THE STORY OF UNCLE SAM
Promoting Commerce
THREE
The Department of Commerce, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Bureau of Markets, the Shipping Board, and many other agencies of the Federal Government are engaged in promoting and regulating the commercial business of the country. The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, a branch of the Department of Commerce, collects information about foreign markets for American goods from American consuls, commercial attachés stationed at the principal foreign capitals, and a corps of traveling special agents. The Bureau issues a daily newspaper called Commerce Reports, containing notes and articles of commercial interest from all parts of the world and a list of “Foreign Trade Opportunities.” Each of these “opportunities” for American business in some foreign country is set forth in a brief paragraph. The following are examples:
29267.*—Chemicals, and equipment and supplies for electroplating work are required by a firm in Denmark. Correspondence may be in English. Reference.
29268.*—A company in India desires to purchase and secure an agency for the sale of steel and iron in bars, sheets, tubes, plates, etc.; builders’ and engineers’ hardware; caustic soda; and petroleum and lubricating oils. References.
29269.*—The purchase of plywood and veneers in all thicknesses and sizes is desired by a man in England. Terms, credit preferred, or will pay cash against documents. References.
An American manufacturer or exporter who is interested in one of these notices can obtain the address of the foreign concern that desires goods, agencies, etc., by writing to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, in Washington. The Bureau maintains district offices in several large American cities. At the New York office, which is in the Custom House, there is a permanent exhibit of samples showing the various kinds of foreign-made goods sold in the principal importing countries of the world. The exhibits, after being shown first in New York, are usually shown in the principal centers of the particular industry concerned. Special exhibits of samples are also held in connection with trade conventions. Apart from Commerce Reports, the Bureau publishes an immense amount of statistical information concerning the foreign commerce of the United States and foreign tariffs, and also extensive studies of foreign markets for particular lines of goods.
The other bureaus of the Department of Commerce are the Bureau of Standards, which facilitates commerce by regulating weights and measures and by carrying on scientific research relating to all the manufacturing industries; the Bureau of the Census, which compiles elaborate statistics concerning trade and industry, as well as those relating to population; the Bureau of Fisheries, which has immensely stimulated trade in fishery products; and four bureaus which aid, protect and regulate navigation—the Bureau of Lighthouses, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Steamboat-Inspection Service, and the Bureau of Navigation.
The Federal Trade Commission is charged with the duty of preventing various abuses in interstate business, especially in the nature of unlawful trusts and combinations. The Federal Reserve Board supervises the affairs of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks, and indirectly exercises a certain amount of control over the banking system of the country. The Interstate Commerce Commission regulates interstate transportation, controls freight rates and passenger fares, and promotes the safety of travel by prescribing rules concerning equipment and methods of operation. The Bureau of Markets of the Department of Agriculture promotes business in all kinds of agricultural products, and maintains a market news service. The Shipping Board, which was established in 1916, is engaged in the very important work of building up the American merchant marine.
The Pan American Union, a potent factor in promoting our trade with the Latin-American countries, is not a branch of the United States Government, but an international organization in which all the American republics are represented. It has its permanent headquarters in Washington, and the Secretary of State of the United States is ex officio chairman of its governing board.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 7, No. 11, SERIAL No. 183
COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
IMMIGRATION STATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. HONOLULU—JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS AWAITING EXAMINATION