Events since the outbreak of the monster conflict have emphasised it
more keenly.

* * * * *

Why have Americans failed so signally in France? There are many reasons.
First of all, their whole system of selling has been wrong.

For years many of our manufacturers were represented in Paris and
elsewhere in France by German agents, who also represented producers in
their own country. The energetic Teuton did not hesitate to install an
American machine or a line of American goods. But what happened? When
the machine part wore out or the stock of goods was exhausted, there was
seldom any American product on hand to meet the swift and sometime
impatient demand for replacement or renewal. By a strange "coincidence"
there was always an abundant supply of German material available. The
German salesman always saw to that. Necessity knows no nationality. The
result invariably was that German output supplanted the American. The
Frenchman did not want to be caught the second time.

This prompt renewal created an immense goodwill for German goods. Right
here is one of the first big lessons for the American exporter to learn,
no matter what country he expects to sell in. It lies in keeping goods
"on the shelf," and being able to meet emergency demand.

The Frenchman in trade is a sort of Missourian. He must be "shown." He
shies at samples; distrusts drawings. He likes to go into a warehouse
and look over stocks; it gives him satisfaction to pick and choose. He
is the most fastidious buyer in the world and he likes to do things his
own way. Any attempt to ram foreign methods--either in buying or