F.— ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS 135 



of credit granted to customers or to make it less liberal than before 19 14 in 

 important markets. It is clear that a sound policy would depend upon 

 a considerable number of general and special factors : the duration of 

 overseas credit must usually be longer than the period of domestic credit 

 to cover transit time ; the credit worthiness of the firms in a particular 

 country or trade must be examined, the customs of the area under 

 observation and the general attitude towards meeting obligations ; 

 agricultural countries require consideration of their crop position. No 

 doubt sales may be stimulated by long credits, but if this merely means 

 a loss of all profit or an accumulation of market risks and losses, it is 

 simply unsound business dealing. Most countries, including Britain, 

 have attempted within the years after 1920 to develop schemes of export 

 credit, and of credit insurance to cover certain kinds of exports where 

 a period of years was involved, but the state schemes have been carefully 

 guarded in their scope and in their bearing of risks, and it seems doubtful 

 how far they represent a useful approach to this problem. 



The subject of suitable publicity and advertisement is one which is of 

 considerable importance in most markets, and can be made a matter of 

 joint effort between firms ; advertisement is one of the best methods of 

 conveying information to the consumer ; if incomes are rising in a market 

 it is a valuable aid in attracting part of the additional available purchasing 

 power to the class of commodity concerned ; in addition it constitutes 

 a useful check upon the marketing organisation, since it strikes through 

 to the consumer and keeps the commodity before his notice. In so far 

 as other commodities are competing either directly or indirectly with the 

 article of the advertiser, it may be necessary to engage in combative 

 publicity in order to preserve a share of the market. The evidence 

 suggests that British traders have not as yet developed so definite an out- 

 look upon this form of expenditure as those of certain other countries. 



The Structure and Efficiency of Distributive Organisation. 



The structure and working of the intermediary system have been the 

 subject of examination and criticism within recent years, both in the home 

 and overseas markets. Fundamentally, no doubt, the problem of pro- 

 viding a cheap and efficient marketing system is the same in both cases, 

 but overseas distribution involves greater elaboration and complexity of 

 services. 



Broadly considered, the alternative channels are : 



(i) The sale to merchants in Britain who sell overseas. 



(2) The sale or consignment of goods to merchants overseas. 



(3) The sale direct by the manufacturer's organisation abroad either 

 through agents or through its own staff of commercial travellers. 



(4) The employment of central selling agencies of a cartelised type, or 

 joint selling organisations of an independent kind. 



All these systems except the last are found on a considerable scale in 

 British overseas trade. The view has been expressed that the merchanting 

 system is the weak link in the chain, and that efforts should be devoted 

 either to the creation of more direct and highly centralised methods of 



