Chapter II: Appendix: 377 (1)

INDEX 401

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

THE HARBOR OF RIO DE JANEIRO 14

AVENIDA RIO BRANCO AND OPERA HOUSE, RIO DE JANEIRO 28

TAKING PRODUCE TO THE STATION, ARGENTINE 36

GRAIN ELEVATORS, BUENOS AIRES 44

INTERIOR OF A GENTLEMEN’S HAT STORE, ASUNCION, PARAGUAY 60

A COUNTRY STORE IN COLOMBIA 60

VALPARAISO 68

LAKE TITICACA AT PUNO, PERU 86

OROYA LINE, PERU 98

A COMPARISON OF CLIMATES 224

DRYING HIDES AND SKINS IN ARGENTINE 240

AVENIDA CENTRAL, RIO DE JANEIRO 262

CALLE RIVÀDAVIA, BUENOS AIRES 288

A PACK-TRAIN ON THE ANDES TRAIL IN COLOMBIA 312

LLAMAS IN CERRO DE PASCO, PERU 316

CHILEAN INFANTRY. _See page 220_ 340

ADVERTISEMENT OF COGNAC BISQUIT 340

SOUTH AMERICAN APPRECIATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS “MADE IN
U. S. A.” 342

THE PLAZA HOTEL IN BUENOS AIRES 368

MAPS

SOUTH AMERICA _Frontispiece_

CENTRAL AMERICA 138

MEXICO 156

THE WEST INDIES 168

SELLING LATIN AMERICA

I
GENERAL REMARKS ON FOREIGN TRADE

War completely changes commercial currents. The victor takes the established and profitable trade, leaving to the vanquished the harder lines of business and the development of new fields. This is as true of the first war recorded by history as it will be of the last.

As an illustration of the veracity of this statement it is only necessary to recall our war with Spain. Prior to her defeat, Spain controlled the bulk of the banking and commerce of the Philippines, Cuba and Porto Rico. To her possessions she exported wines, foods, manufactured articles, textiles, drugs, perfumes, canned goods, shoes and hats, receiving in exchange their sugar, tobacco and coffee.

To-day the United States consumes all of these exports, while the requirements of the three countries are supplied by America, which also does their financing through banks organized in these possessions, and capitalized with American money. To be more specific and by way of a concrete example let me mention Cuba, which in 1913 exported $165,000,000 worth of products, all but 15 per cent. of which was taken by the United States, the amount shipped to Spain being about four-tenths of one per cent. During the same period of time she imported goods to the value of $132,000,000 of which we supplied 65 per cent. against Spain’s 8 per cent. Since 1902, Cuba’s foreign commerce has increased 250 per cent. due absolutely to the part played by the United States in the Spanish-American war. The same condition of affairs in exports, imports and other lines is equally true, although not on such a large scale, of course, of the Philippines and Porto Rico.

The Napoleonic wars gave to England the strong position she now occupies in the financial and commercial world. Her bankers and shippers, merchants and manufacturers, with one accord grasped the opportunity that presented itself then and have held the supremacy thus gained for more than a century.

Perhaps it was the recollection of what gave Great Britain her start in this field which led the London _Spectator_ to remark, at the outbreak of war in 1914:

“The present war gives the United Kingdom an excellent opportunity to capture the export and import trade of Germany and Austria-Hungary.”

If England, engaged in the most desperate and expensive war she or the civilized world ever has known, with her enormous resources taxed to their utmost, saw an “opportunity” for trade expansion, how much greater is the chance in this line for an absolutely neutral power, populated with keen business men, and provided by Nature with unparalleled productive possibilities.

The war in Europe developed the most remarkable business situation for the United States ever presented to any nation. The virtual closing of all the doors of the export and import trade of the Old World and the almost total dependence heretofore of the Far East and Latin America, especially, on Europe for finance and trade connections made the war truly the psychological moment for us, as a nation, not only to overcome the lead of the European commercial world, but also to cement by other than ties of business the bonds of friendship due us not only on account of our ideal geographical position, but also because of our similar republican form of government.

By embracing this extraordinary opportunity—apparently almost created for our express benefit, we being the only people able to profit by it—we can make the nations which formerly depended on Europe for support in their trade ventures our business allies, our sincere friends and well-wishers, and at the same time bring about a new trade alignment so that all America will reap the benefit.

Let us briefly consider some of the enormous possibilities of foreign trade in Latin American countries.

Latin America—that is, the countries of Central and South America, together with Mexico, Cuba, Santo Domingo and Porto Rico—comprises twenty distinct states, with a total population of about 65,000,000, a large portion of whom are Indians and half-breeds—a fact which we should not lose sight of in view of the tremendous imports.

Statistics recently compiled by the Pan-American Bureau show that these countries, in 1913, conducted a foreign commerce valued at $2,870,178,575. Of this the imports were $1,304,261,763, and the exports, $1,565,916,812, thus giving Latin America a favorable balance of $261,655,049.

Ten of these countries alone purchased goods to the amount of $961,000,000. Of this sum Great Britain supplied $273,000,000; Germany, $180,000,000; France, $84,000,000; Italy, $54,000,000; Belgium, $47,000,000, and Austria-Hungary, $8,000,000. The United States exported to these ten countries last year $160,000,000 and imported from them $250,000,000. Brazil, in 1913, imported $15,000,000 in textiles alone, of which amount the United States supplied only $500,000. In the same length of time Argentine imported goods to the amount of $468,999,996, of which amount less than 8 per cent, was supplied by this country. The United Kingdom exported to all of Latin America $23,500,000 worth of coal in 1913, the United States, during the same period of time, $750,000.

