hood of 1700 millions of dollars.1 Over 1400 millions of this was made up of the trade of four countries, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, as shown by the following table, taken from the U. S. Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance, September, 1910, page 522. TOTAL COMMERCE OF FOUR SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES WITH THE WORLD • Years ending December 31, 1899 and 1909, except Brazil in which case the years end December 31, 1901 and 1909. b с Including gold and silver. Including gold and silver ore. The rate of increase is seen to be very great, particularly for Argentina and Chile. The share of the United States in this total trade is shown by five year periods as follows:2 COMMERCE of united STATES WITH SOUTH AMERICA AS A WHOLE3 1 Estimate based on figures given in Estudio sobre el Comercio Argentino con las Naciones Limitrofes, by Ricardo Pillado (Buenos Aires, 1910, p. 163). Unfortunately it is difficult to get reliable figures for the different countries for corresponding periods. 'Figures for 1890 from Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance, for June 1900, p. 3405; for other years, Ibid., June 1910, p. 2209. Year ending June 30 in each case. Turning to the figures of our trade with particular countries in the southern continent, we find that we are now sending more to Argentina than to any of the others, and getting more from Brazil. The figures below tell the story: IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM: 1,418,561 1,662,475 4,548,053 The following table gives the figures of our South American trade in some detail by countries for 1909: TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES WITH SOUTH AMERICA IN 1909: ร $163,878,724 $76,561,680 $13,860,893 $101,177,937 Figures for 1890 from Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance, June 1899, p. 3404 ff.; for 1900, Ibid., June 1900, p. 3420 ff.; for 1910, Ibid., June 1910, p. 2208. Year ending June 30 in each case. From Division of Commerce and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Argentine Republic, 1910. "Argentine International Trade." It will be seen that of our total exports to these countries more were taken by Argentina in the year in question than by Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Paraguay together. It is evident that the trade of the United States with all South American countries has received a great impetus, particularly in the past ten years. Of course, the larger volume of it is with Brazil and Argentina, although the possible expansion in the trade with other countries, particularly those on the west coast, is very large. An increase of one hundred millions in our total imports from South America in ten years seems on its face strong evidence that we are beginning at least to come into our own in the trade of this part of the world. The exports show an increase of 55 millions for the corresponding dates. The great expansion, however, is in the trade with two or three countries, notably Argentina and Brazil, and the difference in our exports and imports to these countries needs a word of explanation. If we study the articles imported to us from Brazil, we shall find that coffee and rubber are the two leading items. The imports of coffee increased from $34,000,000 to $53,000,000 between 1890 and 1910; those of rubber rose from $18,000,000 to $47,000,000 in the same period. One or two new articles of importation from Brazil appear, moreover, in the past two or three years; especially should be mentioned goat skins and the hides of cattle, both of which began to appear in considerable quantities some three years ago, and now amount to about $3,000,000. Our imports of wool from Argentina increased from practically nothing in 1900 to $5,500,000 in 1910. In 1908 we took a little over half of the dried cattle hides exported from Argentina, amounting in value to $4,400,000, as against less than $1,000,000 in 1900. A comparatively new article of export is the extract of Quebracho and Quebracho logs for tanning purposes. A little more than half of the extract is taken by our tanning mills in this country, and we also use about a quarter of the value of the logs. Bones, horse hair, and some fibers also show an increase. As to our exports to these countries, the great increase between 1900 and 1910 has been in agricultural implements, lumber, wire, twine, electrical appliances, and miscellaneous small machines. Our exports of agricultural implements to Argentina rose from a little less than $2,000,000 in 1900, to a little more than $6,000,000 in the year ending June, 1910, and during the same period we sent a little more than twice as much, in value, of Our lumber exports became lubricating and illuminating oils. $5,000,000 instead of one; our barbed and other wire exports rose from practically nothing to a million, as did our exports of twine. Brazil, while taking none of our locomotives in 1900, took about $1,000,000 worth in 1910, and her demand for our electrical appliances, phonographs, and similar things, rose from a trifle ten years ago to $1,750,000 in 1910. She also took more of our oils. The figures that have been quoted show that trade is already increasing with the South American countries, and it is not out of place to ask why we should consider it necessary to interfere, with a view to stimulating its growth. Probably very little that we do will alter the circumstances. It is in the nature of things that our trade with our sister countries to the south will increase as we become less and less an agricultural and more a manufacturing country. We have reached the point of advantage in this respect, and are trying to find outlets for our increased production. The very agitation of the subject, therefore, is evidence that the time is here when, in the natural order of things, an expansion will come in our South American trade. In other words, our trade with South American countries is bound to expand, whether we make special efforts in that direction or not. But there is no doubt that the movement can be greatly stimulated by a study of the reasons for our failure to show more largely in the foreign trade of South America in the past. We must remember that it is dangerous to write of South America as a whole, for South America is a continent, whose climate varies from tropical to nearly antarctic. Moreover, it comprises eighteen or twenty countries, whose people are, to be sure, mostly of Spanish origin, yet differ considerably in economic and political conditions, with centuries of different relationships to the natives of the country, and with interests varying in some cases as widely as those of any two European countries. Moreover, most, if not all, of them have secured political independence at comparatively recent dates, and political conditions have not yet in all cases become so settled as to promote that internal economic development for which peace is so necessary, or that development of foreign relations which in turn goes so far to promote industry and trade. We must remember, too, that the population of all the countries of South America has been, until within a very few years, nent. insignificant when compared with the extent of territory occupied by them. All of these countries are very sparsely settled. The population of Brazil is estimated now at more than 20,000,000; twenty years ago it was only 16,000,000. That of Argentina in 1890 was 3,460,000, and now is 7,000,000. Chile has about three and a half million people, while ten years ago she had about two million. The population of Peru in 1890 and now is estimated at about 2,600,000, and 4,500,000, respectively. These are the principal countries on the South American contiTheir aggregate population therefore twenty years ago was probably about 20,000,000, and very widely scattered.8 At only a few points in the whole continent were there enough people to make trade profitable, apart from obtaining financial and industrial concessions for which we have had no capital. Moreover, the few places at which population was more or less concentrated were scattered around the shore of the continent at distances varying from 1500 to 3000 miles. Over against the possibility of developing trade with people living at such distances and in such groups, were the openings furnished by the markets of Europe. Here we found a dense population in contiguous centers, with a demand for our products, facilities for transportation, credit, personal and social connections already established. Under such conditions it needs no wisdom to see that trade would follow the line of least resistance first, and develop with Europe. In short, altogether apart from the character of the South American market, its demand was not large enough to justify strenuous exertion, at any rate, on the part of those of our manufacturers and merchants who had goods to export. Moreover, too little was known about the markets and the people, their methods of living, and their ways of doing business. whole new machinery of trade would have had to be established in order to develop trade with them; and as already remarked, the volume of trade to be developed was not large enough to justify this. Quite the opposite was true of the European markets. A Such foreign trade as South American countries have hitherto enjoyed has naturally been with the countries which supplied capital for their development. The general economic conditions. in South American countries have always been such as to need 'These estimates are from various sources, principally the Bulletin of the American Republics. |