Arizona republican., 1899-08-24
IA COMMERCIAL MAP
Showing Need Of an sSfhmidn
 Wafer Route.
American Trade From which inc United SfafeS Is Excluded on AC- count of Long Distances

portation routes of North, Central and
 South America. just issued by the
 treasury bureau of statistics, gives
 some interesting data on the relative
 distance between the commercial cen
 ters of the United States and those of
 other parts of the world via the va
 ricus existing and proposed water
 routes. It shows especially the routes
 followed by steamships in the com
 merce between the eastern and south
 ern ports of the United States and of
 Central and South America and the
 western coast of the United States.
 The contrast between tie distances
 now traversef in commerce Of east
 ern United States wieh western coasts
 Of America and thOso which would be
 made practicable by an isthmian canal
 is interesting. The fact that the
 Isthmus of Panama lies almost direct
 ly south of the Atlantic coast ports and that all commerce for the western coasts of South America must now
 travel eastwardly a distance of over
 2.500 miles and again back to the
 west a like distance before reaching
 the western coasts of South America
 indicates in some degree the less of
 distance and steam power which must
 be utilized in reaching the western coast of South America, contrasted with that which will be practicable
 should a water route t.e opened across
 the isthmus. From New York to Val
 paraiso on the western coast of South
 America via the Straits of Magellan is
 shown to be S,460 miles, while via
 Colon and Panama it is but 4.572
 miles; from New York to San
 Francisco via the Straits of Magellan
 is 13.09O mics, while via Nicaragua it is 4,867. The commerce of the west coast of South America, as shown by the publication of the bureau of sta- tistics which this map accompanies, now amounts tc oyer S100 900, ,0O0 an nually, and of this sum but s15,O00,0 is with the Unised States. The i'm ports of Chilli, Peru, Ecuador and Bo- livia amounted in 1897 to over $50, OO0,OO and of this amount less than S5 GOO, 900 was from the United States. Thus in that part of the commerce in which the United States producers and manufacturers are nest interested, the export trade, the United States now obtains less than 10 per cent of the trade of the Pacific coast of South America
 Regarding the details of the trade of the western coast Of South America, the special publication of the bureau of statistics relative tc the commerce of Central and South America has the following: Chile. which occupies the southern half of the western coast of South America, about equals in size the states of California, Oregon and Washington, the area being 290,- S29 square miles and the population 3 ,049, ,352, or about two-thirds that of New England Lying largely within the temperate zone, it has developed a. greater variety of industries and with greater success than it's neighbors lying nearer to the equatcr. About One-half of it's population is engaged n agriculture, the wheat product alone being about 2S,OOO,OOO bushels, other cereals amounting to about S,500,000 bushe.s. besides fruits and vegetables. 1 Sheep and cattle are largely grown, md wool, hides and leather form the ] important features of her exports. | The nest important of her exports, l however, is nitrate, the exportation of | which is rapidly increasing. The i'm | ports in 1897 are given at s23, ,9O8, ,524, | If which s10,614,775 was from the United Kingdom, S6,O13, ,23O from Ger many, $1,e24,485 from the United l States, $1S4,42S from Spain, and | 5, ,474 ,6O6 from other countries, thus that the United States has ess than ' per cent Of the impor1s Of ! Chile. The Statesman's Year Book i gives the value of the imports into Chile in. 1896 at 90, 1902 pesos from 1Teat Britain, 2O,0SO,943 from Ger many, 6,S07,165 from the United States (value Of Pesa, 361ac). The imports of 1897 included sugar, valued t 5,983, ,659 pesos; coal, 4,122, ,918; cot on and cotton goods, 3,937 900; sacks, mpty, 2,440,209; Illuminating oil, ,45S O90; chasmeros, 1,221, ,91S; tea, ,046, ,256, and galvanized iron, 1922 76 pesos. Chile was the first state of 'outh America in the construction of always. In 1897 the total length of Ter lines open for traffic was 2,661 niles, of which 1,233 belongs to the tate. The trans-Andino line, which is xpected to connect the Pacific with o Buenos Ayres, Argentina, lacks but nrtv-Siv rni1eS cf cnnnIetinn Recent