Practically the same story in all lines of exports could be told of these countries, demonstrating that individually in nearly all cases the United States is the largest consumer of their raw or finished products and the smallest exporter of the goods they most require.

Fearful that some one may infer after looking at these figures that European countries have preferential duties with Latin America, let me state most emphatically that this is not the case. With one single exception no favoritism is shown any of the trading nations, in the matter of import fees, and in that instance we benefit by it. Brazil makes a decided preferential tariff in favor of some of our goods in view of the fact that we are the largest consumers of her chief product—coffee.

Everyone of these countries is in process of development and expansion. They have in profusion the things the busy world most needs. Their mines are the richest known to man. Some have been worked for thousands of years and are still productive. Their broad fields are destined to make them the granaries of the world. Their miles of pasture lands and their extensive acreage mean that Europe and the United States will depend upon them for meat. Their vast virgin forests are capable of supplying humanity with cabinet and other woods for several centuries. Their trade and imports must therefore increase. It is apparent that they cannot diminish. We cannot as a nation afford to remain indifferent any longer to their possibilities and opportunities.

Very naturally there have been many objections on the part of our business men to going after this trade which all of Europe strained every resource to acquire and control. It was urged that we had all the business we required; that we lacked foreign banking facilities; that our merchant marine was small and inefficient; that to go abroad for trade meant learning new languages, acquiring new customs, opening new accounts, taking more risks. These conditions were equally true when the European merchant decided to enter this field. He met and overcame all these difficulties under far more adverse circumstances than exist for us, to-day. His experience in this territory has charted the path for us to follow, and if we take advantage of the beacons he has erected we shall be saved from many pitfalls.

Latin America with the things the world most requires—wheat, meat, wool, coffee, sugar, nitrates, minerals, woods—can never collapse completely through any financial crisis. Furthermore its power of reviving quickly from any unfavorable panic is truly phenomenal. I recall Venezuela, the year she terminated her bloodiest revolution under Castro, harvesting and exporting a bumper crop of coffee, which immediately cleared up her monetary depression, and this rapid convalescent condition has been duplicated time and time again after every period of internal trouble experienced by all of these countries.

Nature has been bounteous in her gifts to these favored lands of the sun. If in a given locality the soil is not fertile, it is rich in mineral wealth, or covered with luxuriant forests. Throughout Latin America large and small rivers afford easy and cheap means of transportation. Drought or excessive rainfalls are comparatively unknown. Despite the fact that a majority of the population lives primitively, epidemics of a severe nature have been few and far between. Revolutions, formerly the blight on these lands, are becoming rare and in most of these countries there have been no such uprisings or demonstrations of this character for more than twenty years.

The opportunities for successful business in almost any chosen line in Latin America are unlimited, provided one uses ordinary judgment and simple tact in the undertaking. Furthermore less capital is required to start an enterprise than in lands where competition is keener, and less energy necessary to insure success. The truth of these statements is demonstrated most completely by the fact that millions of Europeans—many of them uneducated and possessed of no great amount of ability or money—have settled throughout these lands and established themselves in prosperous occupations.

The greatest possibilities exist along the lines of general development. All these countries are new; most of them practically unexplored—many of them not even having their boundary lines definitely established. Think of what must be the opportunities in Brazil—a country larger in area than the United States, and supporting only 20,000,000 people—or of Argentine, spreading over almost as much territory as Europe, excepting Russia and Austria-Hungary, with a population slightly more than 7,000,000. It is to these countries that overcrowded Europe must come for elbow room—for a glimpse of the sun.

Once a business or a plant is established in Latin America one need not have the intense fear of bitter local competition. These people have never been manufacturing or creative in their desires, and the chances are, if we are to predicate their future from their past, that they never will become competitors in any of these fields. Climatic conditions, racial and inherited traits have made them follow the lines of least resistance and they have become cattle raisers and large farmers, while comparatively few have entered commercial life. This being true it follows that these countries are ideal for those desirous of leading an active commercial or manufacturing career.

All of Latin America is in the process of awakening. They are building railways, making vast municipal and national improvements, exploiting their natural resources, modernizing their agricultural methods. The advent of the foreigner has been potent in raising their standard of living. If these people were to raise their standard of living to that of the United States at the present time, it would be the equivalent, so far as market possibilities are concerned, to creating three new Americas. Each day sees some progress in this direction, and with it a desire for more of the comforts of modern civilization—for more of the things which go to make up the full and complete life. This means employment for their people—civic progress—and prosperity.

Their markets are easily reached, the merchants willing to buy, our producers capable of providing the things they require. Their first orders may be small, but they become enormous buyers when they find the article adapted for their needs. The European marts which might have supplied the things these nations require in their growth cannot do so for a long time to come, thus giving us an ideal opportunity to capture these markets and at the same time introduce American methods throughout the length and breadth of the land.

II
BRAZIL

The Republic of the United States of Brazil, including the Acre Territory, is the largest of the South American countries and if we include Alaska and our island possessions is really larger in area than the United States of America, by about 200,000 square miles. It is fifteen times larger than Germany and sixteen times larger than France. With the exception of Ecuador and Chile its frontier touches every country of South America, being bounded on the north by British, French and Dutch Guiana and Venezuela; on the west by Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentine; on the south by Uruguay, while the Atlantic Ocean forms its eastern and a portion of its northern limitation. Its most eastern point is but three days’ sail from the western coast of Africa. It is the fourth largest country in the world, and is widest between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, covering an area of 3,292,000 square miles.

