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try.  Within  five  years  I  venture  to  predict
that  as  a  result  of  this  investment,  our  trade
with  Panama  will  have  materially  increased,
owing  to  the  fact  that  agricultural  products
heretofore  prevented  from  reaching  the  consumer ­
  will  be  able  to  do  so  with  comparative
ease,  especially  in  the  case  of  tropical  fruits,
cocoanuts,  copra  and  sugar.
American  bankers  have  loaned  the  Argentine ­
  Government  $15,000,000  in  6  per  cent,
gold  notes.  The  temperament  of  the  public
as  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  loan  may  be
readily  estimated  when  I  state  that  the  entire
amount  of  securities  to  cover  the  indebtedness
was  sold  before  four  o’clock  of  the  day  on
which  they  were  offered.  The  successful  consummation ­
  of  this  business—the  first  ever  concluded ­
  directly  between  the  Argentine  Government ­
  and  the  bankers  of  this  country—will
serve  greatly  to  strengthen  the  “entente  cordiale”
  now  so  rapidly  developing  between  the
United  States  and  the  rest  of  Latin  America.
Nor  is  this  all.  Movements  are  now  on  foot
leading  to  investments  of  American  capital  in