Latin America and Colombia 



701 



that, with its sister boat, makes monthly 

 trips to the great capital of Brazil. All 

 the others were forced to go via Europe, 

 where six different lines provide a score 

 of splendid, modern, up-to-date, fast 

 ships between the principal ports and 

 those of South America. 



No Latin- American merchant or capi- 

 talist is going to North America on a slow 

 semi-cargo boat, with limited accommo- 

 dations, when there are numerous fast 

 steamers bound for Europe with as fine 

 arrangements as the transatlantic liners. 

 This is axiomatic ; but it means the loss 

 of millions of dollars of trade to the 

 United States every year, according to 

 the direct testimony of South Americans 

 themselves ! It is true that there are ex- 

 cellent freight steamship facilities be- 

 tween North and South American ports, 

 but they do not meet the passenger re- 

 quirements any more than would a purely 

 railway freight service suit the traffic be- 

 tween New York and Chicago. 



REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS EXAG- 

 GERATED 



Too much importance is now attached 

 in the United States to the idea that rev- 

 olutions prevail all over Latin America, 

 and that therefore commerce and invest- 

 ments are insecure. This conception of 

 Latin America as a whole is entirely 

 erroneous, and does our progressive sister 

 republics a great injustice. The conti- 

 nent of South America today is free of 

 serious insurrectionary movements, with 

 few, if any, indications of more civil 

 wars. The tendency of public opinion 

 and the powerful influence of large busi- 

 ness interests in such great nations as 

 Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and 

 Peru are all against revolutionary move- 

 ments, and, although now and then some 

 slight sporadic attempt shows itself, it is 

 most difficult for it to grow into dan- 

 gerous proportions. Then, again, the 

 gridironing of these countries with rail- 

 ways permits the immediate sending of 

 troops to any place and crushing without 

 delay incipient revolts. 



COLOMBIA: A LAND OF GREAT POSSIBILI- 

 TIES* 



Turning now to the direct considera- 

 tion of Colombia as a land of great possi- 

 bilities, I wish first to invite your attention 

 to its remarkable location. Colombia is 

 the only South American country that 

 borders on both the Atlantic and Pacific. 

 It therefore holds a position of strategic 

 value in the development of its commerce 

 and in its relationship to the Panama 

 Canal possessed by no other Latin- 

 American nation. It is the nearest South 

 American country to the Gulf and Atlan- 

 tic ports and to the Pacific ports of the 

 United States. It is the only South 

 American country that has direct access 

 by water to both the Atlantic and Pacific 

 shores of Central America and Mexico. 

 It is the one South American republic 

 that will benefit more than all others by 

 the construction of the trans-isthmian 

 canal. It has in all a coast line of 1,200 

 to 1,500 miles — about 700 miles on each 

 coast, including the windings of its prin- 

 cipal bays and sea inlets. Along both 

 the Atlantic and Pacific shores are one or 

 two excellent harbors, with lesser ones 

 that can be improved by dredging or the 

 building of jetties. In short, it is splen- 

 didly equipped by location to develop a 

 large foreign trade. To give a practical 

 idea of the location of Colombia to the 

 United States, it is well to bear in mind 

 the following facts : 



( 1 ) The least distance between Colom- 

 bia and the United States is only 950- 

 miles. 



(2) From Cartagena to Tampa, Flor- 

 ida, is less distance by sea than from New 

 York to St Louis by land. 



(3) From Cartagena to New Orleans- 

 is only 1,400 miles, or four days' easy 

 steaming. 



(4) From Barranquilla, another Co- 

 lombian port, to New York is almost a 

 straight line, due north, less than 1,900 

 miles and five days' easy steaming. 



For a map of Colombia see the map of South' 

 America in the August, 1006, number of the 

 National Geographic Magazine. 