The population has been variously estimated at from 20,000,000 to 24,000,000, of whom less than 1,000,000 are aborigines, thus giving it about one-fifth of the population per square mile of the population of the United States of America. Its inhabitants are white, black, mulattoes, Indians and mixed breeds, a heavy percentage being descendants from the slaves imported originally from Africa, slavery in Brazil having been abolished in 1888.

The language of Brazil is Portuguese except among the Indian tribes, each one of which has its own dialect. These Indians are to be found in the interior and the remote districts, and are a negligible quantity as far as trade is concerned, living primitive lives and having few wants that the rich country and rivers cannot supply.

The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
]

Brazil was discovered April 22, 1500, by Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a Portuguese explorer, but no definite attempt was made to settle it, or assume governing power by the Portuguese until 1549, fifty-seven years after Columbus had been to America, when Portugal awoke to the great possibilities of the country and dispatched her first Governor General in the personage of Thome de Souza.

During the century following the arrival of its first constituted governor, Brazil became the scene of numerous attacks and invasions on the part of the French, Dutch and British, each one desirous of acquiring portions of its territory, having been attracted by the current stories of its great wealth and latent resources. For a time both France and Holland established themselves in a small way within its boundary, but ultimately abandoned their outposts.

From 1640 to 1808 Brazil was governed by a Viceroy, who resided in Rio de Janeiro. The victorious armies of Napoleon and their progress across the Spanish Peninsula ultimately caused King John to abandon his capital in Portugal and flee to Brazil, where he established himself in Rio de Janeiro (in 1808), and ruled Portugal from this one of his possessions. This is the only instance in history of any portion of Europe ever being ruled from the western continent. When peace came to Europe, King John returned, leaving Brazil under the regency of his eldest son Dom Pedro, who in 1822, proclaimed Brazil independent of Portugal, and established himself in power as Emperor, the first and only instance of such a form of government in South America. Dom Pedro was forced to abdicate in 1831 in favor of his son Dom Pedro II, who after reigning through a regency assumed the throne on becoming of age in 1840. It is unnecessary to detail the causes that led to the bloodless revolution of November 15, 1889, which ended his reign and by means of which Brazil proclaimed herself a republic, adopting a constitution patterned after our own and a government comprising a President, with legislative powers vested in a Congress composed of two bodies, a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies.

Brazil is so immense, situated between the fifth degree north and the thirty-third degree south, and its topography so varied that it has all kinds of climates excepting extreme cold. Lying in the temperate and tropical zones one would incline to the belief that it would be more or less warm, but its many rivers and mountains, its high table-lands and plateaus exert a beneficial influence in this regard and materially modify what otherwise would be extreme degrees of heat.

More than half of Brazil is an elevated plateau, varying from 2000 to 3000 feet in altitude. It has four distinct mountain ranges, which deflect its rains and form vast watersheds for irrigating the fertile lands at their base. The eastern and central portions are elevated while the chief characteristics of the north and west are its fertile plains and valleys.

The coast of Brazil straggles along for over 5000 miles and is provided with numerous natural harbors, where the earlier settlers established cities which have grown and prospered, the principal ones from the north to the south being Belem, or Para, San Luiz, Parnahyba, Fortaleza or Ceara, Natal, Parahyba, Recife or Pernambuco, Maceio, Aracaju, São Salvador or Bahia, Victoria, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Paranagua, São Francisco, Rio Grande do Sul and Porto Allegre. As a rule each of these ports is the terminus for a railway system penetrating the interior, designed solely for the purpose of bringing the products to market and carrying supplies and necessities to the part of the country dependent upon it. There are practically no trunk or interstate lines, but plans are now formulated to overcome this condition.

Manaos is an inland port of Brazil, famous as a trading depot and one of the centers of the rubber industry. It is located on the Rio Negro, at its mouth where it empties into the great Amazon, one thousand miles from the Atlantic Ocean, and maintains direct steamship connection with the United States and Europe as well as the other ports of Brazil.

Perhaps no other country in the world is so well provided with rivers as Brazil. The mighty, muddy Amazon, the greatest river in existence, practically traverses the country from east to west in its 3850 miles journey to the sea. Some idea of its strength and volume may be gained when I state that its yellow waters color the Atlantic for over 100 miles beyond its mouth, and freshen the salt water for a distance of 180 miles. Emptying into this Queen of Rivers are more than 200 tributaries, over 100 of which are navigable, the famous Rio Roosevelt or River of Doubt forming one of the number. There are over 10,000 miles of navigable waterways for ocean vessels and 20,000 miles for light-draft boats.

Brazil is a pastoral country and the indications are that it will always remain so. Its vast savannahs and fields have formed ideal locations for raising cattle and sugar, while its mountain sides and plateaus are unparalleled for the growth of its staple product—coffee, the average yearly crop of which is the enormous amount of 1,596,000,000 pounds. Rice, cotton, sugar, tobacco, matte (a species of tea for native use), mandioca (a starchy tuber from which a bread is made much liked by the native) and cacao are also extensively grown. India rubber, the use of which was early known to the Indians of Brazil, to whom it is indebted for its name, is the second leading product of this remarkable land. The tree, the juice of which produces this twentieth century necessity, grows wild in the northern portion of the country, although it can be successfully cultivated. No effort is made to preserve the trees when once tapped, and the rubber prospectors are continually going farther and farther into the interior in search of new districts. The trees are from three to twelve feet in diameter, of slow growth, indigenous to the region of the Amazon and its tributaries, growing wild, scattered through the jungles and tropical shrubbery.

The forests of Brazil are practically virgin. They abound in dye, cabinet and hard woods and the opportunities for the development in this field alone are enormous. Due to the fact that the country has a wonderful series of aqueous arteries the transportation problem to mills and markets is easily solved and the waterpower can be used in preparing the timber for shipping.

