The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-01
GRACE IS LEADER NV DEVELOPING TBk6E
 IN SOUTH AMERICA United States for First Time
 in Positvon to do Big
 rhinss cAYHoLD AFTER WAR WHAT WE GET NOW England Has Five Billions Invested in South America Which Indi- Y cates Enormous Possibili- ties in That Field
By HOLLAND

8New York, December 31,-(Special) Joseph P. Grace is now regarded as the Representative and leading citizen in the Knitted States occupied in developing com Herce with South America. Others have iR certain special industries obtained 1festige that may be compared with that Which MT. Grace has gained.
 Y The Guggenheims, for instance, are to ] Invest something like $10O,OOo,O0O in the fopper industry, a considerable part of fhis suIh having been already invested. |The industry is in Chile. Charles M. lSchwab has invested millions for the this investment is in a single industry that of mining iron ore in Chile, and, like the Guggenheims, shipping the min eral to other parts of the world.
 The Cerro da Pas4o copper mines of northern Peru represent investments of American capital considerably in excess of $5O000,000. But the house of which ciated with the completion of South American railroads, the carrying over the ocean of commerce between the United States and South America and trade be- tween our own and the South American na tions. MT. Grace has travelled in many parts of South America and is familiar with the people, their language, their commercial needs, their habits of life from Colombia to Patagonia.
 As an expert, MT. Grace is regarded as especially qualified to speak of the opportunities that South America offers now to the United States for capturing a very large trade. In a communication made by him to the Quarterly Magazine published by Columbia university, MT. Grace presents in orderly and logical ar engagement many thoughts and sugges- tions which he had already from time to time made to the present writer. In the first place, he calls attention to the fact that although certain world moving events have turned popular interest in the United States toward South America nevertheless behind these recent impulses is the fact that our own internal de- velopment has gone so far that we are now able earnestly to make incursion trade and commercial. into the South American nations. This is thought which has not heretofore been mentioned by any of those who have spoken or written about our South American op- portunities.
 BANKING PRIVILEGES
 No merchant of New York or Of the United States is better qualified than Mr. Grace to speak of the fact thai for many years our banking system seemed to be utterly indifferent to world opportunities. MT. Grace has often said that at times the banks of the United States seemed almost indifferent to local needs. This may have been due partly t. the fact that the banks were strictly limited by the former national banking laws. They were, in fact, prohibited from making banking facilities available to those who were doing business in other parts of the world. All this, MT. Grace has often said, and repeats in his com munio ation, has been changed.
 Our banks can establish foreign branches under certain limitations and can accept drafts against foreign ship ments, thereby making it possible to transport the merchandise and to sell 1t, and in that way obtain the funds with which to take up the drafts. Some things have been brought to MT. Grace's atten- ton which have suggested to him that the stupendous national wealth of the United States has made it possible to develop great productive capacity ca pacity which for some years before the European war began was greater than the consuming capacity. This capacity can be utilized after the war is ended so as to manufacture commodities and to make prices which will tempt the foreign con sumer, especially South America.