TRADE  WITH  LATIN  AMERICA  223
dredging  of  harbors  and  erection  of  docks,
while  France,  relying  upon  the  admitted  and
acknowledged  fact  that  all  the  civilized  world
looked  to  her  for  its  fashions,  styles,  millinery,
articles  of  clothing  and  dress,  toilet  goods,  and
luxuries,  very  naturally  took  advantage  of  existing ­
  conditions  and  used  this  as  a  foundation
on  which  to  erect  her  trade.  Whatever  commercial ­
  prestige  either  Spain  or  Portugal  acquired ­
  in  these  countries  was  due  almost  entirely ­
  to  the  presence  of  thousands  of  citizens
of  these  nations,  who  created  a  demand  for  articles ­
  of  home  production,  and  this  is  relatively ­
  small.
In  this  simple  but  thorough  manner  was  the
trail  to  business  success  in  this  field  blazed.
The  experiences  of  our  predecessors,  and  the
lessons  they  learned  should  stand  us  in  good
stead  in  our  efforts  and  help  to  direct  our  feet
from  all  possible  pitfalls.  In  fact  we  should,
by  following  and  improving  on  their  attempts,
if  this  be  possible,  acquire  a  commercial  supremacy ­
  in  this  territory  in  less  than  half  the
time  taken  by  the  Europeans.