The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-07-14

One New YOrk Company and Mia
1t Is Doing-Amcrican Mission
Schools, Partially Supported by the
Bolivian Govcrnnlent-Thc Mctho-
dist Institute at La PaZ and the New
School at Cochabamba.
tcopyrighter, 1914, by Frank G..
C~arpenter.)
LA PAz, Bolivia.
BY the Panama canal Uncle Sam
has brought Bolivia into the market
place of the United States. This
means much now. 1t will mean more
in the future. Bolivia is almost one-
fifth 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 natural
resources. Situate on the roof OF
South America and shut off from the
seacoast by a great strip of desert, it
has until lately been almost inacces-
sible. or it's vast mineral esOurces,
only those could be mined and ship
ped abroad that were valuable enough
to pay enormous freight rates. They
had to get out to sea over a single
railroad and then go down through
the Strait of Magellan to Europe. Now
there are three railroads, and by the
Panama canal Bolivia is brought with
in about 1000 miles Of New Orleans,
and within almost $500 miles of New
York.
The country is the great tin reser-
voir of the world. 1t has been send
ing it's tin ore through the Strait of
Magellan to England, where the metal
has been smelted and refined, 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 handl it. AS to the
present trade with Bolivia, Great
Britain comes first, then Germany, and
then the United States. Eve 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 in
crease enormously and our purchases
will probably make us her best GUS
toner. AS it is o the total foreign
trade OF the country is about $50,000,'
900 and Of this the exports exceed the
imports by more than 100000
Within the past six or seven ear
American interests in Bolivia have
been rapidly growing. In 1902, when
Brazil paid to Bolivia something owe
$40 900, 900 for the territory 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 $4,000, 600 and this
resulted in the building of a number
of new lines and the extension of the
old system, giving the country the i'm
proved transportation service which 1t
has today. Later on the F~ar1uaha1
Syndicate, incorporated in the United
States with a capital Of $25.0OO,O 900,
received concessions for the building
of roads in eastern Bolivia, and, al
though as yet nothing has been done
on accoun of the hard financial con-
ditiOnS throughout the world, this CON
cession may be revived as times i'm.
prove.
Associated with the Speyers and the
National City Bank in the first rail
road building was the firm Of w. X
Grace g. Co., of New York. 1t wa:
through this company, which ha:
long been a power In South America
THAT the great railroad loan was con
tracted, and through it came large i'm
portations Of American chi
rails and rolling stock, and also tn
American civil engineers who LAID GU
the lines and superintendent the con
struction.
AT about the same time the firm
of w. r.. Grace q Co, eStabllsned al
American house in La Paz. 1t ma
tong been known for it's work IN al
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 sellln
agencies in every part Of the republic
and it is now pushing American COOS
everywhere throughout the mig
Andes. 1t has divided up Bolivia Jus
N our great wholesale firms ma
out theft respective territories, and
has it's commercial statesmen drum
ming and pushing American goods
every part of the country. The l.
Paz establishment of Grace Il co.
the biggest wholesale 0 in Bollvl
1t has a business corner that cover
about one-tenth Of an acre ana :.
counting room looks like a COVER
ment department. 1t has scores
clerks seated at American desks, an
the clicking of a score of America
iNneuriterS fllS the air. BuSlneSS