Evening star., 1933-02-26
BY GASTON NERVAL.

brilliant official welcome at rail-
way station as that accorded a
i few days ago to Vice President Ju-
lio A. >Roca of the Argentine Ne
public, and the pei -onnel of his good
will mission.
Newspaper reports tell us that the
Prince of Wales. wearing the greatcoat
and towering busby of the Welsh Guards
was there in person. Troops presented
arms. the band played the Argentine
national anthem, and Sir John Simon,
foreign secretary. and an imposing ar
ray of silk-hatted and uniformed OFF,
voyS.
The reason for this unusual display
of diplomatic courtesy is simple enough
to find The Argentine Vice Presidents
visit to London has two objectives:
First. to repay the visit of the Prince
Of Wales to Buenos Aires in 1881. and
second. to open negotiations for re-
ciprocal tariff arrangement which may
offset recent losses in Anglo-Argentine
trade.
Ever since the Ottawa agreements
delivered Gripping blow to Argentine's
trade with England, the British have
been doing all they can to restore the
Southern republics good will and to
cost them one of their best foreign
markets.
Remembered Argentina.
The Prince Of Wales, who only two
years ago went personally to Argen-
tina to promote the cause Of Anglo
Argentine commerce, told Dr. Roca, in
a welcoming banquet served at the Ar
gentine Club in London: I'm everything
tofv h
and since, We have kept Argentine in
terests very much in our minds"
The representative of the Board OF
Trade added: What We propose to do
next week Is natural corollary OF
Ottawa-merely to write terms on which
we can more nearly draw our trading
interests together to more fully meet
the requirements of the two nations"
The British are out to keep the pre-
dominant position they have held for
years in the commerce and finances of
some OF the largest Latin American
countries. And they make no secret
of it.
But they are not alone in this new
race for the trade of Latin America. In
previous articles have had occasion to
comment upon some of the most recent
instances of this renewed interest in the
conquest Of Latin American markets.
And Britishers are not the only pro-
tagonists in them. Frenchmen, Ger
mans, Italians and Japanese appeared
IN eager competition.
In fact. the inactivity characteristic
OF the last three years-a logical setback
brought about by world depression
seems to be over, and once again the
leading commercial powers are lining
up for this new chapter in the race for
Latin American markets.
United States Trade Falls on.
BY strange coincidence" as the
historic parsonage in Queen Caroline's
court said, the news of this commercial
irritation between Europe and Latin
America has reached Washington a.
the same time that figures which show
decline of mter-American trade 70
the pre-war level were released here by
the Department of Commerce.
According to such figures, totals for
United States exports to and imports
from Latin America dropped, In 1882.
back where they were 20 years ago. Ali
South American countries together did
not buy as much from the United
States in 1882 as one alone of them
bought in 1929.
If not by the efforts of European
powers to enlarge their shares of Latin
American trade, United States indus
trlaIsts and exporters should be aroused
to action by this unprecedented break,
down in the commercial relations of the
two Americas.
Captains of industry and commercial
leaders in the United States cannot af-
ford to overlook certain fundamental
facts with respect to that vast, althy.
scarcely exploited area which lies on
the other side of the Rio Grande. With
Russia closed from within; China fall
ing. slowly, but certainly, to japanese
penetration; India monopolized by
Great Britain, and Africa from long ago
divided up and parceled out to few
European countries, Latin America is
the only vast area in the world with
an abundance Of raw products and
large population which is still open to
free competition.
1t is the last of the worlds great
treasure houses. 1t is a world in itself,
two-thirds of the Western Hemisphere.
IT is already the home of over a hIIn-