The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-11

Mexico and Central Americn-Ger
many and England Get Ahead OF
American Merchants for This Rea-
sOn-ThOse Countries Have Special
Trade Representatives Serving
Their DeaIers-Mr. Hinton's knOwl-
edge of the Conditions Grows
From Visits to the Countries.
| Mr.. E. H. Hinton, retiring traffic
manager of the Central Railway, and
family, will sail to-day on the steam
ship Nacoochee for the North. Mr..
Hinton will take a short vacation be-
fore resuming railway work elsewhere.
His plans have not yet matured, but
he will not remain in Savannah, to the
regret of the many friends he has made
here during his incumbency of the po-
sition of traffic manager of the Cen
| trail.
| Speaking yesterday of the trade rela-
tons of this country and of the world
with the Central and South American
countries and Mexico, Mr. Hinton said
that he is reminded of a recent edi-
torial in the Morning News in which
the writer contended that ship-subsi-
dies did not, of themselves, build up
trade; that there were many important
trade conditions to be considered in
conditions were not met the finest fleet
in the world would be impotent in ex-
tending the trade of any country
I'm the spring of 1896" said Mr.. Hin
ton, "at the request of the Panama
Railroad Company, 1 made a trip to
the Isthmus of Panama, where, after
familiarizing myself with the physical
conditions of the property in a general
way, / sailed for San Francisco from
Panama, with instructions to land at
all the principal ports of call and col
lect all the information possible in re-
gard to the trade conditions. The Pam
anna Railroad Company was operating
its own fleet of steamers, under the
United States flag, and was, therefore,
| interested in developing all the bust
ness it possibly could between the Unit
ed States and the Central American
and Mexican Republics, and especially
between New York and the Pacific
ports of those countries.
II made stops and talked with the
merchants, customs officials and others
at Puntarenas, the port for San Jose
de Costa Rica, the capital, which is
reached by a little road about twenty
miles long; La Libertad in San Saliva
dor. the port for the capital, San Sal
vador; Champerico; San Jose de Guat-
emala, where I made seventy-two-
mile journey inland to Guatemala City
by a f1rst-class railroad owned by that
late genius of railroad construction,
Mr.. c. p. Huntington; Acapulco, Mex
leo, and one or two other points. 1
had expected to stop at San Juan del
Sur and Corinto in Nicaragua, but
there being yellow fever on the Mic
araguan coast, coastwise vessels
steered clear of those ports.
II found two important factors
operating against the increase of trade
with the United States:
First. The apparent Indifference of
the merchants and manufacturers in
the United States to the needs of the
trade and a disposition to ignore pc
culiar local conditions.
Two The question of credits.
THE Germans door at that time
did-a large part of the business, the
British coming next. These people
have representatives in the republics
studying the wants of the people, and
they cater to them by manufacturing
what is wanted. The American, on the
other hand, has been prone to think
that what is good enough for his home
trade is good enough for anybody.
THE peculiar local conditions are
that the country is poorly supplied with
railroads, on account of the almost in
superable obstacles in the way of rail-
road construction incident to the noun
famous character of the country. Goods
have to be distributed by mule-back
and are carried over the mountains, the
Av-1s oil W.,
tropical rains are exceedingly heavy
at times and it is not uncommon for
pack trains to be caught in these
heavy down-pours. 1t follows, there
fore, that not only must the goods be
put up in uniform packages of about
100 pounds each, so that two packages
may be loaded comfortably on one
mule, but it is also necessary that they
they should be water-tight. The Ger
mans and the English pack the goods
which they ship to Central and South
American countries with great care,
and never lose sight of the fact that
the shipments must ultimately find
their way across the cordilleras on
mule back. 1 recall a shipment of
i hardware and cutlery which, in being
discharged from a foreign vessel at
Colon fell overheard. 1t was fished out
with all the speed that the climate
and the natural Incidence of a ia
MdlCa nlBBeT WOuiQ ADMIT OF, out the
water was deep, and it was some little
time before it was landed on the dock.
The package was opened (no small
undertaking in ITSELF, on account of
the great care with which it had been
nailed), and, to the establishment of ev-
eryone, the contents were as dry as
powder horn. The shipment had been
wrapped in ordinary wrapping paper,
and around this several layers of oil
paper had been carefully folded be-
fore putting in the shipping case. The
ordinary packing of the American is
fimsy in comparison with the packing
done for this trade by both the Ger
mans and the English, and had that
refer to been an American shipment,
in all probability it would have been
ruined.
II was told by a large shipper at
Guatemala City that he attended the
Pan-American Congress, which was en-
gineered by Secretary Blaine, and as
he returned home filled with frater-
nal desire to cement business relations
between the sister republics. he deter
mined that the first large order which
1t was necessary for him to send in
would be placed with a United States
firm. His first needs happened to be an
unusually large order for hardware He
said to me that he wrote to the firm
from which he ordered the goods ex-