then through
Its German banking connection will fin
ally collect the bill from his debtor Busi-
ness in Germany Is a national policy. In
this country IL is more individual
One OF our commercial agents found
two German chemists experimenting with
native essential oils at an isolated spot
IN the heart Of China. Germans are ev-
erywhere. / was going to say that they
have more commercial agents
IN the United States than there are in our
entire service. Moreover. they are as
skilled in the making of limitations as are
he Japanese. An American safety razor
hat sells for s. has been cheaply repro
iuced by a German company and can
be bought in Spain. where patent laws
ire imperative, for 50 cents. Nor is
hat all Of the story. The razors bear
he name Of the American inventor and
ire represented to have been made in this
While the German man of business is
Ubiquitous, still the United States has the
money and the goods and the brains. and
an outsell the world In most things, as I
believe, II 1t is willing to make the ef-
tort"
Copyright. 1872. by James r. Morvv.)