The Germans, who have to all intents and purposes taken possession of the connections, but not of the affections, of the Salvadoreans, which formerly were the almost exclusive holdings of the British, are now to be found everywhere. They not alone year by year further extend the tentacles of their trade by all usual means and methods, but they make a point of coming out to reside for a number of years; and this is one of their strongest holds upon the country. The Germans are prepared to endure any personal sacrifice in the way of comforts or conveniences to make and maintain profitable commercial relations with the people of the countries among which they elect to trade. In the majority of cases they open branch-houses in the chief cities of these countries, sending either one of their partners, or, failing him, one of his junior relations, to live in the State and personally conduct the business of the house and closely study the conditions of the country. Dozens of bright, intelligent, and enthusiastic young Germans are met with, who have been, perhaps, but a few years away from school or college, serving in their shirt-sleeves, without a blush or sense of humiliation, behind the counters at the small country stores, opening their establishments at 6 a.m., and closing them at 8 or 9 p.m., Sundays and weekdays alike.
I have asked many of these young fellows how many years they have been in the country, and how many more they mean to remain. Some have been quite new arrivals; others have been, perhaps, serving in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and other of the Latin-American States; but none of them, apparently, think of going home, even upon a temporary visit, in less than ten years, and to all appearances they are perfectly happy to be where they are, not even saving money, but building up a trade connection for themselves or for their employers, as already indicated—in most cases their relations—which may one day prove valuable.
I may say that, although these same young Germans live quite like the people of the country, eating the same food, occupying the same kind of houses, rising and retiring at the same primitive hours, and not infrequently even marrying into their families, they maintain all the cleanliness of their own lives and habits, and are always as orderly and as well-conducted in all relations of life as any self-respecting young man need be.
While it is true that the Germans do not succeed, any more than North Americans, in ever endearing themselves to the inhabitants of these countries of the South, they do most assuredly earn the respect and the esteem of their neighbours, and succeed in living for many years in their countries, surrounded, as is found the case, by occasional revolution and internecine troubles, without in any way becoming involved in the vortex.
This cannot be truthfully said of the average American, who comes down either upon a business or a pleasure trip; the political affairs and the border complications seem to have a peculiar and dangerous fascination for him, and, as in the case of the celebrated "Little Jack Horner" of nursery memories, he must have a finger in the pie. As often as not, the "plum" which he at length succeeds in pulling out proves to be a fairly indigestible one, and he is compelled to drop it and make a bolt from the kitchen rather precipitately, too.
It would appear, from the statistics which are given in a previous chapter (see p. [106]), that Great Britain in 1909 led in the net value of the country's foreign imports. The figures, however, must not be read in the light of competition only, but in the much more disturbing aspect of the closeness of their totals to the completion attained by the most serious rivals to the United Kingdom—namely, the United States and Germany. The returns for 1910 prove this.
Comparison has been made with the figures of 1904 (which were selected for the special purpose referred to), and I now desire my readers to glance at some of more recent date.
For the whole of the Republic the foreign importation of merchandise for 1908 was as follows: Packages = 267,791; kilogrammes = 18,830,121. Value: $4,240,561.21. Out of all the different countries concerned, we are interested for the moment in three only—namely, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States of America, and these returns stand as follows:
| Packages. | Kilos Weight. | Value. | |
| $ | |||
| Great Britain | 42,613 | 3,740,138 | 1,539,046 |
| Germany | 29,605 | 2,542,732 | 442,860 |
| United States | 146,857 | 9,765,056 | 1,287,452 |