DELEGATES TO THE SECOND PAN AMERICAN COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE. or hostility to any of the other American Republics, and made an appeal for Pan American solidarity and concord. Hon. Homer L. Ferguson, president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, outlined the participation of his organization in fostering trade relations with Central and South America, and pointed out the fact that before the United States can deal with Latin America it is necessary to have better means of communication. In the evening session of Monday, Hon. Louis Brownlow, president of the Board of Commissioners, and Mr. R. N. Harper, president of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the delegates on behalf of the District of Columbia and the business men of the Nation's capital, respectively. After these speeches the actual work of the conference began with the general review of the Pan American commercial situation, taking up the Latin American countries in their alphabetical order. The discussion on Argentina and Bolivia consumed the rest of the session, at which the speakers were Señor Pablo Roth, of the Union Trading Co., of Buenos Aires, and Señor Ingeniero Jacinto Anchorena, of Buenos Aires, both of whom gave some very practical suggestions as to the promotion of business relations between the United States and Argentina. Señor Julio Zamora, financial agent of Bolivia, was prevented by illness from delivering his paper, which was read at the morning session of Thursday. The Secretary of Commerce, Hon. William C. Redfield, was the first speaker of the morning session of Tuesday, followed by Señor Dr. Francisco Tudela y Varela, ambassador of Peru. Secretary Redfield, after giving a review of past and present trading conditions in the United States, pointed to the spirit of the Department of Commerce, saying that the interests of the countries of the Western Hemisphere are mutual, all of which are essentially one in any large and in any deep view of commerce and industry, and that the prosperity of North, South, and Central America is inextricably inter woven. The Peruvian ambassador, Señor Francisco Tudela y Varela, then took the floor, and in his speech offered suggestions for increasing the commercial intercourse between the United States and Latin American countries, with special reference to Peru. The discussion of countries was then resumed, the remainder of the session being devoted to Brazil and Chile, papers being read by the following: Senhor Theodore Langgaard de Menezes, commercial secretary to the Brazilian embassy; Senhor Sebastião Sampaio, Brazilian consul at St. Louis; Señor Ernesto Montenegro; Señor Felix Nieto del Río, of the Chilean information service; and Señor Enrique Bunster, of Chile. In the afternoon session of Tuesday the discussion on Chile was continued, and followed by papers and discussions on Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Panama, the speakers being Señor Francisco Escobar, consul general of Colombia in New York; Mr. John Meiggs Keith, president of the chamber of commerce, San Jose, Costa Rica; Señor Porfirio A. Bonet, commercial attaché to the Cuban legation; Señor Gustavo R. de Ycaza, consul general of Ecuador in New York; Señor Francisco Sánchez Latour, chargé d'affaires of Guatemala; Mons. Charles Moravia, minister of Haiti; Señor R. Camilo Diaz, chargé d'affaires of Honduras; Señor Juan B. Rojo, counsellor to the Mexican embassy and chargé d'affaires; Señor Pedro Gómez Rouhand, of Nicaragua and New York; and Señor J. E. Lefevre, chargé d'affaires of Panama. At the evening session the minister of Paraguay, Señor Manuel Gondra, opened the discussion on his country, which was followed by papers and discussions on Peru, Salvador, Uruguay, and Venezuela, led by the following speakers, respectively: Señor Carlos Alvarez Calderón, of Peru; Señor Atilio Peccorini, secretary of the legation of Salvador; Señor José Richling, consul general at large of Uruguay; Senor José Santiago Rodríguez, of the special financial mission of Venezuela; and Señor Nicolás Veloz, consul general of Venezuela at New Orleans. The discussion of special commercial topics was begun at the evening session of Wednesday, devoted to the subject of shipping and other transportation including aviation. Hon. Edward N. Hurley, chairman of the United States Shipping Board, opened the discussion with an address in which he made the important announcement as to new steamship lines to be inaugurated in November, and which will cover all ports of Latin America. The mayor of New Orleans, Hon. Martin Behrman, then took the floor, and was followed by Mr. George L. Duval, of Wessel, Duval & Co., who delivered a most practical address, in which he called attention to the fact that shipping is of course important, but only as a means, the main thing being to get the goods to be transported by ships. The addresses on aviation which followed, by Mr. Augustus Post, secretary of the Aero Club of America, Capt. Charles J. Glidden, and Capt. M. L. McCullough, United Army Air Service, showed how practicable it is and how near we are to seeing aviation render most valuable help in the promotion of Pan American trade. Dr. Grosvenor M. Jones, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, also delivered a paper on the subject of shipping. Trading methods, including merchandising, commission service, and direct trade, export, and import combinations, weights and measures, etc., were the subjects discussed during the afternoon session of Wednesday, which was opened by Dr. Burwell S. Cutler, Director of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. The other speakers of the afternoon were Señor Carlos Arellano, of Mexico City; Señor E. T. Simondetti, of New York; Dr. William Notz, of the Federal Trade Commission; Mr. Benjamin Catchings, of New York, Dr. George F. Kunz, president of the American Metric Association; and Mr. F. A. Halsey, commissioner, American Institute of Weights and Measures. Hon. Otto Praeger, Second Assistant Postmaster General, opened the discussion of the evening session of Wednesday, the topics being parcel post, trade-marks and copyrights, consular and other trade. regulations. The discussions were led by Mr. Frutos Plaza, of Montgomery Ward & Co.; Dr. M. Díaz Irizar, director International Trade Mark Bureau, Habana, Cuba; Hon. James K. Newton, United States Commissioner of Patents; Señor Vicente Gonzales, trade adviser, Mercantile Bank of the Americas, New York; Dr. Frank R. Rutter, statistical adviser, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com merce. The very important subjects of financing trade, investments and loans, including credits and government aid to commerce, were taken up at the Thursday morning session, presided over by Dr. Leo S. Rowe, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, who, in his opening address, made inspiring statements regarding the strengthening of the Pan American financial situation. In the course of his address Dr. Rowe announced that President Wilson has decided to convene the Second Pan American Financial Conference on Monday, January 12, 1920. Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip, until recently president of the National City Bank of New York, then took the floor, delivering one of the most remarkable addresses of the conference, in which he declared that Europe is on the verge of industrial collapse-a catastrophe from which she can be saved if there should be a group of nations, including all the countries of America, which would lend not money, but materials, equipment, and food necessary to get the European industries started again. Charles M. Schwab, president of the Bethlehem Steel Co., in a happy address told of his pleasant business experiences with the South American countries, and declared that he and his company had so much confidence in the honorable intentions and treatment of American capital in Latin America that he was risking his all upon the basis of securing the raw supplies of ore and other materials from South America. "I have never," said Mr. Schwab, "had other than the pleasantest, the most straightforward, and the happiest outcome The principal meetings of the Second Pan American Commercial Conference were held in the Hall of the Americas of the Pan American Union building. Draped behind the rostrum are the flags of the 21 countries comprised in the Pan American Union, statistical maps of the two continents are shown beside the flags, while on the double columns on both sides of the room are hung charts, showing the latest statistics of the foreign commerce of each of the countries. |