The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-08


 reports are prepared in Washington and nave been published, which show the az gis gate of the American hemisphere trade fof the fiscal year. which ends on June a0 Ii will be discovered that we have made a better record of trade of that kind than any reported heretofore. Our trade with Canada and that of Canada with us are maintained and are increased, and there Is no reason to suspect that the figures of magnitude which tell of our trade with contlntEtal South America will not fur nish the same encouragement as all an- nual reports of that kind in recent years have done. The growth of this trade has been one of the most important of all the phenomena of international trade of the world. Twenty-one years ago, the money value of all the exports from the United States to the nations of South America was little under $33, GOO. It did not increase greatly for several years Not until the year of 1900 was there good demonstration of the new impulses which 1 were rapidly to increase our trade with Soutn America. We sent to the southern continent commodities of the money value | of approximately S39,O00,00O in 1900 and in the following year it jumped to approxi- mately S45 .00O. Our own business de- | pression in the year 1900 is reflected in ths faling off of our exportation to South America i'll that year. 1t was of the 1 money value of only $3S S000.00O Not since that time has the money value of this ex- | portation been as small as that. There was an increase of S25, GOO 900, money value, betv eer the low record of 1902 and the record made in 1906, and only four years ls ter we sold to South American countries merchandise of the money value of s9i t0o, ,000 and passed the s100 GOO 900 mark in 1911, while In 1913 the money value of cur exportaton to South America was considerably in excess of SAC. .000, 000
 It should have been larger for great as was our exportation last year to the South American countries. the total was I only aloat per cent of our entire ex- portations for that year It should have 1 been four or five times greater than that, and it is the expectation of those who are now making or contemplating busi- ness advancement and investment in 1 South America that within the next five years from 15 to 20 per cent of our total l expectations will be those sent to South America
 Another striking feature of the increase | of our trade with South America is the | fact that we are gradually catching up with cur importations from continental South America. In 1900 we bought of South America commodities whose money Value Was two and a half times the 1 money value of our expectations for that month. In 1913 the money value of our l importaiions from South America was approximately $21Soo0,o0o, while the money vaiuc of our exportations was approxi- mately s1410O0000. The experts who have been recently studying the figures and making computations which were based | upon them, report that last year South America's purchases from the United States represented about s3 for each one of the inhabitants of South America. whereas 10 years earlier the purchases represented only about sl per capita.
 It was not until about the year 1900 that our opportunities in South America be- gan to be understood, and effort was first made to take advantage of them. The | result Is shown In the fact that be- tween 1903 and 1913 exportations of mer- ehandise from the United States to South America increased by PIP per cent. What ever may be the outcome of mediation now in progress or in whatever manner our difficulties with Mexico may be end
 ed it Is now regarded by the export all- thorities of this city that the Mexican
 situation of and by itself is not to in- terfere with the steady increase of our
 trade with South America, although tht
 possible contingency of a long and ex-
 pensive war with Mexico might impair
 that trade for while. This impairment
 however would not be due to any hos
 tile sentiment toward the United States in the Latin-American countries.