The friendly relations and the extensive, commercial intercourse with the
Western Hemisphere to the south of us are being further cemented by the
establishment and extension of air-mail routes. We shall soon have one from
Key West, Fla., over Cuba, Haiti, and Santo Domingo to San Juan, P. R.,
where it will connect with another route to Trinidad. There will be another
route from Key West to the Canal Zone, where connection will be made with a
route across the northern coast of South America to Paramaribo. This will
give us a circle around the Caribbean under our own control. Additional
connections will be made at Colon with a route running down the west coast
of South America as far as Conception, Chile, and with the French air mail
at Paramaribo running down the eastern coast of South America. The air
service already spans our continent, with laterals running to Mexico and
Canada, and covering a daily flight of over 28,000 miles, with an average
cargo of 15 000 pounds.