No other government has done and is doing so much work of this character as ours, and many manufacturers of our own and other States are, as a matter of course, availing themselves to the fullest possible extent of the advantages thus freely placed within their reach; but the growth of our export trade is not commensurate with these efforts for its improvement, and the reiterated complaints of the consuls in various jurisdictions about the lack of attention by shippers to important trade requirements, shows. conclusively that very many are either unaware of the opportunity to secure governmental guidance, or else in their foreign trade ventures, choose to ignore its tender of assistance altogether.

All that government can do is being done and it only remains for our manufacturers and exporters to act in all things on its well considered advice in order to bring about a large increase of our foreign trade and place us where we should be, in the lead of all exporting nations. We enjoy the reputation of being the most thoroughly skillful mechanical people in the world, and doubtless we are so; the facilities we possess for the production of every commodity included in the range of human wants are unsurpassable; the merit of our goods is recognized wherever they go, but efforts to market them abroad are handicapped by ignorance or indifference in the important matter of packing with reference to the distance to be traversed and the means of transportation that must be employed. Other requirements vital to success are frequently overlooked or misunderstood, notwithstanding the campaign of education which is being ceaselessly carried on by the government in order to bring home to manufacturers and exporters a convincing understanding of the error of their ways.

Our growth in population was marked by a coincident but vastly greater proportionate increase of manufacturing facilities which were, generally speaking, fully occupied until a comparatively recent date in meeting the widely varying demands of the home market; but how far the supply has come to exceed the demands is shown by the fact that while in New Jersey the selling value of goods manufactured during the year 1909, was nearly $1,000,000,000, the mills, factories and workshops of our State, notwithstanding this enormous product-nearly equal in value to that of the entire country in 1860, were operated to an average of less than 75 per cent. of full capacity. It is therefore evident that had the demand arisen, additional value to the amount of $250,000,000 could have been produced by the aggregate manufacturing plants of our State without increase of present facilities; a most striking disparity between the capacity of existing machin

ery of production and the extent to which it is actually employed, that can be abolished in whole or in part only by a large increase in the foreign demand for our goods.

To further the prospect for such an increase, a systematic plan of advertising the State and its industrial advantages, both at home and abroad, was developed and put in operation by this Bureau several years ago, and the results are now becoming manifest in an increase of trade secured from foreign countries by many of our manufacturers, so that the extent to which the operation of factories and workshops approaches their full productive capacity is slowly but steadily increasing year by year, and it seems not unreasonable to expect that in time an approximate equipoise of possible supply and demand will be established. As a means to that much desired end, the Bureau has successfully invoked the assistance of the United States Consuls abroad and also that of the Department of Commerce and Labor at Washington. A copy of that fine compendium of information relating to our State-the "Industrial Directory of New Jersey," has been placed in the library of every American consulate, and the name and address of every manufacturer in New Jersey is thus brought to the notice of persons interested in industry, trade, and commerce in every center of population in which an official representative of our country is permanently stationed.

Information of the most valuable character to the industries of our State, such as exhaustive descriptions of trade conditions and requirements, character and quality of goods, the manner in which merchandise should be packed to reach their destination in satisfactory form, methods of canvassing for orders, trade customs in the matter of credits, and other interesting details such as only an intelligent and interested observer actually on the ground and familiar with every phase of the subject could impart, has been accumulated by the Bureau from this correspondence, and is now at the service of our manufacturers.

A few letters selected from the many that have passed between the Bureau and the consuls will serve to more fully illustrate the character of the work undertaken, and the conditions that will have to be observed in a successful competition for foreign trade. The correspondence was opened on February 1, 1910, by the following letter, copies of which were mailed to all American consuls serving abroad:

United States Consul at

DEAR SIR: With the approval of the United States Department of State, we have mailed to you under separate cover, a copy of a publication issued by this Bureau bearing the title

Industrial Directory of New Jersey, which we trust will reach you in due time and in good condition. The book, as you will see, is an amplified gazetteer and compendium of information relating to the material interests of our State, with the opportunities here open to home seekers and industrialists who desire to establish themselves where natural and other conditions are most favorable, and where intelligently directed enterprise is sure of proportionate reward.

The Directory is designed to advertise the State and its advantages generally, but it is particularly desired to give the widest possible publicity to its large manufacturing interests, for which purpose a complete list of our manufacturing corporations and firms with description of goods made and office address, is included in its contents.

May we ask you to favor our State by calling the attention of people in your consular jurisdiction to the directory, if proper occasion should arise for doing so. On our part we beg to assure you that all inquiries relating to New Jersey addressed to this office from your district, will receive prompt attention.

Respectfully yours,

Bureau of Statistics of New Jersey.

Acknowledging the hundreds of replies received during the succeeding three months, the following letter was addressed to each of the consuls about June 15, 1910.

United States Consul at

DEAR SIR:-Your reply to our letter of February 1st, with kind expression of readiness to assist our manufacturers in their efforts to secure a foothold in foreign markets for their products is received, and we wish to offer thanks on their behalf and our own for its encouraging and courteous character. May we request the further favor of sending us a list of importers and merchants in your jurisdiction who either handle American made goods at the present time, or would be willing to do so in the future, together with their addresses and the special lines of products in which they deal.

