National Republican., 1885-09-05
SOUTH AMERICAN TRADE.
INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY OF
THE RECENT COMMISSION.
why the Rninnce of Trade IL in Favor
of European Manufactures - High
Freights and Uncertainty of the Ar
rival of American ships Remarks on
the Consular Service.

Tie Consular Service.
Mr. W. T.. Curtis, who was the secretary |
Of the South American commission, is b,lsily |
engaged IN compiling and arranging the |
vast mass Of statistical information that the |
commission gathered during its invcstiga- |
tous. When this is published II will give |
us new light rs to the people Of South !
America, and show our merchants how |
short-sightcd they are in thinking that they |.
can first open To South America goods which |
are old stock aud cannot he disposed Of
here.
"What was your method of procuring
information ~ asked REPUBLICAN repre-
sentative of Mr.. Curtis last night.
"Immediatcly ON reaching city," was
the reply, "we would first seek out the
United States consul and then invite the
merchants Of every nation to u conference.
We would ask them as TO the state Of trade,
aud why they purchased In Europe rather
tnan in America, which is about one-third
Of the distance. All answered readily and
! freely except the English, and they are
| very jealous of our manufacturers. | re-
member one case that presents good phase
Of the difficulty In buying In America: Mr..
| Read, In Valparaiso, Chill, Is an American.
| lie went down there, at the Chill lnterna-
! tlonal Exhibition In 1870, as the representa-
! tive Of hfty-sevcn American firms. When
! he reached there he hired hall to exhibit
! his samples, and he commenced selling by
| sample. lie has increased his trade, which
| includes almost every line of goods, so that
now he represents over 100 American firms,
and he sells only by sample. But he
says the dillic ulty Is, when you ship from
( New York YOU never know when the goods
| will rpuglt n gput hN "A sailing Npggpl
and II sent by steamer, the freight Is
about three times us great Us from Liver
pool. As an instance, Mr. Read contracted
with trpmway company there To furnish
them with hundred horse cars. lie sent
the order to John Stephenson and the cars
were built, but have lain In the factory over
year waiting to be shipped. They are a
deck load, aud no sailing vessel would take
them unless Mr.. Read could also have SUI
lccut cargo to fill up below decks. Mr..
Read said that the taamway company waited
for him far beyond the time within which
he had agreed to deliver them, and then
sent to England and had them landed in Val
paraiso In forty-iivc days"
GLOW did YOU find the condition of our
consular service ~ ,,ic countries the COM
mission visitCdt'
'In Central and South America, with
few exceptions, our consular service is SUI
pcror to the diplomatic service. At one Of
the most important ports OF South America,
IN some respects the most important the
consul is In every respect equal to the minis
ter resident. The consul has the entrec to the
best social circles which the minister, by
reason of his lack of social qualities and
! ignorance of the language of the people,
could never enter. While the minister Is
laughed at for his uncOuth manner and wild
, western ways, the consul is universally re-
| spCctcd and admired as n thorough gentle
4 ta al nN 10 I'm
pOrtnnt one. The Spanish people are EN-
: phatically II social people. They are great
sticklcrs for etiquette, and think more of
5 the clothes Il man has ON AMI the manner
, IN which he addresses them than they do of
e his reputation for truth and vcracity, while,
f MS every one knows, the reverse Is the case
I with MS.
} This minister to whom have alluded
and may say that the comparison would
apply to at least three countries that We
visitcd-is n man Of thorough honesty and
more than ordinary ability, but is not what
they call down there a gentleman. lie does
v not pay any attention to his personal ap-
pearance, and his lack Of observance Of the
amenities of society are such as to weakeh
his influence with Il people IN whose minds
etiquette is rs important us the moral law
@ Our government makes n mistake in send
ing to those countries men who cannot
', mingle with the people.
u "ln this respect Capt. Phelps, the late
!, minister 10 Peru, was Il notable exception.
e lie understood the Spanish language per
=, fectly and had charming social qualities
!, those which 90 TO make up the honorable
q gentleman In our estimation as well as II
= that Of Spanish America. lie was, there
=, fore a prominent figure IN all the sOcia
l.; gatherings IN the capital of Peru, made til,
, intimate acquaintance of the peOplc,and wa,
y the leader of the diplomatic corps in that
~ country. As ] have sand, he was II conspicu
=. Gus exception, fohin most of those countries
# our ministers, although all estmable mel
a. and highly thought of at home, We're no
# qualified. either by their ignorance of th
- language or by their lack of social uualilca
~ tion, to cultivate an Intimacy with the pcO
n pie and make the name Of the United State
# familiar among them"
Il "You seem to place great stress upon tn
- social qualification necessary In our repre-
IA scntatiVcs ~
" "Certainly do You can't cmphasiz
u too strongly the importance of sending mel
W Of the style of Capt. Phelps to Spansl
Il America, because business and cOmmcrc,
" Of every kind is done over the dinner tabl
~ and III the drawing room. The pcOp
" down there are not semi-civili2cd. The
n are In advance Of us in many respects, par
~ ticularly in their social mplshmcnts, ant
Ie the man who would have influence witt
IL them must do in Rome as the Romans do
~, Taking the cOnsuls as a class they are niue
y better qualified for their work than til
!. Minister'S
= "Tcll me some of the consus who mad
N an especially favorable impression upon tn
4, cOmmissiOny'
" "Conspicuously among them was MI
N Williams, at Havana; Mr.. Strothcr port
~ Crayon, the authorl, formerly ut the CIT.
II of New Mexico; Mr., Bird, at In Guayra
=, Mr.. White, at Puerto Cabcllo; Mr.. Brent
# at Calao; Mr., Dunn, at Valparaiso; Mr.
10 "a Baker, at Bucnos Ayres, and Mr., Howard
T., ~ at Montevidco. Mr.. Howard is one Of tn
- most valuable men in the consular service
: and, although he holds the rank Of vic
! consul only, he represents In Uruguay til
IN minister, the secretary of legation, til
:" :" consul, and vice consul all IN one. Their
- is u vacancy in the consul at Montevdec
~ caused BY the recent death of Mr.. Russell
Va Va of Pennsylvania, and Mr.. Bayard could no
" do better than to appoint Mr.. llowar
M to the position. lie was iormcrl
~ Il naval officer from Boston, and while at
a. taChcd to the Nipsic at MOnteyideo he fc
Il in love with Uruguay young lady an
w married her. Both he and his wife hay
y, considerable wealth, and he possesses Il
u, the qualifications that could he asked for |
nj Il consul, is very popular among the people
a, is perfectly familiar with the language, III
IN derstands the duties better than any OthC
NJ man could learn them, fOrhc has pcrforme
III them for live years, and would he II Yer
~, ~, valuable representative in this, one Of til
nf most important ports at South Amcric,
of Mr.. Howard gives his time TO the work {
~. the consulate from pure interest in III
no trade of the United States, for the fees ~
Nv but very small item in his income,
"Mr Bakerat BuenOs Ayres occupies on
Of the most important posts in South Anne
lea, and has been there for twelve years II
is as good consul as there is IN the scryiC
he of the United States or any other countr
SIS MS his record at the State Department wi
he show Although his post is growing ra
he idly in importance, and his business Is 4
rs, creasng monthly, the Congress of Il
he United States recently cut his salary dow
nr an thn thnnry | sIInnnsn tLnt yirttIn IL |