Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1904)
. lsm0&' j SCENE AT SOENRA YA, TIIK CI1IR (Copyrighted, 1904, by Frank O. Carpenter.) . .1 ASII1NUTON, D. C, Sept. 22. I (Special Correspondence of The 2h liBhed an Interview with Frank li. Loomls, tho first assistant bi-c- rctary of state, on what Uncle Sum Is do ing to push our trudo on the European continent. From tho same Hourco I now ehow you what Is tiring done In Africa, Aula, Australasia and In North and South America. The statu department is th r oughly alive us to our trade possibilities, and our consuls hnvo been Instructed to look up new openings and to do everything consistent with their position to further tho Introduction of new lines of goods. It Is believed that our trade can be almost In dellnltely Intrensisl and that tl.ero are enormous II. Ids outside of Europe which tho American manufacturer and exporter have aa yet left practically untouched. Taking tip tho continent of Africa. Sec retary Loomls says our trade with Algeria, end Tunisia la Increasing:. These count ties belong to Franco anil by rapid steam.-hip connection are now closely associated with that country. It Is only twenty-four hours from Marseilles to Algiers, and the trada with Europe Is steadily growing. Many American goods are now being used In Algeria. We are sending something liko $1,000,000 worth thore every year, and much of this Is In machinery and farm tools. Tho French are opening up the grain lands and American harvesters are employed to gather the props. American sewing ma chines are to be found In the Algerian and Tunisian bazaars, and the chief light u.sed throughout the country is from American petroleum. Tho trado of Algeria now mounts to about $50,0i;0,0i)0 a year and that Of Tunisia is large and Increasing. We are annually sending several hundred thousand dollars' worth of goods to Tunis, and of this, $IL5,0)0 Is In agricultural Implements. Our trado with Morocco, Secretary Loo mls tells me, Is small, but in the. closer association of that country with Fiance ant the better Industrial protection which will bo ufl'orded thereby, it is stiro to In crease. Wo have also some trado with Tripoli, ending jaw.O'JO worth t.r goods there every year, and our trado with Egypt Is large and steadily growing. Much of cur Egyp tian goods go through England, but some, especially machinery, are now shipped di rect. Several hundred American cars wero put on tho new Egyptian railroad only a year or so uro, and other kinds of Amer ican rolling stock nnd railroad materials ore being used. Tho English are pushing their railroads farther north it ml cotton fields are being dcvilopcd along tho Nilo and In Egyptian Soudan. Americans aro interested In some of these new develop ments, and the prospect Is that there will be an Increased sale or American goods. Jn connection wli this part of Africa I asked Secretary I.oonils nn to our trado With I'ganda, tho great ltritish province above Lake Victoria, at tho source of tho Nile. "We are doing very little there as yet," ws tho reply. "Urlllsh East Africa, of which I'ganda Is a part. Is tmt slightly de veloped In tho way of foreign commerce. In 1902 It took only $2,000,000 worth of for eign goods, of which a little tnoro than $123,000 was American. Uganda is, how ever, a country with a futuro. It Is a very rich region which until now has not been accessible to the poaeoast exci pt by caravans of porters. Within the past year or so a railroad lias been built Inland from Mombasa to Lake Victoria. Mombnsn Is a seaport not very far above Zanzibar. It Is a llttlo Island lIng so close to the shore that a bridge has becen made across to the mainland, and on this bridge the rail road cars go. The railroad is almost COO miles long, and It takes passengers and goods aa far into the Interior of Africa ns Cleveland is distant from New York. It opens up all the vast territory about Lake Victoria, for the steamers on that lake con nect the whole region with it. It la prob able that other railroads will now be built to connect Lake Victoria with Lakes Tan- Uncle Sam as F COMMERCIAL SKA POUT OF JAVA. ganylka nnd Nyassa and Into Albert Ny anza. Then the goods from those like regions can find their way out by Mom basa and these new roads will eventually form a part of the Cap to Cairo line. Indeed, a great tr;;lo will ultimately spring up In that region, anil of tills we hope tho Frilled States will have Its share." I referred to our trade In I'.rltlsh and Gorman East Africa, whereupon Mr. Loo. ills s.ild: "Tho southern half of L-ike Victoria is 111 (ierman East Afric.i. a vast territory, with a population of n. Minns. Th t coun try will soon be ope.ieil to forei,'ii com merce, althoi'th the t'n vniiin- v. ill prnb ubly have the bulk i f the trade. They are already building rallmnls 11 I will event ually have railroails from the c t oppo site Zanzibar to Lake Tanganyika and other roatls down to Lake Nynssi. It is not very far from Lake Tanganyika to the navigable water system of the Congo, and an immense trade may be expected from that part of Central Africa. In Hrltlsh Haft Africa, Just below, railroads are also being built, and the waterways are such that goods arc already carrietl far Inland. I look for a steady Increase of American trade In that country, and