How Europe is Warring Upon Our Foreign Trade
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(Copyright, 19J8, by Frunk O. Carpenter.)
' 1 COPENHAGEN, Oct. 5.--(SpeclaI
I Correspondence of The Bee.) I
L I want to describe some of th-?
VJh5?,l ways In which the Europeans are
fighting Amir tun trade. Tin
fight Is nindo both by nutluno and In 11
Vldru!s. The government. are elolnr K by
tariffs and by the hyprrcritlo.il In pe-doi
of American gocdri. The individuals arc
tarrying on their war In ull b .rts of ways,
honrut and dlshoncrt. Tue worrt ni Ih id
Is In tho copying of Ami' I.kii trade milk,
and In the selling of h up aid nasty
European Bluff as Am-r'nn. I flu 1 Imita
tions of our dollar nlke clocks pold h ro
In Copenh igen. The same v.ts o.TithI In
the .tores of Chrlstlanl i and Stockholm, aa
Well as In France and Germany. Th? fc'w 8
copy American wulches. They mike Im.ti
tloaa of our better clas.i t m"k ep-.'rB, much
as rc 1 for $r or $10, ui!n'4 iryM til'eJ c isos
with SwIh.i movements. KucIi watchej pasj
as simon-pure American.
How m'liy Am rlcan wa'ch cas.'s a ;oj
think tho Swlvt u e?
In some yearj they Im o.t LW,0 0. tnd,
placing tin lr own movrmci'M In them, icVl
them cither B.s Swiss watches or as Am Ti
tan watches. We make h bclicr cae ihm
the y do, and our watch movements uic . old
side by slda with the Swlts g.,i.ds In Zui Ich,
Berr.c, Ocnevu and the other towns of
Sw'tzcrlar.d.
You would not think Amon.'an toys co .ld
te fold In Germany, tho conn . y whl h has
posed for years as the gnct toy sh ip of
the world. They are, and t'.u Yankee i.uv
eltlej are now copied by th Germans mil
sold as Amerlcin tojs.
In. farm machinery half a dozen nations
aro copying tho American patterns und idl
ing them under one namo or another. Swe
den will copy anything, and the Germans
likewise. Trade marks are no proteoli in,
and In some cases the American names arc
chipped off and American tools sold as for
eign tool. Where the name U valuable It
Is left on, or possibly used to sell a European-made
Imitation. I have described how
a Swiss factory labeled one of Its reapers
and mowers tho Cormlck, and sold It n.
ueh until, n, suit 'being linllliitej by the
American McCormick, they changed the
namo to thj Helvetia.
AMERICAN
V' -" J'--"-z?.J: ' " . r. Mi- - -
at - ' .
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OUR FUTURE COMPETITORS-SWISS CHILDREN FROM A TECHNICAL SCHOOL.
In many places In Europe our firearms
nre Imitated and their patterns pirated.
Germany and Belgium Import certain parts
of American firearms of well known make
and Insert them In their home-made guns,
sel'lug tho whole as American. One Ger
man firm has been making a cheap imita
tion of an American revolver, using a trade
mark which Is almost a copy of the Ameri
can. The case bears the words 'fmllh &
Wrssin cartridges may be used In thU
revolver," tho name, of the firm being In
such lrtige letter that the ignorant cus
t mi r who (annul read believes that 11 it
the American article and buys it. It Is the
Vamo with other goods. Cheap Imitations
of American products are made for China,
Africa and South America, and are shipped
there to bn sold as American In competi
tion with our liigher-pi iced, but far belter
pl oduct.
Sin h imitations arc dishonest and are cur
ried on mly in un underhand wuy. The
governments aro fighting their battles mora
above hoard, but not much. In Germany I
wa i told that setTet Instruction had been
Wi'nt out to the local Hulhoritiea to give no
Ii formation concerning German products
to American consuls, Implying that Ameri
can goods were to bo discriminated against.
This was especially so us to American
meats
Our Importers tell me that inspection is
sometimes held off until the meat Fpolls
and that meats mnrked with the approved
examination of our Agricultural tiepart
mcnt are often thrown out us bad. A few
cars Hgo the Importers offered l.(HK)
marks for n case of trichina caused by
American meat in Germany. There has
bee. i plenty of Gtrman trichina since then,
but fo far tho prize for the Am Tlcan urllcle
has jet to be claimed. The German of
ficial try to keep out American lard, but
the Hamburg chamber of commerce had It
assayed by u noted German chemist anil
then passed a resolution that oil charges
against it were bastd on prejudice or gross
Ignorance.
The agrarian party, composed chiefly of
the land holders and the officials of the
German government, is making a syste
matic war on American food stuffs. It
throws them out on the slightest Irregu
larity and on every possible pretense.
MEAT 13 RIGIDLY INSPECTED IN
This is so not only as to the ordinary
food stuffs, but as to fresh and canned
fruits. The canned fruits are criticised on
account of the method of packing. The
fresh fruits are discriminated against on
the charge that they may bring tree dis
eases cr noxious insects Into the countries.
