2  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

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  fourtenths
  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  finan ­