40 
SOUTH AMERICA 
oF ENLIGHTENING 
Rocer W. BABSON, 
AT MANCHESTER 
Roger W. Babson of Wellesley 
Hills, one of the vice-presidents of 
the Manchester Trust Co., was the 
SuBJECT TALK 
BY 
speaker before the Manchester 
Brotherhood at its semi-monthly 
meeting Monday evening. Mr. 
Babson visited South America last 
fall and his talk Monday night was 
along the line of his observations in 
that country. He said in part: 
“T have just returned from an 
18,000 mile trip about South Amer- 
ica where I heard 18,000 stories all 
of which were different. This will 
be an effort to boil these 18,000 
stories down to one simple tale. 
“First let me say that we show 
great ignorance in speaking of South 
America as a unit. It is too large 
and varied to refer to in any such 
terms. Even one country—Brazil— 
is as large as our United States, and 
its coast line alone would stretch 
from Boston to Liverpool. And 
there are ten distinct and different 
nations in South America alone not 
counting the Guianas. Considering 
all of Latin America we find there 
are twenty different countries. 
“The table-lands of the north 
which include Venezuela and Colum- 
bia are beautiful, but their utilization 
is too far distant to interest us now. 
Our children may be able so to travel 
about in these countries that it will 
be practical for them to buy land and 
raise cattle, coffee and the like. To- 
day, however, the good lands are in- 
accessible for practical purposes. 
Excepting for a few cities, the north 
can be forgotten for the moment. 
“The West Coast including Ecua- 
dor, Peru, and northern Chile is 
doubtless rich in minerals, nitrates, 
etc., but it need not be seriously con- 
sidered today. Perhaps our grand- 
children may go there for agricul- 
ture; but irrigation must be used. 
Considering the vast unused areas in 
other portions which do not need ir- 
rigation, it is useless now to consider 
the possibilities of Peru. Here again, 
with the exception of Lima, Anto- 
fagasta and two or three other cities, 
the West Coast north of Valparaiso 
may be forgotten for sales opportun- 
ities or other immediate possibilities. 
“This is especially true so long as 
the present sanitary and_ political 
conditions exist. Unfortunately, I 
cannot pass judgment on Bolivia. I 
am told it is very rich and has a 
bright future. Sometine, I want to 
make a long visit to. Bolivia. It ‘s 
said to be very rich in minerals and 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder 
also to present fine possibilities ; 
while land there can now be pur- 
chased for almost nothing. 
“Valparaiso and Santiago are good 
cities. Valparaiso (next to San 
Francisco) is the largest western 
port on the Pacific Ocean. Although a 
breakwater is under construction, the 
harbor is now only an open road- 
stead and ships must go out to sea 
when certain storms arise. More- 
over, Valparaiso is built in the side 
of a mountain which, with the city’s 
susceptibility to earthquakes, makes 
building rather unattractive. San- 
tiago, however, situated less than one 
hundred miles inland, is an attrac- 
tive city. These two places combined 
offer a good market for our goods. 
The south of Chile is a fine country 
—fertile and rich in timber with 
some coal. There also are good 
rivers suitable for both irrigation 
and water power. But with all these 
good things combined there is not 
much. The valley is less than one 
hundred miles wide and the southern 
portion is fit only for sheep raising. 
Hence, although attractive and a 
good place to live, it is not large 
enough to get excited over. 
“The East Coast of South Amer- 
ica is another story. Every inch of 
it is fertile and its vastness is beyond 
comprehension. A large portion of 
the East Coast is low and humid. 
The South is too wet and the north 
too hot. There are insects of all 
sizes and varieties, snakes of known 
and unknown brands, not to mention 
the natives which vary from the high 
grade intelligent Argentine scholar to 
the naked, savage Brazilian Indian. 
“However, with all these difficul- 
ties, I am a great believer in the Fast 
Coast of South America, not only 
for my children and grandchildren 
but for this present generation. The 
section from Bahia Blanca, Argen- 
tine, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 
(1500 miles) extending about 400 
miles westward, is a gold mine. 
Moreover, being as large as all of 
our country east of the Mississippi, 
it is worthy of careful study. 
“This area includes the best part 
of Argentine, the whole of Uruguay, 
most of Paraguay, and the southern 
part of Brazil. Argentine is the 
wonder of America Its farms are 
beyond description. Its cities are the 
most active imaginable. Its people 
are as fine as you would want to 
meet anywhere. I had just as soon 
live in Argentine as in the United 
States. It should. become a great 
customer for our goods. Uruguay 
is a little country; but very much 
alive. It is now almost wholly de- 
voted to cattle raising. Argentine 
has many fine cities, Buenos Aires, 
Rosario, Mendoza, Rio Blanca, and 
the like. Uruguay’s energy is cen- 
tralized in Montevideo. 
“Paraguay is very rich in timber 
and cattle lands. It, however, is 
now inhabited only by indians and 
hence, lands are very, very cheap. In 
Argentine, Uruguay nor Paraguay 1s 
there any manufacturing to speak of 
today. These countries for years to 
come will be great exporters of 
grains, cattle, and their by-products, 
and are importers of manufactured — 
Every live U. S. A. manu-: 
goods. 
facturer should have branches in this 
section which is on the verge of a 
great awakening. 
“In this section, I also include 
southern Brazil which is my favorite 
land of all so far as climate goes. 
Here is a great section eight hun- 
dred miles long and four hundred 
miles wide situated on a_ high 
plateau. It is healthy, cool and com- 
pares very favorably with any sec- 
tion of any land. It is the southern 
California of South America and 
Sao Paulo is its capital. This city is 
located 2500 feet above sea level and 
hence a few miles from the coast. 
Its port is Santos from which our 
coffee comes. Sao Paulo has now 
over 300,000 people and will soon ~ 
Any ~ 
have 1,000,000 of inhabitants. 
one desiring to go to South America 
to live should at least visit Sao Paulo 
before settling elsewhere. 
“Sao Paulo is also the center of 
the manufacturing industry of South 
America. Outside of southern 
Brazil there is little manufacturing; 
but I was surprised at the textile 
mills, shoe factories and other plants 
located in Sao Paulo. In my mind, 
climate is a great factor. I have al- 
ways confined my investments to fer- 
tile but cool climes. Sao Paulo is 
the center of just such a rich and 
temperate region. | Space does not 
permit me to treat further of this 
here; but in our special South Amer- 
ican Service will from time to time 
mention definite money making op- 
portunities which this region offers 
to North American capital. 
“Let me say, however, that the 
only safe way to invest money or to — 
sell goods in South America is to 
arrange with some good catholic 
young man in whom you have con- 
fidence to go there and live. There 
is nothing in these flying trips nor im 
long distance control. If we U. 5. 
A. citizens hope to do anything per- 
manent in South America, we must 
adopt the German apprentice system 
where the best young men go to 
foreign fields for periods of ten or 
more years, often marrying native 
May 7, 1915 
