132 PAPER IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



The mail and telegraphic facilities between Germany and the 

 countries from which paper is imported Austria, Sweden, France, 

 Belgium, England, and the United States are as perfect as possible. 



OUTLOOK FOR AMERICAN TRADE. 



No country controls the paper import into Germany. Austria 

 furnishes the largest bulk, Great Britain second, and the United 

 States, Sweden, and Belgium next in the order named. 



Other countries are sending expert German-speaking salesmen, 

 who adapt their methods of doing business to those of the country. 

 Americans alone try to sell goods in Germany without a knowledge 

 of the language and attempt to impose upon purchasers American 

 terms of "cash payment." 



Owing to the fact that rags are cheaper in Germany than in the 

 United States, it is not likely that there is a market for the finer qual- 

 ities of writing paper. As colored photographic and tissue papers 

 were exported from the Frankfort district to the value of $122,955 

 during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1897, and $156,215 during the 

 fiscal year ended June 30, 1898, there is no opening for these papers at 

 present. According to the statement of a manufacturer, who worked 

 for some time in an American paper mill as a matter of business train- 

 ing and revisited the United States after an absence of several years, 

 the progress made during that time was remarkable, and, helped 

 by a protective tariff, it is only a question of time before the 

 United States practically produces all its own paper. If the United 

 States develops new and special processes for the manufacture of 

 the finer and more expensive grades of paper, as is likely to be the 

 case, it will be possible, with proper pushing, to do a large business 

 with the finer grades; but, owing to the progressive character of 

 German manufacturers, the keen competition, and the cheapness 

 of labor in this country, it is probable that such a trade would be 

 only temporary. It is likely that the largest field for the American 

 exporter of paper lies in the cheaper grades, made exclusively of 

 wood and to be used by newspapers or for packing. The fight will 

 be somewhat harder in this country than in England, as wood is 

 cheaper and such paper is protected by tariff. Before attempting to 

 compete, American manufacturers should send a competent business 

 man to study the field, show samples, and get offers. 



Large German manufacturers and syndicates are willing to intro- 

 duce their wares at small profits, or even at a loss, in foreign coun- 

 tries, and by selling at lower prices than in Germany they have 

 established valuable markets. It is by this kind of push and by re- 

 ducing the cost of production in the United States by using only the 



