The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1908-10-17
WESTERN
COMMERCE
TRANS-MISSISSIPPI TRADE
DISCUSSED AT SAN
FRANCISCO
John Barrett Advises Much Great
er Attention to South American
Trade-Business Much More
Accessible Than That of ORR
entail Countries.

San Francisco, Oct. 8.-Assembled
to promote the common interests OF
nearly a score of states comprising the
West, several hundred delegates in at
tendance upon the opening session OF
the Transmissippi Commercial Con-
gress listened to gratifying assurances
of cooperation and support from the
national administration, from the rep
resentatives of twenty republics OF the
Western continent who are interested
in the pending deliberations, from the
two leading candidates for the presi-
dency of the United States, and from
the leading citizens of the states and
territories comprising their own organ
ization.
Reserving for the succeeding days
of the congress the spirited debates
promised on the conservation of nat
ural sources and kindred topics, the
visitors in the morning basked in the
warmth TO welcome extended by prac-
tically every official representative OF
state and city honored by their COM
ing, and in the afternoon received with
enthusiastic delight the official assur-
ances of two speakers who promised a
splendid fulfllment Of Western hopes
and Western ideals. Not the least strik-
ing feature of the session was the as
tonishment expressed by delegates
who witnessed for the first time the
rapid rebuilding of San Francisco.
Snoke fOr tho President
Attribtuing his presence to the inter-
est felt by President Roosevelt in the
Wetsern states, Mr. Wheeler, the first
speaker of the afternoon session, devot-
ed the greater part of his address to
immiragtion. In part he said:
II am here as manifestation of the
presidents good will and Of the hearty
interest he takes in your work, and I
wish to take up but little of your
time with the subject of immigration.
II realize the difficulties the West
has encountered in lack of the hewers
of wood and the drawers of water. Of
the vast wave Of immigration breaking
on the Atlantic coast you have received
but filmy spray. In attempting to
prevent congestion in the East the de-
partment of commerce and labor is
simultaneously endeavoring to divert a
part of this surplus to your regions
"The completion of the Panama
canal will open to you the widest ave-
nues of Europena immigration. It will
be ready sooner than you expect.
Through this medium there is a GER
tainty that a great flow Of incoming
immigration will be diverted to the
Gulf states and the Pacific coast, and I
think it is time that you were prpear-
ing to receive it."
South American Development.
John Barrett, director of the Inter-
national Bureau of American Repub-
lies, spoke at length upon the lack Of
enterprise indicated by balances Of
trade existing between the United
States and the countries of Central and
South America.
''There is danger of irreparable in
jury to the commercial interests of
these Western states unless realization
of the opportunities presented by these
republics comes at once" he said.
"The countries of Europe, China and
Japan are doing more now to get in
touch with the coasts of South Amer
lea than is the United States.''
He continued:
''It is criminal to exploit the United
States in the Orient at the expense Of
our trade with Latin America. If the
United States had spent in Latin Amer
lea one-twetnieth of the amount dis
bursed in strengthening Oriental trade
the returns would have been twenty
times as great as they have BEEN
'You may not know that the 6, 900, :
600 people of Argentine carry more of
our trade than do the 5O,0O0,0 900 or
100, 900, 600 of Japan or China. Bra
iii spent $25, 900, 900 for irrigation be-