FOREIGN  TRADE

ii

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