The Portland daily press., 1889-09-26
FRIENDS IN SOUTH AMERICA"
What the Three Americas Confer
ence Is Expected to Accomplish.

direct result will follow the meeting Of the
International American Congress in October.
The most ardent advocate of this plan of
bringing our neighbors together never even
hoped to see them fall upon one another's
necks with embrdcioS and vows of eternal
peace and affection; nor did the most san
guine market hunter ever suppose that the
delegates from Central and South America
would carry home with them our surplus
products. We may not sell another yard of
prints or another paper of needles during the
winter, but this meeting will mark an epoch
in the commercial history of this hemisphere
and nowadays, at the present stage of human
progress, commerce is the inspiring idea of
nations, as conquest was not long ago. The
purpose of England in India and Africa was
not to crafty lust for power, nor to evan !
gelize the heather, but her sacrifice of mil
lions Of lives and billions of treasure was an
investment to secure market for the sheet
lngs OF Manchester and the hardware of
Birmingham. The results of the conference
Will be largely sentimental. One of the
was good-fellowship, neighborly interest,
and desire for better acquaintance. The
Ignorance OF the people of this country re-
garding the Latin-American people is simply
. amazing. 1t was not long ago that member
VI IcSlutntS SdDluct, III pupllC Sptecu
in the city of New York, referred to Buenos
Ayres as the capital Of Brazil, and justice
OF the United States Supreme Court once
asked me what language was spoken in Chill.
Most of the biographies studied by the chill
dren In our schools refer to the Argentine
the fact that war was fought some years
ago to convince certain provinces that 1t is
not one; and the graphic and illustrated de-
scriptions of the wild horses roaming owner
lace oh oil tod tna
sense Of the picturesque three generations
| ago, still remain on the pages they have al
| ways adorned, although it would be quite as
| appropriate and truthful to apply them to
Iowa or to Illinois. The Englishmen who
want to run over to New FORK little buffalo
shooting are no more absurd in their jgno-
rance than the writers of some of our stand
ard Biographies; and our friends and neigh
bors in South America know very little more
about US than we know about them, for very
good reasons. The habit of visiting Europe
is quite as general among people OF means In
South America as among the citizens OF the
United States; and am told that the number
of South Americans at the Paris Exposition
Is even greater in proportion to population
than those who have gone from the United
States. 1t is conceded that the most extern
sive and tasteful exhibit Of American pro-
ducts at the Exposition is furnished by the
Argentine Republic. The ladies of South
America 60 to Paris for their gowns and
their bonnets, and send their sons and
daughters to the universities of England and
the Continent to be educated. But very few
of them have ever been here. Why? Be-
cause they have no means of transportation.
With twenty-one lines of steamships connect
| ing Buenos Ayres with Europe, Offering
| luxurious accommodations and low rates of
| fare, it is not strange that they seldom come
| to country with which they have no direct
communication whatever, or that their trades
men buy of our merchants only such goods
as they can not obtain elsewhere. And, un-
| fortunately, the greater portion of our citizens
| who have made South America an abiding
| place have not been such as to inspire the
| people of that continent with high regard
| for the character, or an admiration for the
conduct and culture. of the North American.
The lack of extradition treaties has tempted
| certain types of our population to seek
asylums south of the Caribbean Sea, and at
the expense, OF our National reputation.
That the leading men of the Latin American
races may see us as we are. that they may
study and report upon our National institu-
tions, and the extent Of our material de-
velopment. of which the best-informed of
| them has but meagre conception, this con-
| ference has been called and from this obser
| walton and contact its greatest good may
| come. Before proceeding to the formal con-
| sideration of certain topics of international
| interest, they will be asked to inspect the re-
| suits of our National industry as the guests
| of the Government and the people. 1t is not
| possible or practicable to take them every
| where, but in hotel on wheels they will be
hurried from one city to another in such
way as to afford them an adequate idea of
our resources, our mechanical and agricultur-
al industries, our social and political con-
diti0ns, cur educational and commercial pro-
gress, our facilities for trade and transpOrta-
tion, and the sources of our wealth, power,
and prosperity: The purpose is to make the
journey Of profit to the people of the United
States as we'll as to their guests, who will in
clude from fifty to sixty OF the most dis
tinguished citizens of Central and South
America. 1t Is quite as desirable that these
gentlemen and ladies who accompany them
should receire social attentions as intorna-
ton concerning the industries of the country;
that they should see the homes as well
as the factories and farms of our peo-
pie, our educational and charitable in
situations as well as our mills and mines, our
systems of State and municipal government.
religious, and commercial life. Each pas.
senger upon the excursion train will be
missionary. and should be impressed with
object-lessons. They come from countries
where European continental customs have
been inherited and still adhere to domestic
and mercantile life, and the ancient preju-
dices and restrictions of Spain yet exist to
great degree. The. equality and freedom of
| The seres, the schools for the higher education
| of women. the dignity of labor, as recognized
| and encouraged in the United States, will
| afford them fascinating subjects of study,
| and will enlarge their moral as we'll as their
mental horizon. All this is quite as impor-
tant as the consideration of questions con-
corning commercial intercourse, which will
claim their attention afterward, and of the
effect of free and familiar discussion there
can be no doubt Agitation is always bene-
fetal. Our commerce with Central and South
America is reviviDg, and this fact is due to a
stimulated interest. The commission which
visited the other continent in 1875, and
upon whose recommendation the approach
ing conference is called, brought back much
valuable information, which has been given
to the people through its reports to Congress,
and in the pages of our newspapers and maya
zines. More has been written and published
In the United States concerning the countries
south of us during the last four years than in
a quarter of a century previous, and the re-
suits of this stimulated interest are shown in
heavier mails, in the tables of commercial
statistics, in the increased passenger traffic
| upon the few lines of steamships that stagger
under burdens0me disadvantages but manage
to maintain infrequent communication, and
| in the recent organization by the merchants
of New York city of commercial association
| for the expansion of our trade in Spanish
America. Our merchants are sending drum
| mers into the southern continent our manu-
facturers are, studying the requirements of Its
markets and endeavoring to comply with
them, and the members of our Congress have
| commenced to discuss, il they have not
enacted, laws that will relieve the restrictions
| OF trade. All THIS DaS come from agitation.
| 1t is the result of diverting the public atten-
ton in direction to which it had not been
| turned for many years before. Tourists are
beginning to visit Central and South America,
where they have never gone before, and each
returning traveller brings back intelligence
that tempts others to follow in his footsteps.
The coming conference will greatly increase
this newborn interest and extend the agita-
ton, and the proposed exposition to COM
mem0rate the discovery of Columbus will be
great international educator. The October
conference Is simply deliberative body. Its
functions are confined to discussions and
recommendations, and its results will require
| legislation and diplomacy to become per-
manently effective. Upon our Congress rests
the great responsibility. Our merchants
must have the same facilities that their
foreign competitors enjoy to meet them upon
an equal footing. 1t cannot be expected that
| the people of Latin-America will furnish us
opportunities that are furnished them by
European capital and enterprise They have
already sufficient lines of communication
with markets upon the other side of the
Atlantic, where their wants are now supplied.
They lack nothing In the way of commercial
| advantages. They have profitable markets
for their products, and adequate means of
| reaching them, which have been established
| by their customers. They are not seeking
our trade, but we are seeking theirs, and to
secure 1t we must employ the same methods
that other nations have used.