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8 11 HI AT of the future of Mexico? rf What of the future business and social relations between the United States and Mexico? II V are neighbors. Should we be fed on suspicion and act on prejudices from a lack of understand ing or should we be neighborly, study their problems and their needs and act toward them as a good neighbor should act? Surely the latter! There was a meeting of Americans and Mexicans in Mexico City the past month, to discuss problems of interest to both nations. 7 he Dearborn Inde pendent sent a staff man there. This article and others to follow are the results of his observations. Mexico. D. F.. Mexko, March, 100. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY Americans, bank ing representatives, merchants, and industrial executives are returning to their American homes. They, with more than two hundred Americans and Mexicans, residents of this country, have been meeting in Mexico's capital, in the first trade con ference of its kind ever held in Mexico, to bring about a better understanding not alone in trade relations, but in relations between the peoples of the two nations. The tangible results of such a meeting often are dif ficult to discern immediately upon its close, but that much good will come out of the United States-Mexico Trade Conference, convened under the auspices of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, whose guests the American visitors were, can safely be proph esied by one who has attended the sessions. For years Mexico has sold more goods to the United States than to any other nation; likewise. Mexico has imported far more from the United States than she has from any other country And the remarkable feature of that is that wherein for years European busi ness interests have made it as easy as possible for Mexican business to develop trade relations, American business interests in a measure have made such rela tions most difficult, at least from the Mexican view point. Through this conference, in which plans were dis cussed and formulated whereby American business in terests may have a fuller understanding of the Mex ican people with whom they have relations, it is hoped that the work accomplished at the meetings may be spread through trade papers and American meetings until a true appreciation of the methods to be employed to do business in Mexico shall be apparent to all interested. Trade With U. S. Exceeds All Others FOR the most part. American business interests which have sold to Mexicans have for years done business either on a cash basis or on such slight credit as to be practically negligible. On the other hand, it is shown that European industries always have been most eager to extend the most favorable credit terms, and that, except for the intervention of the Great War, it might be expected today that Mexican business rela tions with the United States would be seriously im paired. The war, how- Americans Hold Conference in Mexico on Trade By HAROLD W. ROLAND Ob III! Dl VKHOKN INDFPFNDFNT STAFF 'walk away w ith s-.fi it ill tint Ur : 1 1 o to I I l M 1 1 IlUn JI ill ii- " . . , trade in this country. "War conditions naving ccawi to govern," he continued, "other nationals arc coming forward with credit terms that Americans seem un willing to give. "Today, right in this field, representatives 01 bU ropean manufacturers and exporters are working under a distinct advantage in being prepared to extend credit, while American manufacturers and exporters with but few exceptions are still trying to maintain the cash basis which has prevailed throughout the war in for eign transactions. The very fact that Kuropean com petitors are ready and willing to go back to the terms of payment which were in effect before the war would indicate that the attitude of American exporters is not entirely justified. "Our trade with Mexico during the period of the war was on a strictly cash basis with but few excep tions. American commission merchants, and manu factures' agents and representatives insisted upon a partial cash payment of the invoice value of import orders, with the balance usually covered by sight draft against documents, payable cither in New York or at the Mexican port of entry. As far American ship pers are concerned there has been little change. Plenty of Credit u A WORD as to the practice of other nationals may i be of interest. It is reported that it was a com mon practice of English merchants to sell on pen account charging four and one-half per cent on unpaid balances. That was the manner of doing business with companies of good standing with whom they were well acquainted. Small buyers were often drawn on against shipping documents. Competition in some Inn s often forced six to twelve months' credit. Within a few weeks a salesman for a Manchester firm has been of fering cotton goods on six months' credit. Of course exchange gives the European shipper an advantage at the present time and it is a matter over which there is no control. However, the shipper from the other side i too good a business man to leap in the dark, and the facts which make a man a good risk are no hidden secret, with one person as able to get such data as another. "Many of the local French houses have followed the English practice. A number of the large dry goods concerns have resident buyers in France. It was a common practice for German firms to sell goods on six and eight months' time in many lines. "Selling goods on fifteen and thirty days is not con sidered credit in this market. Our shrewd foreign merchants think of credit in terms of four and six