Omaha daily bee., 1898-06-12
AMERICAN TRADE IN PERU
Crowded 20 the Wall by German, French
and English.
DRIVING A WEDGE IN THE MONOPOLY
How Commercial Travellers from
other Countries work Up Busi-
ness-Important Points for
American shippers.

tCopyrighted, 1898, by Frank @. Carpenter.)
LIMA, Peru, May 18.-(Special Cor
respondence OF The Bee. )-0ne OF the most
important parts of my present mission to
South America is to look into the prospects
for American trade. There Is a big market
for our goods In these countries. but it is
one which we will have to cultivate much
more than we are now doing II we get our
share. SO far | have met but three COM
mercial travellers from the United States.
One OF these was a Mr.. Sullivan, who was
taking orders for lubricating oils. We
Travelled together from Ecuador TO Pacas-
mayo, Peru, and he told me he was on his
way to Chill and the Argentine. / came
from New York to Panama with an Ameri-
can named Herzig, who was on his way
down the west coast to buy cocoa, hides and
feathers for several New York firms, and 1
am told that the agent OF the Carnegie Steel
company Is now taking orders In northern
Peru. Or the other hand. I find English and
German drummers everywhere. Krupp's
agent has Just left here. There are two
English dry goods men on the same floor
with me In my hotel. They have large
sample rooms and have long tables covered
with every variety OF cotton and WOODEN
goods, One OF these drummers is from Man
chester and the other is from Nottingham.
IHey nave DOJn DeeH IOE WeehS BoluS
through Central America on mules. and
they are now working their way down this
coast. They stop at every large port and
work the trade. One OF them will go from
here to Bolivia. and will visit the interior
cities OF that country, carrying his samples
for hundreds OF miles on mules. These men
have a big stock with them. The Man
chester man tells me he carries about two
tons OF samples from port to port, and that
he has to load about a dozen mules when he
goes into the interior. The Nottingham man
sells on commission and pays his own ex-
penses, which he tells me are about $40
gold a day. He says that his houses have
three en- to work the West Indies and
Spanish America. He takes in Mexico,
Central America and the Pacific coast. An
other salesman has the West Indies and the
coast of the Caribbean sea, and a third
Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine. This
Is the usual arrangement of the European
houses for working this trade. All of these
European drummers speak Spanish, they
know the countries well and are posted as to
the financial standing of the various buyers.
What south American Trade In Worth
The United States should not think that
1t can get these markets without a hard
fight and a long fight. The business has
been studied for years by the European ma
tions, and ! will show later on some of the
underhand methods by which they attempt
to crowd themselves in and the Americans
out. The business Is naturally ours, and il
will pay to fight for it. This continent
contains $1,000, 900 square miles. and it has
more than 10000, 900 people, all of whom
are consumers, though the wants of the
majority are few. The resources of the
continent all told are great beyond concep-
ton. The products will steadily increase
and we already buy about $3.50, 600, 900 worth
of them a year. Our sales, on the Other
hand, amount to only $40, OOO, 900, and oul
purchases are said to increase five times
as fast as our sales, and this notwithstand
ing we are now the greatest manufacturing
nation of the world. There is no nation
that has so large a stake in the battle fol
foreign m as ours. We have nov
more than 5000, 000, 900 invested in manu-
featuring, and we turn out a net produc
of $4,000, 900, 900 worth of goods every year
apdit is estimated that our factories can il
six months make all of the goods that on
home markets can use. We have 5000, OO
workmen engaged in our factories, and /
we would keep them busy we must fore
our way into the foreign markets. We nee,
our own ships. Here on the west coast o
South America freights are cheaper to Lon
don and Hamburg than they are to Ney
York, and you can, l am told, send good
to Liverpool and thence to New York NOR
cheaply than to New York direct either vi
Panama or the Straits of Magellan. Toda,
there are two lines of steamers which pl
between the United States and Pacific Soutl
America. The firm Of w. r. Grace G. Co
has four or five ships of 5000 tons each
which make monthly voyages via the strait
between Callao and New York, and Fir
Eddy & Co. have what is called the Mer
chants line, which dispatches a steame
every two months or oftener as the de
mands OF trade require. Even these line
have materially increased our trade. TIL
Grace line, which was started In 1892 I
take the place of the sailing ships owne
by the company, had In 1895 trebled tn
carrying trade of this firm. and f. l.. Crosb
OF Lima. who represents Flint, Eddy & CO
here, tells me there is a decided increas
In imports since the Merchants line ha
been put on.
Americans I'm Peru.
These twoeNew York frms-W. r, Grac
& Co. and Flint, Eddy & Co.-do the grea
bulk /Y--aas~w will South America
Until !. .s"Sa~ Flint, Eddy & Co. have t
q large extent confined themselves to tn
Atlantic coast, but they have now com
i bined with or absorbed the old firms O
Henlenway d. Brown and Brown, Beeche
Co., and have their houses In the chic
ports OF the Pacific coast as we'll. foun
them at Panama and Guayaquil, and the
have also houses here and at Valparaiso
The Graces have for years been one of tn
great powers in Peru and Chill and toda
they handle perhaps more valuable propert
than any other firm on the west coast. The
have carried through some of the bigges
enterprises ever attempted In South Americ
and their profits are said to have amounte
TO millions, Today there is hardly any bi
thing In Peru in which they have not a
interest. They have sugar estates amount
Ing to thousands OF acres and on one plants
tion which they control near Chimbot
north Of here, they have 5000 acres
cane and as much more which is not und,
cultivation. The capital invested In tn
estate is 1000, 900 and the property al
machinery ON 1t probably cost more tina
that sum. It was NJ, p. Grace of New Yorl
now the head OF the English banking houi
of NJ. p. Grace & Co.. who brought abol
the settlement of the Peruvian debt by Il
organization OF the Peruvian corporation.
This corporation was an English synd
cate, which assumed the foreign debt
- Peru. amounting to almost $500, 900, 600, al
In return Peru gave the corporation all
Ats railways, the right TO mine guano on I