New Britain herald., 1921-06-21
HmLn1GHlV DO0IlVL01 IS LOSING CHANGES
Baltic States Not Familiar With
 u. s. Firms

Riga, Lativa. June 21. (The Associat- ed Press. s.)t1Millions of dollars in ready cash are going to English. German and Dutch firms from the Baltic states be- cause of the almost unbelievable un- familiarity of even the largest Ameri- can firms with foreign trading condi- tions, and even geography, say Ameri- cans here.
 Dozens of big orders for which cash was actually in the banks in New York have been lost to America because of what American representatives in the Baltic states term absolute stupidity
 ''It is time.' said one of these Ameri- cans in Riga who has had to place many orders in Germany and in Eng land when America could have had them. that the heads of American firms realize what the subordinates in charge of their foreign trading depart ments are doing for them.
 Most of them, brought up on so- called American efficiency systems that may work well at home but are abso- lutely hopeless abroad, try to do busi- ness in Europe according to form 22 or form "A or whatever form they
 
 ITO illustrate, not long ago I had an urgent cash order for 10000 suits of underclothing for a Baltic state. I tele- graphed to a big American firm. What your price 10000 suits heavy underwear cash against documents New York
 Two or three days later, when some bright young credit man had tried to digest this telegram, 1 received a cable saying: Wire your credit rating and references
 Now, 1 suppose his form 22' re- quired him to do that, but I wired back My credit references are cash in New York bank. What are your prices
 "Some days later I received a tele- gram saying: Price dollar twenty or something like that.
 More valuable time was lost in exchange of telegrams asking what they meant, per garment or per suit. The result was that I wired an English firm. My answer from it was complete, just what I wanted. The telegram gave the price per suit, weight of shipment, probable date of delivery and everything that I wanted to know. The English firm got the order and took the cash In the New York bank.
 When I write American firms for
 
 prices. I suppose they think it is un- dignified to print them. Then I write for pricelists and get pricelists without catalogues.
 German or British firms print com plete catalogues, giving just what one wants to know. They save valuable weeks of mail correspondence and get the orders.'' f .,v
 Another American in trade in Riga showed the correspondent a cablegram from one of the biggest oil companies in America, in reply to his telegram which said: Quote me price refined coal oil delivered Riga The answer read: Crude oil has gone up 20 cents a barrel.''
 Now" said this American dealer, "I didn't want to kno wabout crude oil and I haven't time to figure out what effect rise in its price would have on coal oil that was badly wanted by my buyer.
 ''ln many of such ridiculous cases have telegraphed directly to the heads of firms in America explaining the stu- ation and have received prompt satisfac- tion. But I haven't the time to write all of them. So the Germans and Eng fish get the orders.''
 Incidentally, perhaps half of the let ters sent by American firms to the Baltic states bear only two cent post age stamps, causing indignant prospec- tive buyers to dig down in their pockets to pay postage due in rubles or marks of whatever the unit happens to be.
 Some of them bear fantastic ad- dresses, such a s''Riga, Russia, via the Pacific" One letter in reply to a re- -l,s l-.- ment of goods from New York to Riga said the firm was sorry but had no shipping facilities on the Pacific"