3
Q2EAT BDITAIN'5 GIGANTIC
BY CHARLES M. PEPPER.
TI3ADE.
B
RITISH shipping in the Thames, a
London dispatch recently stated,
shows no sign of war. The Eng
tfofra(fJaizas$WOO000, ooo
offhrei'dt?
Commerces Protectee?.
THE STJyPAY OREGOyiAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 11, 191. "'
arid the
A
; ft' r $y It J A gim N
lish merchant fleet at Hongkong, re
ported another dispatch, was undis
turbed. ,
The commercial Intelligence bureau
of the British Board of Trade, which
corresponds to our Department of Com
merce, according to an article in a
London newspaper, was showing un
usual activity In issuing pamphlets
based on reports from British Consuls
Indicating where foreign markets were
open to capture and what kind of good's
each market wants. British official re
ports are not, as a rule, live reading,
but in this instance that conservative
British Institution known as the Con
sular Service seems to have awakened
to a realization of world trade as
affected by the war.
While this information was being
published, statistics were given out in
London showing how little the $7,000,
000,000 foreign commerce of the United
Kingdom had been Injured, so far as
related to the capture of British mer
chantmen, and also how British cruis
ers had been able to cripple the car
riers of England's leading competitor.
It was complacently remarked that the
English losses did not amount to $5,
000,000, while the captured German car
goes were worth at least $25,000,000.
The undisturbed merchant tleet at
Hongkong, which is a British posses
sion, is the best index of the naval
backing to British trade policy. There
are British cruisers in the Far East,
but there are also the Japanese cruisers
to supplement them, and Japan becomes
the safeguard of England's interest In
China's sea-borne trade.
The tonnage figures of Hongkong
tell their own story. The Chinese junks
have not changed in a thousand years.
Last year out of nearly 800 vessels of
the European type of construction en
tering and clearing 360 were British.
Their tonnage was 4,210,000 tons. The
number of German vessels was a lit
tle over 100 with a tonnage slightly
exceeding 1.100,000 tons. A dozen Aus
trian vessels had a tonnage of 168.
000 tons.
There may be German as well as
British cruisers in the South China
waters, but no reports have come that
the German and Austrian commercial
fleet is undisturbed by the war. The
question is how much of the trade of.
her rivals for Which Hongkong is the
distributing center England already has
and how much more she will get.
Some of the carrying trade neverthe
less may be lost through the placing of
the Standard Oil and other ships un
der the American flag. Part of the
flour, kerosene and cotton piece goods
which the United States sends to
Hongkong for redistribution has been
carried in American ships, but a large
proportion of the cargoes has been un
der foreign flags. v
Some of the rice which has come by
way of 'Hongkong to the United States
has been brought in German as well as
British ships.
The question now Is whether vessels
flying the American flag may not get
part of this traffic. There is also a
question whether Hongkong tin, for
which there Is a demand in the United
States, may not be brought directly
through the Panama Canal as an en
couragement to establishing smelters
on the Atlantic Coast instead of going
to London to be smelted and reshipped.
Traffic through the Suez Canal usu
ally is taken as the best measure of
the supremacy of England's merchant
marine In world commerce. During
1913 5085 vessels passed through the
canal with a total tonnage of 20,215,000
tons. Out of this number 2951 vessels
were British and their tonnage was
12.173.000 tons.
German vessels numbered 778, with a
tonnage of S, 305,000 tons. The signifi
cant showing, however, was that there
was a decrease from the previous year
of nearly 400 vessels, with nearly a
tonnage of 1.000,000 tons, on the Brit
ish side, while the German flag showed
an increase of 83 vessels, with a ton
nage of 335,000 tons.
i The Suez Canal nominally is neutral,
but there are no reports of the Ger
man merchant ships now passing
through It to become the prey of
British cruisers in the Indian Ocean or
of French cruisers in the Mediter-
ranean.
