Evening star., 1928-11-25
;Hoover,s Tour Spurs. 4.
Conference Interest
BY HARDEN COLFAX.

In view of the goodwill tour of
President~elect Hoover new. interest
and significance attach to a series
of conferences Of official representa-
tives Of republics of the Western Hem
isphere which Is planned by the Pan
American Union, the semi-oficial or
ganization which Is the contact point
Of these nations. s
Not that Mr.. Hoover is going forth
as q missionary to lay q foundation
for these conferences, but the impress
sion Is general that hts visits to the
southern republic will improve general
relations. and promote desire for CO.
operation. AS nations understand each
other better, trade relations advance
hand in hand with diplomatic amity.
u Is because of this axiom that .busi-
ness men of all sections of the United
States are watching the tour OF the
President-elect with such intense. in
terest.
Invitations will be issued soon to the
American republics by the Pan-Ameri-
can Union from its Washington head
quarters for a conference on trade
mark regulations, the tentative date
being February IL. This will be the
first of the series, and next 1t, Is pro-
posed to summon offlcial representatives
Of the same governments to a Pam
American conference on customs regu-
latiorlS and port formalitieS.s eco"r:"3H
IN these two subjects there are great
possibilities for the improvement OF
commercial relations, not only between
the United States and the Latin An1ert-
can republics, but among the latter In
their relations one to another. -.
Varied Conferences Held.
Conferences have been held within
the last two years on consular pro-
cedlire simplif1cation, commerce and
general affairs, most Of them in WASH
ington.' -
Latin America Is regarded as the
most fertile field for development Of
United States export trade, yet If a
selfish note appears in that thought 1t
may be Offset by the fact that the bal
ance of trade runs against the United
States. This country buys more, by
nearly 20 per cent, than 1t sells in its
trade with the southern republics. The
United States also now is the largest
investor annually In Latin America.
With values reduced to comparable
basis, United States imports from Latin
America have increased 81 per cent
over the pre-war average of the years
1904, while its exports to other re-
publics of the hemisphere have in
creased SO per cent This large growth
In exports Is attributable in part to the
stimulation of trade with this country
which resulted from disruption, due to
war, of the old relations with European
traders. There Is strenuous competi-
ton in efforts of world merchants to
change these figures. Latin America
accounts for approximately Is per cent
of American exports, but, to illustrate
that this is not one-sided affair, the
southern republics send full Is per
cent of all imports entered at Uncle
Sans customhouseS. r' =.
Foreign Stats Increased.
+ Commercial relations with Latin
America have been attracting increas-
ing attention. The Department Of
Commerce has been steadily increasing
It's staff of foreign trade representatives
In these countries in recent years. In
the last fiscal year, it is shown that
33.5 per cent of all the geographically
classified services performed by the
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com
merce related to Latin America. =.
Mr.. Hoover, incidentally, is to be well
informed on current commercial affairs
as the Maryland carries him from port
to port. Not only Is the President-elect
accompanied by State Department
representatives. but the commercial
representatives of the Department OF
Commerce. over wAich he presided for