Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-07-12
Copyright 1914. by Frank C. Carpenter)
LA PAZ, Bolivia.

is almost one-hfth as big as
Europe. If spread over the main body OF
the United States it would cover one-fourth
of it. 1t is an undeveloped empire OF natu-
raj resources. Situated on the roof of South
America and shut off from the seacoast by
great strip of desert, it has until lately been
almost inaccessible. OF its vast mineral re-
sources, only those could be mined and
shipped abroad that were valuable enough
to pay enormous freight rates. They had
to get out to sea over single railroad ana
then go down through the Strait OF Magel-
Ian to Europe Now there are three rail
roads, and by the Panama canal Bolivia is
brought within about 1000 miles Of New
Orleans. and within almost $500 miles OF
New York.
The country is the great tin reservoir OF
the world 1t has been sending its tin ore
through the Strait of Magellan to England,
where the metal has been smelted and re-
fined, and sent across the Atlantic ocean for
the making of American tin plate. The tin
ore will now probably come to us direct,
and a smelling industry may grow up to
handle it. AS to the present trade with Bo-
livia, Great Britain comes first, then Ger
many, and then the United States. Even
under the hard conditions of present trans
port we are sending Bolivia more than one
seventh of all she consumes and we buy
one-third of all that she sells With the
canal, our sales should increase enormously
and our purchases will probably make us
her best customer AS it is now the total
foreign trade of the country is about $50
100000 and of this the exports exceed the
imports by more than $10000OO0.
Within the past six or seven years Amer
lean interests in Bolivia have been rapidly
growing. In 1902 when Brazil paid to Bo-
livia something over Sl0,000O00 for the ter
ritory of Acre, the government decided to
put the money into the building of railroads
for the development of the country, and the
contracts were given to Speyer & Co and
the National City Bank Of New York The
amount all told was something like $27 000,-
600 and this resulted in the building of a
number of new lines and the extension of
the old system, giving the country the inn
proved transportation service which it has
today. Later on the Farquhar Syndicate,
incorporated in the United States with a
capital Of $25,OOO,000, received concessions
for the building Of roads in eastern Bolivia,
and although as yet nothing has been done
on account of the hard financial conditions
throughout the world, this concession may
be revived as times improve.
Associated with the Speyers and the Ma
tional City bank in the first railroad building
was the firm of w. R. Grace & Co. of New
York 1t was through this company, which
has long been power in South America,
that the great railroad loan was contracted,
and through it came large importations of
American machinery, rails and rolling stock,
and also the American civil engineers who
laid out the lines and superintended the
construction.
At about the same time the firm of w. R.
Grace & Co. established an American house
in La Paz. 1t had long been known for its
work in all the countries along the west
coast, but until then had not paid much at
tention to Bolivia and the interior. Since
then it has established selling agencies in
every part of the republic, and it is now
pushing the American goods everywhere
thu oughout the high Andes. 1t has divided
up Bolivia just as our great wholesale firms
map out their respective territories, and it
has its commercial statesmen drumming and
pushing American goods in every part of the
country The La Paz establishment of
Grace & Co. is the biggest wholesale house
in Bolivia. 1t has business corner that
covers about one-tenth of an acre and its
counting room looks like government de-
partment. 1t has scores of clerks seated at
American desks, and the clicking of score
of American typewriters fills the air. Bus
mess is done just as in the states, and the