Evening star., 1918-11-17
REACHING FOR SOUTHERN TRADE

VUluUNU i NhUu|
working Of mines and the shipment
Of dye woods, thus developing the So
important good will" feeling among
these people who saw trade bank
ruptcy staring them In the face with
In the year.
Chfle also has . growing reason to
feel most friendly toward Americsn
business Before the
Imnrov.msr% war Chilean money
was all paper cur
l" SuAAe' rency. The value o.
the paper was determined by the
rate Of exchange on London. The
value Of the peso advanced from 20
cents in 1918 to 80 cents early in 1913
The war benefit that came to Chilli
through the sale of nftrates Just AZ
fast rs cargo space could be found to
haul them into this country for use in
munitions has thus put the natior
back on tts feet financially. Again. Q
good will" spirit is prompted to-
ward the United States.
Just two illustrations Of how the
need for growing food supplies has
developed unexpected money crops
The expectation Of beans from Brazil
has grown from 27e tons In 1915 to
1888 tons in 1915 and over $4,000
tons in 1917. In Peru the. production
Of sugar has been stimulated on q
large scale and the raising Of cotton
BILE that 1t has put the native cotton
growers in the position whore thev
are buying machinery which they
could never before afford There is
now a good market in Peru for trac-
tors to work in the area where irri-
cation is used.
peso into gold at permanent and
fixed rate. announced to take place
January l. 1919, will be Of fncalcu-
liable importance in the postwar
trade AS Chile. like all the other
South American countries. has been
serve stocks have become depleted
and accordingly there will be an i'm
mediate and large growth in imports
There is demand both for articles
for immediate consumption and for
construction purposes to replace
new lines and extend old ones. and
for mechanical and building purposes
generally. Dfminutfon of exports IL
expected. as It is unlikely. for ex-
arnple. that the present demand fo'
r'trafes for explosives will he edualed
eral chemical uses. In these davs OF
changes in the foreien trade of Chile
It is eopallv of importance to the
American business interests as TO the
Chilean traders that means be found
of stabflizing the currency and the
exchange.
This question is Of great Importance
to the American traders at the pres
ent time because
Heavy Tneraa.s both our imports
from Chile and our
IN Our Trade. exports to that
country have been expanding notably
during the war. Statistics supplied
by the Latin American division of the
United States bureau Of foreign and
domestic commerce show that our i'm
ports of nitrate of soda from Chile
have almost trebled during the war.
and for 1917 stand at $44,231.240 a.
261,659 tons). In 1917 we imported
s3s.35s.70e Of Chilean copper. as COM
pared with $11, ,6Oo.393 in 1916, gain
of 2s1 per cent in q single year. Even
more marked has been the growth OF
our exports to Chile. Since the be-
ginning of the war the United States
n, 4f "a rat
and mining materials, wire, fuel oils.
lumber. paper, and growing per-
centage of the coal In 1917 we sup
piled about four-fifths of the total
coal imports. From 1913 to 1917 the
imports from Chile into the United
sl42,5s7. while the imports from Chile
into Great Britain have grown from
SOC -o46 to $64,595 In the same period
the exports to Chile from the United
States have grown from $16.6l1 TO
$57,484, while the exports to Cnlie
from s3o.s55 to $23,ss6. The Chilean
market is an especially interesting
one for the exporter. and Americans
are making an intensive study now
to determine what lines of goods are
going to be needed, what is our
abiiity to obtain a footing in new
lines and to retain our recently ac-
quired standing In old lines IN the
face Of the keen competition that is
certain to be organized.
q
Il
Chic offers q field for agricultural
interests NO less than for the manu-
fac turi In 6 and
n.n.,. r,onor,;o building materials
-~ previously m :
Future Bright. toned The extent
and character of chile's agricultural
awakening is Of especial interest to
American exporters Of implements.
seeds and farming supplies, because
the conditions are almost Identical
with those on the Pacific coast OF the
United States.
Apart from the intrinsic value OF
agriculture as fundamental indus
try 1t Is being encouraged by the
Chilean government to protect the
country against serious loss from any
ultimate decline in the importance OF
nitrates, either through exhaustion
Of the deposits or through competi-
1~v-