RECIPROCITY  365

and  the  United  States,  and  which  through  its
various  local  branches  and  stores,  as  well  as
its  numerous  employes,  is  a  potent  factor  in
introducing  American  goods  and  American
ideas  to  all  with  whom  it  comes  in  contact.
Its  large  fleet  of  ships  come  to  all  the  leading
seaports  of  this  country,  and  the  vast  trade
which  it  now  controls,  and  which  is  still  in  its
infancy,  is  capable  of  enormous  growth.  As
one  example  of  what  its  business  means  in
freight  alone,  I  may  state  that  from  the  port
of  New  Orleans  this  company  shipped,  last
year,  nearly  150,000  car-loads  of  bananas  to  the
West  and  Middle  West.  The  model  hospitals
which  it  has  installed  in  each  of  the  countries
in  which  it  operates  for  the  free  treatment  of
its  servants  have  caused  our  physicians  to  be
highly  respected  throughout  this  portion  of
Central  and  South  America,  and  as  a  consequence ­
  the  native  now  comes  to  the  United
States  for  serious  surgical  operations  and
medical  treatment,  instead  of  to  Europe  as
formerly.  Further  than  this,  the  intimate  association ­
  bound  to  result  from  so  many  Ameri ­