Instead, whatever westbound com
merce there is of grajn, rice, tea,
oleaginous seeds, Jute, hemp and wool
undoubtedly is being carried in Brit
ish bottoms while such manufactured
articles as inav be eoinE- ou to Tnrtia
and the Straits Settlement is chiefly
under the British flag. united Jtlngdom imported food proa-
The Madero basins in the harbor of ucts of a11 cla8Ses exceeding in value
Buenos Aires are dotted with the flags M00.000.000 and re-exported $218.
of all nations, except possibly that of 000'000- Keeping tor home consumption
the United States. The standards of
other countries Germany, France.
Italy, Norway, Spain are so numerous
that from a passing glance the pre
dominance of the British ensign might
not be apparent. But the cold statls-
tics tell the story of British shipping
KllnrAmacv in tn ArpAntlna tr.a
In the last year for which figures are
available the tonnage of combined en
trances and clearances of vessels bear
lng the British flag was above 16,000.-
000 tons; Germany, 2.610,000 tons;
Italy. 1,260,000 tons, and France, a
round 1 OOft finn tnn q ThA irro t whoa t
carriers at Bahia Blanca. the Liverpool
of Argentina, are under the British
flag. At Rosarlo, on the Parana, occa
sionally there is a big French or Ger
man grain cargo shipped, but the ma
jority are British.
Fntrland a hnni-h. gnnnallv CICD AAA .
000 to $260,000,000 of Argentina food
products, and sends back $100,000,000
t.sinn.in m . ...
merchandise, machinery, railway ma-
. . . . ... .
coiioa gooas ana otner texcues.
When the United States, early in the
present year, began to import Argen
tine corn and beef, England furnished
the ships, even making over refriger
ator space in some of them. The ves
sels which bring the corn and beef
carry back to Buenos Ayres American
agricultural Implements.
The present activity at the Tilbury ent
docks in London, the wharves along Opinons always will differ regarding
the Mersey af Liverpool. Southhamp- economic policies of different coun
ton. Plymouth, Bristol, Glasgow. New- tries, and it is not worth while to
castle-on Tyne. Harwich and Hull, are discuss the merits or demerits of them
the evidences of the manner ln which in building up foreign business. The
England keeps the ocean lanes open ln agitation started by Joseph Chamber
spite of war, though the activity Is lain to form a British imperial trade
exaggerated. These lanes are kept empire collapsed after years of props
open chiefly. for British bottoms. The ganda, because the English people
American Consul-General at London be- would not stand for a tax on their
for. the war broke out reported a ton-
nage of vessels entered and cleared
from foreign countries and British
possessions of, .67.S25.000 tons. Of the
Hu - ;X : - . Use- & 'J
" VJfffc &ttef PM4--f: IOU U for cotton fabrics is not closed tp com-
l.!rW - Y$l . 4fL yM petitors of Manchester. Butlthap-
i3 Jjrt I fl.'. - - f At I AT pen" that Manchester can supply the
.? 2sdJL W -V Jt tttS X r,vPtl iV f W9 A' . i 17:?CV goods better than they.
"'TZ-
7c2 fry's? gr z?f?3aa - ifj
entries fully 66 per cent were British,
British national policy in assuring a
sufficiency of food in the event of war.
and especially of assuring it through
British carriers, is too well known to
relulre explanation. Last year the
ln varlouB clo8e " iiiw.v.v.
It is not ln evidence that German
cruisers have interfered with more
than half a dozen cargoes of foodstuffs
destined for British ports. But no one
in the United States would think of
consigning a cargo of wheat to Ham
" v "C1IICI1'
The heavy Imports of raw materials
... v. . . . . . .n.n
industries of course have suffered, as
T;'el) aa those of copper, tin and other
UU3IU lIlttLrjlliil OL IDS IKICLtll II1UUB11 ICS.
