The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-08

By FRANK G. CARPENTER

dollar Altogether there are six banks. each of which has a capital ranging from $5,000,0 GOO to $39, GOO, coo in gold. There ought to be a big American bank here and the country should be financed by the United States. Under the Monroe doctrine we have to be responsible to certain extent for it's business arrangements, and to keep other nations from enforcing their claims we shall have to arrange for the debts
 Some Big American investments
 Within the past few years considerable American capital has come into this coun- try. The Motagua valley and it's banana pany, which has there many thousand acres, and about 20O00, l believe. already planted to bananas The railroads of the country are in the hands of Americans, and they have big schemes for controlling the transportation. They will eventually complete the system in conjunction with Mexico, and will extend their lines through the country south of this to the lsthmus of Panama
 Americans own the shipping which comes to Guatemala. The United Fruit scompany has steamers twice a week to New Orleans, and it frequently sends ships to New oYrk. It's steamers fly the Eng fish flag and they have English com manders. but they are bought with Amer ican money and they carry little else but American freight and passengers. The reason why the fruit company uses sucll steamers is because under the navlga tion laws all steamers sailing under the Amer can flag must be, built in the United States, and ships can be bought more cheaply in England.
 The English steamers are not always satisfactory to the American passenger The English captain is sometimes inclined to be cocky and to show his preferencA for his own country On a voyage few weeks ago an American woman took the American flag which was hung al one side of the sideboard in the saloon and raised it up little higher than the British flag which decorated the other side. She thought this joke, but the English cap tain did not see it that way, and he there upon ordered the steward to pull down the American flag and leave up the British.
 American Trade
 If the trade here were rightly handled it might be monopolized by the Ameri- cans, but as it is the Germans have more than half as much as we have and the English are very close to them. Our eX- ports to Guatemala run between two and three million dollars year, and Germany and the United Kingdom each sends over million. Germany buys a great deal more than we do and the United Kingdom
 
 Our trade is not properly worked. We should do as the Germans. We should send drummers here who know the lan- suage and who have lived long enough in Latin America to know the people. We should send out our catalogs in the lan- guage of the country and not in English, as we are now doing.
 Speaking of this, I heard story yes terday from a woman who had been trav- cling on one of the river steamers. She was standing near the furnace when she asked the native engineer what sort of fuel he employed He replied: We use some coal and a little wood, but tine most of the fuel is composed of catalogs sent by American business firms printed for the Guatemala trade in a language the merchants cannot understand
 Underpaid Postage
 Another fault with Americans trying to do business in Guatemala is that they do not understand the postal rates. They know that ? cents will carry a letter to Mexico, Canada or Panama. and suppose the same sum will carry it to any part of Central America. This is not true. Let ters coming here require cent postage, and every letter sent with just a cent stamp is subject to a fine of 90 cents or more. which is paid by the man who re- ceives it. Catalogs underpaid have sim liar fine. The result is that a merchant gets an advertising catalog with from 50 to 50 cents due on it. He pays this