especially In the lands farther south." "What thould our people do to encourage African trade, Mr. Looniis?" I asked. "They should study the continent and Its many people. Africa Is a world of its own, comprising many countries and many races and tribes. The population is estimated all the way from 150,eoa0,000 to 300,000,000, and it is said that the laud will support many more than It now does. The condition of tho different localities varies so greatly that oach must bo considered by Itself, and It is impossible to give satisfactory trade suggestions as to Africa as a whole. Our manufacturers and exporters should study tho consular reports for the conditions of the several regions. Their success in each will depend largely upon the Jiastery of details regarding tho people. They should learn their local tastes and requirements, the methods of transportation, the trade usages, and other matters which vary from country to country. Our consuls are dally furnishing reports of that kind, which are communicated to the people through the newspapers, and also by tho annual vol umes entitled 'The Commercial Relations of the United States,' now a publication of the department of Commerce nnd La bor. There is no doubt but that American goods can bo sold if they aro properly pre sented and handled. One of the chief things is to send tho proper goods to the right localities and to use Intelligent ef forts in the disposing of them." "Aro we doing much In Western Africa, Mr. Looniis?" "Not" as much ns we should. The trade of tho United States there la Inconsiderable and will remain so until wo hnve direct communication between our Atlantic sea ports nnd the Atlantic seaports of Africa. Tl.at part of tho world has groat possibili ties. It has an enormous population and it should consume a vast quantity of Amor-, lean products." "What goods do you think could bo sold there?" I asked. "One can Judge very' well by the exports which are now taken from Europe. There Is a great consumption of cottons, nnd also of hardware nnd foodstuffs. In a recent re port to this department one of our consuls in French West Africa snys that the people need our flour, biscuits, Indian corn meal and cotton goods. They would buy our, hams, preserved meats, fish, vegetables and tools. They do not want our bulky grains nor raw cottons, nor our animals, either slaughtered or on tho hoof. In the opening up of tho various provlmvs steel rolls and locomotives will be In demand, and also some machinery." "As far as our trade Is concerned," con tinued Secretary I.oomls, "South Africa Is now by far the best market on the African continent for American goods, and this will be. the case for years to come. The ltiillh colonials know our manufactures and have been buying them for a long a Globe Trader rwr -v- ' ' ".- . ...... RAFORATIlFr LWOAT MATALI, WHERE AMERICAN GOODS ARB LANDED time. They are extending tholr trado to the northward nnd are opening a vast new region which will be a market for Ameri can products, liefore the ISoer war there were many Americans engaged In mining In the Transvaal. A large n her are atill there and in the new developments they will probably take ;.u Increasingly impor tant part. South Afr c:i is, you know, a white man's country nn.l its population Is chiefly composed of while men. The most of the Inhabitants speak English and this is of great advantage in th pushing of Amciiran trade. It Is true that we have to compete with the liri'.isli, but we are doing that successfully in England, Ireland and Scotland and we ought . to be able to do it in Africa. As It Is now we ship more than twice as much goods to southern Afric.i as any other country except Great Lritain. There Is no doubt but that tho trado can be greatly incre used, but it Bhoulil be done direct, by American salesmen and not through foreigners." The conversation here turned to South America, and I asked Mr. Ioomis to toll me what I'ntie Sam, the great international merchant, is doing there. "Uncle Sam's trado," replied the assistant secretary of state, "is steadily gaining In the several republics of our sister conti nent. Our reports Indicate that the sales of the present year will be $12,000,000 more than In 1903, and $9,0fO,000 more than our greatest previous year of litol. In the eight months ending with February, 1904, we sold $35,000,000 worth ot goods to South America, as against $27,000,000 worth for the same period of the previous yeear." "To which country do we sell most, Mr. Loomls?" I asked. "Our best South American customer dur ing 1903 was Argentine," replied the as sistant secretary of state. "That country then bought about $11,250,000 of American products, iirazil came next with a little more than $10,500,000; Colombia next with $1,230,000, nnd then came Chile with Just about $4,000,000. We sold almost $3,000,000 worth of stuff to Feru and almost $2,000,000 to Venezuela. I believe that this trade could be very greatly Increased. Neither our manufacturers nor our exporters have as yet made any powerful, sustained, sys tematic effort to obtain It, although cer tain business housfs have shown great en terprise. The export interests ns a whole, however, give but little attention to South Amerle.i as compared with Mexico, Can ada or Europe, which latter countries