Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
August,  19 19.  J 
Commercial  Ethics. 
535 
time.  Nor  will  he  refuse  to  report  his  whole  background  and  his- 
tory unless  he  has  something  to  conceal.  I  wish  that  the  habit  of 
commercial  confession,  on  which  North  American  domestic  credits 
are  based,  might  be  emulated  in  Latin  American  countries  instead 
of  it  being  so  often  thought  a  species  of  impertinent  familiarity. 
Of  course,  there  is  no  morality  involved  in  a  transaction  when 
two  traders  meet  each  other  fortuitously  for  the  secret  purpose  of 
tricking  each  other.  When  the  victim  of  "horse  trading"  cries  out 
that  the  animal  he  received  for  his  spavined  horse  was  even  more 
spavined  and  also  foundered,  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic 
Commerce  as  mediator  retires  from  the  paddock  with  a  smile  of 
serene  detachment.  The  Pan-American  deserves  just  what  he  gets 
and  nothing  else. 
Bodies  for  Arbitration  of  Trade  Complaints. 
This  leads  to  mention  of  the  splendid  machinery  for  arbitration 
of  trade  complaints  set  up  between  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
the  United  States  and  the  Bolsa  Commercial  of  Buenos  Aires.  It 
is  a  model  that  should  be  adopted  by  every  South  American  coun- 
try through  its  leading  organizations,  for,  as  I  understand  it,  it  pro- 
vides first  for  helpful  suggestion  to  the  parties  in  the  case,  then 
mediation  by  locally  selected  judges,  and,  finally,  in  the  event  of 
intractability,  for  judgment  in  favor  of  the  injured  party  if  one  ap- 
pears. The  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce  expects  to 
deliver  to  this  impartial  tribunal  all  complaints  that  defy  friendly 
mediation  after  they  come  to  us. 
Please  do  not  for  even  a  moment  infer  from  this  discussion  that 
we  find  Pan-American  trade  relations  greatly  beset  with  complaints 
or  difficulties  of  understanding.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  course  of 
this  trade  for  several  years  back,  even  during  troublous  war  con- 
ditions, has  been  singularly  free  of  conflict.  Instead  of  disputes 
there  has  been  a  constantly  augmented  flow  of  warm  commercial 
sympathy  and  admiration.  The  official  correspondence  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Commerce  with  South  America  frequently 
reads  like  the  billet  doux  of  a  successful  courtship. 
Need  of  Commercial  Creed. 
But  now  that  we  have  learned  one  another's  ways  and  view- 
points, what  common  tenet  of  commercial  faith  may  be  found,  what 
