EUROPE: BELGII M. 



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following kinds of paper: Drawing, letter, flat, bond, lithograph, 

 news, poster, blotting, cigarette, envelope paper, and all kinds of 

 cardboard excepting strawboard. 



Water and steam power is used in this mill to the extent of about 

 3,000 horsepower. During the wet season, water supplies nearly all 

 the power, and during the dry season steam is used. The most im- 

 proved machinery is employed, and the output in general is of a 

 good quality, considering the price asked. The company is pro- 

 gressive and will doubtless continue to increase its production. The 

 output is almost entirely machine-made paper. 



WAGES. 



The compensation of paper-mill employees is as follows, per diem : 

 Under 14 years, 10 to 30 cents ; from 14 to 16 years, 13 to 50 cents; 

 over 16 years, 20 cents to $i. The laborers in this country are far 

 from being as efficient as those in the United States. In many lines, 

 it takes two men to fill the place of one active, educated American 

 workman. 



IMPORTS. 



The finer grades of linen, satin, and bond papers come from France, 

 but are not very extensively used. The best grades of book, litho- 

 graph, and cover papers come from Germany. Nearly all the finer 

 stationery comes from England. 



Germany, France, and England, and especially Germany, are 

 pushing hard for business in this country. They send many travel- 

 ing salesmen, furnish samples, and establish branch houses and 

 depots. The paper houses of the countries named provide neatly 

 prepared free samples of various kinds and grades of their products, 

 with prices. I can see no opening in this consular district for the 

 cheaper kinds and grades of paper, but there is an opening for the bet- 

 ter grades of linen, bond, lithograph, book, and glazed papers, and 

 wedding and ball stationery, if properly pushed. 



The United States should, as far as possible, establish agencies 

 or depots in the more important cities, where everything of American 

 production for which a market could be found here should be kept, 

 so that the retailer might be able to secure a supply on short notice. 



EXPORTS. 



It is impossible to obtain statistics regarding the quantity and 

 cost of paper exported to the different countries from this consulate, 

 but I will give them for the entire country for 1897. The price fixed 

 by the Government in settling the value of exports and imports is 