Brazil has at present more local factories than all the other Latin American countries combined, forty per cent. of her manufactured articles being cotton goods, which find a ready market. In the Federal District of Rio de Janeiro, five of these mills have eight thousand operatives, producing yearly about 80,000,000 yards. Petropolis has four mills and São Paulo twenty-five with a total output of nearly 100,000,000 yards. The number of establishments in this industry alone amounts to 3664, giving employment to 168,760 hands, with a total yearly output of 275,000,000 yards of goods.

Of late the shoe-making industry has developed extensively. In 1913 there were in all of Brazil 4524 factories employing ten or more operatives, with a total invested capital of $18,857,000. These plants are nearly all operated by American machinery, many of them under American superintendents, the demand for American equipment being sufficiently large to warrant the big shoe machinery and shoe-finding houses of New England in maintaining their own offices and carry their own stock in the larger cities devoted to this business.

Brazil is wonderfully rich in mines of precious and semi-precious stones. Among the semi-precious stones to be found are achroite, actinolite, agates, amethysts, analcime, anatase, andalusites, anthophyllite, apophyllite, apatite, aquamarines, cymophane, citune, columbite, desemine, iolite, jasper, opals, ruby, sapphires, spinel, topaz, tourmalines. There are many deposits of minerals, such as copper, iron, silver, gold, arsenic, barium, bismuth, cinnabar, cobalt, galena, manganese, nickel, platinum, tin, and wolframite. There are also rich veins of asbestos, coal, soapstone, sulphur, salt, marble, mica, and evidences of petroleum.

Gold has been mined in Brazil for over 300 years, the principal deposits being in the State of Minas Geraes. A mine near the Honario Bicalho station produced from 1888 to 1912, over $26,000,000 worth of gold and as late as 1911, paid a dividend of 10 per cent. An English authority has estimated the total output of gold to date from all mines at $1,000,000,000.

Brazil is reputed to be the second largest diamond-producing country in the world, the Brazilian stone being considered fifty per cent. better than others owing to the constant attrition it has undergone in prehistoric days. At one time more than 40,000 men were employed in this industry in Minas Geraes alone. The best diamond fields extend from 10 degrees to 25 degrees south latitude and many enormous and high-grade stones have been discovered, the total amount exported in 175 years or up to 1903, being estimated at four tons. Edwin Streeter in his book on precious stones, says that “The State of Minas Geraes produced in the first twenty years 144,000 carats. Up to 1850,—5,844,000 carats worth $45,000,000 were sold and some $10,000,000 stolen from the mines by employes.” As an evidence of the fact that these mines are still productive, there were registered 456 claims in 1909 in the Diamanta Districts, which produced $1,000,000 worth of gems. In 1911 there were registered in the State of Minas Geraes 437 claims.

Travel along the coast and to the cities located on the railway lines is comparatively convenient and comfortable although very expensive. In the interior and from the beaten paths it is difficult and filled with hardships.

Living is high—much more so than in the larger cities of the States or Europe. Hotels are far from the standard one is accustomed to in towns of corresponding size, throughout the world—a statement equally true of all Latin America.

At first the monetary system of Brazil may confuse one, its currency being on the gold exchange basis. A _milreis_ is the unit of value and while it is subject to fluctuation, may for all practical purposes be reckoned as worth .33⅓ cents, or three _milreis_ as the equivalent of a United States dollar. The symbol for the unit is $ and the value of our dollar would be expressed thus 3$000. A _conto_, or about $333.33 would be written 1000$000. The banking of Brazil is chiefly controlled by the British, while Germany is their closest competitor, both France and Italy being represented each by a bank. The National City Bank of New York has recently established a branch in Rio de Janeiro, with sub-agencies throughout Brazil, so that direct exchange on New York may now be bought.

Brazil imported in 1913, $326,428,509 worth of goods, of which sum the United Kingdom supplied $79,881,008; Germany, $57,043,754; United States, $51,289,682; France, $31,939,752; Argentine, $24,293,712.

In the same period of time she exported goods to the value of $315,164,687, the United States taking about one-third of the total amount or to be exact, $102,652,923; Germany, $44,392,410; United Kingdom, $41,701,815; France, $38,685,561; Holland, $23,252,700.

The United States should do a much larger trade with Brazil owing to a preferential duty allowed our nation due to the fact that we are the largest consumers of her leading staple—coffee. According to government decree No. 9323, of January 17, 1912, flour imported from the States pays 30 per cent. less duty than if imported from any other land, while dried fruit, condensed milk, typewriters, rubber articles, and supplies, scales, refrigerators, cement, corsets, school furniture, windmills, watches, desks and printing inks, pay 20 per cent. less duty than similar articles imported from other countries.

Brazil exports coffee, rubber, hides, skins, cacao, tobacco, salt, cotton, sugar, woods, nuts, precious and semi-precious stones and gold. She imports foodstuffs, shoes, machinery, textiles, building woods, ammunition, wheat, automobiles, vehicles, codfish, dried fruits, glass, toilet articles, building and kitchen hardware, cement, scientific instruments, iron and steel, enamelled ware, paints and varnish, haberdashers’ goods, cottons, hats, corrugated iron, galvanized iron, tools, condensed milk, stationery, pipe, printing material and presses, electric machinery and supplies, typewriters, nails, screws and rivets.

American fruits are much in demand in Brazil, and an excellent market exists to-day for apples. Potatoes, onions, beets, garlic and other fresh vegetables would also sell well and a lucrative trade in these necessities of life could be developed without any great effort. The refrigerator ships running from the Argentine to New York with meat could carry as return freight these perishable cargoes at a low rate.

