The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-12


 and within almost 450o miles of New York.
 The country is the great tin reservoir of the world It has been sending it's iin ore through the Strait of Magellan to isr gland where the metal has been sn cited and refined, and sent across the Atlantic ocean for ihe making of Amer ican tin plate The tin ore will now lTobably come to us direct, and smelt ing industry may grow up to handle it. -As to the present trade with Bolivia, Great Britain comes first, then Germany, and then the United States Even under inc hard conditions of present transport we are sending Bolivia more than one seventh of all she consumes and we buy one-third of all that she sells. With the ,;,nal. our sales should increase enor- lrously and our purchases will probably lrake us her best customer. As it is now the total foreign trade of the country is about $50O0J.000 and of this the exports exceed the imports by more than $lO,- 00o.00o
 Within the past six or seven years American interests in Bolivia have been rapidly growing. In 1902. when Brazil paid to Bolivia something over $l0O00,- ,UJ for the territory of Acre. the govern lnent decided to put the money into the building of railroads for the development of the country, and the contracts were given to Speyer X Co.,, and the National city bank of New York. The amount all cold was something like s250O0OO and this resulted ill the building of num- Der of new lines and the extenslon or the old system, giving the country the im- proved transportation service winch It nas today. Later on the taiquhar syndl- cate incorporated in the UnIted otates vilh a capital of go o,o0O,uoo. received con sessions TOT the building o1 roaus ln eastern Bolivia, and, although as yet nctnine has been done on account ol the hard financial conditions throughout the world. tnls concesslon may be revived as tines improve.
 Associated with the Speyers and the National 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 IL came large importaIions of American ma chinery, rails and rolling stock. and also inc American civil engineers who laid out the lines and superintsnded the oonstruc- tion.
 At about the same time the firm of w. R. Grace & Co. established an American house in La. Paz. It had long been known for lts work in all the countries along the west coast. but until then had not paid much attention to Bolivia and the inte- rlor. Since then 1t has estaDAsned selling aRencles In every part or the repubilc. and it is now pushing American goods e, anywhere throughout the high Andes. It has divided up Bolivia just as our great wholesale firms map out their re- spective territories, and it has it's com mcrcial saIesmen drumming and pushing American goods in every part ot the country. The La Paz establishment oI Grace & Co. is the biggest wholesale house in Bolivia. It has a business cor Ter thai covers about ons-tenth of an acre, and It's counting room looks lihe a government department It has scores of clerks seated at American desks. anu the cucking or q Sscore ot American typewriters fills the air. Business IS done lust as m the states, and the success snuws that American methods will worK as well south oI the equator us they do north of it.
 During my stay here have had chat with MT. Jorge Zalles, the local director of this American firm. He was born in Bolivia, and thoroughly understands the
 tc .laf. xCIl posted as to our American interests, hay ing had some experience in the United States in a diplomatic capacity, and also as to the importation and exportation of goods uon this country to the United states and Eplrope. Said he:
 There should be a great increase in the business done between the United States and Bolivia. As it is now, the most of the trade goes on through Grace & Co. but there is plenty of room for others. We have to flight the English. the French and the Germans, and the only way to do business is to go after 1t and get 1t. You cannot sell goods here by letter. You need good men on the ground and establishments that will come to stay. AS 1t is much of the business is in the hands of the Germans, and they are so pushing their trade that they supply nearly one-third of all the goods imported into Bolivia
 What kind of goods do we sell in this country?
 We sell 90 per cent of all the flour tEat comes in,' replied Mr. zalles, and 99 per cent of all the lumber. Flour comes from the Pacific coast, and nearly all the lumber consumed is Oregon pine. We are also selling great deal of mining machinery and of galvanized steel sheets for roofing. American shoes are worn by the middle and upper classes, and they are the best shoes in the market. We are also selling cotton sheetings, American typewriters and American hardware. In all of these branches the trade might be greatly increased, but only by having men on the ground who can drum up the business.
 But how about credits in Bolivia? Do the merchants pay for what they order?
 "Yes They are as honest as we are and there is no more trouble in making collections. The national credit is also good. and 1t has greatly improved since the contract was made through w. R. Grace & Co. with Speyers and the Na- tional City bank for the building of new railroads. Before that time it was almost impossible for us to get money from