The year which the beginning: Of the
war marks, that is, the one commenc-
ln Auf h'""' Wl" no "?.W
ports of $600,000,000 cotton fabrics, as
past years have shown, notwlthstand-
ing
that the British Navy keeps the
ocean routes open for British mer
chantmen. The same observation as to values
apl'iM to forms of iron and steel
' gooas. oomo
uerman iraae may oe seized nere ana
lner?- D wn"e Dnusn ""lusiry
naraivzea to tne same extent an uar-
- - - - -- --;
man industry. It Is crippled.
The question is how far the cotton
mills of the United States, the Iron and
steel
muis. tne manuiacturers of en-
nllf, 'wff HI !Ti!i
British trade, especially in the neutral
markets of South America and the Orl-
food. But in dealing with Its depend-
encles the British government, what-
ever party has been in power, has held
steadily, to. the potion that the de-
pendencies e chiefly to supply a
market for British manufactures.
The shifting Hoogly River at Cal-
cutta is made available to the commerce
of all the world by heavy expenditures,
Bombay Is given splendid port lm
GILBERT,
(Continued From Page 2.)
tricks he delighted to show off to his
friends. Among Polly's parlor tricks
song from "Pinafore," which Sullivan
observed, "was quite as good as GH
""11 X o ,, i.
When Arthur Sullivan became
Sir
Arthur, Polly was much concerned.
She couldn't understand why people
addressed him as "Sir." She couldn't
tell whether they meant to be compli
mentary or insulting: but when some
of his friends carefully explained to
the bird that her master ad been
knighted by the Queen, and that she
e ' " , , .
chuckle:
"Oh. all right! Go home!"
Gilbert was a caustic wit. At re-
hearsal many a principal and humble
chorister felt the sharp ege of his
tongue. Once, when a particularly fat
lm,v WM nlavlne. the nart of the Fairy
-
Queen in "Iolanthe." Gilbert took her
..u. i I'u.j.n,. t t..r t
spoken to the ballet master about some
new ste 8 wnich j wisn you tj learn.
,T . . . .
tn1l, ty.,t thl. ,,, , ...
librettist, executed some
executea some wiia ana
intricate gyrations, far beyond the
scope of any one of the weight of that
Fairy Queen. Perfectly aghast, she
started to expostulate with Ollbert. only
to find him shaking with laughter and
herself the victim of one cf his many
hoaxes.
After "Pinafore" came
The Pirates
.
of Penzance. The original perform
ances of this, by" the way, were given
simultaneously in New Tork and Eng
land. Gilbert and Sullivan both crossed
"their careeri To b. present .t the
American production of the work. It
was given in New York on New Year's
eve, 1879, and its amazing policemen,
i 11,$.- Him
. ' r.' a.' ur.'tfaWi Timr.T rrartf, rTVwnTMniaJ r
provemenf. Yet when India seek, to
develop her cotton Industries by levy-
ing a small Import tax she is forced to
lay a countervailing internal tax to
offset it, and thiB is done In the inter-
est of Manchester. The India market
SULLIVAN
pirates, orphans and Major-General's
lovely daughters became the rage all
over the United States. Nor was it
less successful in England, where an
American destined later to win great
histrionic fame in his native land
Richard Mansfield was one of the
original cast that sang it. Think of
Richard Mansfield, our Jekyll and
Hyde. Peer Gynt and Shakespearean
hero, pattering forth, "For I'm the very
pattern of a modern Major-General!"
Returning to their native London,
Gilbert and Sullivan concocted two
more successes "Patience" and
"Iolanthe" and then caught the town politic, but right and proper, to ad
and the entire . operetta-loving world minister to the comfort of clients
with what is by many of their admlr- through whose patronage and support
ers adjudged the flawless gem of the their business had thrived so remark
whole Gilbert and Sullivan series "The ably. Accordingly, Mr. Carte pur-
iUin,aUW. X HID UClIKUUUt WWI A WM
prepareo. wnn me same care mai cnar-
acterized the launchlngs of its joyous
predecessors.. In their endeavor to get
genuine Japanese local color authqr
j , .
