48 COTTON TEXTILES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



Manchester, 2s. to 3|s.; rate of duty 1,000 reis or 50 cents per kilogram; 

 selling price from 220 to 480 reis, or from 11 to 24 cents per yard. 



Dyed linings : A piece of TOyards weighing 4.840 kilograms ; costing 

 in Manchester 14s. to 19s. pays a duty of 1,000 reis or 50 cents per kilo- 

 gram and sells for from 320 to 510 reis, or from 16 to 25 cents per yard. 



Black printed cotton shawls, 44 by 66 inches, weighing by the dozen 

 1.050 kilograms ; rate of duty 2 milreis per kilogram; sells from 900 to 

 1,000 reis each, or 45 to 50 cents. 



Printed cotton handkerchiefs, 1 dozen weighing .224 kilogram ; cost- 

 ing from 9s. to 15s. and rate of duty 2 milrets per kilogram ; sells for 

 from 1 to 2 milreis, or from 50 cents to $1. 



Fancy cloths : A piece of 41 yards, weighing 3.700 kilograms ; price in 

 Manchester, from 3s. to 12s.; rate of duty, 2,500 reis or $1.25 per kilo- 

 gram ; sells from 600 to J,500 reis, or from 30 to 75 cents per yard. 



The principal cotton fabrics imported are printed calicoes, bleached 

 and gray calicoes; drills, white, blue, and gray, regattas, headed cotton 

 sheets, printed cotton sheets, plain, striped, and checked Oxford shirt- 

 ings, dyed and printed linings, bishop's lawn, Victoria lawn, fancy cloths 

 for costumes, white and dyed, printed cotton shawls, printed cotton 

 handkerchiefs, etc. 



HOW PURCHASED. 



The usual term of credit for the importer is six months. The term to 

 his customers is from sixty to ninety days, though sometimes he is fort- 

 unate if the credit becomes cash in twelve months. In some cases the 

 importer delivers to his customers the goods* and the bill at the same 

 time. If goods are paid within a month, payment being made on Tues- 

 days and Fridays during that time, a discount of 2 per cent, per pay- 

 ment is allowed. If paid at the end of the month, 1 per cent, discount 

 is allowed on the whole bill. Purchases are rarely for cash, and sales 

 for cash are the exception rather than the rule. In fact, actual import- 

 ers are very few, and the very few are mostly Portuguese. The greater 

 part of the Brazilian, the German, and the English houses are merely 

 commission houses, ordering just such goods, such quality, such grades, 

 such designs, such styles, such brands, such marks, and even such prices 

 as the small wholesale or retail dealer calls for, either for hj^ city or 

 country trade. Not infrequently do wholesale or retail dealers order 

 through a commission house prints or drills of a certain design, each 

 piece to contain a specified number of yards not to cost more than a 

 specified price. These orders may be given to the manufacturer to place 

 a well-known mark or brand of a superior quality of goods upon an in- 

 ferior quality in order to sell, of course, the inferior quality for a better 

 price than it would otherwise bring, the seller representing to the every- 

 day buyer that he is selling this well-known brand for a less price than 

 his merchant neighbor. 



The buyer, not knowing the tricks of the seller, takes the poor article 

 with the well-known brand and goes on his way rejoicing, thinking he 



