LATIN AMERICA

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 70, 15 December 1932, Page 8

LATIN AMERICA

Badly Hit by Slump URUGUAY’S TROUBLES Resident’s Gloomy Picture An interesting, if gloomy, picture of the economic conditions prevailing in South American countries is given in a letter to a relative in Wellington by Mr. Walter Mason, a resident of Montevideo. Mr. Mason is well known in the Rotorua district. "We are in an awful state here,” writes Mr. Mason. “I have all my money in Argentina and Uruguay, and cannot get my exchange to send home. I got permission after a lot of trouble to send a few dollars, but business is awful and everything is closing down. Two of my investments of about £lOOO each are not paying dividends. Some interest is due me from Buenos Aires, but I cannot get it transferred here unless I exchange it privately with someone who wants money over there.

“We are going back to the days of exchange and barter,” Mr. Mason continues. “All farm products are very low in price, but all the same living is dear in Montevideo. Cattle, sheep, and wool are down. Locusts are eating up the new crops. In fact, we are down and out for the present.

“An English pound note sells here for 13 dollars gold. Two years ago it was only worth 4.85 dollars, so you can see our own money is not much good.

"I don’t know how it will end. Nobody knows

War aud Revolution.

“They have been fighting in Brazil for the last ten weeks, and Santos, the big coffee port, has been closed for that period. There is also fighting at Chaco, between Paraguay and Bolivia, and also between Colombia and Peru. Chili has been having revolutions. Risings have taken place every week or so for months past. Even the volcanoes in the Andes are joining in, and we have been covered with ashes several times just like snow. Just now they are very bad again. The rivers are full of pumice, while the ash floating in the air gives one the impression of an eclipse of the sun. That, however, is higher up nearer the Andes. Earthquakes Common.

“Earthquakes, too, are common,” continues Mr. Mason. “Ominous noises like explosions are heard frequently. . .

“I am getting on in years, but cannot see what good lias come through being actively engaged in two wars. (Mr. Mason served in the South African campaign and in the Great War). It has all been of no avail.

Since Mr. Mason wrote the above letter news has been received by cable of the death of his wife, formerly Miss Rama Butt, of Rotorua, a step-sister of Mr. H. D. Bennett, of Wellington.