GERMANS IN SOUTH AMERICA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 14048, 19 July 1916, Page 6

GERMANS IN SOUTH AMERICA.

STRONG BID FOR BOLIVIA. Much interesting reading matter is furnished by Sir Gilbert Parker m his rtcent work on the war, entitled, M The World m the Crucible." He strongly insists on the danger of allowing the Cf-rmans to perfect their scheme of obtaining control of South America, and quotes the German publicist, Schmoller, .who stated: "Little by little, slowly ~ii.d surely, Germany is securing the trade of Bolivia. When she has done t:«at entirely, she will have secured ' the plenitude of influence, a complete nigral and material supremacy, and a colony acquired without war or exovnse." Mr. R. P. Lawrence, of the wellkpown Sydney firm of civil engineers, L-.wrence and Chalmers, returned to Sydney from Bolivia yesterday by tho Sierra, liaving travelled by way of Panama, New Orleans, and San Francisco. Accompanied by an Australian tir -dredging expert, Mr. W. Bethume, lie went out by way of Buenos Ayres and the trams- Andean railway, and spent some months m Bolivia, thoroughly examining , into the possibilities before a tiivmin.ing proposition m which he was interested, as a director bf the Sydney promotion company known as AustraLßolivia, Ltd. "My mmmg -report," he said, "must first be made to ; jny co-directors and our .shareholders.. 1.,' will at onoe concede, however, that although I went prepared to be surprised, it was not until I was there some time that J actually grasped the lull significance of the situation. The potentialities before alluvial tin-mining iv that country i»e simply immense. "Germans m South • America ! Yes. Here .m Australia I doubt if people have other than the most vague ideas about how German influence has Pf-i---meated'tly? South American republics, especially Chile, Bolivia, and Brazil. For instance, both Chile and Bolivia have their armies trained by German instructors, who at the same time always scheme for political control. German military officers, assisted by the resident Germans, publish The Military Gazette, which purports, by its title, to be the official organ of the Chilian army, but is a purely private concern. Yet its title caused weight to be attached to its opinions. Of course, it is purely pro-German, although, written m Spanish. '♦A few years ago tho ' English were the most numerous of all the foreigners m Bolivia. Now the Germans and : Austrians, including Dalmatians, are iv a majority. , Their influence has, of course, been cHppled by the war, but it is still strong, although, as a whole, I should say the , South American peoples were pro- Ally m their wax sympathies. Happily, the Americans are making a very determined bid for trade and influence generally. They are already largely interested m many promising mining ventures. It> is their opportunity, as, indeed, it is also ours. Before the war", most of the importing houses m Potosi, the chief mining town, were German. There was one French, but no English or American. Those of us who are interested hope to see an improvement on that state of affairs. Now is- the opportunity of the Englishspeaking people. But they must go about their work energetically. "We have always to remember that, however primitive her mining efforts, Bolivia is a very important tin producer, taking .second, place to Malaya alone. Bolivia is Probably the richest mining country m the World, producing especially tin, . wolfram (for tung? .sten), silver, gold, copper, and bismuth. Now that railways have been opened, there is a big rush of foreign capitalists and engineers to pick up the mining properties. Austral-Bolivia, Limited, is fortunately placed, and can Rteb preferential treatment from Bolivian owners. It can now acquire valuable options over tip and wolfram mines, also bismuth; but, if Australia is to hold her own at that game, it i? absolutely necessary to have permission from th© Australian Government to spend money there at onoe. Options cannot be held indefinitely. Really a wonderful opportunity exists to obtain control of a large portion of the metal industry of Bolivia-, but it must be now while Germany is unable to compete there. "Tlie titles! An approved title is, I should say, as secure m that country now as m any country m the world. There are, of course, two distinct sorts cl' titles. The one is frequently disputable. For instance, I took occasion to consult fully 'Dr. Rocha — who is recognised as the leading legal authority m the republic — as to our Austral-Boli-via titles, and duly obtained his certificate that they were indisputable. I iiad no concern on that score after a very brief sojourn m Potosi. "What impressed me most? Oh, it's tho little tilings that te11... The immense mineral and industrial potentialities of the country ai_ very impressive. So is the fact that even at an elevation of nearly 16,000 feet above sea-level^ travelling along the highest railroad m the world, om> can breathe m comfort and enjoy life to tho full. But — how on earth do the people continue to live and thrive for generations on such food as they habitually eat? It's all olive oil, and chilies! And. I'll never cease to marvel how a city liko Potosi, for instance, continues to prosper, unvisited by fever, plague, or pestilence, and still * remains iii innocent ignorance of even tho faintest approach to anything m the shape of a sanitary systehi." • mmmmmmmmmmmmm^mm