The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-21
EXPANSION OF TRADE BETWEEN UNIyED STATES AND COUNTRIES OF SC5THERN
 CONTINENT URGED BY SECRETARY ROOT

sighted statesmanship of Blaine fer the | growth of America. North and South. in the peaceful prosperity of mighty commerce.
 ITO utilize this orportun!t,' certain practical things must be done For | the most part these things must be done by multitude of individual ef- forts; they cannot be done by govern | ment. Government may help to fur- afsh facilities for the doing of them. | but the facilities will be useless unless used by individuals. The things need@ ed have been fully and specifically set | forth in many reports of efficient con- suls and of highly competent agents i of the Department of Commerce. I will indicate some of the matters to which every producer and merchant who desires South American trade should pay attention:
 What Must Be Done.
 'First-He should learn what the South Americans want, and conform his l product to their wants. If they think they need heavy castings, he should | give them heavy castings and not ex- pect them to buy light ones because he thinks they are better. If they want coarse cottons. he should give them coarse cottons and not expect them to | buy fine cottons. 1t may not pay to- day, but 1t will pay tomorrow The l manufacture may reduce the cost and 1 promote convenience, but if the con- sumers on the River Plata demand different standard from the consumers on the Mississippi, you must have two standards or lose one market.
 l "Second-Both for the purpose of learning what the South American | attention to your goods. you must have agents who speak the Spanish or Por- l tugese language. For this there are l two reasons; one is that people can 1 seldom really get at each others minds | through an interpreter, and the other l Is that nine times out Of ten it Is only l through knowing the Spanish language i that North American comes to appre- | ciate the admirable and attractive per- sonal qualities of the South American, and is thus able to establish that kind 1 ly and agreeable personal relations | which Is so potent In leading to bus
 Third = The American producer should arrange to conform his credit | system to that prevailing in the coun- try where he wishes to sell goods. mercial credits in South America than | there Is in North America; but business men there have their own ways of do- ing business; they have to adapt the give. It Is often inconvenient, dis agreeable and sometimes impossible for them to conform to our ways and the requirement. that they should do so is i a serious obstacle to trade.
 Should EstabIish Banks.
 | "Fourth--The establishment of banks should be brought aboat. The Ameri- i ean. can trade. could well afford to sub. scribe the capital and establish an American bank in each of the principal | cities of South America. This is, first because nothing but very bad manage ment could prevent such a bank from making money; capital is much needed | in those cities, and six, eight and ten per cent can be obtained Tor money up- l on just such security as can be had In Kansas City, St Louis or New York. It Is also because the American bank l would furnish source of informa- ton as to the standing of the South American purchasers to whom credit may be extended, and because Ameri- can banks would relieve American bus mess in South America from the disad- l all its financial transactions through Europe instead of directly with the United States.
 should acquire himself, if he has not already done so, and should impress up- on all his agents that respect for the South American to which he Is justly entitled and which is the essential re- | American. We are different in many re- | spects in character and methods In | dealing with all foreign people Is it im- l portant to avoid the narrow and unin- l difference from ourselves denotes in- l feriority. There is noting that we re- | sent so quickly as an assumption of superiority or evidence of condescen- | sion in foreigners; there is nothing that | the South Americans reesnt so quickly. | Every agent of an American producer or merchant should be instructed that | courtesy, politeness, kindly considera- tion are essential requisites for success in the South American trade.
 Promotion of Investments.
 "Sixth-The investment of American capital in South America under the promoted, not merely upon simple in- | vestment grounds but as a means of creating and enlarging trade. Good business judgment and good business management will be necessary there, of course, as they are necessary here, but 1 given these, believe there Is vast number of enterprises awaiting capital in the more advanced countries of great profits. A good many such en- 1 terprises are already begun I have l found a graduate of the Massachusetts | Institute of Technology, a graduate of graduate of Colonel Roosevelt's Rough Riders smelting copper close under the snow line of the Andes; l have ridden l in an Ameriacn car upon an American electric road, built by a New York en- | gineer in the heart of the coffee re- | zion of Brazil, and l have seen the | waters of that river along which Pig arro established his lilie of comunica- ton In the conquest of Peru, harnessed l to American machinery to make light and power for the City of Lima.
 | "Seventh--It Is absolutely essential | that the means of communication be- tween the two countries should be i'm proved and increased. This underlies all other considerations, and 1t applies both to the mall, the passenger and the freight services. Between all the England, Germany, France, Spain. It. ally lines of swift and commodious steamers ply regularly. There are five subsidized frst-class mall and passen- Europe, there i sno line between Beunos Ayres and the United States. In the year ending June 30, 1905, there enter ed the port of Rio de Janeiro steamers and sailing vessels flying the flag of Austria Hungary i2O of Nor Norway 1s4 l42 a, France S49, of Germany 657, of Great Britain, 1,7S5, of the United States nc steamers and seven sailing vessels, two of which were in dstress.
 Communication Facilities Poor.
 An English firm runs a small steam CT monthly between New York and Rio de Janeiro; the Panama Railroad Com pany runs steamers between New York and the Isthmus of Panama; the Bra ziilians are starting for themselves 6 line between Rio and New York. Thai is the sum total of American commu' nications with South America beyonC the Caribbean Sea. Not one American steamship runs to any South American port beyond the Caribbean. The mails between South America and Europe ar'