Steamship connections between Europe and the United States, with Brazilian ports are numerous and sailings comparatively frequent and as a rule the accommodations are all that could be desired. From New York the Booth line (English) has two steamers a month to North Brazil and Amazon River towns, touching at Barbados, Para and Manaos, with a ship every six weeks to Iquitos, Peru. One steamer goes each month to North Brazilian ports including Parnahyba, Natal and nearby localities. The United States Steamship Line (American) has one vessel monthly for Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Santos, freight being redistributed at these ports for intermediate points. The Lloyd Brazilleiro Line (Brazilian) maintains a semi-monthly service between New York and Natal, and Parahiba; and Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, and Santos, with occasional service to other larger ports. These boats do not as a rule carry passengers. They also maintain a service along the smaller coast towns and the rivers leading into the interior of Brazil, even having regular sailings from Asuncion, Paraguay, for Brazilian river towns. The Lamport & Holt Line (English) has weekly sailings from New York to Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Santos, generally stopping at Trinidad and Barbados, West Indies, on their trip north. The Prince Line (British) touch once a month at Rio de Janeiro and Santos, carrying freight chiefly. Other vessels of this line make monthly calls at Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Santos. Numerous tramp ships also sail from American ports on the eastern coast of the States to Brazil.

_Photograph by Underwood & Underwood_

Avenida Rio Branco and Opera House, Rio de Janeiro
]

Brazil has 15,272 miles of railways, federal, state and private, over many of which tickets which correspond to our mileage books are issued, for the convenience of the travelling public. Many new lines are in process of construction or contemplated, and a very decided effort is being made to unite the various main lines by connecting roads, so that the entire republic, including its most remote districts, may be thus reached.

The leading cities, which should be visited for business purposes, are:—

_Population_
Rio de Janeiro 1,128,000
São Paulo 450,000
Bahia 300,000
Belem or Para 250,000
Pernambuco 200,000
Porto Allegre 125,000
Mañaos 60,000
Santos 45,000
Campinas 40,000
Ceara 40,000
San Luiz or Maranao 40,000
Parahiba 32,000
Nichteroy 30,000
Florianopolis, or Desterro 27,000
Rio Grande do Sul 20,000

Some of the States and municipalities of Brazil have a special tax for commercial travellers, which varies from year to year, concerning the payment of which arrangements can be best made when on the ground. A small tax is also levied on trade samples, presumably to be refunded when leaving the country. It is advisable to learn how best to handle the situation from travellers with whom you will meet en route. As a rule, all of these are mere matter of detail and can be advantageously arranged, through the proper channel.

III
ARGENTINE

Juan Diaz de Solis in 1508 discovered the Rio de la Plata, otherwise known as the River Plate, while searching for a southerly passage to the Pacific Ocean. In 1525 Sebastian Cabot entered the river and gave it the name it now bears, at the same time erecting a fort near its mouth. A wealthy Spaniard, Pedro de Mendoza, in 1536, in exchange for certain landed rights and governmental privileges, established what is now the present city of Buenos Aires.

It is unnecessary for the purposes of this book to do more than state briefly that the conditions imposed by Spain on all its colonies were outrageously unjust and caused much dissension. Efforts to progress were throttled and the friction between the mother country developed until the conquest of Spain by Napoleon, which gave the many Spanish colonies that had become thoroughly satiated with disgust and contempt for the Madrid Government, a chance to rebel and establish themselves as independent nations. Taking advantage of the condition in Europe and having in mind the successful revolution of the American colonists, the people of Argentine, Bolivia, Paraguay and Chile revolted, and after much fighting finally drove the Spanish troops from their shores. May 25, 1810, the people of Buenos Aires declared their independence. A Congress was held in Tucuman on July 9, 1816, the result of which was the more complete unification of the Argentine people under the title of the United Provinces of the La Plata River. The government in 1860 adopted as its national title “The Argentine Nation” by which it now prefers to be called.

Few know that the British had covetous plans upon this really wonderful country and twice invaded it, once in 1806, and again in 1807. After their fleet had bombarded the capital, the troops landed, and were both times thoroughly defeated, some of the English battle flags which were captured still being exhibited in Buenos Aires.

The government of the Argentine Nation is patterned after that of the United States of America, and has a constitution similar in its important features. There are three branches of government, executive, legislative and judicial; the legislative power being vested in a Congress composed of a Senate and a House of Deputies. The executive power is vested in a President and Vice-President elected as those of the United States, each holding office for the period of six years. Of late the Government has been very stable and there have been less tendencies to overthrow the authorized power than in most Latin American countries. By a treaty with Chile in 1881, the great territory of Patagonia, to the south of the Argentine, was divided between these two nations.

Argentine covers an area of 1,153,418 square miles, or about one-third as large as the United States. To be more specific it is as large as Texas, and all of our territory east of the Mississippi. It is bounded on the north by Bolivia, and Paraguay, on the west by Chile, on the south by a portion of Chile and the Atlantic Ocean. Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay, together with the Atlantic Ocean which washes its shores for more than 1500 miles, constitute its eastern boundary. Over 700,000,000 acres of its land is admirably adapted for cattle raising and the growing of cereals, a fact which argues much for its future development and prosperity.