As to upple-n, the Germans try to keep them
out on the ground they may bring in the
San Jose scale, und It Is the same us to
pars. Otherwise this market might be
worth a great deal to our eirchardists. As
It Is now Amerlcun luldulns, ruspcts and
greeiiliiRS are bringing from $7 to $11 a
barrel, und it is not uncommon for one
to piy from S cents to if) cents for a fine
pear. Our npples also sell at high prices
In England, and they might be Eold In
France, Belgium and Holland. Tho beat
way to pack apples for shipment to
Kurope Is to pick them one by one und
wrap them in fine tissue piper. They
should be put In ventilated barrels or
caser. Recently kelfer pears have been
shipped successfully In this way.
Tho American shoe has Its enemies in
tho shoemuklng establishments of every
European town, and numerous strikes have
been caused by its Importation. I know
one man who tried to open an American
Fhoe store In Vienna, but was to'd that ho
would be mobbed if he did so. Leicester,
tho chief shoemaklng center of Great Rrlt
a In, Is up In arms against the American
ishoe, and it is now trying to fight it by
copying it. It has imported American shoe
making machinery and American leather.
It has American experts to show its men
hew to handle the machines, but so far its
success in making a competitor of the
American shoe Is small. There are 11,000
members In the boot and shoe trade In
Leicester, and shoemaklng lias be-en car
ried on there for generations. A great deal
of the-r.ew shoemaklng machinery cornea
from Boston, something like $100,000 worth
having been recently Imported.
I was told in Germany that American
machines have been imported by the shoe
makers, and that factories near Berlin are
Imitating the Amerlcun lasts. I saw such
Imitations for sale in the cities, but it is
easy to see that they are not the real
article.
One, of the greatest openings for the.
El'ROPB.
American shoe Is In Russia. Ieather la
cheap in all parts of that country and
there is a vast amount of raw material In
tho shape of skilled shoemakers, who wlU
work at low prices In an American factory,
if one should be established there.
The French have now a tariff on our
shoes, which practically excludes them.
They aro much liked, and are generally
considered better and more stylish than
the French shoe. The French have been
noted for generations for their fine leather,
but they are now buying American glazed
kid to use In shoemaklng, and they consider
our leather the beat in Europe.
One phase of the attempt to withstand
American competition is seen in the com
missions nnd individuals which are being
sent to the United States to look Into our
factories and business methods. It used to
be that the Germans sent their young men
to England to study commerce and trade.
They are now sending them to the United
States to go Into our factories and counting
houses. The English send over a commis
sion of capitalists or laborers every few
months, nnd it is the same with other
countries. The people consider us fools in
that we tell them our business secrets, not
realizing that the American gets up a new
scheme every year, and that the business of
today Is always behind the business of to
morrow. I found American experts In tho
different factories all over Europe, and also
many foreigners who have been educated
In the American factories. Indeed, our
country is now a school for Europe as far
as banking, manufacturing and advanced
business methods are concerned.
At the same time nearly every European
country Is preparing for its industrial bat
tles of the future by training its workmen,
and the drill of the Industrial army prom
ises to be aa Important as that of the mili
tary forces. The Germans lead in this
work. Nearly every town has its technical
schools, and the manufacturing districts
are peppered with them. In Chemnitz,
which might bo called the Manchester of
Germany, a great weaving center, thero
are thirty schools where children aro
taught to make braids and trimmings. At
Glauehau there is a high school for weav
ing. In the Harz mountains there ere
schools for toymakers, and in the valley
of the Ruhr there are many schools in
which all branches of etccl and Iron mak
ing are taught
Germany has schools for foremen aa well
as for laborers. It has schools of com
merce, where the pupils are taught all
i&hout importing and exporting, and it has
a half dozen commercial high schools.
Our big electrical companies are doing
business all over Europe, and in many of
the countries there is little attempt to
Bght them. The Westinghouse company
and the General Electric company practi
cally control the electrical market of Great
Britain. The Wostinghouses are doing a
lg business In Russia and also In Austria,
i Italy, Belgium. France and In Norway and
Sweden. The Swiss have a good compet
ing company and the Germans have four
,gTeat electrical companies, which do an.
enormous business side by side with tho
American companies. Nearly all the for
eign companies, however, ubb more or leas
American machinery, and some are worked
In connection with the American compa
nies. The Union Electrlsche Gesellschaft
Is an associate of the General Electric. It
jhas American machinery and an American
'foreman. There are Americans employed
n the works of the other companies, and
n some cases there are American salesmen
on the road.
Sweden has Its own electrical company
and there are several competing companies
In Great Britain. Both the Westinghouso
and the General Electric operating In Great
iBrltain claim to be British companies, al
though they are In reality mere branches of
.the American institutions. By calling them
selves British they removo the prejudice
gainst American-made goods, and by put
ting a lord or so on their board of director
they have made themselves popular. Bota
companies have large establishment la
(Continued on Page Fifteen.)
