FOR MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS: GENERAL AND INTRODUCTORY
[Sidenote: Technical Education for Manufacturer and Merchant]
The article on TECHNICAL EDUCATION in the new (Eleventh) Edition of the
Encyclopædia Britannica (Vol. 26, p. 487), written by Philip Magnus, one
of the greatest educational authorities in the world, says that:
“The widespread appreciation of the advantages of the higher education
among all classes of the American people, and the general recognition
among manufacturers, engineers and employers of labour, of the value
to them in their own work, of the services of college-trained men, has
largely helped to increase the number of students in attendance at the
universities and technical institutions.”
A still broader truth is that the men who have learned to think clearly,
by whatever study or _reading_ they may have developed that power,
possess the greatest of all advantages. As the Britannica article on
EDUCATION indicates, the true value of education (not simply school
education, but all education) lies as much in the influence which
intelligently directed study exerts upon the mind as in the immediate
usefulness of the information acquired, and the articles in the
Britannica not only supply the most recent and authoritative
information, but are so logically arranged, one dove-tailing into
another, that they give the reader precisely that _orderly_ view of
knowledge which is the foundation of all mental training.
Since all of the series of chapters which immediately follow and which
are intended for merchants and manufacturers, deal with commerce and
manufactures, it will be for the reader’s convenience to begin by
dealing with those two subjects in general. But certain branches of
industrial and manufacturing knowledge are dealt with in special
chapters. The articles on banking and finance are described fully in
this Guide in the chapter _For Bankers and Financiers_, those on
insurance in the chapter _For Insurance Men_, and those on law in the
chapter _For Lawyers_. Three of the legal articles should, however, be
mentioned here, as they are on especially important subjects: SALE OF
GOODS (Vol. 24, p. 63), COMPANY (Vol. 6, p. 795), which deals with the
laws in various countries regulating corporations, and EMPLOYERS’
LIABILITY (Vol. 9, p. 356), on this topic so important in modern
industrial law and in the relations between capital and labour.
[Sidenote: Practical Economics for Practical Men]
The broad questions of commercial and industrial policy are discussed in
ECONOMICS (Vol. 8, p. 899), by Prof. Hewins; COMMERCE (Vol. 6, p. 766);
TRUSTS (Vol. 27, p. 334); MONOPOLY (Vol. 18, p. 733), and TRADE
ORGANIZATION (Vol. 27, p. 335), which describes commercial associations
in the United States, the work of the consular service, and the
organizations in Germany, France, Great Britain and other countries.
BOOK-KEEPING (Vol. 4, p. 225), with its up-to-date account of modern
accounting methods, card ledgers and loose leaf systems; ADVERTISEMENT
(Vol. 1, p. 235), and MERCANTILE AGENCIES (Vol. 18, p. 148) may be named
as specimens of the many practical articles on business methods which
need not all be enumerated here.
[Sidenote: Imports and Exports]
Much of what you read and hear about the tariff systems of the United
States and various other countries and about their influence upon trade
is so vague and confusing that you will be delighted with the group of
clear, common-sense articles in the Britannica. TARIFF (Vol. 26, p. 422)
is by one of the most famous American economists, Prof. Taussig of
Harvard, and is a very full and fair discussion of the points in
controversy. PROTECTION (Vol. 22, p. 464) is by Prof. James of the
University of Illinois, and FREE TRADE (Vol. 11, p. 89) by William
Cunningham. You should read with care CUSTOMS DUTIES (Vol. 7, p. 669);
FREE PORTS (Vol. 11, p. 88), and BOUNTY (Vol. 4, p. 324). BALANCE OF
TRADE (Vol. 3, p. 235) and TAXATION (Vol. 26, p. 458) are both by Sir
Robert Giffen. EXCHANGE (Vol. 10, p. 50), by E. M. Harvey, a partner in
one of the largest firms of bullion brokers in the world, deals with the
movement of gold. COMMERCIAL TREATIES (Vol. 6, p. 771) is by Sir C. M.
Kennedy. Freights are discussed in AFFREIGHTMENT (Vol. 1, p. 302) by Sir
Joseph Walton. LIEN (Vol. 16, p. 594), with its section on “Stoppage in
transitu,” is by F. W. Raikes; SALVAGE (Vol. 24, p. 97), by T. G.
