uenos Ayres and Europe;
there is no such line between Buenos Ayres and the United States. Within
the past two years the German, the English, and the Italian lines have
been replacing their old steamers with new and swifter vessels of modern
construction, accommodation, and capacity.

In the year ending June 30, 1905, there entered the port of Rio de
Janeiro steamers and sailing vessels flying the flag of Austria-Hungary,
120; of Norway, 142; of Italy, 165; of Argentina, 264; of France, 349;
of Germany, 657; of Great Britain, 1785; of the United States,--no
steamers and seven sailing vessels, two of which were in distress!

An English firm runs a small steamer monthly between New York and Rio de
Janeiro; the Panama Railroad Company runs steamers between New York and
the Isthmus of Panama; the Brazilians are starting for themselves a line
between Rio and New York; there are two or three foreign concerns
running slow cargo boats, and there are some foreign tramp steamers.
That is the sum total of American communication with South America
beyond the Caribbean Sea. Not one American steamship runs to any South
American port beyond the Caribbean. During the past summer, I entered
the ports of Para, Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Santos,
Montevideo, Buenos Ayres, Bahia Blanca, Punta Arenas, Lota, Valparaiso,
Coquimbo, Tocopilla, Callao, and Cartagena--all of the great ports and a
large proportion of the secondary ports of the southern continent. I saw
only one ship, besides the cruiser that carried me, flying the American
flag.

The mails between South America and Europe are swift, regular, and
certain; between South America and the United States they are slow,
irregular, and uncertain. Six weeks is not an uncommon time for a letter
to take between Buenos Ayres or Valparaiso and New York. The merchant
who wishes to order American goods cannot know when his order will be
received nor when it will be filled. The freight charges between the
South American cities and American cities are generally and
substantially higher than between the same cities and Europe; at many
points the deliveries of freight are uncertain and its condition upon
arrival doubtful. The passenger accommodations are such as to make a
journey to the United States a trial to be endured and a journey to
Europe a pleasure to be enjoyed. The best way to travel between the
United States and both the southwest coast and the east coast of South
America is to go