Its population is variously estimated at from 6,000,000 to 9,000,000 but it can with safety be placed at 7,000,000, a little less than 25 per cent. of its inhabitants residing in the city of Buenos Aires, which has 1,700,000 citizens, a rather unusual condition of affairs. The early settlers of the Argentine were of course Spaniards and their descendants form the bulk of the population to-day. There are comparatively few blacks or mixed breeds, slavery having been abolished in 1813, while the Indians and aborigines are scattered along the frontier. Early in its history Argentine encouraged emigration from Europe, using as an inducement the free grant of public lands, which proved especially attractive to the Italian and Spaniard. In fact the preponderance of the Italian in the business and social life, due to this movement has had a noticeable effect on the Spanish language as spoken in this country. From 1857 to 1913 the total of newcomers amounted to 4,781,653, many of whom became landholders and began at once to contribute to the growth and wealth of the country. The population to-day is 7.8 persons per square mile as against 32.31 per square mile in the United States. More than 300,000 persons migrate to this country each year.

The chief characteristic of the physical formation of the Argentine is its vast pampas or plains stretching from the Rio de la Plata to the west, terminating in the foothills of the Andes, or the Cordilleras. Perhaps no part of the earth’s surface has such flat, smooth, treeless plains as here confront the traveller. The climatic conditions, owing to the fact that it extends over thirty-four degrees of latitude, vary from tropical in the north to practically arctic coldness in the south, the seasons being the reverse of ours,—that is, they have winter when we have summer and vice versa. The greater portion of the country is in the temperate zone, the summers being very hot and the winters typified by heavy rains, especially in the eastern portion, diminishing toward the west where there is often much drought. In the extreme south, in what was formerly Patagonia the heavy snows of winter take the place of rains, which together with the warm summers produce a luxuriant growth of grass, especially adapted for the grazing of sheep.

_Photograph by Underwood & Underwood_

Taking produce to the station, Argentine
]

The Argentine has for some years been one of the granaries of the world and as its available land becomes cultivated is destined to play a more important rôle in this field. Some idea of its rapid development may be gained from the fact that in 1904, 26,000,000 acres were under cultivation, while in 1913 over 60,000,000 were sown. Wheat is of course its chief cereal, last year over 17,000,000 acres being cultivated. The Argentine Agricultural Department states that for the same period of time there were 12,000,000 acres in corn; 4,000,000 in oats and 15,000,000 in lucerne or alfalfa, proportionately large territories being planted with barley, sugar, grapes, rice, cotton and tobacco.

This country has been the second largest linseed producing nation of the world, yielding first place to India. Last year nearly 6,000,000 acres were devoted to the growing of this seed alone.

Comparatively little attention is paid to truck gardening or the raising of kitchen vegetables, fruits or berries, and this offers a remarkable opportunity to one versed in the subject. Conditions for growing these necessities are most favorable but have been neglected in the efforts made to develop other sources of revenue.

Tucuman has been the center of the sugar industry, practically all of which is consumed in the country, 43 refineries and plants being devoted to this business. The grapes grown at the foot of the eastern slopes of the Andes, near and around Mendoza, yield 500,000,000 quarts of wine yearly, most all being for internal consumption. Owing to the reversal of seasons here, crops are harvested when ours are being sown.

Recently dairying has developed to a remarkable extent, over 1300 creameries and factories being devoted to the manufacture of butter and cheese, doing a gross business of nearly $9,000,000. Much butter and cheese are shipped to England, Brazil and South Africa. For the first time in its history, butter was exported to the United States last year.

Flour milling was established in the Argentine in the 16th century. Prior to this Chilean flour supplied the demands for this article. To-day in addition to providing sufficient for its own requirements, Argentine ships much of its flour to Brazil, Chile and Europe and has about 800 flour mills in operation, representing an investment of approximately $14,000,000.

From the days of the early Spaniards stock-raising has flourished and will always be one of the chief industries of the land. Not only the Government but individuals as well realize this and co-operate with each other for the purpose of producing the best strains of all breeds of cattle.

There are many “refrigerificos” or cold-storage plants and abattoirs throughout the land and for years Europe received practically all of Argentine’s animal products, her exports in this line alone being approximately $350,000,000 in 1914. Due to the fact that these establishments were operated by British capital, England naturally took most of this meat. The larger American packing-houses have now entered the trade with the double purpose of supplying both their European and American customers from this field and direct refrigerator ships now run from the River Plate to New York City with cargoes of Argentine beef and mutton. The last census showed 30,000,000 beef cattle; 9,000,000 horses; 500,000 mules; 300,000 asses; 90,000,000 sheep; 4,000,000 goats and 3,000,000 pigs.

Nature seems content in having blessed this country with fertile pampas and agricultural lands, consequently there are comparatively few minerals within its territory. There are however some veins of gold, silver, copper and wolfram. Petroleum has recently been discovered, but not in large quantities. There is no coal in the Argentine, but in some sections bogs of peat cover extensive areas and await development.

To the north and in the interior are forests of valuable woods, there being over thirty-three species of commercial value. Quebracho wood is found in the provinces of Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero and Corrientes. It is very hard, impervious to moisture and will not rot. Due to these admirable qualities it was formerly used for sleepers for railways but now owing to the fact that it is excessively rich in tannin it is used almost exclusively for the purpose of curing leather. Formerly it was exported in large logs to Europe or to the States and the tanning extracts expressed, but to-day there are many factories in the districts where the wood is grown, devoted to obtaining the tannin directly, thereby materially reducing the cost of the article. Inasmuch as hides and quebracho are products of the Argentine it would seem that the tanning of leather would under proper management develop into a large industry here. The export of tannin for 1914 was over $11,000,000.

Outside of the industries referred to and a few breweries, cigar factories, and apparel factories, wherein goods for local consumption are produced, there is no general manufacturing in the Argentine.