p.cu ilu pin... r ur uui
iniriR Eney securea irom a "Japanese
Village" show at Knlghtsbrldge a real
Japanese girl to teach the chorus how
to affect "artless Jananesa wavs." Wa
cbmnlnt and very able instructress,
although she knew only two words of
English 'Sixpence, pleace.' that being
the price of a cup of tea as served by pense into the exchequer; that the the
her at Knlghtsbrldge." In spite of this ter was so crowded nightly that no one
limited linguistic equipment the" lm- could possibly tell or care how the
ported geisha successfully Instructed floor was covered. Mr. Gilbert thought
the ladles of the cast how to '"spread it was sheer waste of money. He was
nn snnn th fan lthr In wrath, de- then politely reminded that by the
Sht or homage and how to giggle be-
hinrt it- sn iiv.hH.ji th.m u.
ful points in how to "braid the raven nPn the author waxed exceeding bare the vein of success once more, but
tress" and "paint the coral lip" ln true wroth, went to law against his old he could not. Three years ago he. too.
Far Eastern fashion. friends and comrades, and parted com- died, the last of the Three Musketeers
After "The Mikado" the power of Pny with the Savoyards. The schism of comic opera. Shortly before his
Gilbert and Sullivan seemed to wane, lasted only a few years. United again, death he wrote ln a letter the follow
though its successors 'Ruddlgore." to the delight of all their admirers. Ing pathetic little confession:
"The Gondoliers" and "The Yeomen of the two produced "Utopia, Limited," "A Gilbert is of no use without a
the GuardWare replete .with verbal
In the letting of contracts In the Brit
ish dependencies there is also free
competition of a kind, but when public
improvements requiring large sums of
money are planned for Egypt or India
half a do ten English- contractors and
engineering firms are invited to make
tenders, and this is considered sufficient
publicity to secure competition, and
also to insure awarding the contract
to English firms. It Is all legitimate nisbed the money to build a railway
enough, but It shows how the British line In Argentina the English mills
dependencies furnish a market for have supplied the steel Talis, the loco
British manuufactures. motives, the bridge material and the
Some years ago when Earl Kitchener, rolling stock. The London banks,
then the Sirdar of the Soudan, was through which the funds have been op
pressing bis vigorous campaign against talned, have seen fit that the material
the Mahdl, he wanted a bridge built was purchased from the British lndus
in & hurry. He called for tenders from tries, which they also were financing.
American as well as from English Shareholders in the railways have not
bridge builders, and to the horror of always had the benefit of obtaining ma
the British contracting firms he let the terlal at the lowest prices. But what
contract to an American company. His the shareholders have lost British mills
reason was that the Americans could have ga.ned, ro that the British pub
do the work more quickly. They built lie at large. Industrially and commer
the Akbar bridge in a surprisingly dally considered, has not been a loser,
short time, and General Kitchener The policy of buying only from Brit
pressed his campaign in the Soudan and ish mills is maintained with a dog
smashed the Mahdl. Notwithstanding gedness that is truly English, but it
the military necessity British public insures British markets for the ma
opinlon was a long time in reconciling terlal neded. The control of the pur
Itself to Americans building bridges in chases Is moreover maintained by the
Egypt. The British bridge builders plan of having everything centered in
have not yet become reconciled to it. London. The head of an Argentina
English-owned railway company told
British trade, all things considered. me in Buenos Ayres that he wouldn't
actually has expanded more rapidly in . think of buying even a coupling pin
the so-called neutral markets of the without the London office calling for
world, such as South America and the
Orient, than in the distinctive British
possessions. The moral and frequently
material support of the British gov
ernment has been back of this expan
sion, but not in a way to discourage
private enterprise from taking hold
and depending on Its own exertions.
It is a matter of common observation
rn the neutral markets of the world
that British manufacturers and British
banks have developed in a large de
gree the spirit of practical co-operation
In selling British goods. An il
lustration of this tendency was re
cently shown in China.