months, with a willingness to extend for a longer period if necessary. One should bear in mind that it takes the larger part of a month to get a shipment here from the States, then another month and often more to distribute goods to various points in the Republic where only the most primitive transportation facilities exist. "Three to six months often pass before any return is forthcoming for goods delivered. When the ex porter is making a fair profit, there is no goo ream why he should not assist the importer to tain degree by extending fair credits. "An energetic merchant in Mexico City who is a ual BUCCefS in every sense of the term tells i that unfilled promises have done much harm to A - rican exporters but nothing has done so much damage as the requirements of cash with order when si ipmeot cannot be made immediately. A Banker's View ii LOCAL banker refers to the credit question in ii even stronger language when he says, 'Inviting a man to pay cash with his order is practically the same as inviting him to purchase elsewhere,' and when it is realized how difficult it would be to establish a do mestic business under such conditions, it is apparent why trade with Latin America cannot be built up in that manner. "To make a success of the business of exporting to Mexico credit must be extended by American manu- s an example of the trade that America and Mexico have had with each other, and the comparisons the figures here given reveal, statistics for the year of 1()1(), the last that can be called normal in Mexican trade because of the internal difficulties the coun try has experienced since that time, are as follows : Mexico imported from: United States $112,000,000 Great Britain 22,000,000 Germany 20,(XM),000 France 17,000,000 All other countries 20,000,000 MexiO exp rted to : United States $19 x) Great Britain 28.000,000 Germany 8.H M KK) France 12,000.1 MO All other countries 12,000,000 ever, made it necessary for Mexico to continue do ing business with the States, on the terms of the American business people with whom it was neces sary to have relations, but already the representatives of Furopean houses are actively engaged in a widespread campaign to take away from America the advantages she has en joyed because of the war, and these Europeans are offering credit t e r RIS which never have been considered by Americans who are doing business in this country. It was Mr. Frank P. Mclntyre, chairman of the committee on sta- tistic. w ho explained most clearly and compre hensively the needs of Mexican business people in the matter of credit, the means employed by Euro peans to build up trade in this country, and the re quirements Americans must fulfill if they are to continue to hold the lead and develop that lead over other competition as ad vantageously as it can be furthered by progressive activity. Mr. Mclntyre said that it was most desirable to emphasize that Americans facturers. While it must be done carefully, experienced merchants in business here will point out that there is just as large a percentage of honest and honorable merchants in Mexico as elsewhere. There are several reliable sources of information to aid in making de cisions as to whether a person in business here shall be given credit. "Mexico for the American exporter is a logical market at his very doors. If the product- I other nationals crowd those of the United States of the race it is the fault of the American business n who suffer, for with a little study it would be I ible to meet the need When American The Governors of Mexican States (C) Underwood 4 Underwood in Mexican TM IS picture shows the governors Of the various states of Mexico at the time o! their gathering in ii . u : r : u : - vrrr MvK,u,m 10 "q hrsi Sunday J.. 1 1 rv i buvuki iuois di men i.ui s. inn vu nwi nave me appearance oi the "tvnical" i ith M i,ii'tliral 4s. air Kit r. -. . MAJMfl mm !..t.lli.nt 1 . 1 -I iv nimi v u.-t, vui me a vci in-. in, iiuiiiikiiii tpMctr iiik garnering 01 UK n Photo shows left to right, sitting: Augustin M.iian, State of Mexico; Candido Aguilar State of i ( ruz; Carlos Castro Morales, State of Yucatan; Federico Montei Mo, ,,t (..,;.,. Etpinoaa afirelea, State of Coahuila; Dr. Alfonso Caber, State of ffia i Luf. CSSSWi of JalUco. Standing: Maximo Rojas, State of Tlaxcala; Severino Martinez Mate ,f V I ,1 P Jos, E. Santos, State of Nuevo Leon; Francisco Figueroa, State of iurrrrr.. C i, ,1 ' ' o?V' .a n i a c,u 'c,B c xt , , . uuerIcro Salvador Argain, State 'V ' i i w , j i au.ntu uc Man i iau, oiaic i ny a i u , i ue )ias r lores St 'Ue of Midi' 1 ' Genamfesj, State of Aguascalientes. Some other governors at the sonvantkm an not inthU group. L here, ire anx ious to take np the ques tion in a mutual helpful way it will be found that one of the most ii iportant export requir- ettti winning? the good wiu 9 t h e Mexican cu I uner is more liberal ext isiofl of reasonable credit terms. Without QU ort. of the most beneficnj talks given thi several hundred delegates jra1 that made by Mr. John J Arnold representative ot t h e American Hankers Association, and super visor of the international business of the Bank ot Italy in San Francisco, who discussed -'International Banking." Mr Ar' nold pointed out that eco nomic pressure brougm about the European waij clarified to the point o simplicity the internationa financial situation as i extatcd before the war. a it has been left as a re sult of the war, and toin what, in his opmiC WSi necessary to rehabilitate conditions gem ' was his argument t o 'crL:( forced tnai growu. day the war, and that w America as a result : o the exchange of secur that