COTTON' TEXTILES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 157 



goods, which are imported from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, 

 are purchased through foreign commission houses established in 

 Beirut, who charge the wholesale dealers from 2J to 3 per cent, com- 

 mission on their orders, or rather an advance equivalent to that on the 

 foreign invoices produced. The precise arrangements between the 

 commission houses here and the European manufacturers are, of course, 

 not made known, and it must be left to conjecture whether the orig- 

 inal invoices are always the ones produced by the commission mer- 

 chants. 



The conditions under which cotton textiles are usually purchased are 

 (1) either for cash, after delivery, and in this case the payment is gen- 

 erally effected in from three to fifteen days; but if settlement is pro- 

 longed beyond this term, interest at the rate of 5 per cent, is charged; 

 or (2) on credit, generally against bills at three months' date, bearing 

 interest at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum. 



It is not at all a rare occurrence that when the native agents of the 

 Syrian houses in England are short of funds, they purchase their goods 

 for cash from the Manchester manufacturers, and pay them with the 

 proceeds of an advance upon the merchandise shipped to Syria by pledg- 

 ing the bill of lading with a banker or with the agent of the steam-ship 

 company carrying the goods, as security for the money advanced on the 

 shipment. Upon the arrival of the merchandise in Syria, the merchant 

 can withdraw the same, by liquidating the amount advanced, plus the 

 interest accrued thereon. 



All purchases are subject to a discount of from 2 to 2 per cent. 



The Syrian wholesale dealer allows the retail dealer usually four 

 months* time on his purchases of gray T-cloth, gray shirtings, and 

 bleached cloth, and six months on prints; or if the retailer buys for 

 cash, he is entitled to a discount of 4 per cent, on the first three articles 

 mentioned, and 6 per cent, on the last. The other cotton goods are not 

 governed by any special rule, except that the prices quoted are always 

 understood to mean u cash," and if time is required, interest is added 

 from date of bill. 



PLACE OF MANUFACTURE. 



The " place of manufacture and whence imported" can not be better or 

 more graphically answered than by presenting the annexed exhibit, 

 showing the imports from England during ten years on the one hand, 

 and the combined imports from Austria France, Germany, and Switz- 

 erland on the other. 



