New Britain herald., 1915-01-28
Merchants Aftifude T0wa1d Adpextising Is Criticised Major P F. O'keefe Suggests Commercial Exhibit for Manufacturers Secretary A. H. Andrews Out
 lines Chamber of Commerce Work.

less of it's industrial development to advantage of position or to natural resources. What New Britain has ac- complished in the past has been en- tirely due to the energy, resourceful- ness and industry of her citizens.
 The real task of the Chamber of Commerce for the next few years will be found in marking New Britain OH the worlds industrial map, as she should have been marked years ago. It is not enough that New Britain is the greatest hardware shop on earth, with a yearly product to the value of $22,OOO,0O0; that fact should be better known throughout the world. The chief problem of any manufacturing center is not local trade, so much as it is question of selling more of the products of the city's industries.
 War Furnishes Opportunity.
 No better time could have been chosen for that purpose than the present; and no city in the country is in a better position to take advantage of the opportunity than New Britain. The industrial embarrassment of the warning nations of Europe furnishes Americas opportunity. A consider ahle slice of the foreign trade of Germany, Russia, France and Austria may be ours for the taking. There has been an end to the pessimism among American businessmen which resulted from the beginning of the struggle now going on in Flu rope. Merchants and manufacturers throughout the country are looking toward the immediate future with their war shattered confidence fully restored. The position of the rail- roads has been greatly improved by the advance in rates granted by the interstate commerce commission. The new banking system is thoroughly es- ta blished and despite some lingering criticism. is giving indications of the general advantage to all lines Of business. The money market has re- covered from the disconcerting effects of the war scare. Everywhere throughout the country there is evil dence of healthy optimism drawn from the granting of needed relief to the railroads. and from President Wilson's assurance that business dis t,rbing legislation. has been con- cluded.
 "One week of the European war; said President Farrell of the Steel company recently, "did more than ten years of academic discussion to convince the American people that fe reign trade is a vital element in domestic prosperity
 Get out and do something. Now is the opportune time," is the advice of Thomas A. Edison. No better op- portunity has ever been presented, nor ever will be. for beginning a cam pseign to boom the products of Ameri- can industries.
 If any good can be said to grow out of the fratricidal struggle now con- vulsing one-half of the world. it is the chance it affords American manu- lecturers to educate the buying public to the value of goods made in the l.. S. A. It is not enough that we merely seek to fill such orders as the warning nations can no longer handle We should embark on a vigorous cam paign of education for the sale of American goods at home and abroad. It is about time that we got over our silly subserviency to the imported humbug.
 The great change that is develop ing in the worlds trade has already been seen in the recent American loan of $15, 5,0o0,0o0 to Argentine. Taking everything into consideration, there is no community in this country that has more reason for taking an op- timistic view of the future than New Britain. She enjoys a pre-eminent position in her particular field and although at the present time her products are sold all over the world she is far from holding the posi- tion in foreign trade that she could secure by a concerted and systematic effort. ....
 Our Export Trade.
 It might be interesting at this time to review partially just what we are doing in the way of export trade in hardware, lGutlery, ,machine tools etc. In tsl3 we eS porte razprsy table and other*cutlery to the value of $1,142,- 14S, Of which s2O4,412 went to Can ada, s279,117 to South America and $500, ,042 to Europe. We shipped clocks to the value of 1923 900, a quarter of the amount going to Can ada and about one-seventh to South America. Our total exports of metal working machinery and machine tools amounted to S16.O97,315, of which $517,919 went to South America and