method is the least expeditious, but on the other hand the cheapest and the most satisfactory of all the means of freighting. The slow, deliberate tread of the camel causes a minimum of jarring to the contents of the boxes. The preferable weight of packages for camels is 226 pounds (80 okes); the maximum weight is 246 pounds (85) okes).

Freight rates from Samsoun to Harput, a distance of 307 miles (495 kilometers), vary from $1.40 to $1.97 per 100 pounds ($31.36 to $43 per ton of 2,240 pounds, or $3.09 to $4.34 per metric quintal of 220 pounds), or 10.2 to 14 cents a mile per ton of 2,240 pounds. Camel transport is the cheapest form of transportation; freight wagon the dearest. The latter method is most expensive in winter and early spring, when mud is deep and the mountain passes are obstructed by snow. Transport by pack animals is cheapest in the spring and early summer, when herbage is abundant by the wayside and the cost of subsistence en route sinks to the vanishing point.

Summary. In conclusion, I would repeat my conviction, as expressed a year since at the close of the first annual report from this consulate,* that there is an exceptionally good opportunity in this district for American commercial enterprise to gain a substantial and permanent foothold.

Its

Geographical and physical conditions show clearly that this region, about the head waters of the Euphrates, is destined at an early date to play a leading rôle in the economic development of eastern Turkey and of Mesopotamia. Its mountains contain varied mineral treasures awaiting exploitation. Its plains and valleys are exceptionally fertile. The climate is one of the healthiest known. water power is sufficient to make it a manufacturing center of continental importance. The political power which controls its water supply controls the very existence of the population of Mesopotamia, which has been, and should be again, the garden of the world. Thus far no European house or agency has been established in the district. It is practically "virgin territory."

The favoring conditions for American enterprise are:

First. The large emigration from this district, settled almost exclusively in the United States, has given rise to a familiarity with American articles and taste for them, and has brought about personal relations between the two countries which are of incalculable value as a foundation for business connections.

Second. There is, in addition, a notable confidence in American integrity and in the quality of American wares, heightened by the growing dissatisfaction with the cheap articles imported from Europe.

*Commercial Relations, 1901, Vol. I.

Third. Thanks to the long-continued labors of American missionaries and teachers at Harput, English is the prevalent foreign language of the region.

The chief difficulties to be overcome in establishing trade relations with America are the following:

First. The lack of confidence in the existing administrative conditions, in Turkish judicial procedure, and in the political future of this region.

Second. The diminished stock of ready money in circulation.

Third. The unsettled state of credits, resultant from the rude shock to the commerce of the country during and subsequent to the massacres of 1895.

Fourth. The length of time necessary for correspondence with the United States. An exchange of letters between Harput and New York requires two months.

Fifth. The high freight rate from the littoral and the delay in receiving American consignments, due to absence of direct sea communication with trans-Atlantic seaports.

AUSTRIAN NAVY AS AN AID TO COMMERCE.

In addition to various other enterprises for increasing AustroHungarian exports, it is of interest to note that the Zenta, one of the vessels of the Austro-Hungarian navy, lately commissioned for a year's cruise, has been, in a measure, rendered available for purposes of commercial investigation. The Zenta will visit the chief ports of Africa, several important island groups, as well as Uruguay, Brazil, and the Argentine Republic. An experienced officer of the AustroHungarian consular service has been detailed for duty-with the consent of the marine section of the Ministry of War-to accompany the vessel on her cruise, in order to study the trade conditions of the countries visited and make reports to the Government, with the ulterior object of increasing the exports of Austro-Hungarian products to the districts in question. Although towns may be visited where Austro-Hungarian consuls are stationed, a general survey by a competent commercial specialist can not fail to be fraught with good results. It will be seen that no special legislative appropriation is necessary to render this kind of commercial exploration possible. The plan is eminently practical and well worthy of attention CARL BAILEY HURST,

VIENNA, October 31, 1902.

Consul-General.

OPENING FOR RAILWAY MATERIAL IN SPAIN.

One of the most pressing commercial needs of this district is the construction of light railways to place the fertile fruit and wine. districts of the Mediterranean coast in direct communication with the sea.

