at their wits end to supply the demand or practically none would have been sold, and those that were disposed of mostly caused trouble and loss of custom to the retailers.
To-day, American manufacturers have changed their tactics, and although no very serious effort has been made to further the export of bicycles from the United States to Europe, the trade "over there" have not lost sight of the possibility of capturing some of the European markets, if not our own British one. Enquiries have been instituted by the American Chamber of Commerce as to the pattern of machine most likely to be demanded, the names of large buyers, their methods of payment, etc., etc. It would be, therefore, unwise to say there is no possibility of a recurrence of American bicycle exports to England; the machines will, however, require to be vastly different from those that were first sent over.
At the time of writing there is an import duty on foreign bicycles of 33⅓ per cent, ad valorem, which constitutes a bar to American exports and it is questionable if, when this tariff is removed, American bicycles could be sold in this country at a profit. By the time our Government has decided to remove the tariff, English cycle makers may be able to reduce prices which, of course, like the cost of other manufactured articles, have gone up considerably.
In 1914 excellent English bicycles could be bought for about £8 8s., and if such prices ever return when tariffs are removed, then I do not imagine there will be very much chance for American machines in this country.
