SELLING LATIN AMERICA
[Illustration]
SELLING LATIN AMERICA
A Problem in International Salesmanship
WHAT TO SELL AND HOW TO SELL IT
BY
WILLIAM E. AUGHINBAUGH, M.D., LL.B., LL.M.
_Illustrated from Photographs_
[Illustration]
BOSTON
SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
_Copyright, 1915_
BY SMALL, MAYNARD AND COMPANY
(INCORPORATED)
Printers
S. J. PARKHILL & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.
FOREWORD
I made the acquaintance of Doctor W. E. Aughinbaugh about eight years
ago, when I was in charge of the advertising department of a large
concern doing an international business. The doctor came with us to look
after the export trade, especially in the West Indies and South America.
My work naturally brought me into close association with him, and I soon
began to appreciate his unusual ability in many directions and his
special fitness for the position he occupied. There seemed to be no
phase of merchandising in far-off markets with which he was not fully
conversant; nor did this knowledge relate solely to Latin America. He
had previously travelled the distant markets of the Orient in the
interests of an American house whose products he successfully introduced
there and to him the Far East was an open book.
He has been in Egypt eight times on business missions. He has travelled
Somaliland, Palestine, Asia Minor, Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers,
South Africa, Persia, Arabia, Afghanistan, Cashmir, Beluchistan, India,
Assam, Burma, Siam, China, Cochin-China, Japan, the East Indies and all
over Europe with the single exception of Russia. The doctor also spent
two years of his restless life in the Far North where a business mission
of importance took him into Iceland, Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland,
Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island and the Hudson’s Bay Country.
As to the West Indies and South America, he has been not only to them,
but through them many times and in every habitable spot where business
was to be done. Some idea may be gained as to the frequency of his
visits to South America by mentioning the fact that he has made
thirty-six trips across the Equator.
Dr. Aughinbaugh talks about the markets of foreign countries with the
authority of long experience for he has been engaged in these special
fields for more than twenty years; yet he is still a young man with a
modern viewpoint. He speaks the languages of many countries and speaks
them well. His information is first-hand, reliable data gathered on the
ground where he lived and worked, whose people he knew and could speak
to in their own tongue, not the unreliable, superficial vaporings of
some dilettante globe-trotter who has given the high-spots of
civilization the “once over” and therefore considers himself a competent
authority to write upon the commerce, customs and manners of foreign
countries the very languages of which he does not understand without the
aid of an interpreter, or who could not find his way back to the railway
station or dock without the assistance of a guide.
Doctor Aughinbaugh is no such lightweight. He has not written this book
because he believes he knows it all. Left to himself he would never have
written it. It was only after repeated urgings on the part of some of
his friends who appreciated his ability to write an unusual book, that
he consented to undertake the work, and then he did so under protest.
It may be asked with pertinence how a man could travel in the interest
of one line and yet be in possession of so much information relating to
every other line; or how one could master the intricacies of foreign
banking and credits and still attend to his business. The answer to all
of this is that no man can successfully negotiate foreign markets unless
he is more than a mere “order taker.” As to the doctor’s ability to
measure the requirements of a market all the way from cereals to
concrete, that may be accounted for by the fact that he is both a
physician and a graduate of the law, and while he never practised at the
bar to any great extent he did have considerable experience in medicine,
a profession which developed a naturally analytical mind, so that he
looked at things with the eyes of a student and from the viewpoint of
the trained diagnostician. For six years he followed medicine in Latin
America, finally giving it up to accept an offer from a large company
who compensated him accordingly. His experience in that line alone took
him all over the world and the ramifications of the business brought him
into close contact with the marketing of nearly every other commodity.
But even had this not been so, he is the sort of man who would have
sensed a business opportunity because he is naturally a keen observer
and everything interests him. He is the type of man who absorbs
information; he does not have to be shown—he sees.
Here, then, is a man possessed of a fund of particularly desirable
information—especially valuable to-day when Europe is war-mad and, in
her sanguinary frenzy, has left open the door of opportunity to peaceful
Uncle Sam. Why not put this information in concrete form for the benefit
of American commerce?
These considerations were put up to the author by some of his friends
who knew him to be a keen, accurate, analytical observer, a writer and a
_raconteur_ of more than ordinary ability, and this book was the result.
Probably never—let us fervently hope never for the same reason—will the
United States have another opportunity such as the present one, to enter
those fruitful fields to the south, where Europe in general, and Germany
in particular, has reaped a golden harvest for so many years.
A careful reading of this book—not a difficult matter, for unlike most
works on commerce it is full of lively interest—will be profitable to
every business man interested in the subject of Latin America. It will
be valuable to those who are equipped or willing to prepare themselves
to cope with conditions as they really are, and just as valuable to
those who are not, for it may save them from the costly mistakes of
experimentation in foreign fields.
MAURICE SWITZER.
New York, March 20, 1915.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I GENERAL REMARKS ON FOREIGN TRADE 1
II BRAZIL 13
III ARGENTINE 31
IV URUGUAY 49
V PARAGUAY 57
VI CHILE 67
VII BOLIVIA 79
VIII PERU 91
IX ECUADOR 106
X COLOMBIA 114
XI VENEZUELA 126
XII CENTRAL AMERICA 138
XIII MEXICO 156
XIV CUBA 168
XV SANTO DOMINGO 176
XVI HAITI 182
XVII PORTO RICO 186
XVIII THE GUIANAS: BRITISH, DUTCH AND FRENCH 191
XIX EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS IN THE WEST INDIES 199
XX FOREIGN TRADE WITH LATIN AMERICA AND HOW IT DEVELOPED 212
XXI METHODS OF DOING BUSINESS 224
XXII THE SALESMAN AND THE CUSTOMER 242
XXIII CUSTOM-HOUSES AND TARIFFS 266
XXIV TRADE MARKS 276
XXV FINANCE AND CREDITS 288
XXVI PACKING AND SHIPPING 311
XXVII ADVERTISING 331
XXVIII RECIPROCITY 345
XXIX HEALTH PRECAUTIONS 368
APPENDIX 377
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.
[Illustration:
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.
[Illustration:
_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.
[Illustration:
_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.