The New York herald., 1870-08-12
Our Commercial Relations with Central and
S0uth America.

Our Commercial Relations with Central and
S0uth America.
About the close Of the last session of Con-
gress the Senate on motion of Mr.. Fenton,
adopted resolution calling on the Secretary
OF State for Information as to the commercial
relations between this country and the Spanish
American States, and for his recommendations
as to what is necessary to promote and develop
our commerce with those States. Senator Fem
ton stated, in connection with his resolution,
that the total foreign commerce of the
United States for the year ending June 80,
1869, was 1876, ,00O,0 that of that amount
$246, 900, 900 was with this Continent and
adjacent islands, and that only SS75 900, 600
was with the countries known as the Spanish
American States and Brazil, which contain an
aggregate population of over thirty millions,
ard cover a territorial area of more than seven
million square miles, being at the rate of two
dollars and half per- capita. AT the same
time our trade with Cuba, having a population
not exceeding million and half, was about
seventy-eight million dollars, or over fifty
dollars per capita.
In reply to the resolution of inquiry Mr..
Fish submitted, on the l4th Of July, long
and very able document, copy Of which has
been forwarded to US by our Washington cor
respondent. The Secretary thinks that if the
commerce of those countries has been diverted
from its natural connection with the United
States the fact may be partly traced to politi-
cal causes, prominent among which he cites
the pro-slavery policy of the American gov
ernment up to 1861. (which lost the oppor-
tunity of giving permanent direction to the
political and commercial connections of the
newly enfranchised Spansh-American States,
and their trade passed into hands unfriendly
to the United States ,and has remained there
ever SINCE" Mr.. Fish, however, is of opinion
that ''events subsequent to that date have
tended to place us in position to retrieve our
mistakes, among which events may be par
ticularly named the suppression of the rebel
lion, the manifestation of our undeveloped
and unexpected military power, the re-
tirement Of the French from Mexico and
Mr.. Fish then alludes to Cuba, aud remarks
that whatever may be the result of the pend
ing contest in Cuba, it appears to be the belief
Of the leading statesmen of Spain that the rela-
tions which now exist between the island and
the mother country cannot be lohg continued"
He gives the value of imports from Cuba and
Porto Rico for the year ending June 80, 1869,
as $65, 600, 274, while our exports to those
islands amounted to only $l5,3l3, ,9l9, or less
than one-fourth. The imports into the United
States from the Central and South American
States for the same period were less than
Ss25, 600, 600 and the exports to them less than
$lS, coo, while the imports to Great Bri-
tain amounted to $42, $40, 942, and the exports
from it to $iO,Gs2, 102.
Mr.. Fish, with diplomatic politeness, attri-
bates this unfavorable exhibit of our trade
partly to political causes, only putting forward
in modest, unobrusive sort Of way, what
he is well aware is the true reasou--our high
tariff system, which excludes South Ameri-
can woods and other products and
sends the trade to England. On that
point he contents himself with saying,
''The financial policy which the war made
necessary may have operated ipjuriously upon
our commerce with these States" That is
tantamount to saying what we have just said.
The way to restore and develop our trade
with the South and Central American States
and with all other countries is to liberalize
our commercial system, reduce the tariff so as
to be able to import foreign products and to
export domestic manufactures, cheaper ships
and ship building materials and give govern
ment patronage to lines of ocean steamers.
BY these means, and these alone, can Our
foreign trade and commerce be developed.