No other country of Latin America is as well provided with railways as the Argentine, nor with as regular and superior access to Europe and the States and all parts of the world. More than fifty steamship lines arrive and depart regularly from the various Argentine ports, all the seafaring nations of the earth being represented. In 1852, one observer counted over 600 vessels in the harbor of Buenos Aires flying the American flag or more than double the number of all the other nations combined. To-day but few are to be seen in the vast shipping of this busy port.

The Argentine Republic stands ninth among the world’s nations in the length of her railways, having about 22,000 miles of track. Many lines are in process of construction or contemplated, the public and the government both realizing that a complete network of railways leading to the ports accelerate the moving of crops and cattle and are absolutely essential to its prosperity. Buenos Aires quite naturally is the principal terminal of most roads, while Santa Fe, Rosario, Bahia Blanca and La Plata are rapidly coming to the front as shipping centers and are providing appropriate facilities for handling trade. It has been said that every railway in the country is extending its lines more and more into the interior, and railway journeys to Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia as well as Chile are now possible. It may be interesting to note that the longest stretch of straight track known to railroad builders is to be found in the Argentine, where the rails run a distance of 175 miles without a curve of any kind.

Wagon roads outside of the larger cities are poor and in bad condition, and much is needed to be done in this respect.

There are many weekly sailings of the most modern and swift passenger ships to Europe, one Italian line making the voyage from Buenos Aires to Genoa in fifteen days. It is also possible to go via Hamburg or England to New York in better ships for practically the same money and in less time than is taken by ships engaged in the direct run from Buenos Aires to New York. The Lamport & Holt Line (British) runs directly from New York to Buenos Aires, with weekly sailings, carrying freight and passengers. The Prince Line (British) and the Barber Line (American but flying the British flag), the Norton Line (British), the American Rio Plate Line (American) leave New York twice a month for Argentine ports. The Houston Line (British) from Boston and New York and the New York and South American Line sail monthly from New York for River Plate ports. The Munson Line (American) from Mobile, Alabama, sends two ships monthly to Buenos Aires. There are many tramp ships from American ports in this trade also.

The docks and facilities for handling goods in Buenos Aires are second to none in the world and are modeled after the famous Liverpool system, having cost over $50,000,000. Steamers unload cargoes directly into the government custom warehouses, on the other side of which are networks of railway tracks from which they can be forwarded to the interior. Each of the large cement-sided canals or basins for the ship traffic is provided with locks or water gates, while the masonry warehouses, buildings and grain elevators extend for miles along the city water front. Yet the business of the port has grown so that there is much congestion, especially at certain seasons of the year and plans are being considered for doubling its present facilities.

_By permission of the editor of_ The Americas

Grain Elevators, Buenos Aires
]

Much of the impetus in trade circles in this land is due to the presence of the English, Germans and Italians who control the banking, transportation and commercial life of the country. Both the Briton and the Teuton have large sums invested in all kinds of enterprises, the total being estimated at $2,000,000,000. The Italian has developed into the small shopkeeper and farmer. In Buenos Aires alone there are two daily papers printed in English, which serves to give some idea of the extent of the English speaking population in this city. There are also daily papers published in Italian, German, French and Arabic.

Practically all the nations of Europe are represented in the banking business, the United States being the last to enter the field. The English are the strongest and the Germans next.

Argentine is supposed to be on a gold exchange basis, the gold _peso_ being worth one hundred _centavos_, or in our money 96.5 cents. The gold _peso_ is designated by the sign $C/L, the symbol C/L meaning _curso legal_, or legal tender. This is practically an imaginary coin, and the money one sees is paper currency, the paper _peso_ being worth 44 per cent. of its face value, or 42.46 cents in United States gold. This is represented in the following manner $M/N, meaning _moneda nacional_ or national money. This paper currency fluctuates slightly each day, being governed by the market conditions. The abbreviations O/S, C/L, and M/N are placed before the dollar or _peso_ mark, as for example O/S $500 or may follow it, as, for instance, $500 M/N.

The Argentine has long been noted for its unfavorable fees charged travellers, each province having a separate tariff, varying according to the commodity one may be selling. They are subject to such changes on short notice that it is useless to give them here, besides the subject has been dealt with elsewhere in this book. Before doing business it is wise to give this matter careful consideration. No duty is charged on samples.

The following cities should be visited:

_Population_
Buenos Aires 1,700,000
Rosario 300,000
Cordoba 120,000
La Plata 100,000
Tucuman 80,000
Bahia Blanca 75,000
Mendoza 65,000
Santa Fe 50,000
Salta 40,000
Parana 37,000
Corrientes 30,000
San Juan 16,000
San Luis 15,000

The Argentine exported goods to the value of $468,999,410 in 1913, and during the same time imported goods to the extent of $408,711,966, of which amount less than 8 per cent. came from the United States. England controlled the bulk of the trade with Germany second and France third.

The principal exports are meats and meat products, agricultural products such as wheat, corn, oats, barley, linseed, hay, alfalfa, woods and dye woods, live animals, wool, hides, skins, butter and cheese. It imports foodstuffs, textiles, iron, steel, railway supplies and rolling stock, agricultural implements and machinery, wagons, carriages, automobiles and automobile supplies, electrical apparatus, glass, china, ready-made clothes, hats, shoes, toilet articles, drugs and chemicals, paints and varnish, stockings and socks, silks, kitchen-utensils, enamelled ware, tools, vegetables, fruits, eggs, oils, greases, and coal.

