THE LATIN-AMERICAN REPUBLICS 1063 



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Venezuela and Colombia have partially redeemed their good name by maintaining 

 their service upon their Public Debts, although in the case of the latter Republic there is 

 -, ' evidence that severe Sacrifice has had to be made in order to find the 



amounts falling due upon the half-yearly coupons. Guatemala has re- 

 mained obdurate in regard to the resumption of her interest payments, some fourteen 

 years in arrears, but there is reason to believe that the British and United States Govern- 

 ments, working in union, intend to insist on arrangements being made for the benefitof 

 her long-suffering creditors. A serious warning to both Guatemala and Honduras was 

 contained in Mr. Taft's last message to Congress, the President observing " Failing an 

 arrangement, it may become impossible for the Government of the United States to es- 

 cape its obligations in connection with such measures as may become necessary to exact 

 justice to legitimate foreign claims." The poor arrangement arrived at between the 

 bondholders and Costa Rica (another defaulter over long years) has, so far, been adhered 

 to; while Nicaragua, which had suspended payment upon her Debt since January (1912) 

 resumed with the maturity of the July coupon, which was paid in October. Difficulty 

 was encountered, as usual, in regard to Ecuador's (Guayaquil & QuitoRailway and Salt 

 Bonds) Debt, but the coupons were eventually paid in driblets. On the other hand, the 

 smallest of the Latin-American States (El Salvador) showed remarkable punctuality in 

 meeting the interest upon her loan, the credit of this Republic consequently standing high 

 on the London and Paris markets. Cuba's financial condition has become acute, and at 

 the end of 1 9 1 2 it appeared clear that the assistance of the United States would sooner or 

 later be invoked, the Republic's creditors being found for the most part in that country. 

 Mexico's prolonged internal strife has brought down her once-high credit and abundant 

 resources to a very low ebb, and the administration, while confessing to the absolute 

 necessity of further substantial borrowing, has so far found no European or American 

 house willing to make further advances. The good financial standing of Peru has been 

 recognised by the encouragement given to her last appearance in the loan market. 



The natural resources of all the Latin-American countries alike have been still further 

 developed, mainly by the aid of foreign capital, which has continued to flow towards this 

 part of the world in spite of the unstable political conditions prevailing in some cases. 

 This may be explained by the fact that in but few instances have the financial interests 

 of foreign investors suffered; indeed, upon comparison, there have been fewer and less 

 serious losses in these countries than in other parts of the world. 



One circumstance to be noted is the tendency of the influence of Great Britain in 

 Latin-America to wane by comparison with the commercial progress made by Germany 

 AmeHc a an< ^ both the commercial and political progress made by the United States. 

 and German While the greater part of the transportation by land and sea remains in the 

 commercial hands of British railways and -British steamships trading with Argentina, 

 Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile (where the former are not State-owned), 

 Cuba, Paraguay and Mexico, the greater part of the Central-American transportation 

 arrangements are now in the hands of the North Americans. Thus, with the one excep- 

 tion of El Salvador, where the principal railway and its allied steamship service remain 

 British, the whole of the railways as well as the steamship transportation services of Pan- 

 ama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala have become United States en- 

 terprises. In Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay a gigantic combine of American-French in- 

 terests has latterly acquired control over the systems, some of which were formerly British. 



In other branches of commercial enterprise competition has been keenly felt. While 

 neither German nor French interests have hitherto been particularly aggressive in regard 

 to railway construction, both, as well as Dutch and Italian lines, have been energetically 

 competing for steamship traffic; in the dry-goods trade Germany has proved a very 

 formidable rival. United States enterprise has vigorously attacked what were predomi- 

 nantly British Latin-American markets in cotton and woollen goods, hardware, iron 

 and steel manufactures, and, more especially, the British ship-building connection, hav- 

 ing drawn away several orders for battleships given out by the Argentine and Brazilian 

 Governments. Even in the frozen-meat trade United States firms have latterly entered 



