Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 86.djvu/378

374 although giving preference, in the matter of customs duties, to English products, are large, growing, and in many respects safer than the Latin-American fields of endeavor.

There is, however, a great economic problem which may be solved to the advantage of this country by prompt but conservative action in connection with the development of our trade with South America. It is possible that this country may replace England and Germany in the growth of South America to an extent greater than is possible in other parts of the world, but this can only be accomplished if the United States takes a greater financial interest in the development of South America’s resources. In other words, we must become larger creditors of the countries to the south of us if we hope to retain the trade which may be temporarily forced into our hands under the stress of unusual circumstances arising from the present European conflict.

The total trade of the twenty Latin-American Republics amounts to about three thousand million dollars, approximately one half of which consists of exports and one half of imports, under normal conditions, the exports exceeding imports by about two hundred million. We already predominate in the combined trade of ten of these republics. In the trade of the ten countries in South America we stand third, ranking very close to Germany in exports to, and second to England in imports from them. We buy from them fourteen million dollars’ worth more than Germany buys. Our purchases from these countries exceeds Germany’s sales by sixty million and our own sales by about ninety million. Great Britain’s sales top ours by 120 million, exceeding her own purchases by twenty-seven million. We are the only one of the three nations which buys from them more than we sell. Our large purchases of rubber and coffee from Brazil are mainly responsible for this condition.

It is with no desire to belittle the importance of this trade that I express the fear that we may be overshadowing the possibilities of other markets through disproportionate attention paid to those of South America. For immediate results and greater certainty of securing payment for what we sell, I believe that some of the European countries, including Great Britain, who has been a purchaser of German goods to the amount of some 350 million dollars annually, and the British Colonies, offer greater immediate inducements and better possibilities of increasing our trade along lines of the least resistance.

Australia, for instance, buys from Germany about thirty-five million dollars’ worth each year. These and other markets are too important to be lost sight of through over attention to those of South America. At least there is no valid reason why we should reject a good fat trout or two because we are fishing for eels.

I want to say a few words regarding the use of official statistics in estimating foreign trade possibilities and prospects. Before we had