FOREIGN TRADE OF VENEZUELA, 1830-1910.
Solid line = Exports. Dotted line = Imports.
As may be seen from the tables in [Appendix B], the largest exporter to Venezuela at the present time is the United States, with Great Britain second and Germany third. It is only within the last two or three years that the United States have advanced to this position of superiority in the trade of the republic, Great Britain having previously held the lead. There is little need to inquire into the cause of this influx of American goods, when in travelling through even remote parts of the country one meets with travellers exhibiting and praising American inventions and manufactures such as are calculated to appeal to the Venezuelan public, and this in spite of the fact that at the present time the American, as such, apart from his personal attractiveness or otherwise, is not persona grata in the country. The big stores, with branches in most of the more important towns, are mainly in the hands of Germans, but the goods sold are largely British and American. More than one of them attributed their possession of this trade to the fact that they are willing to live in the country and work there for a far smaller return at present than the British trader; but the day of small things is not to be despised, and in view of the expansion of trade and the amelioration of the standard of living evident at the present time in Venezuela, there is a great opportunity for British merchants to adopt the persevering tactics of the German, and to some extent the pushfulness of the American, not only to increase the sale of their products already shipped in large quantities into Venezuela, but to do the selling themselves.
The chief medium of exchange has been continuously since 1812 the coinage of the republic, which was at first issued after the Declaration of Independence from the old royal mint at Carácas, but for many years all the best known European moneys of the higher denominations were accepted at a fixed rate. In 1848 the franc was for a short time adopted as the unit, followed by the Venezolano (1854), and in 1879 the bolivar, equivalent to a franc, was first suggested, but only finally standardised in 1891, since which time it has remained the unit.
Banks were first established in the early eighties, but the big commercial houses, both before and since that time, have carried on a good deal of banking business. The recognised banking institutions of the country are three in number, all being permitted to issue notes pending the establishment of a long-mooted National Bank.
The Banco de Venezuela has a nominal capital of B 12,000,000, of which three-quarters is paid up. A charter was first granted by the Government to a group of Venezuelan merchants and capitalists on March 24, 1882, to form a Banco Commercial, but in 1903 it became, and has since remained, national as well as commercial. In August, 1890, the bank was reconstructed as the Banco de Venezuela, with a capital of B 8,000,000, the charter to hold good for fifty years; it underwent a second reconstruction in 1899, since which date the nominal capital has been B 12,000,000, divided into 600 shares of B 20,000 each, in the hands of 276 shareholders. The note issue is B 2,000,000, and the reserve fund at the end of 1908 was B 1,200,000. The dividend declared that year was equal to 8 per cent. on the total capital. The bank has its headquarters in Carácas, with fourteen agencies in the towns of the republic.
The Banco Carácas was incorporated on August 23, 1890, the charter holding good for forty years. The nominal capital is B 6,000,000, divided into 600 shares of B 10,000 each, and there are now 137 shareholders. The note issue is B 801,000, the reserve fund at the end of 1908 being B 579,483, while the dividend declared in that year was equivalent to 3·9 per cent. on the capital. The bank is wholly devoted to commercial business, and has its headquarters in Carácas, with various agencies throughout the republic.