74 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1903. 



the state subsidy for which, after being long in arrears, was 

 finally paid in thirty-year bonds, is not such as to make any 

 ordinary guarantee from the rubber states attractive to 

 capitalists. Still, the world must have Bolivian rubber, 

 and ultimately the neccessity for better transportation 

 through the Madeira valley will result in a railway, regard- 

 less of local help or hindrance. 



THE BUSINESS MAN'S MONROE DOCTRINE. 



TO the Editor of The India Rubber World : Diplo- 

 macy in the United States has a few cardinal principles, 

 the most familiar of which is the Monroe Doctrine. This doc- 

 trine is that the United States will regard the acquisition of 

 new territory by a European power on the American continent 

 as an unfriendly act. Expressed in less diplomatic language, 

 the doctrine means that whoever in Europe has an American 

 colony is welcome to keep it, unless, as happened in Cuba, he 

 administers it so badly as to injure the United States. But 

 if Europe wants to expand it must go away from America, 

 north or south, or be prepared to go to war with Uncle Sam. 

 This doctrine is not supposed to be exactly popular in some 

 patts of the European continent, but all Europe knows it must 

 be reckoned with in dealings with the United States. 



It is getting on toward a century since this doctrine was an- 

 nounced, and yet it has remained thus far a possession of the 

 diplomats alone. The opening years of the twentieth century 

 seem a fitting time for an extension of the Monroe doctrine to 

 business. There is no reason in the nature of things why the 

 United States should not be the center of the manufacturing 

 and commercial interests of the whole Western hemisphere. 

 The man who wants to send money ought to find New York 

 bankers prominently established in every considerable town on 

 the American continent. The man who wants to ship freight 

 from or to South America ought to find direct shipment at or 

 to American ports the easiest method. The man who wants to 

 buy a machine in Valparaiso or Caracas or Rio de Janeiro ought 

 to find machines made in the United States leading the market. 

 " Made in the United States of America " ought to be the pre- 

 vailing recommendation of manufactured articles of all descrip- 

 tions. 



Now, as a matter of fact none of these things happen. There 

 are important cities in South America where London or Paris 

 exchange is easier to buy than New York funds. Passengers 

 and shippers often use the route via Liverpool or Havre, rather 

 than the direct route, simply because the means of direct trans- 

 portation are insufficient. And though our manufacturers 

 have within the past few years terrified Europe with their in- 

 vasion, American-made goods cut no figure at all in the mar- 

 ket in many parts of South America. The situation in this re- 

 gard has indeed vastly improved within a few years. The 

 needs of the rubber trade have caused the establishment of 

 good lines of freight steamers between New York and Para, 

 American exchange and American manufactures are gaining 

 steadily. And yet it cannot be said that the business world 

 of the United States has a Monroe doctrine of its own. 



There are, of course, obstacles to the establishment of such a 

 doctrine. In some respects the field itself is less inviting than 

 others more remote. Collections and credits are supposed to 

 be harder to manage in Latin America than in Europe or China. 

 Government is less stable there than anywhere else in the civ- 

 ilized world. And indisputably the stronger nations of South 

 America dislike the United States. 



There are obstacles, too, for which our own business men are 



at fault. Until our new relations with Porto Rico, the Philip- 

 pines, and Cuba made it necessary, practically no attention was 

 given in this country to a study of colloquial Spanish. If a 

 man wanted to do business in Spanish America he had to go 

 and learn the language on the spot or hire a representative for 

 his knowledge of Spanish without much regard to other qual- 

 ifications. Nor have we sufficiently regarded the principle that 

 the only way to success in business was to respect one's cus- 

 tomers. If anyone in South America wanted something we 

 made we have been willing enough to sell, but we have never 

 taken the trouble to find out what South America wants and to 

 satisfy the wants. 



The establishment of a Monroe doctrine in business means a 

 good many things. And first of all it means a respectful study 

 of the field. Spanish must be taught and studied more widely 

 even than it is now. The reasons for the instability of South 

 American governments must be considered and it must be 

 seen what business enterprise of the right sort will do to cor- 

 rect it. The popular dislike of the United States must be over- 

 come by sending the right sort of men as representatives of 

 business houses — men tactful, likable, frank, and cordial, who 

 will enter into the habits and feelings of the men with whom 

 they deal without loss of self-respect. And it must be over- 

 come, too, by sending goods better than those that now hold 

 the market. We like to believe that the United States does the 

 best manufacturing in the world, as well as some of the worst. 

 It is the best that gets and holds new markets. Spanish Amer- 

 icans are not so conservative as to prefer inferior goods because 

 they are accustomed to them. Success in winning the market 

 means sending superior goods in the care of representatives 

 who know how to make their superiority manifest and to win 

 the respect and liking of their customers. It means patience. 

 Perhaps it may mean as long a waiting for large profits as it 

 the case with cultivating rubber, but it will pay in the long run 

 in more ways than one. 



The Monroe doctrine of the business man can be established 

 only by the business man himself. And it cannot be established 

 in a minute by any one. Yet its establishment is one of the 

 great opportunities of the present day, and we confidently expect 

 to see the time when all the Western hemisphere will find its 

 commercial as well as its political leadership in the United 

 States. J. L. 



November 17, 1903. 



A SHREWD DEAL IN RUBBER BOOTS. 



BURIED in the middle of a long article in the New York 

 Evening Post, on "Our Trade in Rubber," is the follow- 

 ing bit of information, never before published to our knowl- 

 edge, and which would indicate that every man who makes 

 " big money " in this trade does not at once proclaim the fact 

 from the housetops : 



"When the great rush to the Alaskan goldfields began, in 

 1899 and 1900, an immediate demand for rubber shoes of all 

 kinds and rubber boots was anticipated by shrewd dealers. 

 One speculator, who had an eye to business, knew of a large 

 lot of rubber boots and shoes which had been in storage here 

 in New York for several years, a drug on the market. He also 

 knew that the owners would be glad to get rid of them at al- 

 most any price. Going to a banker who had confidence in his 

 judgment, the man borrowed enough to get the whole stock, 

 shipped it to Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma, Washington, and 

 to Portland, Oregon, where miners were getting their outfits, 

 and sold every pair at a large profit." 



Wonder if there are any more such hidden stocks? 



