Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-19

AS the result Of a recent act of Con-
gress two bureaus of the Department OF
! Commerce and Labor have been consol-
idated. These are the bureau of manu-
features and the bureau Of statistics. now
the bureau of foreign and domestic COM
merce.
Under the previous organization the du-
ties which devOlved upon the bureau OF
manufactures were Ito foster, promote
and develop the various manufacturing
industries Of the United States, and mar
kets for the same at home and abroad.
domestic and foreign. by gathering. COM
piling. publishing and supplying all avail
able and useful information concerning
such industries The duties of the one
time bureau of statistics were, as the
name implies. chiefly of a statistical ma
ture. the work for which it was best
known being the compilation of statis-
teal statements showing the imports
into and exports from the United States
Under the new arrangement these COM
posite duties will be performed by the
bureau OF foreign and domestic COM
merce. and, In addition, the undertaking
of such investigations as may be required
by either the President or Congress.
~
ITO foster, promote and develop" the
industries of the United States at home
and abroad is
Fostering Industrial large task. The
Growth. , uuleaa may ,,,, se
switchboard. with the American manu-
facturers on one end and the rest of
the world on the other But the bureau
must not live up to the comparison to
the extent of plugging the wrong hole.
saying there is no answer, and few
other things which 'eentrals'' are noted
for. Instead, the bureau must be ready
to give accurate and sufficient informa-
ton as soon as the United States hook
comes off the receiver
In order to carry out this work use
is made Of all available means of SCI
curing information necessary. corps
of commercial agents is employed to In
vestigate trade conditions at home and
abroad, and to submit reports resulting
from their observations. These men are
selected on account of technical and
special training calculated to render
their researches useful to American trade
interests
form of special Investigations along some
particular line. such, for instance, as
the trip made by Ralph M. Odell. dur
ing the past year, to Spain. Italy, Rus
sia, the Balkans and Turkey In con-
nection with the cotton textile trade OF
those countries. England and Germany
were the countries through which Arthur
J. Butman travelled investigating the
boots and shoes industry. The bureau has
also made studies in Australia and the
orient in connection with the opportu-
mites for the extension of trade in ma
chinery and tools. Another agent is at
the present time in South America study
ing the trade in drugs. proprietary medi-
cines and canned goods. Still another Is
In Europe studying the lumber trade.
freight charges. port charges and similar
details connected with transportation.
particularly in relation to trade with
South America.
Although it was provided in 1903. the
date OF the establishment of the Depart
ment Of Commerce and Labor, that the
bureau of manufactures should promote
and develop trade at home as we'll as
abroad, the work thus far has been large
ly devoted to the extension Of the ex-
port trade. as IL shown by the investi-
cations undertaken recently by the COM
mercial agents. Now however, the work
OF domestic commercial development Is
being taken up actively. and 1t is be-
lieved Is destined to become one Of the
most important services of the bureau
One of the investiga tons made recently
In this connection WAS that by f. A.
Brand. now assistant chief Of the bureau
This investigation resulted in a pub
lished record of the work Of the service
Of about 100 Of the leading commercial
associations of the United States For
the first time a detailed survey of the
activities Of chambers Of commerce,
boards of trade. manufacturers associ-
ations. commercial clubs and similar or
ganiza tions has been made. and the rec
ord placed at the service of trade in
terests. The bulletin. entitled Com
mercial ORGANIZATIONS" has aroused
much interest in the subject. as has
been amply proven by the demand,
which has already far exceeded the edi-
ton OF 1000 copies printed.
In addition to the corps of CONNER
cial agents information Is obtained by
the bureau from commercial reports
sent 1t by the Department of State.
and also from the official reports of
foreign governments. home and foreign
trade journals and mass of CONNER
cial correspondence received at the
ONCE.
So much for the means by which the in
formation is accumulated. 1t is dissent
mated in three ways.
Circulating The first is through
reA: the columns of the
A"A"A AAo 'A0"' Daily Consular and
Trade Reports, a publication issued by
the bureau. which contains extracts
from consular reports along commercial
lines and items of special trade oppor-
tunities. A glance at any issue of this
publication will show it's value to the
trade interests Of this country. A re-
cent copy. for instance. contained six
teen pages. Six Of these pages were
devoted to an article on commercial
activities in Manchuria, by Consul Gen.
erai Fred d. Fisher. This was fol-
lowed by briefer reports from other
consuls on a variety of subjects. Then.
on the last two pages. were small items
calling the attention of American firms
to the needs Of European buyers Take
the shortest of these as an example:
Vacuum cleaners and dust protecting
materials. A report from an American
consul in a European country states
that a local firm wants to buy all kinds
of vacuum cleaners and dust protecting