or encourage, through influence with the press, prejudice due to
"Yankee peril" nonsense? In short, is it likely that all our
competitors would suddenly love us just because we were in trouble? No,
things are not as they should be and meanwhile must be dealt with as
they are.

There used to be apparently very little hope of our shaking the tree and
gathering the golden fruit of foreign enterprise unless forced to it by
the collapse, through dire hard times, of the wonderful home market
which has made spoiled children of our manufacturers. Now comes this
war. It forces upon us a wonderful, a unique opportunity to gain and
hold our proper place in the finance, trade, and enterprise of Latin
America. The richness of the field is often exaggerated, but its
cultivation is certainly worth the effort of men of foresight.

What are we going to do about it? This is the question; for if American
business men do not do their part the ultimate effect of the war upon
our economic interests in this part of the world will be unimportant. We
must not be like the young gold miners who were looking exclusively for
large nuggets with handles. We must go at it seriously and
scientifically and solidly, not superficially, casually, and
opportunistically. We must begin with the earnest intention of
continuing our efforts for all time.

An enthusiastic commercial spasm will be worth nothing. There have got
to be real efforts, real hard work, the expenditure of money for future
and not merely immediate profits, a cheerful readiness to discard old
and cherished methods, a new adaptability, a new painstaking attention
to details. There has got to be serious study of foreign countries and
keen interest in our relations to them. Without all this, mailing
catalogues, (usually in English,) banquets and speeches and
organizations will take us nowhere.

American business men are bestirring themselves. They know that we need
ships to carry our goods advantageously, and banks for the favorable
financing of our trade. They should be able to compel our Government's
support where needful, as in a ship subsidy or a limited guarantee of
reasonable profit to American investment in ships. In connection with
our efforts at Caribbean commerce, as another instance, they should be
able to get a flexible sliding scale tariff provision passed by
Congress, so that, in dealing with the countries whose coffee or other
special products we buy, we could induce them to