Evening star., 1928-11-18
American Business Expansion Abroad
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

industrial adventures which will turn
untouched natural resources into pro-
ductive wealth. It Is in these directions
that observers of the tendencies of
American expansion look for great
progress during the next few years.
FOR eight ytaars the finger OF the De-
partment of Commerce. under Mr.
Hoover. has been on the pulse OF world
trade. Nobody in the world today knows
so well as Hoover exactly what is going
on In every country. in production and
consumption of goods. domestic and
imported. Nobody knows better than he
the world market for any sort of goods,
or the money market, or the labor
market in any given locality. With all
Of this background he knows also the
political situations of various countries
whether they welcome American in
vestors or dislike them, whether the
laws Of each country make it hard or
easy for outsiders to do business there.
And he knows what progress the
American diplomatic service is making
in the improvement of these political
conditions which affect trade.
While Mexico and Nicaragua are the
two countries whose attitude toward
American trade have been most In
print, that condition Is only true be-
cause specific difficulties have arisen to
face American investors and traders
there. Those difficulties the Coolidge
administration has done much to al
leviate. We have not heard SO much
about the other countries where AM
orleans have been steadily increasing
their commercial activities with gen.
eral welcome from the governments and
peoples, instead of the difficulties noted
in Mexico and Nicaragua.
Relations Are Cordial.
The Pan-American Congress at Hsv-
ana last year. where Charles E.
Hughes led the American delegation in
a great campaign of good will and un
derstanding with Latin America. was
one step in the growth of American
trade in the new world. The Lind
bergh goodwill flight to Mexico. South
and Central America and the West
Indies was another step. Not long ago
President Coolidge predicted the build
ing of modern highways which would
give paved boulevard from Canada to
Cape Horn. The United States has
been using all of its persuasive powers
to persuade Chile and Peru to settle
their Tacna-Arica boundary difficulty
and insure the peace Of the Pacific
Coast of South America. Americans
have supervised an election In Mica
ragua to teach Central American gov
ernments the possibilities of stabilized
government by law instead of govern
ment by revolution.
With all Of this diplomatic progress
Mr. Hoover has been in close touch,
because 1t Is a companion to business
progress. In his own youth he has
personally lived through the experiences
Of the young man setting out to lead
business development in far-oh lands.
| Then he lived through the other phase
of developing commerce, the organiza-
ton, financing and management IN
London of stock companies operating in
distant lands. He knows how CONNER
cial expansion operates by his own sue
cessful experience and he comes to the
leadership of the United States Gov
ernment at a time when this country
is all prepared in wealth and educated
man power to take the lead In develop
ing the business and trade of the world.
Washington observers expect great
era of expansion for American business
under the Hoover administration. They
anticipate that the agencies already es-
tablished such as the Department of
Commerce, the Department OF State
and the Shipping Board will be instru-
ments in helping this growth. They
see in President-elect Hoover the man
whose world knowledge Of trade and
money channels enabled him to. COM
bat the schemes Of European powers
to control the world supplies OF oil,
rubber and other necessities, and they
expect him to lead the United States
in its race for world supremacy Of
business