290  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

manded  it,  France,  Italy,  Spain  and  Switzerland ­
  entered  the  field  but  on  a  much  smaller
financial  basis,  at  the  same  time  restricting
their  activities  so  as  to  confine  them  more  to
the  home  countries  and  to  persons  of  their
own  nationalities  engaged  in  this  field  of  commerce. ­

Only  recently  have  statutory  and  business
conditions  warranted  the  advance  of  the
American  banker  into  this  sphere  of  finance.
To-day  in  Latin  America  our  banking  institutions ­
  may  be  found  in  the  Argentine,  Brazil,
Panama,  Cuba,  Santo  Domingo,  Porto  Rico,
Mexico  and  to  a  small  extent  in  Haiti.  As  it
becomes  apparent  that  our  merchants  and  those
of  other  countries  require  financial  organizations ­
  to  further  and  facilitate  trade  with  the
United  States,  additional  establishments  will
be  opened  in  these  lands  until  ultimately  the
dollar  will  be  so  enthroned  in  the  estimation
of  the  business  world  that  it  need  pay  no  homage ­
  to  the  Pound  Sterling,  which  up  to  the
present  has  been  Emperor  Supreme  in  the
Realm  of  Finance.