Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-18

presidents Of the United States and
Mexico at Ell Paso, the possible accept
ance of invitations to be extended to
the presidents of Panama and Cuba to
meet the president of the United States
at New Orleans, the widespread growth
of interest in the construction of the
Panama canal, and the increasing in
vestments of United States capital in
Latin-America give significant en-
phasis to the Importance of developing
closer trade relations and of improving
the facilities for the exchange of COM
merce between the United States and
her sister republics" said John Bar
rett, director of the International
Bureau of American Republics, in his
address to the Trans mississippi Com
mercial congress today.
New Tariff Favorable
1.-THE legitimate and successful ex-
ploitation of this vast field south of us
depends on four important conditions
First tariff regulation which permits
of a reciprocal exchange of commod-
tiles: second, f1rst-class mail, passen-
ger and express steamship service to
build up and care for this trade; third,
the establishment of banks controlled
by United States capital as agencies
Of business just as necessary in for
egn lands as in the United States; and,
fourth, familiarity and acquaintance
with the habits and customs of the
Latin American peoples and local con-
ditions of their demand and supply.
"Discussing each of these partly, II
can be said that the new tariff law is
far more favorable than the Dingley
bill for increased exchange of prod
ucts between the two Americas; that
it is almost mandatory as a protection
to our own interests in competition
with the rest of the world that the
next session of congress shall pass an
ocean mail bill that will provide us
with the same kind of facilities on the
seas for promoting commerce as we
have in fast express, mail and passen-
ger railroad trains on land.
"The exact share of the United
States in the exports and imports of
Latin-AmeriCa for 1908 was $460,000, 600
"a sum many times larger than our
trade with all the countries of Asia
and in excess of that with most of the
countries of Europe-and yet it is only
in the infancy of it's possibilities. Still
we have a tendency to neglect Latin
America as an unimportant market.
AN important corollary to this
Latin American situation is the indis-
putable necessity of the United States
now preparing to get the benefit Of the
advantages that will be offered to it
by the completion Of the Panama canal
in 1915. There can be no greater folly
than to spend several hundreds of mil
lions of dollars in the construction of
this waterway, and then find our
selves at the time of its opening un-
prepared, with only a few steamships
flying our flag, with interior waterways
and harbors unimproved and with a
general ignorance of the markets to be
approached through the canal, as win
be the case if we do not give our at
tention and bend our energies to make
the most along these lines during the
next five years"
Talks of consulships
La Verne w. Noyes of Chicago,
president of the National Business
League of America, delivered an ad-
dress on the American consular service
in which he talked on the value Of the
consular agent to the American ship
per in producing a market.
Trumen G. Palmer of Chicago spoke
on the sugar beet industry.
Insurance was the topic at the even
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