The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-25
THE PERPLExING PROBLEM

York to serve as counsul general from Bolivia to the United States.
 Argentina has been represented here and today there are in the United states a number of leaders in industry and commerce and finance of Argentina, who are visiting the United States with intent to secure a very large interna- tional trade.
 Suddenly and almost entirely because of the European war the industrial leaders and the statesmen of South America have turned their attention to the United States hoping that there may be established such international trade and financial relations will ultimately make the commerce between this country and South America per haps as large as any commerce main tained by this country with any other nation.
 Already it is observed that our inter-
 national commerce with Canada has
 increased enormously. Recently the suggestion has been made that in the course of time the United States and Canada will become one ntion. That however, is almost inconveivable from the political point of view. But in view
 of the magnitude of the commercial and financial relations which are now
 established between this country and
 Canada. it is not unlikely that there
 may come day when the relations which characterize these two nations
 will become so large and so close as to make of the two sub bstantially one
 nation, although there will be no change in sovereignty.
 THE TWO HEMISPHERES If our international trade with South
 America is increased. as there seems now strong probability that it will be, then in all probability the time is not far distant when the international trade
 which characterizes the nations of the
 American hemisphere will stand chief in the list which tells of the interna-
 tional trade between countries of all
 the world.
 Sometime in June an informal Pan-
 American commercial conference is to
 be held in Washington. The results fol-
 lowing that conference may lead to the establishment of very important com mercial and trade developments. In fact that is the opinion of Director General John Barrett of the Pan-American union.
 WHEN TIE CHANGE BEGAN When the war with Germany put an almost complete embargo upon trade between the South American nations and the countries of Europe with which these nations were, before the war, chiefly engaged in international traf- I fic, it was imperative that attention | should be turned to the United States. | There began almost immediately ap- breaches to the American markets for 1 commodities of all kinds and especial ! ly those which were formerly purchased l in England, Germany and France. This l trade increased until within three years I it was found to have almost doubled l in the aggregate, although it is not possible to give accurate estimate of it.
 Consul General Gutierrez speaking
 for Bolivia, says that until Au- ] gust, 1914. Bolivian commerce was
 maintained almost exclusively with 1 England, France and Germany. This trade in 1914 aggregated in exports
 about 66,000,000 Bolivianos. A Bolivianc ] is in American money little under
 40 cents. Boliva's imports were of the
 money value of nearly 100000 Boliv- ianos.
 1 A very small percentage of Bolivia's foreign trade was with the United | States. This in fact explains what | seemed to be a discrepancy in recent | statement made by the consul general 1 in which he gave the figures of the
 trade with the United States in Bolivia 1 up to mid year of 1914. The consul gen 1 eral referred in those figures only tc
 Bolivian trade with the United States
 and not to the aggregate foreign trade l of Bolivia.
 l Since 1914 the United States has fur
 nished the principal market for Bo- livian products The American manu- lecturers and exporters had before 1914 taken little heed of their Bolivian ap- portunities. The consul general says however. that there is every indication of new increase of good will and a l complete understanding whereby mu
 tually agreeable and satisfactory habits will be established, with the adapti- bility which is an essential condition l in order to succeed in commerce.