THE SELLING OF THE SURPLUS 



time, and all because he did not appreciate the 

 fact that he must send good goods attractively 

 packed. There have been jealousies to fight 

 and prejudices to sweep away. The swiftest 

 way to accomplish these ends is to raise the 

 standard of the product. Take, for another 

 example, corn. During the year 1905, leading 

 importers in European countries entered vig- 

 orous protests against the condition of the 

 corn received by them from the United States. 

 Apropos is this comment from United States 

 Consul Diederich, of Bremen, Germany: 



"For years, complaints on the part of im- 

 porters of American corn, or maize, have been 

 loud and numerous. The certificates covering 

 these shipments, in many instances, proved to 

 be utterly false, the grain, upon arrival here, 

 frequently being in a wretched condition — 

 damp and overheated, moldy and filthy. As 

 the firms to whom these shipments were con- 

 signed could find no redress anywhere, their 

 losses were very heavy. Time and again, 

 American consuls have sent in reports on this 

 subject, warning our people interested in the 

 export of this particular grain not to ship any 

 but corn of prime quality; but to the present 



301 



