Trade and the Flag 7 



the extension of trade. Consuls have emphasized time and again 

 the necessity of having representatives on the spot, who are 

 familiar with the language of the people to whom they wish to 

 sell, and who are skillful in pointing out the superiorities of the 

 products they represent. Germany's success in trade is partly 

 due to the fact that she has been foremost in adopting these sug- 

 gestions, and has sent commercial travellers to all parts of the 

 world to push German commercial interests. 



Trade is influenced by promptness, carefulness, and adaptability 

 on the part of shippers. Even such a seemingly unimportant 

 matter as the making of invoices, if conducted carelessly, may lose 

 trade. Complaints have come from Cuba that the United States 

 merchants fail to make the invoices conform to the customs regu- 

 lations, thus causing delay or heavy fines. Instances are known 

 of Cuban merchants ordering goods from Europe for the sole 

 reason that European merchants were careful to comply with 

 their instructions. The loss of the trade of the United States 

 with Java in 1903, as compared with 1902, was partly because 

 goods inferior to samples shown were delivered, the delivery was 

 slow, the packing poor, and often shippers failed to make good 

 the losses from poor packing. 21 The Germans, on the other hand, 

 are quite remarkable in their adaptability. They quickly see the 

 needs of a particular place and regulate their business accord- 

 ingly.- 2 



The foregoing discussion tends to answer in the negative the 

 oft-repeated question, "Does trade follow the flag?" It is quite 

 in harmony with the following statement by Burrell: 23 "The in- 

 terdependency of all countries shows that, commercially, the defi- 

 nition of a country is impossible. The stream of commerce runs 

 through the nations in the same way as blood runs through the 

 body, or as sap runs through a tree. It would be just as absurd 



21 Rairden, " Trade of Dutch Indies in 1903," in U. S. Monthly Consular 

 Reports. January, 1905, 189-190. 



~ Elkind, "The German Troubles in South-West Africa," in Fortnightly 

 Review, 83 : 254-255. 



23 Burrell, "Plea for Absolute Free Trade," in Westminster Review, 

 160: 483. 



183 



