Evening star., 1918-01-06
AMERICANS SUFFER
| BY TREATY FAILURE
Germans Planted in Colombia
Take Advantage of
Resentment.
BOYCOTT COST MILLIONS
Especial Correspondence of The Sunda y
Star and New York WOrld.p


Star and New York WOrld.p
CRISTOBAL. Canal Zone. December
investors lost several
million dollars in the capital of Co
lombia because OF the failure of the
United States Senate to ratify the
treaty proposed by the State Depart
ment last year"
This statement was made by a prom
inent public man engaged In business
In Panama City, who has enjoyed ex-
ceptional opportunities to become ac
quainted with conditions in Bogota.
He said that when the treaty was
proposed to the Colombian govern
ment it was ratified in Bogo:a almost
Immediately and with considerable en-
thusiasm. American capitalists had in
vested more than s7,000.o0o in an cleo
trio light and railway plant in Bogota,
which was good paying business.
When the news of the rejection of the
treaty which had been ratified by Co
lombia and Of the proposed subst1tu-
tion of another treaty in the United
States Senate reached Bogota, great
indignation arose on all sides. and the
people Of the. Colombian capital i'm
mediately instituted boycott against
the property of the Americans. Not
single Colombian rode on the street
cars, while many of them substituted
whatever lights they could get for the
electric light service. The result was
that the property became dead loss
to the investors. who were finally COM
PEELED to sell to some Colombian capi-
talists at a figure of one-tenth the
value of their investment.
Proposed Port improvements.
There were proposed improvements
to the ports of Buenaventura and Tu-
mace resulting from the initiative of
Gen. Gorgas, when he made a personal
investigation of the sanitary condi-
tions in the ports of western South
America several years ago, which was
followed by the temporary extirpation
of yellow fever from the port of
Buenaventura by DR.. E. p. Beverley.
1t was planned to make extensive per-
tura, which is the Pacific terminus of
the railway leading toward Bogota
across the Andes. and which is only
partly completed. All Of this would
have afforded an excellent opportunity
to American capital, as that region is
exceedingly rich in platinum and gold.
while the Cauca valley, which Is tap
ped by the railway already. is one of
the heaithiest and richest agricultural
regions in all South America
Irritation is intensified by the fact
that there is very large German in
terest all over the republic. There are
hundreds of German firms engaged in
all sorts of enterprises therein gold.
the cattle and hide Industry; in the
cinchona bark and drug business; in
sugar, cocoa. rubber. coffee and other
tropical plantation products, well as
in the banking and commission mer-
camille business.
German Method of Business.
ness in Colombia differs from the
American in three important respects.
Many of them have undoubtedly been
subsidized by the imperial German gov
ernment or by the big German ship
ping lines. and the start they get in
this way enabled them to get firmly on
their feet in many branches of local
business to the extent that even since
the beginning of the war they have
been able to continue in business with
out going into bankruptcy. The Ger
man policy also is to acquire land in
fee simple rather than in the shape
Of revocable concessions, which is often
the American method. The Germans
medium of native Colombian agents.
The third difference consists in the
well established policy Of cultivating
social ties with the Colombian people.
especially by intermarriage.
These German mercha nts in Colom-
bia have lost no time in aggravating
the disappointment of the Colombian
people in the matter of the canal
treaty. They subsidize local newspa-
pers to conduct anti-American propa-
ganda. pay native writers to write
hostile articles. and even to circulate
private letters. and they make extrava-
giant promises of what German capital
will do for Colombia in the event of a
German victory