The Washington herald., 1921-02-26

the Pyramids directing the unload
ing of Made in America" goods
from the backs of weary camels.
Again, the drummer was offered to
us. his solar hat with its red, white
and blue pugree exchanged for Il
sombrero. although he stu was clad
in immaculate white ducks, lead
ing a train of heavily -laden burros
with Made in America" on every
pack-across the pampas of the
Amazon And the same drummer, or
. good carbon copy, would be seen
In Arctic costume guiding dog teams
over trackless fields of snow AMI
ice in the Frozen North. Or he
would be presented in the vivid
costume of some Latin country
beckoning ox-drawn wagons loaded
with American goods to camp
beside a blue lagoon.
Not All Pictures.
Nor was 1t all in illustrations--
the merry career of this pioneer of
American export trade. We were
told that this enterprise made him
wake South American caballeros
from their siestas to cajole them
into the purchase of superlative
nothing of slapping the Ameer of
an East Indian principality between
the fiat shoulder-blades while he
regaled him with the latest blue
story of the st. Louis trade that was
calculated to make the Ameer's Sc
raglio rock with laughter in the
retelling. 1t was not at all diff
cult for him to draw a fsrocious-
Ia
steed and persuade him to sign
-on the dotted line.
He was all Things to all men,
Equally at home was he with the
Igorrote head-hunter and the Sui
tan of Malabar; at ease with the
family in a thatched-straw hut al
waikiki IT in the drawing-room Of
crown prince. His personality
was irresistible. his salesmanship
unexampled. He could sell iron
stoves in Sahara or toothpicks in
Java. He made comic operas come
true.
Led Invasion.
He was the leader of our first
American invasion.
The drummer was on the job, but
many of the merchants who had
sent him were not quite ready for
the rush of business he produced
He came back with sheaves of or
ders. and industry rolled up its
sleeves and prepared to execute
them. We had a boom in American
goods shipped abroad. Thousands
of merchants and manufacturers
who had not given serious thought
to Europe and Asia since they lelr
school set themselves for the broad
er acquaintance. 1t was at this |
time that the exporters not trained
in the trade gave American business
a black eye in the sight of foreign
customers.
Many Complaints.
Consular representatives of this
country in foreign ports wrote |
thousands of letters of complaint: |
the State Department was visitea |
by the representatives of foreign |
legations protesting politely and |
diplomatically against various evil |
dences of bad faith. The fact was |
that many of our merchants a |
small minority. in fact-had fallen |
down and all American exporters
suffered in the Indictment The
counts in this indictment were that |
there were thousands of instances |
of bad packing, with resultant re- |
fusals to accept and claims for |
damages: orders had not been car
ried out according to specifications;
many of them arrived abroad with |
insufficient postage or freightage;
in many cases poor seconds were
substituted for the first-class goods |
ordered from samples.
Contracts Broken.
There were cases where mer-
chants abroad had asked for repeat |
orders and had been refused be-
cause the goods were not available |
or they had been absorbed by do
mestic consumers. Gables from VAL
paraiso failed to compel certain |
merchants to an observance of con-
tracts because they had found mar
kets nearer home. Frequently goods /
not wanted in this country were
forced on foreign buyers. There
were conditions of payment and
credit that were not carefully ad-
justed in advance and which re-
suited in cutting off future trade
relations.
When the armistice was signed
the export trade continued to come
our way for the simple reason that
the war-exhausted countries needed
our goods and could not marshal
their resources to compete with us.
Here are some illustrative figures
compiled for this year, that show
what the war-enforced trade did for
us: Before the war Europeans
owned $4,000. OOO.O of our securi-
ties. In addition to this Europe
shipped $2,00e, ,00O,0 in specie and
owed us as follows: Government
loans during the war. $4,000, ,0O0,-
VOO' and bank credits since the
armistice of $4,000. 900, 900, making
total due to US of s14,000,Oo0 900.
Adding to this our own securities
which now have come into our pos
session, $4,000. 900. 900, the total sur
plus Of goods shipped to Europe by
US above those we imported from
there is $4,000. .000. 900.
MASS of Debt.
Now the United States is caught
IN the backwash of her tidal wave
OF trade prosperity. The mass of
deo~ due to US has proved a STUN
ping block to our future trade. 1t
mas placed the dollar at such a high
premium that the foreigner will not
ouy from us, IL he can escape 1t
tbrough any other means. Lack of
foreign buying has been eAeryating
to American industry. Credit which
should be liquid is tied up on re-
newal loans.
Business cannot be transacted ON
short-term credits because the for
eign producer cannot begin to pay
until he, is given opportunity
through our exports to resume pro.
ducing. He cannot pay us in gold