offer easier channels of trado nnd give greater returns, We get reports from our consular offices showing that our goods are popu lar throughout South America nnd that they need only the application of the usual trade methods to enable ttirm to compete with the European wares which have now the bulk of the business." "What do you mean by trade methods, Mr. Loomls?" "I mean the proper facilities of transpor tation and banking. We ought to have fast American steamship lines connecting North and South America. Wc should have American banks at the great centers, nnd American salesmen, understanding tho nngnage, should go there to s .'II the goods." "Will not the rami ma canal help mat ters?" "There Is no doubt but that the canal Will bo of Immense benefit to us in our trade with the west coast of S 'tith America as well as with that of Central America and Mexico. It will also greatly benefit us in Asia and the Islands of the I'aelfle." "How about Cuba and Torto Rico?" I asked. "Our commerce with Cuba is materially Increasing under tho new treaty of last December. During tho three months ending with March 31, 1901, we gained more than $1,000,000 in exports over the same period of the previous year, while our Imports more than doubled. We are now sending a variety of articles to Cuba nnd we are Increasing In our exports of Hour, cotton cloth, sewing machines, locomotives, leather, lumber and furniture. Thero has been a great gain in our trade with Forto IUco. In the nine months ending with Jtr March 31 we sold more than $S,000,000 wortli of goods to that island, while in 1K during the same months our sales were only a little more than $1,000,000. Indeed our trade with tho West Indies is steadily advancing along many lines. This is especially so in the IJrltlsh Islands, which are largely de pendent upon us for their market as well as for their supp'ies of foodstuffs and some; manufactured goods." "What is Uncle Sam doing In Australia and New Zealand?" "Our trade has been falling off in that part of the world during the past few months," said Secretary Loomls. "In tho eight months ending with last February our exports dropped about $3,000,00) as com pared with tho same period of 1903. Tha decrease was caused by a new tariff on the part of New Zealand In favor of tha United Kingdom and the uncertainty among our t-xporters as to how it would affect our trade. It Is believed, however, that our manufacture rs can adapt them selves to the new conditions, and that we will soon regain all we have lost. Amer ican goods are highly esteemed in Austra lasia. Indeed we unnually sell about $23, 000,000 worth of goods there. Our steam ship facilities with that part of the world are better than they have ever been." "How about the war In the far east, Mr. Loomls?" I askc-d. "Is it not injurious to American trade?" "To some extent, yes," replied the as sistant secretary of state. "Our exports to Asia have fallen off about $2,000,000 during the eight months ending with last Febru ary, as compared with the same period in 1903. "A part of this reduction Is due to hos tilities in northern China, a part to the in vasion of the Chinese markets by cotton cloths from Japan and a part by the goods made In the Chinese cotton factories and In Chinese house industry out of yarns im ported from Japan and India, Another Im portant cause Is the increase in the prico of cotton cloths due to the high prices of cotton during the last year." "How about the trade with Japan?" "That Is Increasing more rapidly Just now than any other branch of our foreign com merce," said Secretary Loomls. "Indeed we ara now Japan's largest customer. Wo buy more from it than does any other nation and our ailes to it rank next to those of Great r.ritain. In 1903 we h id 14.6 per cent of Japan's Imports, whilo Great liritain had but 15.4 per cent. This Hhowed a falling off on the part of Great Britain of more than 14 per cent over its Japanese exports of 1S97." "What does Japan buy of us, Mr. Looniis?" I asked. "All sorts of things," was the reply. "We sell It raw cotton, kerosene, breadstuffs nnd provisions. It Imports our machinery, locomotives, electrical apparatus nnd sclen tlilc Instruments. It takes leather goods, tobacco, paper, hardware, clocks and watches, and a variety of other manufac tures. Our goods are very popular In Japan and seem to grow more so from year to year." "I suppose we have no trado now in Co rel nnd Manchuria?" "Not a great deal," replied Mr. Loomls. "Tho war has practically caused a sus pension of trade In tho vast regions tra versed by the opposing armies. It has dis ordered trade In northern China and In Asiatic Ri'fvla, :o that it Is hard to tell what goods me selling or to forecast the trade conditions. In 1901 It was estimated that we sold almost $se0,000 worth of goods to Corea. We nhall probably sell less this yenr nnd there may be a cessation of trade until the war is over. After that I expect our goods to regain nil they hnve lost, for they nre very acceptable to the peoplo not only in Corca but also in Manchuria." FRANK O. CARPENTER. More Substantial Jack-What did you throw up your sltua tlon for? Tom I'm going to bo married tomorrow. Jack How will you live on love? Tom Oh, no; wo aro going to live on mJ love's father. See? Chlcngo Newa.