362  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

ing,  native  business  men,  never  the  politician.
Commerce  is  a  great  civilizing  agency.  The
higher  in  the  scale  of  civilization  a  people  are,
the  more  secure  will  trade  relations  with  them
be.  The  larger  and  more  important  countries
of  Latin  America  have  at  last  begun  to  realize
that  internal  peace  means  prosperity,  that
prosperity  attracts,  yes  invites  capital,  even
from  the  timid  and  those  whose  government
does  not  stand  behind  them  in  a  dignified
manner.
As  a  consequence,  despite  the  unfavorable
attitude  of  the  United  States  State  Department ­
  toward  foreign  investment,  and  with  the
idea  of  showing  our  Latin  American  friends
that  we  are  sincerely  interested  in  establishing
our  trade  relations  with  them  on  a  reciprocal
basis,  American  capital  in  large  sums  is  beginning ­
  to  find  its  way  into  this  hitherto,  for
us,  closed  market.  Panama  has  just  been
loaned  $3,000,000  American  money  to  be  used
in  the  construction  of  railways  and  roads,
thereby  bringing  the  producer  nearer  to  the
markets  and  the  shipping  points  of  the  coun ­