FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES 369 



extend throughout the world. There is a large field also in Eoumania, 

 which was not concerned in the late Balkan wars. 



Our opportunities in Eussia are practically boundless. Vodka was 

 the greatest enemy of the Eussian peasantry. It is said they will prob- 

 ably gain more from its prohibition than they will lose by the war. 

 Eussia will always look to us for a large portion of the merchandise 

 formerly bought in Germany. 



In conference with members of the Chamber of Commerce in Con- 

 stantinople, and with government officials, I was assured that the mark- 

 ets there would be open to us, especially for agricultural implements and 

 machinery. Judging from their up-to-date institutions, notably Eobert 

 College and the American College for Girls on the shores of the Bos- 

 porus (the latter largely assisted by Mrs. Shephard, formerly Miss Helen 

 Gould, and by Mr. Eockefeller), in which the people and the govern- 

 ment seem to take a deep interest, there would appear to be a genuine 

 awakening; but this war will probably end with Eussian control of the 

 Dardanelles-Bosporus waterway and suzerainty over Turkey. 



I also visited Asia Minor, but the land and the people ar poor and 

 the field there is limited. Mesopotamia, once the great granary for 

 supplies of grain and fruit, is now being irrigated, and there may be 

 good trade there later on. It was made a desert by the forest being 

 cut away. 



There is a large opening for us in Italy, however, including machin- 

 ery, improved implements and mechanical appliances generally. Al- 

 though Italy is neutral, it has suffered greatly on account of the war, 

 as has the rest of the world, with factories closed and thousands of idle 

 men. This is made worse by Italians, to the number, it is said, of at 

 least a hundred thousand, sent home from the warring nations. These 

 can find no work to do, and must be supported by the government. We 

 can not expect to do much business there until the war is over. 



We have trade also with Australia. The war has temporarily para- 

 Ijzed business there, but I believe it will soon revive, and the opening is 

 exceedingly bright. The same may be said of South Africa, where we 

 have been shipping largely for many years past. That region is rapidly 

 improving, and we had expected a large business this year, but the 

 civil war there and the European cataclysm put an end to it for this 

 season. 



There is no part of the world where the products of the United 

 States may not find a market. We have only to go after it. Business 

 with foreign countries is done very much as it is here. People are a 

 good deal alike. We have only to furnish them what they want, as they 

 want it, giving careful attention to packing, stenciling, and adaptation 

 to available means of carriage. If we send men abroad they must under- 

 stand the language of the country; and above all else be courteous and 

 considerate with every one they meet. This is important in domestic 



