The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-10-30

DON'T USE THEIR WITS
Fine Business Could Be Built Up
Just Now If It Were Only
Given the Proper
Attention.
IBy United Press Staff correspoa-

IBy United Press Staff Correspon-
dent.l
MADRID, Spain, Sept. 11.-(By mail
to New York )--If you want to hear
Mr. American Business man called
names, even to fool and even 20,
blankety-b lank-fool, you want to sit in
the office of Robertson Honey ;hs
American consul here and listen 20 hin
and j. M. Gay, who's the vice-coasnl.
tell what they know about Mr.. A. B.
Mans efforts ca to do business with
Spanish firms.
Robertson Honey has been on the
Job here since June. He used to be in
the district attorneys office in New
York and his American ginger is al
most getting the best of him. By that
| l mean that he's likely to break all
presidents in the way of attracting tho
attention OF American business men
! to the chances that are open to them
!, in Spain and the way they're throwing
them down. Ever since this war he.
gan he told me, German business
in Spain, which is the largest, has been
chopping off. Spanish firms have been
writing to me asking me to get Am
erican firms to supply them with what
they can't get from Germany"
Mr.. Honey can't be drummer for
American firms. The best he can do is
to make little report into the Trade
Opportunity corner Of the consular
reports American business men see
| "a ~, - 1oft writ IN
English, which the Spanish business
man throws away. Or, he doesn't eve1
put enough postage on his letter, be-
ling not even interested enough
i in foreign business to know how much
lit costs to send letter to Spain, and
1.-The Spanish business man refuses the
letter rather than pay the difference
i It isn't because the Spanish busin.
ess man cares for the few extra cent.
lines; it's because he doesn't want to
do business with man who doesn
know enough about the matter in hand
ito be able to pick out the right post.
age stamp.
4 There are about fifteen men in Mad
rid who have built up fine businesses
fditOu6 dIlACACo AAOAA taAC
United States to Spain; there might
be many more If American merchants
would only do foreign business the
way the foreigner wants it done, or, at
least, split the difference with him.
Here's an instance of how Amer
lean business men, unless they get
their wits about them, will try to
crowd out foreign trade in Spain dur
i ing the war:
A Spanish architect wanted Amer
leans to bid on fittings for great
public building. They did. They wrote
letters in English that went right into
the waste basket and sent catalogs in
the same language that went right
into the furnace. And a man from
Germany got $4,000 job. There's
a man here now who has contract
to supply part OF the ships clips for
rifle bullets and part Of the cartridge
shells used by the Spanish govern
lment He wrote the American consul
and asked him to let American firms
know about his needs. The first letter
this Spanish gentleman got from big
American business house didn't have
enough stamps on it but the Spaniard
raid the mailman the difference. He
opened the, letter and found it was
written in English, which he couln'
read and into the waste basket it went
and he turned sore on all American
business merchants and manufacture
! ers.
What do they know about shipping
rates?" he asked, "if they don't know
even about postal rates? And how
much do they care for my business 1!
they won't even to go the trouble OF
writing to me in language can
understand? There's another man here
who has fitted up great aeroplane
factory for the Spanish army, which
is planning to have a large fleet OF
flyers. He has written Consul Honey
asking him what American firms can
do for him in the way of supplying
parts. 1t is big contract and I'm
lscooping the consular reports when
tell about it.
What's the use?" said Mr.. Honey
to me- 'The firms in the United
states who sell such things will prob
ably see my report in the Consular
Journal and they'll flood my poor
Spanish friends with catalogs he can;
read and letters he can't understand
He'll throw the whole unintelligible
shooting match into the fire and wait
until the European war is over when
he can get what he wants from the
German or French factories"
I've got another scoop on the con
isuIar report, too. Spain is going on a
gold basis. 1t was an announcement
that pleased the financial world only
1.-TWO days ago. But, for weeks the