Evening star., 1914-01-25

!" !: =: !. l." !: :. :: !
ID IN \ he stopped for
NV w \ glass of water how
~I 4 ~ \ far il was to viii
- l lage VIII h he
~ named.
n ~ " e r h Ds one
OK " league, perhaps
two, perhaps three, perhaps four. per-
haps five leagues, more or less" was the
countrymans reply.
Conservatism of the same kind is neces-
sary in telling how many Americans there
are in Brazil. Usually the answer to
The question breaks off with the sug-
sestion, "A thousand, more or less To
have the general judgment that there are
thousand Americans in Brazil indicates
very marked progress
Ten or eleven years ago III t;Io, all
told, there were just 10, and in the rest
of the country, vast as it is, there We're
hardly that many more The American
colony consisted of professional men,
mostly dentists; educators. missionaries,
and few business men. Now there are
more educators than before, and more
missionaries, but the increase is really
due to American business men and to
Americans 1UenIllSa Win lIe various
constructive enterprises and with the
railway development.
Several instances were recited to me
of the success achieved by individuals
acting for themselves. One was that
of an American who in ten years has
become the largest dealer in Brazil in
Office appliances Another was of a
Young Pennsylvania, a university
graduate, who started in quiet way
to do an express business with single
delivery wagon. Now he controls all
the service of this kind i'll Rio and
has. l do not know how many, auto
trucks and express wagons. Two
young Americans, college graduates,
after prospecting somewhat in various
enterprises, received the contract for
street car advertising.
These individual examples show that
there is a chance for initiative on the
part of the Individual. but the most
notable thing in relation to CONNER
cial enterprise is the large increase IN
the number OF manufacturers agents
who have been sent down as the rep
resentatives of firms and corporations
who prefer to have their own men on
the ground This tendency is the best
evidence of the possibilities of Ameri
can trade expansion with Brazil. When
the manufacturers find the field prom
Using enough to establish their own di-
rect agencies, there is the certainty of
a steady growth in imports from the
United States, for it is by having men
in the field that the larger contracts
are obtained and general business is
developed
The largest addition to the American
colony in Brazil during the last ten or
twelve years has come from the con-
structive enterprises which operate the
public utilities of Rio de Janeiro and San
Paulo. Many Canadians are included in
this category with the citizens OF the
United States. for they are all clasSed as
Americans They form a most virile ele-
ment in the development Of Brazilian re-
sources.
1t was dozen years ago that Dr.. =.
S. Pearson. the former college professor
VINO had been engaged in various light
and power enterprises in the United
States and neighboring countries, came
down to Brazil to look over the field II
was just following the Spanish-American
war when American enterprise be-
ginning to take courage and branch out.
My impression is that among DR.. Pear
sons first enterprises was the reorganiZa-
Iton of the Havana street railway in con-
nection with Percival Farquhar who has
since figured So largely i'll the develop
nsrit of South American railway enter
prise
Al that time Rio de Janeiro had a
street car system which originally had
been owned by Americans. who still held
a considerable stock ownership in ii.
When the original owners got tired of
operating an Investment far from
home the company was taken over by
other interests, who issued bonds for the
purpose. This was novelty in Brazilian
finance and the story is sril told of how
the horse car lines came to be described
as "boUdos. Ii seems strange in this
day. however. to hear the electric tram
ways so called, but the usage fingers.
The American interests after get
ting control Of the tramways broadencd
their investmert TO cover light and
power and the telephone service until
today they have complete control of the
public utilities of Rio and San Paulo, and
apparently get along very well with the
municipalities and the public.
At San Paulo a French bank owned the
mule car line which was the means Of
transportation There was sharp fight,
but In the end the Americans were in
control. not only of the street car serv-
ice. but also of the light, power and tele-
phone service. 1t was the development
OF these projects that brought so many
Young Americans to Brazil. had vivid
description from one of them of the first
trip down, dozen years ago, on one
OF the smaller steamers. which at that
time formed part of the only direct line
between New York and the Brazilian
ports.
The field was absolutely new to them,
and they were full of expectation and
ambition. These were yellow fever days,
100. but they Were willing to take their
chances. They Jared much better than
many young Englishmen and Germans.
who had come out a few years previous
ly TO engage in business and who fell
victims to the yellow scourge.
These constructive enterprises, both at
Rio de Janeiro and San Paulo. have con-
tinued to grow. Recently at Lagos.
which Is the source Of power supply for
the hydro-electric works, a tunnel was
completed whose engineering features so
impressed the Brazilian government that
1t started in to make a similar tunnel
for the Central railway, getting its ma
chinery from the light and power COM
pany and employing the same contractor.
In connection with these enterprises 1t
is worth noting the part which college
graduates have in them. Some are grad
yates Of Harvard and other universities,
while others are from institutes of tech
nology. but the college education is at
the foundation of all. Mr.. Huntress. the
general manager of the Rio plant. iotted
down Tor me offhand the names of eight
or ten men filling responsible positions
and noted the universities from which
they we're graduated. Some of the COL
lege men are also found IN minor posi-.