248 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE,

The merchandising of cotton goods.—On the Manchester Royal
Exchange, with its membership of 10,000, practically the whole of
England’s immense home and export trade in cotton cloth and yarns
is done. Every mill in the country has its representative there, and
almost every foreign-house of importance is directly or indirectly represented,
 many of the resident export houses being merely buying
branches of large establishments abroad. A number of these foreign
firms maintain large warehouses and purchase goods for shipment to
many countries. Generally speaking, British cotton manufacturers do
not embark on the direct export business. There are a number of
cotton manufacturers who of late years have started exporting, but
they are comparatively few. The usual method of doing business is
through merchants in Manchester called “shippers.” These send out
travelers all over the world and obtain orders on sets of patterns that
have been supplied by hundreds of manufacturers. On receipt of the
orders the merchant places them with the supplier of the original
pattern, or if he thinks the price is too high or delivery too long, he
will get another maker to imitate the pattern. When special lines
have been established in certain markets, the merchants will often
give out contracts on their own account, when they consider the state
of the market suitable, speculating that thev will receive orders for
such cloth in due course.
The export business has developed on these lines because a highly
specialized knowledge of the markets is necessary, and, moreover,
sxtensive credits have to be given. Broadly speaking, the manufacturer
 in England specializes on the manufacture, and sells his goods
for payment within a week, or a month, to merchants in Manchester.
The merchant checks the goods in his own warehouse, makes them
up according to the requirements of the different markets, complies
with customhouse regulations, etc., and gets paid for them in 30
days, 3, 6, 9, or even 12 months.
The merchant exporter must know every detailed requirement
of every country to which he would export, the weight and fineness
of cloths required by the consuming public, the colors, the class
of patterns demanded by the fashions of the respective countries,
the customs and requirements as to credits, the tariff imposed upon
pach class of goods, the port charges, the kind of packing required,
the size of package to which dealers are accustomed, length of piece
required by purchaser, the color of paper in which the package should
be wrapped to conform to the custom of the trade, and all minute
details which form so large a factor in determining success or failure
in foreign markets. These details, which the manufacturer has no
time to work out, are said to be absolutely necessary to trade successfully
 in countries differing so radically from those of Europe or the
United States, as do Asia, South America, and the tropical sections,
where most of the cotton cloths are marketed.