The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-10-13
Consul General Seegcl Thiu&S We
Should BE Able TO supply
All They ts".
OPPOSITION TO BE OVERCOME.
Cardiff Coal Is Now Used. but The
Consul General Thinks THIS
Could Be Easily Sup
planted.

Washington. oct. l2-Coneul General See.
Ger sends from Rio IL Janeiro 10 the State
Department "a translation Of a communion
zion from a ~vell-known Brazilian merchant.
which he thinks may he Of interest to
American coal dealers.
About the end of October the Brazilian
Government Will ask for tenders for fur
nishing 6o.9O tons Of hard coal for the Cen
-rai Railroad, 10 he delivered during the six
months commencing January i Consul
General Seeger thinks that American deal
rrs making a proper effort would have a
fair chauce to secure this contract. which
might lead TO larger transactions in the flu
Turs.
The consumption Of American coal in Bra
I'll has increased very considerably during
the last few years. and the pussibiliGies are
very great If proper transportation ftci..-
ties Were provided. Brazil imports about
so."e tons OF coal. The United States sup
plies only a small part OF that. In the
year 1899 the exports of American coal TO
Brazil aggregated 25.1s1 tons. IN 1896 the
quality Increased to 51,a25 tons. and IN 1891
10 ss.51l tons.
Might sciI Them Az Their Coni.
American representatives, there say that
there Is no reason. excepting a lack of
proper Transportation facilities and "A lack
of proper efforts on the part of American
dealers. why the United states shuulG not
supply all the coal that BIaZi! consumes.
The United states boys more Of Brazil ;
stapl"S-corfee and rubber-than all Of Flu
rope combined. and Yet our exports TO Bra
I'll are less than half those of Great Brit
ain. and only about half those Of France.
ii little more than those of Belgium and
shout the same As those of Germany.
Tn letter of Castillo Brauco. the we'll
known Brazilian merchant, which Consul
General Scescr transmits 10 the state De
SHrtment. IS as follows:
The company now supplying coal TO the
Central Railroad furnishes Cardiff coal at
SIS Es.5ot and American at 10 G7TSi a Ton;
as the former is deare. than the latter. and
as II makes more on the Cardiff. IL takes
no interest in the Introduction of the Amer
lean product. To overcome this difficulty, It
IS necessary To have a special American
anency which shall have 10 interest in Car
diff coal.
American Coal Opposed.
Inited States coal met with great on
position as soon as IT appeared i'm the Rio
dc Janeire market. because IL threatened
TO disturb the Cardiff coal business. 1t Is
wei known that American coal is cheaper
than Cardiff. and. consequently. there Is
great opposition on tn. part Of the dealers
in the latter. who have declared The Amer
lean product to he of bad quality. The
ainerican coal brought into Brazil is in the
the market in competition with Cardiff. No
one Is Interested In making Il propaganda
Tor 1t or in trying 10 convince the con-
sumner that II i as good as cGrdin. Under
these circumstances. II the American mine
owners want 10 get a part OF the coal bust
ness In Rio de Janeiro. they must decide to
establish an agency In RIO. with the means
necessary for the development Of the bust
ness.
"All possible efforts should he made to
ward securing the contract for sl, plying he
Central Railroad. Tor. once this supply has
been accepted and the coal found to meet
the expectations Of the railroad admins
tration, the American coal business may lie
said to have become ESTABLISHED in Brazil
So strong a hold on public opinion has the
approval of this railroad"
Consul General Seeger notes that the
ROYAL Mail steamship Nile. bound honeward
to Southampton from BueuOs Ayres. had
bought at Rio about Gu tons of PoCahontas
coal. This. Mr.. Seeger was informed. was
The first time American coal had been taken
Tor consumption hy a Royal Mail steamer. a
fact which assumed particular Significance
from the circumstances that the Rio agents
of the Royal Mail company We're also the
agents fer Cardiff coal.