A TRADE WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 38, 13 August 1932, Page 11

A TRADE WAR

AEaENTINE S.TBXJ^&LE'

BRITAIN MEET^ AMERICA

II Brazil- is the Garden"-^off 'Eden, where Adam and Evey'very overworked," are struggling with'prolific nature,.and Uruguay a social experiment, Argentina is the arena of the greatest trade battle known t6 the modern' world. •' Here Englandj.'tß'e United Spates,'and'to a minor extent Germany, are struggling for supremacy in a market inoreor'less essen-. tial .to their economic rehabilitation. It is. a titanic conflict, but then every-thing-in. the is on the same colossal scale, writes Kdsita Forbes in the London ''.Daily Telegraph." ".No imports. except where absolutely essential" is a watchword inaugurated to' retrieve the Argentine, of trade, -But it is, a. temporary one, for-;ArgeHtina-cannot,vin ,onr genera* tion, be self-supporting.--She is too large: Her population is fast increasing, with families numbering^ anything up to a couple: of dozen, bnt-unlesa she finds herself ones again':in a position to encourage•and organise suitable immigration, so that->heri r r home markets ■will be^developed, she'is not likely permanently, to" limit her imports., For'many: years,■•■therefore, the Bepub'lie must depend ;-.; on her' foreign trade: Until the general.V "depression made, itself felt ~iii: the-'-wheat and cattle markets; the* Argentine, with an annual turnover 0f'£350,000,000, had by far', the largest: per' capita export and import business'.iri • jfche.worlcL ■ This, then, is the arena of the modern commoreial '' invaders: ■ British, American, 'and, 'German. -jjFor generations, of course,- the British have considered Argentina, as.. thei*; .economic; aliy.VTq her^service* fif t^ 0? sixty years ,agq ttey'devoted not "only the .capital which, built two-thirds of the and the first banks and business houses, but the- courage and enterprise: which developed new-provinces and opened up virgin forests for the planting of fruit and' sugar-cane.. " >■.••■'::=.?■■ ■ . ■ . ; Englandl s complement. The pioneer spirit, of j England gave •the Argentine, a, chance, to. cultivate her unrivalled .resources.' Cdnsequently, England is inevitably and vitally interested in strengthening her links with a progressive and productive,, country, to which she contributed her own spirit .of-initiative, andin/^hich to-day she recognises the qualities 'essential to success. . ...- , : '. - -.■+ ...•' , ■ ■ '. - To a certain extent- the .British colonies and' Dominions 'must.be; the rivals of the Mother Country,- Involved as they are' in industrialisation and enlargement. !of their home- markets, they are beset-by the same prpble.ms as Great Britain,. whereas,' the /Argentine, with the -vast, resources- of her- soil,/is the-natural complement of :-a "manufacturing country. . . ... ... ... . Englishy merchandise "followed the first mud roads'' across the length 1 and breadth of the Argentine, and was itself followed by--English- investment. To-day there : is^ ■something like & 600,000,000 of-British capital in the* Eepublic, represented by a.wide' range "of interests, from railways to ranches. This vast conglomeration; of' 'capital, which, with the''inevitable renaissance, of the Argentine, may be as productive in the future as in the past, is threatened, not by the: aggressive nationalisation of equally new but less far-seeing countries, but by the industrial armies of America and .Germany. ' The United States talk frankly of a market "dropped in their laps." They need to sell only 10: per cent."of what they produce, whereas out Of 'every pdund's worth of goods manufactured in Britain w:e must sell' nearly :7s. worth abroad. ; .. -::.' .• . The Argentine receives the' bulk of her income from England, .for wo buy her wheat • and cattle; - - In- comparison the U.S.A. takes very'- little from her great southern customer, but as she also is a new nation, building rapidly and scrapping what she r.does' not require, thinking in. miles instead of .yards, creating every year :more and more ingenious machines to -.. eliminate' man power in the of vstst areas, and producing quantity 'for. the masses rather than quality for the individual, she has .the advantage as a salesman. - ■)■■_ AMERICA'S AXXACE. ~ ; -■: At this moment America is. con'testiiig our trade offensive in'the Argentine' with the strongest counter-attack she has ever launched overseas.' • ' , ', Kealising that South America is her "biggest business bet" and the' v only portion of an over-borrowed ' world where financial intercourse is likely to foster material goodwill, she sees her economic future concentrated in the Argentine. And: she probably, isn't far wrong! ' ' ' •■■■■--■ . • . There are many areas in the Republic which could multiply their-, output three to Jive times if costs of /production" could bo reduced.. . : . The swallow-immigration which totjk its wages out of the country at the end of six months' work,.or scraped a modest fortune from the earth it rented for a few seasons and returned to spend it in Italy, is dwindling. Future settlers will become as Argentine as the men with Scotch and Irish names who cannot'speak a word of what was originally their language. ■-'•'.■'".' - The post-war habit of travel which sends tourists- farther afield/-every" year must, as soon as times, improve, force upon the Argentine her -unique possibilities as a playground. ' She has everything to offer visitors, tired of an overcrowded Europe. Geographically and individually she is cosmopolitan, and she is receptive of now ideas and new influene.es, alert, optimistic, nitcl quick to roc-over lier poise after years [of slovenly dictatorships.