Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-28
ENCOURAGING TRADE.
Views of Marshall Field, Armour e.
Co., and Other Chicago
Business Men
ON PAN-AMERICAN COMMERCE,
The Former Thinks 1t the Fault of the
Tariff That We Have no South
American Market.
ON PAN-AMERICAN COMMERCE.
OTHERS EXPRESS DIFFERENT VIEWS.
Manufacturer Who Sent Machinery There by Way
Of Liverpool
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DTsPATcH.i

elaborate report to THE DISPATCH has moi
by any means been confined to Pittsburg
and vicinity. The DISPATCH has been
quite extensively read in this city and the
matter has been discussed informally al
clubs where business men talk over their
affairs after the noon lunch.
The net result of all the ten talks your
correspondent has had with leading Chicago
business men shows that, almost without ex.
ception, they are In favor of subsidies ol
anything else that may be necessary to estab.
lish a South American trade and put it on a
strong, firm footing, and that without regard
10 whether they have any interests that
would be directly benefited or not.
BENEFITS OF COMMUNICATION.
Since the railways have brought the cap
ital of Mexico within four davs' travel in
palace car from Chicago, a vast amount OF
Chicago meat products has been finding It's
way into that country, especially canned
goods and lard and cured meats of various
kinds 1t was only two or three days ago
that a Central American INQUIRED of a
representative merchant the location of the
stockyards, and said that whatever else
he missed seeing he did not want to miss
that. He had seen Chicago corned beef at
home but wanted to see the factories at
which it was put up. Chicago meat has
now obtained pretty firm foot-hold in some
of our South American markets and is un-
known in not one of them. Nobody in Chi
cago, therefore, should be much more thor
oughly interested in the exclusion of South
American trade than the firm of Armour s.
Co.
Philip D. Armour, side whiskered and
trim, sits guarded like Gar bv a small
army of satellites over in the Home Insur-
anee building and i: takes a vast amount
OF explanation to a squad OF important
understrappers to reach him; but his part
ner and chief manager, Mr.. Webster, is
more accessible. Ever since the Pan
American Congress" said Mr.. Webster,
more and more attention has been given to
South American affairs by Chicago business
men. 1 am glad to see that The PITTS
BURG DISPATCH has manifested so much
enterprise, and that the matter of
EXTENDING AMERICAN TRADE
in that direction is taken up by it with so
much earnestness and enthusiasm, The
trade of Armour & Co. with South Amer
lea" he continued, sis just beginning to
open up. We ship large quantities of our
gUods-not dressed beef, of course, but lard,
canned goods and the like-to South Amer
lean markets, and we are pushing our trade
there just as rapidly as we can. l think it
will be only a few years until
our Government will realize the inn
portance OF our South American trade
and the necessity of doing everything
it can consistently do to encourage and fos-
ter it. The goods OF Armour & Co. which
have gone to South America have not been
shipped directly by US from Chicago. They
have been sent by New York and Baltimore
or other Eastern firms.
up TO this time we have had no branch
house In South America, but we intend to
have one very soon. Only yesterday 1
learned that the Kansas City firm of
Armour & Co. are about to put one of their
men in that country who is now in England,
and the Chicago establishment-which, of
course, is entirely separate from the other,
though Mr.. p. d. Armour owns stock in
both-is considering the advisabilty of send
ing somebody there from Chicago"
do you think it would be advisable for
the United States Government to subsidize
steamship lines?"
GOVERNMENT AID DEMANDED.
''I think ii would be advisable for this
Government not only to subsidize steamship
lines, but to do everything else in its power,
which it consistently can do, to
foster and increase commerce with
the South American States The
of regular lines of ocean
vessels would be great help to all manu-
interests. 1t would put us on a
level with the manufacturers of other coun-
tries.
From the standpoint of an importer of
South American goods, Mr.. j. w. Doane.
Of the tea, coffee and spice firm of J. w,
Doane & Co., thought it was not so much
lack of transportation facilities that kept
the American manufacturer out of the South
Am erican markets as it was lack of mar
gins. 1--WE import coffee from Brazil and |
send to that country -four and |
lari.
There is no lack of transportation facil-
tiles as far as they are required in our bust |
ness. There used to be a line of ships be- |
tween Newport News, Va, and South |
American ports, but it has been discon- |
.inued, as L understand, for want of SUI |
1eIent encouragement
In coffee, from which this country took |
III the duty Is years ago, the Brazilian |
Government has imposed an export duty |
equal to the former import duty collected bv |
his country, so that che result is the same.
We have to pay just as much for it. The |
Inference is that the tax is now paid to
Brazil"
SUBSIDY WILL ENCOURAGE TRADE.
What do you think of the advisabilitv
II subsidiZing steamship lines between this
ountry and South American"
81 don't see why the Government shouldn't
10 it, if they want to encourage traffic he
ween the two countries. 1t would be rec
gnition of the Importance of South Ameri-
an trade. and it could hardly fail to produce
ood results. But what is going to make
he demand for manufactured goods in
Brazil is the price. Pittsburg has
ot to compete with England,
there they get most of their manu-
D pay high tariff on raw material here,
nd how are we 10 import il and send it to
'ittsburg and manufacture it there, then
end 1t TO South America and sell it there
hesper than the English who get their
aw material free? That's the question
bats got to be answered.
LITTLE USE FOR OUR GOODS.
Mr.. w. j. Felix, of the wholesale wooden
are hrm OF Felix & Marston, was warmly
4 favor OF subsidizing steamers, though |
could not bring his firm any
dditional business. "The trouble is that
lese people have no use for our goods"
aid be. "They don't know how to use
lem, and If they had them they would not
low what they were for. l have travelled
IL over the Old World, and found only
Fo countries Wnere the people were accus.
med TO use labor-saving contriyances in
lelr domestic life as they do in this conn
Y. That was in Scotland and ENGLAND
be trouble with those South American
,untries is that labor is SO chean
lat they do not know the value of labo1.
wing machinery. They could not be per-
laded to invest in a clothes wringcr for i
L - ~.