Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-04-22

short time ago an American firm was
awarded contract worth nearly nve
million dollars for the building OF port
works at ASCENSION, Paraguay. Ten
years ago an English or French
company would in all probability have
done the work The incident Is one OF
many current indications that the
United States is gaining a business
foothold in Latin America.
We have undoubtedly won place in
Latin-American trade. Now another
question arises. Can we hold this
business when the European war is
over, and the great industrial nations
of that continent re-enter the market!
This is a question of the utmost i'm
portance to the commercial future or
the United States. The Latin-Amsri-
can trade means far more to us than an
opportunity for the individual to make
money. 1t is national opportunitY
for the United States to take her place
as one of the foremost commercial ma
tons Of the world.
The average American citizen. full
fed on copy book patriotism. is apt 10
exc]aim that we are already that. AMI
he will point to the immense value OF
our exports as conclusive proof. AS
a matter of fact we are just beginning
to be a first rate force IN international
trade. Before the beginning OF the
European war a large proportion OF
our exports were raw material or part
ly manufactured goods. Now. 1t is a
fundamental principle of international
trade that the more highly manufactur-
ed the goods exported, the more value
they represent to the producing ma
ton: and the most efficient and power
fnl nation is the one which most COM
pletely manufactures all OF its pro-
ducts. Thus a ton OF iron ore shipped
out of the United States means that
this country is being paid profit only
on the operation of mining 1t; ana
that the far greater profit upon making
II into machinery will be earned by an
other nation. On the other hand, every
sewing machine that we export means
that we have made every possible pen
nv of profit out Of the few pounds o1
material that we have put into IT,
Not only miners, but steel mill work
ers. skilled mechanics, wood workers
finishers. painters, have all been PAID
by foreign countries for the making OF
that machine. and only few pounds
Of raw material have been sold.
In a word, to become first class IN
dustrial power, We must learn to manu-
facture all Of our goods to the highest
possible degree. The immense quantl.
Ties Of cotton, WOOL lumber and naval
stores which we annually export are
national waste to us, and money IN
the pockets of our competitors.
Before we can attain to this highly
organized and profitable condition we
must have a market for our manufac'
lures, Necessarily the greater part OF
this market will be in less highly or
qanized countries, and of these. Latin.
America is the nearest. greatest ana
wea,tbiest. Latin-America Is our nat
ural and rightful field in which to
achieve our destiny in international
trade and the European war has given
us an unparalleled OPPORTUNITY to en-
ter it.
Statistics tell only part OF the
story In the Argentine, which IS far-
thest away, and the Industrial strong
hold Of Great Britain in Latin-America'
we have more than doubled our share
of the trade. In 1914 we had 1874 per
cent of it, and in 1915 2S.4 per cent.
Furthermore. we have loaned immense
sums of money in the Argentine ana
trade always follows the loan. 1t was
Enelands loans and investments IN
the Argentine that gained her large
share of Argentine business. Now, by
her orders in council, she has prohibit
ed the lending of any money outside
her realm. Not long ago the Argentine
government needed fifty million dol,
lars. and turned to the United States