The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1916-08-04

Many interesting stories are told of
the work that is being done by Uncle
Sans "drummers," whose territories"
cover the greater part of the civilized
world. Uncle Sans "drummers" are
the members of the new corps Of COM
mercial attaches of the department of
! commerce. These statesmen in gen.
eral for the United States in general
not only do" the biggest cities in the
| largest nations of the world, but the
greatest personages in foreign capt.
talS-kingS, princes, dukes, prime min.
listers, ETC., down to the mere barons
Of oversee trade and industry-are
their particular meat.
Don't forget it, though-they are
drummers. They are more than that,
but such Is the essential nature of
their occupation. Their task is to
rustic up trade for the q. S. A. If
they 60 about it In silk hat, frock coat
and white vest, it's merely because the
unwritten rules of the game in which
nation jOstles nation involve punctili-
GUS regard for appearances. If it's
"May it please your august highness,"
or II humbly beg to state, your excel
lency," instead Of Hello Bill; hows
the wife and kiddies?"-the language
Of officialdom and courts instead of the
language of the road" in the United
States-that's merely a matter of ge-
ography and environment and a part
Of the days work.
In fine, the commercial attaches are
both drummers and diplomats. You
find their names upon the state depart
ment roster, where they are ranked
we'll up as persons authorized to go
abroad as the personal representatives
of Uncle Sam. Without this especial
status, in many countries they could
not get closer than the curb during
a parade to the authorities and trade
nabobs whose influence goes far to
control the course and dispense the
profits of international commerce.
Given this especial position, the COM
mercial attaches are enabled to enter
the charmed circles and work from the
inside.
Ten Attaches Now.
There are now ten commercial at.
taches, with offices at London, Paris,
Berlin, Petrograd, Lima, Picking, San
dagO Rio de Janeiro, Melbourne and
Buenos Aires.
Prior to the organization of the at
tache service the bureau of foreign
and domestic commerce depended
wholly upon the consular service, com.
prising about three hundred consuls,
and travelling special agents, never ex-
ceeding ten in number. The bulk of
the information collected for the bu-
reau and distributed by it has been
furnished by American consuls.
But the conSuls and special agents
cannot cover the whole field, it was
found. A third type of representatives
was needed-one who would be resi-
dent business diplomat; one who
could keep in touch with what was
really developing In important bust
ness, either in front of or behind the
scenes; one who could go right after
something big on a moments notice
and stay with it to the finish. These
are the commercial attaches, the drum
mer-diplomats.
| For about year and half the new
staff Of statesmen in general for the
.. s. A. has been steadily plugging
hway. Judging from bulky files of cor
respondence with hundreds of Ameri-
can business houses, which are in the
possession of Secretary Redfield and
DIR. Edward e. Pratt, chief of the bu-
reau Of foreign and domestic CON-
merce, under whom the commercial at
inches are placed, the results have
earned unstinted approval In the
American business world.
There are distinctly notable achieve
ments" to the credit of the drummer
diplomat. One of the most interesting
is the recent case of Commercial At
tache @. W. A. Veditz, king Alfonso,
and SPANS transportation tax"
against American coal.
Runs Down to See King.
: The transportation tax" amounted
to S1.2O per ton, which, added to the
cost of the long water haul, gave
Welsh. coal practically monopoly of
the Spanish market. In Spain the
king has power to alter such tariffs.
AIr. Veditz is accredited to France,
but Spain Is included In his "terri-
tory" 1t looked like a bully good
chance for drummer-dIplomacy, so Mr..
fedit1 was directed to run down to
Madrid and see the king about 1t.
Their talk lasted an hour and FIVE