14. Export boun-ties.—Direct payments to ex porters in the form of export bounties are not fre quent at present. Alexander Hamilton advocated this method of encouraging foreign trade, but no di rect bounties have ever been paid in the United States. England before 1814 had an export bounty on wheat. France has an export bounty on codfish in order to encourage fisheries. Prior to the Brussels Conven tions of 1901-1902 bounties were paid on sugar ex ports in Belgium, Russia, Holland, France and Ger many. In England and the United States the ex ecutive branch of the government may increase the duty on imported articles upon which bounties have been paid, by the amount of the bounty. Such duties are sometimes called "countervailing duties." 15. Educational work.—More lasting in its effect than any artificial stimulus to trade is the educational work which a government may undertake. This is not extensive. Contrary to the commonly held no tion, commercial education among the European na tions has not been a government activity. A large number, probably the majority, of commercial schools of secondary and of college grade have been estab lished and are at present supported by endowments and contributions from individuals and by chambers of commerce, or are municipal undertakings. This is Prue of the well known commercial schools of Bor deaux, Paris, Cologne, Hamburg, Rotterdam and Manchester. The Konsular Akademie in Austria Hungary was one of the few exceptions.
16. Trade information.—The information services maintained by the United States Government may be enumerated: The Consuls. A complete list of these officials
may be secured from the Department of State and may also be found in the "Exporter's Encyclopedia." Their reports are published in the "Commerce Re ports" and in "Special Consular Reports." The Foreign Trade Advisers. These form a bu reau recently established in the Department of State to serve as its commercial office.
The Commercial Attaches. They report fre quently on market conditions and work under direc tion of the Department of Commerce, in close co operation with the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. The result of their investigations is pub lished by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.
The Special Agents. They make special investi gations concerning possibilities of trade expansion and their reports are published in "The Special Agents' Series." The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce now maintains offices in the following cities: New York, Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle and cooperative offices in connec tion with the following institutions: the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Southern Railway System, Portland Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Dayton Association.
Analogous sources of information are available for the use of persons in foreign trade living in the other commercial countries.