Daily Republican., 1883-02-20
south American Trade.

SCUM american lrAue.
To the South and Southwest Of as
lies vast extent Of country rqualing
the United States in territory and rich
mineral resources which though attached
to us by narrow isthmuS, might As
well be as far away as China or Japan.
Notifying as the assertion must be, We
must bear ii when We are told that our
exports to South America are taken
from our shores by vessels flying flags
of other uationalites This should not
be endured, for surely with all the ma
terial at their doors American ship
builders should build their hips
If they cannot, then the shipping laws
should be so amended that Americans
can have the advantage. We ar" not
visionary i'll our expectations nor Is 1t
at all out Of place for us to agltate this
question of .he extension Of our trade
though fault wastound with Mr.. Blaine
for trying at an opportune moment
to make a treaty with Peru, that would
have diverted large portion Of thy
trade of that country direct to the nil
ted States, instead of to the United
States by way Of England. What Eng
land is to South America we may be
also, and every effort should be made to
al and t, LAT \ p.ri
can enterprise assert itself.
South America is not a barharOus
puhlics and empires. European CAPT
talistS have invested millions i'll building
railroads in these countries, and with
satisfactory returns. In every house i'll
the cities of Chill, Peru, Argentine Con
federation and Brazil, says recent Wis
itor to those countries, may be seen ar
ticles imported from France, Germany
and England. On the mountain tops
the traveller finds the solitary inhabi-
tants using implements brought from
London or Paris If there was moi some
thing wrong in our system Of foreign
commerce these articles would be pur-
chased from American manufacturers
and American merchants. The St
Louis Railway Register, evidently well
informed in regard to the trade II South
America, has the following, showing
what the United States have lost in not
securing and keeping steady hand
upon tie trade of South America
In South America there i, uow more
than 5000 miles of Railroad of which
over 1000 miles are III lh" NrEvutln"
Republic; about the same number III
Peru. some 100 mites in Brazil, and
nearly |, 300 miles in chilli. These raj
roads connect largr cities, extend
through the Andes to III" head waters TT
the great rivers which drain tn" vast
domain Of the interior. In Argentine
the wealth Of the country i, i'll cattle,
though the climate and soil ar" very
much like those Of OHIO. TIL" Pacific
states are rich in indigo. rimrhoua, coffee
and other tropical productions, Whll"
their mines are of fabulous extent and
s"'u' - i' ,','' s,n n,n n,," III
yer 10 the yalur of SiOOOo, 600 and her
products of cereal, were -. uOO nvn bush
els With these elements Of greatness
it is surprising thai Americans have
not long ago turned their attention 10
t ,Hla f tr,,nr. hg,. ',n,''I ,,. nr".
fits. The export, from Peru to the tni-
ted States Amounted in 1850 to nearly
e2,"""'o'", "l'l' l'rF imports rom us
rvnnrt. ', "f pr with, in the same wear were
sixty nine millions of dollars in value,
and her imports were over 'hir,y-s"y'n
.ll'.',''n u, ''''''',,I h', NV .l,,',