The last important railroad which the country needs is one from the Yuruari River to the Orinoco. About the region of Yuruari are rich gold mines which are only worked to a small extent and in a very primitive way due to the impossibility of bringing the necessary machinery to the mines. Not only would a line connecting the two rivers do this but it would also pass through rich grazing lands. Then, too, only a short distance to the east are the iron mines of Imataca, still unworked due to the lack of transportation facilities.
Railroads are, then, the key to a double prosperity—prosperity for the foreign investor and an opportunity for Venezuela to take her proper place in the markets of the world. It seems inconceivable that here, close at hand, potential factors of great wealth are lying dormant awaiting the magic touch which in this case must come from the railroad, the forerunner of civilization. Dipping further into the future, we can see other results which would quickly follow the opening up of this great country,—an increase in immigration, consequently a larger market in which to buy and sell. And whom should it benefit more, the United State close at hand, or Europe a week further away! Time alone will decide, but this point can bear emphasis again and again that now is the propitious hour when, due to the recent war, American goods are being sought for in increasing volume by Venezuela. But England is already in the field and Germany is striving hard to regain her lost place in the sun. It behooves all of us, therefore, to strive with might and main to consolidate the position in world commerce which was thrust upon us and there lies no better path to that end in South America than along iron rails constructed by American capital in the sister Republic of Venezuela.
Joseph P. Quinlan.
FOREIGN TRADE OF VENEZUELA AND AMERICAN GOODS IN VENEZUELA
Part I
Foreign Trade of Venezuela
Where there is population, industry and resources, there will be international trade. Venezuela is lacking in population and her industries are scarcely in the first stages of development, but she possesses natural resources which command a world market. The three essentials of commerce are: (a) transportation, (b) freedom of labor and exchange, (c) security; and at the root of all trade must be moral integrity.[21]
[21] Ency. Brit., "Commerce."
Until the beginning of the present administration, Venezuelan commerce has been fitful and unsatisfactory. Under the Gómez régime, however, the country has taken great strides forward, especially in internal development and in the establishment of a national credit of which it is justly proud. As a result, her foreign commerce, except for a slight falling off at the beginning of the war period and a rather sharp decline in 1918, has shown a steady growth.