348  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

assistance,  thereby  placing  us  in  a  much  more
advantageous  position  than  we  formerly  occupied ­
  with  relation  to  developing  our  trade
along  reciprocal  lines,  for  a  lending  nation
can  always  dictate  to  the  borrowing  one.
Following  the  stringency  in  the  European
money  markets  and  their  inability  to  lend
further  financial  aid  to  Latin  American  enterprises, ­
  there  has  been  a  decided  slump  in
property  values  of  all  kinds,  thereby  giving
the  American  investor  desirous  of  entering
these  fields  an  excellent  opportunity  to  acquire
controlling  interests  at  the  minimum  expense
in  undertakings  which  will  ultimately  rehabilitate ­
  themselves  as  money  making  propositions.
These  conditions  should  not  be  lost  sight  of
during  the  readjustment  of  values  in  this  part
of  the  world.
To  be  more  specific,  perhaps  80  per  cent,  of
the  world’s  supply  of  bismuth  comes  from
Peru.  This  metal  is  largely  used  in  the  arts
and  medicine.  An  Italian  company  owns
practically  all  the  mines.  Germans  and  English ­
  buy  the  ore  and  ship  it  to  their  respective