There is a great awakening of interest in everything relating to foreign trade among the manufacturers of New Jersey, and already we are in receipt of many requests for the names of persons to whom correspondence should be addressed. It is our desire with your kind assistance to bring together so far as possible through the medium of correspondence, catalogs, descriptive literature and price lists, the dealers whose names you may favor us by sending, and the manufacturers in our State who produce

the several lines of goods which these merchants express a desire to handle.

Again thanking you for your kind assistance, we are, dear sir, Respectfully yours,

Bureau of Statistics of New Jersey.

Upwards of five hundred communications were received in reply to these letters, the largest part of them accompanied by lists of merchants and importers of the consular districts from which they came; others stating that the lists asked for were in course of preparation and would be sent when completed, and the remainder suggesting that application for names of dealers in these particular jurisdictions should be made to the Bureau of Manufactures at Washington, where such lists were on file.

A compilation of these letters, containing as they do, advice relating to the mistakes to be avoided and the correct methods to pursue in order to ensure success, would furnish material for one of the most interesting and instructive hand-books of correct information on the subject of foreign trade that has ever appeared. A few of them are reproduced below, and later on when the comparatively small number still outstanding are received, all of these being from the parts of the earth that are most remote, either in actual distance, or by reason of primitive and difficult means of transportation, a comprehensive digest of the entire correspondence will be made by the Bureau, and the same placed in the hands of our manufacturers, for their guidance. The consul at Tsingtan, China, writes under date of August 2, 1910, as follows:

"I am in receipt of your favor of June 10, 1910, wherein you request this office to forward you a list of importers in this Consular District who are handling American goods at present, or who would be willing to do so in the future.

"My experience in the service tends to the belief that the catalogue system of working up an interest in our home products is the wrong one to pursue. The various consulates are teeming with catalogues, filed and indexed for ready reference, and yet I cannot recall in my twelve years' experience five demands for these neatly and expensively prepared works.

"To one contemplating opening up foreign markets for American products, I would suggest that he either send a suitable and authorized representative to study trade conditions and the possible demand for his goods, and be prepared to meet these demands, whether it be in the manner of taste, construction, cut to suitable lengths, or in the matter of credit terms. All dealers in countries foreign to the United States give long credits, which condition is, no doubt, brought on by keen competition; and while they are most reputable and will meet their payments at the stipulated time, they are, owing to the fact that their own outstanding accounts are collected only semi-annually or even annually in some instances, averse to meeting the usual thirty and sixty days demand of American exporters.

"Should the sending of a representative to ascertain just what the trade demands be considered inexpedient, I would then urge that some established house be induced to handle the goods as a side line; or if the demand was thought sufficient, to locate an agent or representative at some central point, and let him supply the trade from there. Every item of export, no matter what it is, must be pushed and the merits of the same demonstrated before a sale can be assured. Cuts, catalogues, and printed matter of any sort are usually relegated to the waste basket without so much as a notice; more particularly is this so if the matter is printed in English to one who knows nothing of that language.

"I will be greatly pleased to call the attention of business men to what your manufacturers offer, and in every other way co-operate with you in placing your goods on the market in my district."

The Consul at Valencia, Spain, writes under date of May 26, 1910:

"In reply to your letter of April 28, I enclose a list of merchants and importers interested in foreign trade. While not all of them sell American goods at the present time, all import or sell foreign goods of one sort or another, and by following the selling methods to which they are accustomed, it should be possible to interest a far larger number in our products.

"In general there are two main difficulties in the way of creating a market for American exports in this district through correspondence and trade literature; first there is an exceedingly small proportion of business men who understand English, and second, there exists a rooted prejudice against buying any article, a sample of which has not been seen. Practically no wholesale business or manufacturing exists here, and our competitors in importing, especially the Germans, attempt little by catalogues or other publications alone. They are in the habit of sending out traveling salesmen who speak Spanish, or are Spaniards, know the customs of the country, show samples, quote prices in pesetas on goods laid down in Valencia, and usually grant long terms of credit. While it is extremely difficult to sell in competition with these methods through correspondence or printed matter in any case, you will appreciate the particular futility of sending such correspondence or literature in our language (English).

"On the other hand many American products are known and very much liked here, and there ought to be opportunities to introduce others, like agricultural machinery and implements of small and medium size adopted to one and two horse power farming, light steel plows with one handle and double moldboard extensively used here in the cultivation of vines, rice hulling and milling machinery, lumber saw mill supplies, hardware, tools, surgical and dentical instruments, freezers and icemaking machinery, knitting and sewing machines, high class leather, especially light and medium weight patent kid (Dongolas), and chrome finished goods.

"If our manufacturers and exporters would make a determined effort to meet the business methods of their competitors in placing these and other articles on this market, there is no question but what a flourishing trade could be opened up."

The Concul at Singapore, Straits Settlements, writes to the Bureau under date of June 6, 1910:

"Too little interest in foreign trade has heretofore been exhibited by American manufacturers, and this office notes with great satisfaction and pleasure the statement you make concerning the awakening of interest among manufacturers of New Jersey. I might take this opportunity, however, for suggesting the importance of impressing upon the minds of our manufacturers the absolute necessity for properly packing for export. This, unfor