A British corporation was formed by
the combination of a number of manu-
facturers of machinery and metal goods
East, me neaa onice was esLaDiisnea
In London, with branches at Shanghai,
iianKow. renin ana oiner commercial
centers in the. far East. This was prac
tlcally the merging of the va-
AND D'OYLY CARTE
and musical gems. These later years,
too. were marred by the unfortunate
quarrel between the two partners. All
sorts of reasons have been given for
the rupture between librettist and com-
poser, ine aumors or me laiesi dook.
about them and, incidentally, Mr.
Rutland Barrlngton. creator of several
of the principal roles ln the Gilbert and
Sullivan operas are agreed that It was-
all about a piece of carpet. Here Is the
version given:
It appears that Mr. D'Oyly Carte, as
duly authorized business manager of
the firm, conceived It to be not only
B j - .-
--k-"
of the theater a carpet. The carpet,
etc wer in the usual course charged
to the joint account, sir Arthur Sul-
1 van yim -nay .ddoi1 a nhwttnn
r -
" uullJ. "
Pce, did hi. utmost to persuade Mr.
Gilbert to take a similar view of the
matter; but Mr. Gilbert remained ob-
durate in his opposition to such lavish
expenditure. He was of the opinion
that a new carpet costing 140 pounds.
or 72. would not draw an extra six-
terms of their partnership agreement
he had no voice ln the matter. Where-
and shook hands before the curtain In
S LB , j 'ill
'vi -, 1, III
, if rO'v
Street
rloua Industries into a single selling
company for the foreign, trade. The
advantage of such a plan is apparent.
British Investments abroad, which
began with the overflow of surplus
capital a century and a half ago, are
the basis of England's best markets In
most foreign countries. There la at
least $1,600,000,000 of British capital In
vested In the Argentine Republic It
Is in banks, railways, ranches, packing
house plants and the like. The railways
form the largest share.
Whenever English capital has fur-
the tenders. "
American locomotives have never
made much headway in Argentina
largely because of the British habit
of buying only in British markets,
when possible. The broad-gauge lines
an1 the t?ne of compound engine ore-
f erred by British railway managers
are usually given as the reason why
American locomotives are not wanted.
But the real reason Is that the British
railway manager Is not only prejudiced
In favor of his own make of locomo
tive, but he also knows that his Lon
don office and his London bank expect
him to buy the locomotives In Eng-
land.
Argentina is an illustration of Eng-
llsh purchaser from English mills.
TSi XlArT
larse BrltlBn investments,
. .
A psychological element in British
foreign trade is also to be considered.
With a century behind them practi-
token of reconciliation, amid thunders
of applause.
But the spark was gone. Once more
in "The Grand Duke" did the names
of Gilbert and Sullivan appear after
the title of an . operetta. Thereafter
Gilbert wrote words to the tunes of
other composers, while Sullivan strove
to match notes to other librettists-
words, but always there was something
lacking.
Th two men, born each to be the
complement of the other, could not
succeed apart. In those days when
their cowers wer on t.h wi ,.,
happiest moments were ln being ac
claimed at the old Savoy at perform
ances of the works which they had
produced in the days of their glory.
Nearly all of these were revived; at
-y. rstrlVBl Kuala m w vnnnn.e-
and m)ney pourea lnta the coffers OI
Gllbert and SuiUvan. So strongly had
the,r , of fun muBic b
- . Ellrf,h rt(I ...
latest btotrraDher tells us that the re
vival or ne sorcerers, a score ox
years after it was written and com
posed, proved far more successful than
the original production back ln the
'70s, when Gilbert's rare humor and
Sullivan's bubbling, yet always musl-
flanly melodies, were still fighting
their way to popularity.
Sullivan died ln 1900, beloved and
lamented by all who knew him. D'Oyly
Carte, the indefatigable steersman of
the good ship Gilbert and Sullivan,
survived him only a short time. Left
lone,
opera
Gllbert essayed both in comlo
and plays without music to lay
Sullivan. and -I paa't find, oner
1 111
cally free from competition. British
manufacturers and British firms, until
lately had come to believe that the
markets of the world were theirs by
some inherent right. It had got to
be a habit of mind to regard the mar
kets of South America and of the Ori
ent as Just naturally belonging to the.
