The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-03-18
THE HAsKIN LETTER
LATIN AMERICAN TRADE.
N.--FINANCE AND CREDIT
81 Frederle >. Haskin.

:. AMI NENEOlk
RE J. Haskin.
/ Argentine is an excellent example
of a Yood-producing South American
! state which has tremendous recuper-
alive powers The soil In the Argen-
tine is deep and rich. the land is level
and only about onefourth OF the avail
able wheat area is now planted. With.
the whole world crying for bread at.
exorhitant prices, Argentine can hard
" fail to attain. prosperity She will
have Ave and a quarter million bushels
OF wheat TO export this year, and when
. that wheat crop has been marketed
Argentina will certainly have money
to spend.
For Bolivia. on the other hand, dee
pending largely upon her tin to bring
wealth into the country. the situation
is more difficult Chile is also largely
a mining country. but her nitratesf
ought to command a good market inl
the immediate future. Fer one thing
nitrates are the basis OF many explos-t
ives, and therefore greatly needed I'M
Europe: and for another, nitrate Is al
ferti1tzing material which can be used.
to excellent advantage in the United
States.
In general. the idea that we ought
now to buy the products or Latin
America in larger quantities is being
oyer-emphasized We are still more
an agricultural than manufacturing
nation; we produce too much of the
same commodities that the Latin
American product that could very
prcfitably be more widely used in this
country
AS the Latin American countries
are now all experiencing a financial
tstringency. so what the Latin Amer
lean farmer needs is money TO move
his crops. And this brings us to the
much mooted question of credit ini
Latin American trade.
There seems to be little doubt butt
what it is necessary to grant. long
credits in many branches of trade in
the southern republics, and especially
at this time. it is being authoritat1ve-t
IL reported that in some lines great
many sales may be made upon credit
of from six months to year, but noti
less There can be little doubt butt
what Americans have lost some busi-I
ness in the past by their insistencel
upon short credit or cash where Eu-
ropean firms have offered literally un-
limited credit
The Germans are chiefly respon-l
sfble for the establishment of the long
credit system in Latin America, and
1T is worth while noting the methods
which they employed a German
salesman, upon reaching q Latin
American city, first went TO a local.
German bank and learned exactly how
much credit he could afford to grant
to each one of his customers. He then
sold goods accordingly, charging all
high rate of interest. and the accept
ances We're Immediately purchased by
the bank. so that the German really
had no money tied Up in the trans
action He took no chances and SELL
dom made mistakes.
OF course. an American might
self acceptances to the same bank.
but, needless to say. he would get
Q such hand-in- glove cooperation
las did the German from his fellow
countryman. The necessity for
agents from this country to grant
long credits in their Latin-Ameri-
car transactions has been greatly
over-emDhasized. . We cannot COM
pete with the Germans in this re-
gard on an even basis until we have
credit facilities as perfect as the /
ones they established
One advantage we greatly need in
Latin AmericaS which the present sit-
nation, affords the opportunity to OBJ
tain. is the permanent investment or
more american capital in the south
ern republics Every pier. raiIror,
ana warehouse constructed and main
tanned by Americans means the ii-I
PRODUCTION OF American goods and
the establishment OF market for
them. The trouble with American
finance In Latin America heretofore
has been too much of a hurry to
make a profit and get out. We have
not stuck, in many cases where there
was every advantage in doing SO.
An example OF how our policy
contrasts with that OF other nations
was afforded by the construction or
a railroad In Chile not many years
ago The railroad was built by
Am capital The work was
done with American tools and Amer
lean good were sold to all the work
men The Yankee dominated the
situation in every regard and the
project was a brilliant success. Brit
|ish interests became alarmed The
American corporation was offered
for its railro ad a million and half
dollars more than the construction
work had cost. The offer was i. =:
Emediatels accepted. Both parties toI
the deal seemed highly satisfied with
themselves. The Americans had
made a handsome profit and were
able to go home. The Englishmen
had gained permanent hold for
their commerce in new field, ana
considered It cheap at the price they
had paid.
Another fat which American man
tufacturers must realize is that aeon
siderable permanent Investment is
often necessary to establish their
lines in the I.atin-American field IN.
Eeompetition with the European goods
which have been sold regularly for!
wears This is illustrated by the ex-i
Iperience of an American automobile.