When war broke out between the European nations, commerce for a time was paralyzed. There were hundreds of German ships on the high seas as well as a number of Austrian ships. These vessels were all liable to capture as soon as they left neutral waters. Up to that time they had been doing a very large portion of the carrying trade, especially from China and Japan and from Germany to North and South America. Moreover the ships of the Triple Enteizte were not safe so long as there were a number

more »

... German cruisers scattered over the different parts of the world. That these cruisers have given a good account of themselves is shown by the fact that there have been nearly two hundred vessels of the Triple Entmtc,-that is vessels belonging to France, Russia and England,-that have been captured. The immediate result of the breaking out of the war was the seizure of many of these vessels in transit, the holding up in the ports of one of the belligerents of merchant vessels belonging to an enemy, and the detention in neutral ports of many other vessels. This for a considerable time prevented the forwarding and the delivery of the merchandise, and produced for the time being a great scarcity of goods. After a few weeks it was found that merchandise could be imported, though roundabout routes had to be taken, but there were great delays in shipments, and the goods were still liable to seizure by an enemy. German chemicals in considerable quantities were shipped through Switzerland and from the Port of Genoa, and through Christiana, Sweden, Copenhagen, Denmark, but mostly through Rotterdam. Crude drugs came more largely through the southern ports of Europe. At the present time most of the heavy chemicals can be bought a t prices almost as low as prevailed before the war, but the goods must be paid fur by sight draft. Crude drugs in many cases can be bought at lower prices than before the war, but there is great difficulty in obtaining shipments, owing to the difficulty in making payments. In many cases the money has to be sent abroad and trusted to the honesty of the shippers. For instance, in having goods shipped from Trieste, we found it necessary to have our bankers here cable the money to a correspondent in Milan, Italy. The correspondent sent the money to the merchant in Trieste. This method is not entirely acceptable because it places the buyer entirely within the hands of the seller, besides being expensive in other ways. The position has been complicated in recent weeks by the entrance of Turkey into the war. This directly affects such articles as Opium, Tragacanth, Aleppo Nutgalls and Colocynth from Syria, and it also affects Gum Arabic from Egypt. The effect on Gum Opium has been lessened by the large stocks held in this country in bond, and by the fact that Persian gum can be substituted for manufacturing purposes. If, however, there should be a Mohammedan uprising, all these * Read before the Philadelphia Branch at its December meeting.