United Kingdom, and this unconscious
and entirely sincere assumption for a
long time helped to maintain their
supremacy in foreign markets. When
the systematic German competition be
gan little was thought of it. But after
a decade it began to be felt, and as it
grew stronger much of the bitterness
of National trade rivalry developed.
Germany, ln the neutral markets
of the world, has not actualy taken
much old business from England, but
It has absorbed a full share of new
business, and the British manufactur
er and the British merchant have re
sented this because they felt that the
new as well as the old belonged to
them.
The British attitude toward Ameri
can competition has been different. It
has been that of grieved surprise rather
than of resentment. Until very recent
ly British manufacturers never serious
ly considered the United States as a
competitor for foreign business.
After the Russo-Japanese war,' when
the British firms In the Orient found
the Americans were in earnest about
the trade of that part of the world, the
British merchants frankly explained
their inability to understand this
earnestness. Notwithstanding their al
liance with Japan they fully sympa
thized with the American objection to
Japan, closing the open door to Man
churia. But that was because they, too,
were hit.
.
In the South American market the
British manufacturers were so atrongly
intrenched that they looked on any
thing like a Yankee invasion as a mere
temporary diversion of our domestic
trade activities. They assumed that
the spasm would soon be over except in
special lines of manufactures, such as
agricultural machinery, where their in
ability to compete with the United
States was frankly confessed.
When American mills went down to
Argentine and got big steel rail con
tracts from the Argentine government
railways they began to take the situa
tion more seriously. The United States'
Steel Corporation with its' perfected
foreign trade organization had entered
the South American field and opened
the way for smaller concerns.
Then the British firms which pre
viously had been willing to handle
nothing but British goods began to
look up agencies for American com
panies. Some of them sent their rep
resentatives to New York to establish
headquarters and be In touch with
American mills.
This is about the most significant de
velopment in South American trade
that has taken place in recent years,
and with the dislocation of the iron
and steel industry resulting from the
war it is reasonably certain that Brit
ish markets for iron and steel products
in South America will feel American
competition more keenly ln the future
than In the past.
The textile market presents a differ
ent proposition. England's practical
monopoly of cotton goods in the Orient
and in South America is not in any way
due to British investments. It is sim
ply a question of international trade
conditions.
The Oriental market for cotton fab
rics is now a vexed problem to all coun
tries. The South American market is
less so. Peru has cotton factories of
her own which largely meet the do
mestic demand. Brazil's cotton mills
are also partially meeting the Brazilian
demand. But they will never meet it
entirely. The other South" American
countries, and especially Argentina,
which is the heaviest consumer, always
will buy very largely abroad.
The fact that Lancashire Is now tak
ing so little cotton from our Southern
States is evidence that the British tex
tile Industry Is upset, and Manchester
is sending small quantities of cotton
goods to South America. A single
year's interruption of the market
means a permanent loss provided any
vigorous competitor comes Into the
field to dispute it
Germany is out of the question, and
Spain and Italy, while they are com
petitors, are not vigorous ones. Here
tofore the American mills have been
so indifferent to the South American
requirements as to designs, patterns
and so forth that they have made lit
tle headway ln the markets. If they
fail to improve the present opportunity
it will be the result of their own lack
of enterprise.
The textile trade of the world is one
of the biggest items io the United
Kingdom's $7,000,000,000 foreign com
merce. The trade in iron and. steel
products Is next. Then there is a long
list of miscellaneous commodities. Re
viewing the situation as a whole, not
withstanding that British cruisers are
keeping the ocean lanes open, and that
British shipping in the Thames Is re
ported to show no signs of war, while
the. merchant fleet at Hongkong Is said
to be undisturbed. It will be almost a
miracle If at the close of the war Brit
ish bottoms have as many cargoes of
British manufactured articles to carry
to the neutral markets of the world a 3
thejr had at the beginning.