Carver, and BLOCKADE (Vol. 4, p. 72), by Sir Thomas Barclay, the great
international lawyer in Paris. Marine insurance, indemnity, Lloyds, and
other insurance subjects fall under the chapter of this Guide _For
Insurance Men_ to which you should refer. Cargo-carrying and merchant
shipping are further covered by SHIPPING (Vol. 24, p. 983). This article
is by Douglas Owen, honorary secretary and treasurer of the Society of
National Research, and author of _Ports and Docks_; it contains
information about the great freight carrying lines of the world that can
be found in no other book. Railroad freighting is covered by the article
RAILWAYS (Vol. 22, p. 819), in which there is a special section (p.
854b) on the new models of American freight cars.
[Sidenote: Manufacturing and Consuming Nations]
In the article UNITED STATES, which contains more matter than a whole
book of ordinary size and more information than a dozen ordinary books,
the sections (Vol. 27, p. 639) on manufactures and on foreign and
domestic commerce, are by F. S. Philbrick, Ph.D. _The internal commerce
of the United States, as this article states, is in itself greater than
the total international commerce of the world_, and is so far from
exhausting the country’s power of production and consumption, that even
when coastwise traffic is disregarded, New York is the most active port
in the world. A section (Vol. 9, p. 916) of the article EUROPE deals
with European commerce in general. The articles on the great
manufacturing towns of Europe contain much information as to industries.
Great Britain’s industries are dealt with in the article UNITED KINGDOM
(Vol. 27, p. 691). The industries of England alone are separately
treated in a section (Vol. 9, p. 426) of the article ENGLAND. Germany’s
industries are the subject of sections (Vol. 11, p. 811) of the article
GERMANY; and it is interesting to note that although Germany has
outranked France in cotton manufactures since Mülhausen, Colmar and
other important milling centres of Alsace became German, France has
retorted by overtaking and passing Germany in the production of linen.
The sections (Vol. 10, p. 785) on foreign commerce in the article FRANCE
show her position as in the main a self-supporting country, though only
a fourth of the cargoes loaded and discharged in French ports are
carried under the French flag. It would be a waste of space to enumerate
here the articles on Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and other countries,
which you will consult in relation to those of their exports in which
you are especially interested; but you should not overlook the article
on Japan. The Britannica has done commerce a great service in giving to
the world at last a good account of this extraordinary country.
The body of the article JAPAN (Vol. 15, p. 156) is by Capt. Brinkley,
long editor of the Japan _Mail_, whose opportunities of seeing Japanese
life from the inside have been greater than those of any other foreign
observer. Baron Dairoku Kikuchi, President of the Imperial University of
Kyoto, a statesman of great experience and authority, contributes to the
article a section (Vol. 15, p. 273) dealing with Japan’s international
position. His remarks upon the commercial morality of the Japanese are
so ingenuous and so candid that an extract from them cannot be omitted:
Now when foreign trade was first opened, it was naturally not firms
with long-established credit and methods that first ventured upon the
new field of business—some few that did failed owing to their want of
experience—it was rather enterprising and adventurous spirits with
little capital or credit who eagerly flocked to the newly opened ports
to try their fortune. It was not to be expected that all or most of
those should be very scrupulous in their dealings with the foreigners;
the majority of those adventurers failed, while a few of the abler
men, generally those who believed in and practised honesty as the best
policy, succeeded and came to occupy an honourable position as
business men.... Commerce and trade are now regarded as highly
honourable professions, merchants and business men occupy the highest
social positions, several of them having been lately raised to the
peerage, and are as honourable a set of men as can be met anywhere. It
is, however, to be regretted that in introducing Western business
methods, it has not been quite possible to exclude some of their
evils, such as promotion of swindling companies, tampering with
members of legislature, and so forth.
The account (Vol. 15, p. 201) by Capt. Brinkley of the curious system of
creating branches of Japanese business houses is another part of this
article which should not be overlooked.
[Sidenote: Mill Labour]
The proportion of labour cost to the total cost of production is in most
industries so great that you cannot study too carefully every aspect of
the labour question. The chief articles are LABOUR LEGISLATION (Vol. 16,
p. 7), jointly written by the late Dr. Carroll D. Wright, the great
American authority on the subject, and Miss A. M. Anderson, Principal
Lady Inspector of Factories to the British government; TRADES UNION
(Vol. 27, p. 140); STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS (Vol. 25, p. 1024); WAGES (Vol.
28, p. 229), by Prof. J. S. Nicholson; PROFIT SHARING (Vol. 22, p. 423),
by Aneurin Williams and APPRENTICESHIP (Vol. 2, p. 228), by J. S.
Ballin. The article EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY (Vol. 9, p. 356), has already
been mentioned.