Harper's Weekly/Our Export Trade

by Harper's Weekly

OUR EXPORT TRADE.

Another and admirable method of developing and aiding American industry and enterprise is contemplated by the United States Export Almanac Publishing Company, of which Mr. Carl Schurz is President, and which has the countenance of the State Department, and promises to be of the utmost service in the most legitimate manner. The purpose is to publish one or more volumes of short essays on the products of our firms, our mines, and our manufacturing industries, with the advertisements, in English, Spanish, German, and French, of export houses which wish to make themselves known abroad. Some twenty thousand copies of the work will be placed at the disposal of the State Department, which will assist in its distribution through our consular agencies.

The government, of course, will have no pecuniary responsibility or interest in the enterprise, and the essays upon the various branches of American production will be general, and not in the interest of any firm or business organization. The enterprise is designed to collect material for the improvement of our export trade, to show what American producers can furnish for the markets of the world, to encourage American competition with foreign markets, and to call the attention of foreign capital to the opportunities of sound and profitable business with this country.

This is obviously a national and patriotic object, for which the adherents of every view of political economy can co-operate, and in fact the essays will be contributed by protectionists and revenue reformers of every degree. The work will afford a comprehensive picture of American productiveness, like similar works issued in Germany, Austria, and Italy, to the acknowledged benefit of the export trade of those countries; and our own export trade, which is capable of much greater development, cannot fail to be greatly benefited by the successful execution of the scheme.