372 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



present supply, the names and reputation of possible customers and 

 similar data necessary to conduct business intelligently and safely could 

 be obtained only by personal investigation and experience. To-day lie 

 has at his disposal means of securing the fullest details at a cost so 

 small as to be insignificant. 



Through departments of the United States government, institutions 

 like the Pan-American Union, and through such bureaus of information 

 as that conducted by the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, he can 

 obtain tlie most detailed information regarding any market in the 

 world. Information on such subjects as shipping, invoicing, packing, 

 banking and customary terms of sale is readily obtainable, while effi- 

 cient and responsible translation bureaus provide our manufacturers 

 with means of communicating with merchants and importers in all 

 parts of the world in their own language. 



We hear much of the aid given to German exporters by their gov- 

 ernment, and comparisons are frequently made, unfavorable to similar 

 efforts on the part of our own government. It is nevertheless a fact 

 that in many ways the United States is doing more to assist our manu- 

 facturers than is done by any other country in the world, Germany not 

 excepted. There even is danger that American manufacturers may 

 expect too much from the departments at Washington engaged in this 

 work. It is one thing to ask such departments to investigate, report 

 and advise, it is another to expect them to place orders in our manu- 

 facturer's hands. 



The Agricultural Department conducts investigations, reports re- 

 sults to the farmers of the country, and gives them much valuable 

 advice. It does not and can not till the soil, plant the seed, and reap 

 the harvest for each farmer, although there seem to be many who expect 

 the government to do all this for our manufacturers in the cultivation 

 of export trade. The government can do much preliminary work, insti- 

 tutions like the Commercial Museum can lend valuable aid, there are 

 export commission houses which can handle the shipping and financing 

 of orders, but if a manufacturer is to secure a lasting hold on foreign 

 markets he must do the selling himself. The assistance which is 

 offered to the manufacturer to-day is in some respects like that which 

 a physician gives to his patient. He may prescribe the remedy, but it 

 is useless for the patient to expect satisfactory results unless he does 

 his own part by following the accompanying instructions as to diet and 

 exercise. 



There is a vast difference between the world to-day and the world 

 50 jears ago. Distances have been shortened — almost eliminated — 

 and what were but a brief lifetime ago separate groups of human beings, 

 in a large measure independent of each other, now form one gi'eat body 

 — dovetailed and interwoven so closely that any serious shock to one of 

 the component parts is distinctly and immediately felt by all. 