The "Compañia de Ferrocarriles de Alicante á la Marina" has commenced work on a narrow-gauge road to connect Alicante with Villajoyosa (19 miles), to be prolonged ultimately along the coast to Denia.

The company is exclusively Spanish, but rails and rolling stock. will be purchased in the cheapest market. American manufacturers who have offers to make, or who desire particulars of the exact requirements of the road, should address the company direct-Compañia de Ferrocarriles de Alicante á la Marina, 19 Calle Serrano, Madrid. R. M. BARTLEMAN,

VALENCIA, November 26, 1902.

Consul.

COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT WITH SPAIN.

A telegram from Minister Storer, of Madrid, announces that the reciprocal arrangement for the international copyright of 1895 has been restored to full effect by the interchange of diplomatic notes. The terms of the proclamation of the President (July 10, 1895) providing for a copyright agreement with Spain (which lapsed during the war with that country) are quoted below:

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES—A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided by section 13 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to amend title sixty, chapter three, of the Revised Statutes, relating to copyrights,” that said act “shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nation when such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the United States of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as its own citizens; or when such foreign state or nation is a party to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity in the granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the United States of America may, at its pleasure, become a party to such agreement:"

And whereas it is also provided by said section that "the existence of either of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the President of the United States by proclamation made from time to time as the purposes of this act may require:" And whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that in Spain and her provinces and colonial possessions, the law permits to citizens of the United

States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to the subjects of Spain:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, do declare and proclaim that the first of the conditions specified in section 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, now exists and is fulfilled in respect to the subjects of Spain.

ESTIMATES OF EUROPEAN SUGAR PRODUCTION.

Supplementing my report on the estimates of the beet-sugar crop for 1902-3,* I would quote the estimates made by the majority of factories in the leading beet-sugar countries. These reports were gathered from October 15 to October 25, and from the figures a still better judgment can be formed of the probable sugar production of this year, especially if they are read in the light of previous experience. I therefore submit them with previous comparisons, as

It will be seen that these latest estimates are the lowest of all yet published, but it is probable that they will be exceeded by later reports, as Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and Roumania, with a crop of about 200 tons, were not heard from at all, and about 150 factories in France and other countries did not report in time. Besides, when the factories estimated this year's crop, there were more beets still in the fields than last year because of the backwardness of the season, which naturally added to the difficulty of getting exact figures. Altogether, there will be considerably less sugar produced this year than will be consumed, but this shortage is a blessing in disguise, as a large quantity of old stock was left over from last season that can now be drawn upon and reduced. From present indications, the supply will continue to more than cover the demand for another year, but in 1904 the world's sugar industry will probably be on a sounder basis than of late years.

BREMEN, November 6, 1902.

HENRY W. Diederich,

Consul.

FRENCH SARDINE INDUSTRY.

The sardine catch, which is one of the great industries of the west coast of France, with its centers of trade at Nantes and Bordeaux, has experienced a general failure this year. Sardine fishing is conducted all along the west coast from Brest to Bordeaux, but it is off the shores of Brittany, principally at Brest, Lorient, and Belle Isle, that the famous Nantes sardines are taken. Thousands of fishermen are engaged in netting these little fish, which in this part of the Bay of Biscay are of a better and finer quality than elsewhere in the Atlantic, and great packing factories along the coast buy the daily catch and prepare it for immediate shipment in oil.

This year, as above stated, the catch has been almost a complete failure. Not only have the fish been caught in sizes much too large for packing, but there have been relatively few. This scarcity is so unusual that nobody seems to be able to explain it. Some of the packers say, however, that it is due to the economy of the fishermen themselves, who at the outset of the season, owing to the high price of the bait, failed to use sufficient to attract the sardines to the French coast. The bait used in sardine fishing is known as la roque, being the dried entrails and eggs of herrings and other fish, imported principally from Norway and Sweden.* The fishermen go out from the coast with their fleets of small boats and cast the odorous bait

* Recently, considerable quantities of la roque, composed of the entrails and eggs of codfish, have been imported into France from Newfoundland.