The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-20

author makes no more than "a psy-
Geological element" the reduction OF
prestige, particularly among the Latin
American nations, whose trade Is so
~eloquently pictured as a prize worth
seeking but has been so long neg
lected: 80 far as the actual settle
ment OF balances is concerned. II IL
difficult to see how the nationality OF
the bank uts any figure. Most set
Elements are made by the familiar
letter Of credit system. under which
the exporter draws on the London
account OF the importers bank and
then discounts his draft at his W
bank. The importer will get his
London credit from any bank that
offers him the best facilities. and there
is no reason TO suppose that an Amer
lean bank would be in any better
position to give such facilities than
any other bank" But the argument
for the easy dispensability OF Ameri-
can banks in the 'world's trade Is
thrown out Of poise by these further
considerations:
Banks are the chief and most reliable
sources OF commercial and credit infor-
nation. They are in a position to know
the financial standing Of business houses
and to get early tips as TO large trans
actions such as the floating OF loans for
public improvements. &C. A Germsn
bank with branches IN Chile or Japan Is
In a somewhat better position 10 give In
formation Of this character TO Its clients
than an American bank with no such
connections. and the result 1. that the
German exporter IL probably In a better
position to give credit to his foreign Gus
TONER and the German capitals. has
earlier advice as TO foreign Investments.
What's sauce for the German goose
Is sauce for the American gander.
The first expectation o. profit ac-
cruing to the Eastern States from the
canal is in trade with our own Pacific
Coast north to Alaska. and with the
western coast of South America.
Japan and Australasia, North China
and the northeast OF Asia in general
are of curse brought nearer to us,
but the relative strength Of the
United States and Europe here will
he much more evenly balanced. and
any advance which we may make
toward a more abundant control OF
the markets must be the result Of
much more conscious and persistent
Effort on our part" But the western
Pacific region is moving toward indie
pendence OF both Europe and Amer
lea for supplies of foodstuffs and tex
tiles in vast bulk. The future of trade
with China and Japan will be in "the
multitudinous highly specialized prod
ucts Of European and American fac
tories. goods which II Is utterly i'm
possible for any OF the Pacific coun-
tries to produce in any but insignia
cant quantities" Structural mate
rails will be most in demand. China
alone OF these countries has large re-
sources OF iron and fuel. but It will
be long before she develops them TO
real competition with us or with Eu-
rope. The canal should carry mining
machinery for the American Pacific
coast. agricultural machinery for
South America. Australia and New
Zealand: weaving and spinning ma
chinery for Japan and China; refVsy-
Grating machinery for the meat ~
dustry in Australasia and South
America: everything from pumps to
computing machines. dynamos to
fence wire, tools. hardware. bookA
cosmetics. rubber goods. furniture.
glassware. paints. kitchen utensils.
May Culebra be kind,
In much less prosaic manner than
the mere enumeration suggests. but
with complete regard for the husl-
ness mans prime requirement OF
facts the author surveys condi-
tions OF production. import and ex-
port in the Pacific and the Atlantic
countries and recent movement of
trade. In commenting on the choice
Of shipping routes as affected by the
new waterway he supplements the
mileage tables Of common calculation
with consideration ~ fuel costs, toll
charges and the possibilities of pick
ing up local freights and passengers:
1T may be impossible 10 say whether
local traffic between San Francisco
and Yokohama would yield sufficient
return TO make II worth while for a
vessel bound from Panama to Yoko-
hama to call at San Francisco: yet
It is practically certain that there is
much greater likelihood OF such a
stop being profitable than a stop at
Honolulu en- route from Panama to
Yokohama"
With great detail and exactness
Prof. Hutchinson compares the rela-
tive advantages of various port 10
port routes. Typical of the facts he ex-
hibits is this: For the Australasian
ports New York now stands at "A dis
advantage compared with Liverpool
ranging from 25 to 6 per cent for
ten knot vessels and from 10.5 to 1875
per cent. for fifteen knot vessels. The
Panama Canal will convert this handi-
cap into ar advantage Of from SIS
To els per cent. for the slower and
from lo.5 to 20 per cent. for the faster
vessels"