IV
URUGUAY

The first European who set foot on Uruguayan soil was the man who discovered the Rio de la Plate—Juan Diaz de Solis. This was in 1508. He and his associates were immediately attacked by the Charruca Indians, who annihilated the party. Later on Portuguese settlers from Brazil attempted to colonize this land, but they met with repulses, as did also the Spanish colonists who followed them. As a result of the invasion of this territory by Portuguese and Spanish it was claimed by both these countries and became a bone of contention between them for more than two hundred years. The Portuguese colonists were finally routed bodily and their city of Montevideo, founded in 1724, came under control of the Spanish Viceroy. Portugal still persisted in claiming this province and when Dom Pedro made an Empire of Brazil, he also attempted to exercise jurisdiction over Uruguay as well. This ultimately resulted in a war between Brazil and Argentine, in which the Uruguayans rallied to the aid of the Argentinians, defeating the Brazilians. A treaty of peace in which the mediation of England was asked, was signed August 27, 1828, giving Uruguay its independence.

The present government is based upon that of the United States and comprises executives in the persons of a President and a Vice-President, elected for four years, and a legislative body, consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate.

Uruguay occupies an area of 72,210 square miles, or is about as large as all of the New England States. It is virtually an extensive undulating plain, having in its northern section a series of mountain ranges but few of which are higher than 2000 feet. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north by Brazil, the Rio Cuareim flowing between the two countries. The Uruguay, dividing Argentine and Uruguay, forms its western boundary while the wide mouth of the Rio de la Plate may be called its southern boundary line.

The climate is extremely temperate and healthful—so much so in fact that it is rapidly developing into a summer resort for Chileans, Argentinians and Brazilians; many of the wealthiest of these nationalities have established seashore homes within its boundaries, especially outside of Montevideo. Extreme summer heat such as one finds in Buenos Aires, is never encountered here, although there are days in winter when it is particularly cold. Snow occasionally falls.

Uruguay has a population of 1,500,000, its people being among the best in Latin America. As in Argentine, the Indians are comparatively few and to be found in remote districts only. There are practically no negroes and mixed breeds. Owing to the influx of English, Italian, and Swiss colonists, the standard of the population is continually rising and its geographical position, salubrious climate and vast areas of tillable land will attract more and more desirable settlers to its boundary. Immigration is encouraged along the most modern and progressive lines.

Uruguay is fortunate in having many navigable rivers, the chief of which are the Rio de la Plate and the Uruguay, giving a total of over 700 miles of water deep enough for ocean-going vessels. One river alone—the Uruguay—has ten ports open for interoceanic trade, the cities on this river being Carmelo, Neuva Palmira, Soriano, Fray Bentos, Neuva Berlin, Casa Blanca, Pysandu, Neuva Pysandu, Salto and Santa Rosa. Mercedes is a large city, on the Rio Negro, and is used as a port of call for ocean-going vessels. There is also Lake Merim on the borders of Brazil on which run small launches.

Uruguay has comparatively few railroad systems and only 1600 miles of railways. There are many projects for railway development however and the completion of the mileage planned will rapidly bring the country to the fore. American capital is now being interested in this field.

While there are some minerals to be found in the mountainous sections, still the country will always be a pastoral one. Mica, gold, precious stones and petroleum are known to exist, yet comparatively little, if anything, has been done along these lines.

Of her 45,000,000 acres of land, less than 5 per cent. is devoted to agriculture, owing to lack of population. There are about 1,700,000 acres of virgin forest lands and over 40,000,000 acres devoted to grazing cattle and sheep.

Wheat is the chief cereal grown, with corn, barley, oats and linseed in the order named. Tobacco has been tried with favorable results.

The raising of cattle of all kinds and the maintenance of slaughter-houses and packing establishments for the purpose of supplying Europe with meat forms the largest industry. One plant alone at Fray Bentos—owned by the Liebig Company and where the extract of that name is made,—kills over 3,000,000 head a year. Very naturally meat by-products are produced and exported in large quantities. Much frozen and tinned meat is exported. Some idea of the enormous size of the cattle industry here may be gained when we are told that at the present time Uruguay has over 9,000,000 cattle, 30,000,000 sheep, 800,000 hogs, 600,000 goats and 430,000 horses.

One of the leading industries is the shearing of wool, all of which is exported. The good climatic conditions, in connection with attention paid to breeding, have resulted in the production of a wool of superior length and texture and as a consequence wool-buyers from Europe are attracted to this market. In 1913 the amount exported reached the enormous sum of $35,875,975.

Despite the fact that Uruguay has no gold coin of its own, it is on a gold basis and its _peso_, or dollar, is worth almost four cents more than ours, or to be exact, $1.034. This is a decidedly unusual state of affairs for Latin America, and reflects favorably on the financial condition of the country.

There is much English capital invested here, and to a large extent trade is in the hands of Englishmen. Many German and Italian houses are represented and these nationalities are also becoming interested in local enterprises.

Uruguay exports wool, hides, horn, hair, meats and meat products, grease tallow, grain and cereals, the total amount expressed in figures for 1913 being $65,142,000.

In 1913 she imported goods to the value of $50,666,000, the leading items being foodstuffs, iron, steel, glass, china, wooden products, oils, chemicals, medicines, stationery, toilet articles, tobacco, textiles, shoes, hats, and silks.

While commercial travellers are supposed to pay a yearly license of $100, still this can be waived by making the proper connection with some local dealer or commission house.

The following cities should be visited:

_Population_
Montevideo 500,000
Pysandu 35,000
Mercedes 25,000
Salto 25,000
Fray Bentos 15,000
Rivera 10,000
Guadalupe 10,000
Minas 10,000
Florida 10,000
Colonia 10,000

Uruguay has from three to five steamships sailing weekly direct for Europe, or the United States.