Persia — Past and Present 



91 



cereals of the Temperate Zone. This 

 section also supplies cattle, horses, sheep, 

 and pigs. There is abundant pasture all 

 the year. It is an agricultural country. 



The establishment of industries is wel- 

 comed. The rivers on the coast and the 

 streams in the mountains furnish ample 

 and cheap water power. Some of the 

 industries which would give results are 

 banana planting on the coast, where land 

 and labor are cheap, the crop finding a 

 ready market ; lard-refining, as immense 

 quantities are imported by way of Pan- 

 ama and Cape Horn to supply Ecuador, 

 Peru, and Chile ; cotton and woolen 

 mills for the same markets ; cement 

 works to supply public construction and 

 railroad building; furniture factories, 

 china and glass works, distilleries, and 

 canning and preserving factories — all 

 these industries would find the necessary 

 elements, raw material of the best quality, 

 and cheap labor. For cement the cotm- 

 try provides all the materials ; also for 

 china and glassware ; for shoes, fine 

 leather and hides ; for furniture, a great 

 variety of useful and precious woods. 

 There is enough land on the coast avail- 

 able to supply the banana market of the 

 world. The fisheries around the Gala- 

 pagos Islands, which belong to Ecuador, 

 are well stocked with turtle and codfish. 

 The climate is mild, the sea is calm, and 

 there is abundant salt. There are exten- 

 sive coal deposits in the province of 

 Azuay and gold and silver in the prov- 

 inces of Loja, El Oro, and Esmereldas. 



Ecuador is a rich country awaiting de- 

 velopment, where there are opportunities 

 for the capital and spirit of foreigners. 



The Republic has good currency, 

 cheap labor, plenty of water power, 

 abundant raw material of superior qual- 

 ity, man\- rivers on the coast for trans- 

 portation, and a railroad into the in- 

 terior. But the doors of trade cannot be 

 opened unless the merchants and capital- 

 ists of this country heed the invitation 

 and enter the markets, in which they are 

 assured a preferred place, and lay the 

 lines of mutual trade relations that will 

 redound to the advantage of the coun- 

 tries concerned. 



This initiative must be found here, 

 and it is certain that commercial inter- 

 ests of this country and the American 

 investors will put the sickle into the field 

 sowed by our great Secretary of State, 

 the Hon. Elihu Root, and already ripen- 

 ing. 



Germany, Great Britain, and France 

 are in the field, Great Britain having a 

 larger trade balance to her credit than 

 this country enjoys. The success of the 

 European trader is due to his closer 

 study of the needs of the people. They 

 have their particular predilections in 

 trade, and these can only be ascertained 

 by a careful study of their lives and 

 wants. 



America has the world as her market, 

 but it is in the line of self-interest that 

 she should stimulate, encourage, and de- 

 velop the South American trade. 



PERSIA— PAST AND PRESENT 



THE recent death of the Shah of 

 Persia and plans in that coun- 

 try for a constitutional assem- 

 bly lend special interest to this handsome 

 volume. The author, who is professor 

 of Indo-Iranian languages in Columbia 

 University and a well-known writer on 

 the Zoroastrian beliefs, describes some 



extensive journeys through the ancient 

 kingdom. The chapter on the ruins of 

 Persepolis, which was founded by 

 Darius the Great in 500 B. C, and which 

 flourished for many centuries thereafter, 

 is particularly interesting. Through the 

 courtesy of Messrs Macmillan Co., the 

 publishers, we are enabled to republish 



* Persia — Past and Present. A Book of Travel and Research. By A. V. Williams Jackson. 

 With more than 2co illustrations and one map. Pp. 490. 6}4 by 9 inches. New York : The 

 Macmillan Co. 1906. $4.00 net. 



