Evening star., 1939-11-05

In our international as in our domes-
tic affairs there is an increasing ten
dency toward Government direction and
intervention. Just as our laws govern
Ing agriculture, labor, communications,
finance and the like aim to develop
greater material well-being, so in the
international sphere the effort is being
made to use our economic resources to
further the national interest abroad.
This effort is centered on Latin America.
1t Is only natural that Latin America
Should be the main recipient of our eco
nomic and ideologic effort at this time
Of European and Asiatic turmoil. Not
only Is our insistence on the inviolability
of American soil traditional, but latterly
we have expanded the Monroe Doctrine
unofhcially to embrace any foreign
theological as well as political or physical
Invasion of this hemisphere. We toler-
ate no further foreign footholds in the
Americas. Having witnessed the Euro
pean successes of various "isms" and
noted the worldwide propagandistic am
bitions of Communism and Fascism we
are frankly nervous about Latin Amer
ica. 1t is this anxiety, rather than mer-
cenary desires. which underlies the good
neighborly cultural and trade drive in
Latin America.
The good neighbor" policy, intro
duced in 1888, was not intended to be
restricted to any one continent or hem
isphere. Thus the trade agreements
program was given worldwide scope.
But, in a period Of hard-boiled nation
alism and xenophobia abroad, this doc
trine of the good neighbor has been
narrowed in effect to unilateral and
somewhat overanxious effort on our part
to maintain the status quo in the two
Americas.
Prompts More Loans.
This is what lies behind the State De-
partment's proposal that more loans be
made to Latin American countries.
Now that major war has broken out
In Europe. continental solidarity" in the
Americas is more than ever this Nations
goal.
Since the 1890 depression, our import
and export trade with Latin America has
been greatly reduced. In 1926-1930 our
annual imports from South America
averaged $546,000,000 and exports s448-
100000. In 1888 the imports were only
e263, 100000 and the exports $500, ,000,0 900.
AS part of the present effort to bind the
Latin republics more closely to us, the
effort is being made to stimulate export
trade by Government credits and loans.
At Guatemala City, shortly, the Pan
doubtless hear more of these proposals.
Unless we understand why the post
war boom in our trade with Latin Amer
lea collapsed, we cannot understand
what is involved in the proposals to re-
build that trade under Government aus
pices.
Underlying the depression collapse in
our Latin American exports was the fact
that many of the Latin American coun-
tries, especially in South America, find
the principal markets for their foodstuffs
and other raw materials in Europe. Dur
ing the World War our exporters did
q booming trade with Latin America be-
cause European manufacturers were oc-
cupied with the war, which at the same
time made the Latin exporters pros
porous. Europe bought from Latin
America. and Latin America bought
from us. Trade doomed.
For years after the war our southwark
export trade continued at boom levels,
financed, however, by reckless Wall
Street lending. When in 1880 that era
inevitably ended, the countries of Latin
America, saddled with huge debts and
drained of their gold, could service them
only out of the proceeds of their exports
to Europe and elsewhere. Exchange for
this was limited. and gradually was ear
marked by European customers for use
only in Europe.
Europe Gains Preference.
When, one after another, the countries
of Europe turned to exchange control
''blocked marks" and bilateral harterine
between pairs of nations, Latin America
also adopted exchange controls. Its i'm
ports to an increasing degree were lin
tied to European goods, to the corre-
spending exclusion of United States
products. In Latin Americas imports
German, British and italian naanufac.
turers thus tended to gain preference
and our own merchants have either hao
to play second fiddle or withdraw from
the trade entirely. This has been the
case in Argentina and Uruguay, large
producers of the meat we do not buy.
If the United States would only buy
more from Latin America, our good
Southern neighbors tell us they woule
have more dollars to spend here. Then
they promise, they would remove thu
present discriminatory barriers to oul
merchandise. But there is limit to how
much Latin American goods we can o.
will purchase. For example, we are moi
going to drink two cups of Brazilian
coffee, where one cup satisfies us. Mo-
will be pay 10 cents cup, If we can gel
one for q nickel. e
Doubtless we could use Argentine ant