Show I JAPANESE COMPETITION For some little while past protection 1st papers have had a good deal to say about Japanese competition and the I danger to the United States from this source The reports of Mr Robert P Porter have started this talk It is i Idle and chiefly indulged in for campaign cam-paign purposes though there are nod no-d bt froof deluded 1 sxiuls who actually believe t it as there are people who stIlt believe in the power of witches and pmens and fortunes told by means ol iea leaves The new Japanese minister to the United States Mr Turi Hpslii was inS in-S Franclscd the other day He talked talk-ed freely about trade between his own country and this Speaking of thp iF 1 < I manufactures dc his own country IIE said We make parlor matches cotton cot-ton and yarn in great quantities but 3 dont anticipate that we will ever be a formidable competitor of the American Ameri-can manufacturer in his own < market We manufacture cotton goods as 3 said before but we market the product in China Nor does anyone imagine who isnt all imagination that Japan will be a formidable competitor of American manufactures in the United States Speaking of how his own countrymen purchase he said the Japanese purchased pur-chased their fancy bicycles of England not that they are a better article than the American but because they art cheaper Bicycles he said are manufactured manu-factured in Japan buit they are a lighi i affair built principally for children Then he made this remark It Is thii tendency of the American manufacturer er to get the highest market price fo an article that shuts him out of the I Japanese market What Japan doesnt make herself she buys where she car get the best bargain And Japan would be very foolish if she did not buy In the cheapest market What Mr Hoshi said about warships war-ships may not flatter our nationa pride but it is eminently sensible and is the only way in which to talk ol purely business matters Said he Japan has made an appropriation foi five battleships and we have sent ou > naval experts to see what other nation are doing You Americans of course think you build the great warships in the world Maybe you do Your siiir builders have caimed that we Japanese Japa-nese were prejudiced in favor of the English ship builder Not a bit cfl its It-s I said before its a case of dollar and cents If the American shj builder can come to Japan and upoi being shown a design produce a warShip war-ship from it cheaper than other bid aers he will get the contract That s all there Is to it Tapan will let herr warship contracts to the cheapest bidder bid-der Thats all there Is to it When Mr Scott comes over to us to bid or those contracts he must be prepared tc underbid the Armstrongs and the Germans Ger-mans if hd wants our work There IS no sentiment in that but a vast amount of common sense Nothing Noth-ing fairer could be asked than this If American ship builders can build better warships at better prices than those of cither countries can they will get the contracts otherwise they will notMuch Much has been said of Japans greal advance in an industrial and commercial commer-cial way and all that has been said is true She has become prominent t among the nations and IB fasrt assuming assum-ing a position second to none She has dome this by the adoption of an enlightened en-lightened policy in all things In her commercial policy she will manufacture what she can to advantage and will purchase what she can to advantage For a thousand years she has pursued the policy of isolation and protection and while she accomplished much she Only reached a certain stage of development devel-opment For thirty years she has pursued pur-sued a policy the very opposite of list historic one and under it her advancement advance-ment is the astonishment of the world |