THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1931. BRITAIN AND SOUTH AMERICA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21244, 27 January 1931, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1931. BRITAIN AND SOUTH AMERICA.

It is reported that the house of •Rothschild has arranged a credit of £6,500,000 for a period of eighteen months for the Bank of Brazil, under guarantee of the Brazilian Government, this being the first stage in the reorganisation of the South American State which is being carried out in accordance' with the advice of Sir Otto Memeyer. The tradition of looking to London for money has been long established in Brazil, and. British capital invested in that republic is estimated at about £300,000,000, or six times as much as the American investment. The country has one dominating crop —that of coffee —which goes mostly to the United States, and nothing for which there is the®same sort of demand in Britain as there is for the meat of Argentina. The resoiirces of Brazil, however, are great, and the future of the country is regarded as assured. The infection of revolution has been somewhat widespread, of late in South America and Brazil has not escaped political disturbances, but she is too much dependent upon foreign capital and foreign immigration to allow competition between politicians to jeopardise foreign interests. Both Great Britain and the United States are closely interested in the development of trade with the South American peoples, and evidently in American commercial circles the tour upon which the Prince of Wales has now started is the subject of speculative regard concerning its possible effect in the promotion of closer business relations between Great Britain and the countries visited by him. A statement in the New York Times conveys the impression that American business men are not at all sure that greater benefits may not result for British manufactures, commerce, and finance from the Prince’s visit to -the Latin-American republics than were derived for the United States through Mr Hoover’s mission in 1928. There may appear something rather droll in a setting of the Prince of Wales and the President of the United States in a sort of rivalry as trade ambassadors to foreign countries, but the circumstances no doubt condone it. The main object of the Prince’s; visit to South America is the opening of the British Trade Exhibition at Buenos Aires, which has been planned on an important scale, and is, of course, a commercial enterprise designed to increase the sale of British goods. While the prestige of the Prince’s presencewill materially enhance the prospects of the success of this undertaking, his tour is not being confined to Argentina, but, comprehending also the other important States of the South American continent, will primarily represent, as The Times has observed, “ an act of friendship towards countries with which Great Britain has been long established.” Through the Brazilian Ambassador in London the great satisfaction of his Government at the impending visit of the Prince to Brazil was expressed some months ago, and the political changes that have since occurred will not affect any more in Brazil than in Argentina the cordiality of the reception which His Royal Highness may expect. While in the present century and particularly since the Great War the growth of American enterprise and investment in the LatinAmerican countries has given the United States a leading place in the economic life of South America, the British stakes in that continent are still enormous, and their economic importance at the present time has been impressively emphasised. In some respects it should be to the advantage of Great Britain from the economic point of view that her attitude has been consistently one of indifference to political changes in the republics. “ During the decades when English capital was pouring into South America,” observes a writer in a current review, “an ultra-rigid doctrine of national sovereignty and independence combined to prevent any suggestion of busy diplomatic activity from this country. To that tradition is due much of the exceptional goodwill we enjoy to-day and the welcome that is given to British capital because it is known that behind it does not lie any ultimate threat of veiled political control.” The gospel of Pan-Ameri-eanism, as relied on by the United States, is not entirely popular in South America, and declarations of political favour from Washington, such as that for instance accorded to the now fallen President of Brazil, are liable to have reactions not altogether conducive to the harmony of trade relations. Great Britain has some £500,000,000 invested in Argentina, but her trade balance with that country has been unsatisfactory. Lord D’Abernon’s commission in the first ease, with its recommendations to British business men to give more thought and time to South American trade, and now the exhibition at Buenos Aires which the Prince of Wales is on his way to open, represent successive steps in an effort to improve the position. It has been pointed out that very poor use has hitherto been made of Great Britain’s strong position as the largest customer of South America for many of the products of the country. •