53° POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



an organized effort to stem the inflow.' At a recent conference in 

 Vienna to take measures against American competition, adds Mr. 

 Hurst, 'it was openly acknowledged that the commercial policy of the 

 present time is dictated and controlled by the United States. . . . 

 Instances of the gigantic strides of our American manufacturing indus- 

 tries are cited to show our capability to forge ahead of all competitors 

 in many fields.' 



Still Leading in Germany. 



In a report upon the commerce and industries of Germany,* Con- 

 sul-General Mason, of Berlin, says the United States again heads the 

 list of countries selling to that country, with a total of nearly $343,- 

 000,000, or 16.9 per cent, of the entire bulk of German imports, 

 although it should be noted that this covers the values of all American 

 products landed on German soil, 'a large percentage of which simply 

 pass through ... en route to Russia, Austria-Hungary, Switzerland, 

 and Scandinavia.' It may be expected that later returns will show a 

 falling off in German imports, owing to the recent industrial depres- 

 sion which has seriously impaired the purchasing power of the Empire. 

 But in Germany, as in Austria-Hungary, our goods continue to hold 

 their own, and the 'overshadowing competition of the United States' 

 is regarded by German economists as of grave importance to the future 

 of German industry and commerce. "It is recognized by intelligent 

 Germans," adds Mr. Mason, " that in future industrial and trade 

 competitions, that fine composite product of American racial qualities, 

 institutions, and methods, the workingman who thinks, will, in com- 

 bination with our unequaled resources, turn the scale in favor of the 

 United States." 



Supplying Europe with Goods we used to Import. 



The same concern is felt in France, in Belgium, in Switzerland, in 

 Great Britain — in other words, in all of the highly developed manu- 

 facturing countries of Europe — and it is a most significant fact that 

 even in specialties which were once thought to be exclusively their own, 

 the United States is becoming a more and more formidable competitor. 

 Who would have imagined a few years ago that we would make such 

 rapid progress in the manufacture of silk that we would soon cease 

 buying silks from France, with the exception of highly finished goods, 

 and would actually be exporting silks to that country? Yet this is 

 what has happened. So of tin plate in Wales. At one time it was 

 doubtful whether we could manufacture tin plate profitably, and it 

 was confidently asserted that the Welsh must always control the Ameri- 



* Printed in 'Advance Sheets of Consular Reports,' No. 1185 (November 9, 

 1901). 



