Tanuary 20, 1916. 
LAND AND WATER 
CAPTURING GERMAN TRADE. 
ByTArthur Kitson. 
MUCH time, energy and money are being ex- 
ix'nded in the laudable endeavour to get our 
merchants and manufacturers to realise the 
unique opportunity presented by the War for 
capturing much of the trade hitherto enjoyed by our 
Enemy. The Board of Trade has opened a department 
for furnishing useful information regarding foreign 
markets, our Consuls are beginning to send reports of 
foreign wants and conditions. 
The British manufacturer has been severely lectured 
and criticised for his lack of enterprise, for his refusal to 
adopt new methods, his conservatism and, general thick- 
headedness. No doubt much of this is well deserved. 
The foreign agent, anxious to supply British goods, has 
shed many a bitter tear over the stupidity of the Briton 
who argues that because his manufactures are recognised 
as satisfactory in his own country, they should therefore 
be good enough for the foreigner. His refusal to under- 
stand or to try to understand the foreign want has cost 
this country dearly. But when all this is admitted there 
remains much that requires further elucidation. 
Great Britain in the past has been easily the first 
and leading industrial power. Her early inventors, the 
enterprise of her capitalists and merchants; the skill and 
perseverance oi her artisans made this land- the world's 
home of industry. For over a century we reigned supreme 
in the Industrial World until we began to find ourselves 
challenged first by the United States and then by Ger- 
many. 
New Competition. 
The advent of American and German competition has 
however/entirely changed the character and methods of 
trade.' Since the days when Richard Cobden preached his 
gosjiel of the civilising and pacific influences :of trade, trade 
methods have undergone a complete revolution. Far 
ffoni being pacific, modern trade involves a merciless 
system of warfare. It is war to the knife, in which the 
financially weak must succumb to the financially strong. 
Nowadays business success requires something more than 
brains and more than skill. Success is usually on the 
side of the big bank account. Finance has become 
more and more the dominating factor in the international 
trade warfare which has been waged with such deter- 
mination and ruthlessness during the past thirty-five 
or forty years. And it is this particular factor which is 
never referred to in all the literature which the authorities 
are distributing so generously. 
A comparison of the methods by which the Germans 
have captured so much of the world's trade, with our own 
will throw a flood of light on this subject. For the past 
fifteen or twenty years Cierman trade with Russia and 
Turkey, for example, has increased at an enormous rate. 
Notwithstanding the Germans are and have been personally 
disliked by the people of both countries — owing to their 
insolence, coarseness and trickiness — the Turks and 
Russians have found that their wants have been better 
supplied on more reasonaole terms than by those of any 
other nation. The Russian dealer likes long-time credit. 
The German firm gives him all he demands. I have seen 
German bills drawn against Russian .firms for terms of 
three, four and even five years. 
Again, the German merchant not only learns and 
speaks the language of the country he wishes to trade 
with, but prints all his catalogues and price lists in the 
same language, and adopts the same monetary, weight, 
and measure units. His prices usually include delivery 
to tile customers' doors. He distributes samples of his 
goods freely. He measures the character of those he 
deals with, and acts accordingly. He has no scruples. 
No Oriental politician can rival the smart Teut-on sales- 
man in matters pertaining to bribery and corruption 
But behind all this stands the German Government 
in the persons of the German Ambassadors and Consuls, 
whose duty it is to assist in every possible way the intro- 
duction and extension of German trade. No German 
prince, not even the Kaiser himself, has ever considered 
it beneath his dignity to solicit favours and privileges from 
foreign Rulers on behalf of German merchants. Much 
of the loyalty and patriotism of the average German is 
directly attributable to the belief that his King and 
Government are interested in his particular welfare and 
make it ore of their duties to support him in his efforts 
to secure success. But the chief factor in Germany's 
industrial success is undoubtedly its banking system. 
German Bankers. 
Tiie German banker understands that his chief and 
most important client is his own countryman, and he stands 
ready to assist him to the best of his abihty. The German 
manufacturer, inventor, merchant, tradesman, agri- 
culturist and producer generally, have little difficulty in 
securing whatever financial support they require, provided, 
of course, they can satisfy their banker of their ability 
to produce and sell goods at a reasonable profit. The 
German banker shares in the profits of the industry he 
supports, and hence the holders of his bank shares do 
not depend upon the mere interest charges on loans. 
German. banks are therefore part and parcel of (Jerman 
industries, aiding and supporting them, ready to assist 
in every emergency and in every industrial development 
which promises success. 
Now, contrast all this with our British methods. 
The average Briton knows no language but his own^- 
and that often imperfectly. He produces only the goods 
he has been accustomed to all his life and makes littl^ 
or no effort to improve his methods or understand the 
wants of foreigners. He sends his English catalogues 
abroad and quotes in English currency, F.O.B. London, 
Liverpool, Hull, Glasgow, or some other British port.' 
His terms are cash against documents, or so many days 
after receipt of invoice. There are of course, many 
exceptions, but I am referring to the avcraf^e British 
firm. And unhke the German, he meets with little or 
no support from his own Government. Neither his 
Ambassador nor his Consul will, as a rule, move a finger 
to help him sscure a contract or develop his foreign 
business. He stands absolutely alone ! Not only so. 
Very frequently he will find his Consul addressing him in 
Teutonic accents. For some inscrutable reason, the 
British Foreign Office has, for the last half-century or 
more, considered that British interests in foreign ports 
were as safe or safer in the hands of Germans as in those 
of the British themselves. 
British Consular Service. 
In an article entitled " Consular Service Reform," 
published in the Open Kevieiv (July. 1909), Mr. Percy 
F. Martin, F.R.G.S., says : " From a long and intimate 
acquaintance with the methods of modern Consular 
Service, gathered, I may add, in every part of the world, 
I am firmly convinced" that a more \lumsily conceived 
or a more indifferently conducted system of Consular 
representation does not exist than that of Great Britain 
. . . Many persons who occupy the position of 
British Consul are ' British ' neither by birth nor sentiment 
nor in method. ... It was proved that throughout 
the great Empire (Germany), which is opposed so much 
to British trade and commerce, and between whose com- 
mercial representatives and ourselves has so long existed 
and must ever exist the keenest rivalry, nine- tenths of the 
Vice-Consuls are of German birth and origin." This 
was written, bear in mind, just five years before the 
war. 
In addition to all these disadvantages, the British 
manufacturer and merchant reap no financial benefit 
at the hands of their banker by reason of their being 
British citizens. The English banking system has been 
extolled — mostly by the monevlendiiig classes and 
foreigners— throughout the world. Viewed from the 
standpoint of the foreigner, there is no question that it 
is a wonderful institution. For it collects the savings 
and earnings of the British people and distributes them 
with the utmost impartiality to the highest bidder 
whether British or foreign, all over the world. TheLondoc 
