328 SELLING LATIN AMERICA 
cases and you will, I am sure, cease to wonder 
why it takes goods intended for interior cities 
so long to reach their goal. 
A wise precaution, and one to be recom 
mended for all shipments to Latin America, 
is to insure them against theft en route. This 
may add a little to the cost of the article, but 
it is the only protection against petty pilfering. 
The fact is that the minor employes of the 
custom houses, as well as the porters, trainmen 
and pack train attendants are so poorly paid, 
and so completely lacking in honesty that there 
is every tendency in the world to appropriate 
whatever appeals to their fancy. I have 
known what should have been cases of toilet 
soap to arrive at their destination, filled with 
scrap-iron, so as not to attract suspicion by 
their weight, and this after duty had been col 
lected at the custom house and freight paid by 
the shipper. Unless there is an insurance 
against these depredations one has absolutely 
no protection, for it is practically impossible 
to prove where and by whom the theft was 
committed. Furthermore if a conviction