Daily Republican., 1881-05-19
south Am erican Trade.


A telegraph Company is about to he
organize, III New York, whose wires
are IL cv1ue>t ;'.at ,.,y with Valparaiso
in Ss1ra Ame-.sa This ! move TO
secure he f7a&e a. ihAt rich country
wAlcl As> been ma~ nr',;.~i by Euro
Fsaa ua-..a> South -An@.lcai> land
50 7tng.te An ur.&.,-r>:iuI rs 10 be
F-2,-9a4.,y @akaew@ in his country
aDta t1ss 49,, Ws..i eN> .';t7a few ner-
t59la- ;. vi IN -Ae Il.gsl States ut Co
le1.l54- Il I.-s. s" Chilli, i'll the -\rsen-
f2zt Cs-}7s.e=a-l Fl. a%t in Brazil, lie
possess. = II wealth almost Is dazzling
a> ;A.>e op~aeI up by the early
rays-a-o->. when they burst through
The wa;e-y barriers which hemmed in
''the word a< known In The ancitut>,
The trade al this rich section Of the
world has been almost entirely neglected
ny the merchants Of the United States
and We ar pleased = see a start made
10 get a share n least Of that trade
which has enriched European nations.
The unsettled state Of the republics Of
the South Pacific unfortunately is bar
to reaping the full benefits Of the rail
ways, canals, and telegraphs which are
TO bring them thousands of miles
nearer 70 New York. American
capital which is awaiting investm ent
and which if properly applied will
do much in aiding the pacitication of
Peru, Bolivia and Chilli, where a dis
astrous and destructive war has been .
raging during the last year, and when
ever these governments shall be able to
offer satisfactory assurances Of p"oteC-
ton to foreign interests the revival of
their trade and industries will be mar
velousIy rapid. A Orawling and disor-
derly nation, always at war with its
neighbors or disturbed ~ internal
strifes and revolutions, is summed by
capitalists and prosperity never visits
it. There are two things which have
kept the United States out Of her legiti-
mate share of the trade Of South Ameri-
ca, one of which is the failure to send to !
that section the hest goods manufac-
tured. American merchants labori ng ;
under the false impression that almost E
any kind of goods were good enough to |
please the South Americans have been /
sending to that country inferior articles
as they would seld them to the Wes- s
tern Indians Of our own country. This {
has been great mistake, and our for {
eign Consuls have repeatedly pointed t
out to them their faults, and the reason ,
of their inability to compete in many t
markets, with their English, French I
and German rivals. The reputa-
ton of American goods has suf-
fered almost irreparahIc injury in
some foreign markets through mere {
vulgar cheating in pallning off an infc-
rior article upon customers quite keen ..t
enough to know what they are buying. {
Our ConSuls tell Us thai the shape and I
style Of manufactured goods, such as e
hats, shoes, hardware and tools, have /
much to DO with the success attending L
their introduction abroad Mr.. Shaw, t
our Consul at Manchester, England, Y
who has been giving considerable at t
tention to this subject, says that Amer
ican saws, planes and chisels are supc-
rlor in every respect to those i'll use on y
that Continent, but German and Belgian Y
'$hem, on account of the uncertainty of 7
getting a good article amongst SO much i
inferior goods. Mr.. Shaw recommends
the establishment of branch houses in I
those countries in charge Of resident L
partners. This would be n check to the Y
introduction of inferior goods, and in ;
spire confidence in American manu- II
featured goods r
The other great drawback to th" in e
PRODUCTION Of American manufactured
articles in the South American States,
is our inability to cope with the Suhsi-
dized steamship lines Of European na- !,
tions. These governments have not T.
been slow in not only chartcring, but J
in paying bounties TO steamship lines to :
South America and other countries, and U
the consequences have been that these
nations have secured mOnOpOlieS Of l.
trade for which the United States has l.
not been able 10 compete. The United =
States under the plea of encouraging
individual enterprise have studiOusly :
refrained from giving any aid whatever +
to American shippers to enable them to ,
successfully compete with the other na- ,
tions that have turned the great rich
trade OF South America towards Euro
pean ports, from which it is re-shippcd -,
to this country at a large advance on
the prices for which it il delivered
in the European ports. While our t
Government has been almost prodigal f
in its assistance in building railroads TO ,
the West, which are now paving q pro- {
fit to the nation, it is strange that it has
withheld all assistance to steamship
lines which could do as much and more
in increasing the trade of the nation
than subsidizing railroads and Star
Mail routes, which have returned to
plague the government. On account
of the failure of the government to aid
in the establishment of steamship line
to South America, we have lost the
trade of that section of country, though