Evening star., 1914-04-19

he was one OF the
leading democratic members of Congress
He was an associate of President Mchin-
ley. when the latter was still in the
House I remember that when I first
met him Tom Reed was still Speaker
and Roger .. Mills of Texas and William
r. Morrison of Illinois were Joined with
him as the leaders of the opposition. l
knew him later when. after about twenty
years in the House. he resigned to be
Governor of Tennessee. and ! now find
him here 700 or 800 miles south of the
equator. as active as ever. representing
our interests in the republic of Peru.
called upon Mr.. McMillin at the Amer
lean legation. He has rented for this pur-
pose one of the finest houses of Lima. 1t
is known as the Quinta Heron and Is
situated in Carmen Alto in a beautiful
seni-desert oasis which makes up
the city About It are royal palms
hundred feet high. wide-spreading
magnolias and tropical trees that bear
beautiful flowers. The building itself is
of a brilliant rose color. 1t covers a great
deal of ground. and seems very tall in
this town of low structures. In the GEN.
ter of the house is a tower over the front
door of which hangs the United States
coat of arms. Entering the house, you
come into n hall with rooms on each
side. about twenty feet high. The build
ing is furnished with Spanish chairs and
sofas. that date back to the days of the
inquisition. and with antique rugs from
Morocco and Egypt. 1t is, on the whole,
exceedingly comfortable. and Mr.. Nc
Millin tells me he is delighted with the
social life of Peru. He has his wife and
daughter with him. and he has already
established the closest relations with the
president and the leading men of the
country.
Mr. McMillin tells me that the Peru
vians are friendly to the United States.
They expect to reap much from the Pan
anna canal and the president of the re-
public is planning to spend millions upon
a great breakwater to connect the island
of San Lorenzo with the port of Callao,
and thereby create the finest harbor of
the eastern Pacific
In my talk with the minister We went
over the general movements now going
on for the increase of American trade.
He thinks the commerce between the two
countries might be greatly developed,
and urges our manufacturers and ex-
porters to send down agents and pros
pect the field. He says they must have
men on the ground, and that they should
establish agencies here with Spanish
speaking Americans in charge.
The foreign trade of Peru now amounts
to between sixty and seventy million
dollars a year, and of this the United
States has Just little more than one
fourth. 1t stands next to Great Britain
in the amount of its commerce, and is
far ahead of Germany or France Our
exports, however are much less than
our imports. They amounted in 1911 to
only about S6.O0o0O, whereas those OF
the United Kingdom were at least two
millions more. AS to the goods bought
of Peru, the United Kingdom takes
almost one-third of all the country sells
and Uncle Sam gets one-fourth.. The
trade of the United States has been
steadily increasing, and with the opening
OF the canal we shall probably lead.
Just now some of the biggest things in
Peru are owned by Americans, and the
machinery and supplies imported by