February 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



229 



Some Neglected Near-By Markets — I. 



COLOMBIA. 



THE ojJtning (if the Panama Canal is ni)t nu-rely an occasion 

 for fireworks, orations and World's Fairs. It is the begin- 

 ning of a new era in the commerce of the world. For ten 

 years we have watched the work of construction going on. With 

 its ci.inii)lction the burden of duty is transferred to other bearers. 

 The (iirectors. the engineers, the laborers have done their part. 

 The nation has paid the bills and now looks to the .'\nierican 

 business men to take up their share of the work in utilizing the 

 canal to add to the nation's wealth. It was not built in order 

 that we might enjoy the moving spectacle of fleet after fleet of 

 German. British and other foreign merchant ships passing through 

 its locks. It was built that it might be used by .\merican business, 

 for profit to 

 itself as well as 

 to the nation at 

 large. 



It is axiomatic 

 that if the canal 

 is used somebody 

 must use it and 

 it is high time 

 for each Ameri- 

 can producer of 

 e-xportablc goods 

 to ask himself 

 what he is going 

 to do t o w a r d 

 utilizing the 

 canal which the 

 nation has built 

 for him. All that 

 is asked of him 

 is that he assist 

 in the work of 

 exchanging the 

 wealth of our 

 land for greater 

 wealth from 

 other lands — for 

 instance, to send 

 away a few cases 

 of rubber goods 

 and receive a 

 greater value in 

 gold from the 

 mining districts, 

 where those 

 goods are needed. 

 In Colombia, the 



most accessible of the South American republics, lies, ready for 

 taking, a store of wealth vast beyond imagination, wealth as 

 yet barely touched, concrete wealth calling aloud to the Amer- 

 ican exporter to cumc and get his sliare. Colombia has an area 

 greater than that of all the States east of the Mississippi and 

 north of the Ohio, with Virginia and West Virginia added. A 

 land filled with precious metals and gems ; a land which, in the 

 opinion of informed geologists, holds the future supply of copper 

 for the world. Gold is found in every part of the Republic and 

 has been mined for four hundred years, yet this source of wealth 

 has merely been scratched. The world's supply of emeralds comes 

 from Colombia, a million dollars a year being exported of these 

 gems whose value, weight for weight, is far greater than that of 



Map of Colombia. 



diamonds. The emerald mines of Colombia are a government 

 monopoly, worked by companies on concessions. At present the 

 gems are gathered in the most primitive way, but it is certain 

 that improved machinery will soon find its way to the mines 

 and exports of this precious stone be multiplied many times. 

 Xot one-tenth of one per cent, of the known area of the mines 

 has yet been exploited. There are besides mines of diamond, 

 ruby and ainethyst. The gold mines are estimated to have 

 yielded a total of $250,000,000 since the middle of the sixteenth 

 centurj', and their development has hardly begun, most of this 

 great total having been taken by primitive means and mere sur- 

 face scratching. It is not too much to expect from the mines of 



gold and gems 

 that they will yet 

 show a develop- 

 ment comparable 

 w' i t h those of 

 South Africa. 

 Silver is found in 

 many places in 

 remarkable rich- 

 ness, but the 

 backward devel- 

 opment of the 

 country, the de- 

 pression of silver 

 the world over 

 and the greater 

 certainty of profit 

 in gold mining 

 have prevented 

 the silver mining 

 industry from at- 

 taining the mag- 

 nitude it would 

 have done other- 

 wise. In the pro- 

 duction of plati- 

 n u m Colombia 

 comes next after 

 Russia and 

 shares with that 

 country a prac- 

 tical monopoly of 

 the world's mar- 

 ket. Iron, mer- 

 cury and lead arc 

 plentiful, while 

 the coal fields are 

 extensive and valuable. The petroleum fields also are of great 

 importance. 



The forests are bewildering in their extent and richness. Not 

 only mahogany and other valuable timber trees, including oaks 

 in the higher temperate regions, but other forest products are 

 found, in variety probably equalled nowhere else on earth. Rub- 

 ber — Hevea, Sapium and especially Casliltoa — is found in many 

 places, but at present the value of this item in exports is ex- 

 ceeded by "vegetable ivory." Another important item of the 

 natural forests is the tonka bean, which contains coumarin, giv- 

 ing it the pleasant odor of sweet vernal grass. It is used in per- 

 fumery, in the manufacture of soap and snuff, and in the manu- 

 facture of substitutes for vanilla flavoring. 



