The Washington times., 1915-08-30
j. 5. CONTROLS MOST
OF C0LOMB|A'S TRADE
Commercial Relations Good De.
spite Long Standing Quarrel
Over Canal.

Though there has been q long stand
ing controversy between Colombia ana
the United States because Of the Pan
anna canal and related questions. the
United States has the greatest snare
of the foreign trade OF that nation.
This fact and others Of much interest
are set forth in q report from Carte
gena by Consul Ross Haseltine. who
depicts Colombia as wonderfully rich
region, with enormous resources.
sparse population. and great possible
ties.
Among other things, 1t appears. tho
cattle-raising industry gives much
promise in Colombia Tho abundance
Of pasture land and the low prices FOR
such land according to Mr.. Hazelune'
lead one to believe that the cattle IN.
dustry some day win be the greatest
natural resource. The lack OF trcns-
pstursiiy retarded development Of cat
! tie raising and the closing OF the mar
| kets Of the United States and CUBA py
| quarantine has exerted depressing ef-
feet on the industry.
Cattle Exceptionally Good.
| American cattlemen have stated that
in some districts. notably the Sinu
! river valley. the cattle are> excep-
t,onally fine. In other partE Texas
fever has decimated the herds. while
the continued drought In some sec
tions has destroyed pasturage. The
exportation Of hides Is considerable
and the United States buys practical
ly all that are offered.
BASED on statistics for the port OF
Cartacena, the United States last
year had about 50 per cent OF the to-
tai foreign trade OF Colombia. 1t
suppiied ASS per cent Of the i'm
ports and took 73 per cent OF the e1
Dol t.. The accessibility of the held
cilitles--that is. sea Transportation
ware dominant factors in the strong
hold acquired by the United states.
Another factor was stoppage OF I'm
| ports from Germany and reductlon
Of imports from Great Britain: Pres
A. Indications are the United States
will occupy an even better position
in 1918.
Exports and Imports.
Coiombia's foreign trade Is based
upon agricultural and mineral re-
sources almost exclusively. The ex-
ports from Cartagena in 1914 in the
order Of their value were: Coffee.
platinum. hides. gold. Panama hats
and sugar. The imports embraced q
wide variety OF manufactured goods.
with textiles pre-eminent, but includ-
ing foodstuffs. manufactures OF met
ais, drugs. and medicines.
Lack Of capital. Mr.. Hazeltine says.
! IA the greatest drawback to develop
ment Of Colombia. 1t contains 100000
square miles. more than ten times the
area Of New York State. and consid-
erably larger than the combined
areas Of France. Germany. Denmark.
Netherlands. Switzerland. and Bel
gium. The population Is estimated at
about 1900. 900. Of which 50 per cent
is white, 35 per cent colored. and is
per cent Indian.
Benefits BY Canal.
| Not only is the trade with tho United
States growing. but. singularly enough.
whilc Colombia Is angered because the
United States will not settle the Pan
anna question with a payment. the canal
has boen of great benefit to Colombia
Prior to completion Of the canal Co.
lombia was divided into two quite sep
aiate parts. The Pacific and Atlantic
or Caribbean slopes-were geograph-
ically and commercially Independent Of
each other. Now the Panama canal has
united commercial Colombia This
opens up tremendous possibilities, In the
opinion OF Consul Hazeltine. He says
! the construction Of railways from the
interior plains to Pacific ports will as
sure development Of one Of tho richest
regions in all South America.