Georgetown University. School of Foreign Service

“ The students of the School of Foreign Service have been sent to this wonderful country of yours to practise the beautiful Spanish language, to study the economic and financial life of Venezuela, and to live among you your own life and observe your own customs. They come to you with minds set to their work and with hearts open to all impressions which may come from the outside world. ”

“ As we climbed your lofty mountains, which form a great barrier between the heart of your country and the outside world, we were continually passing from one deep impression to another, and at the same time were arriving at a clearer understanding of the character of your people. We saw the humble laborers of the field stand erect as we passed and show that noble type of manhood which has been observable in all the men we have met in this country. ”

“ Venezuelan students have distinguished themselves always by love of liberty, and have sacrificed themselves with Ribas in the holy struggle for our independence. With equal love they venerate Science and Liberty. It is not strange, then, that they are full of joy in receiving envoys of a University which, on the banks of the Potomac and near the tomb of Washington, holds always aloft the ideals which the liberators of the North and of the South loved with passionate devotion. ”

“ Wherever patriotism is alive, wherever there exist the same inspiration and the same lofty purposes, comradeship is not a mere formula, but a union of souls. We feel that we have seen the very soul of Venezuela, and when we leave your hospitable Academy we shall carry away with us a deep respect and admiration for your country, for your institutions and for your army. ”

“ 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. ”

“ You are the descendants and the followers of those men who, under the guidance of Bolívar's mighty genius, traversed this continent holding aloft the flag of liberty, creating countries wherever they went, and writing with their own blood the supreme epic of South American independence. ”

“ You students of this Academy are the hope of your country. She trusts you as a fond mother trusts in the love and protection of her vigorous growing sons. You have an inheritance of which you may well be proud. This inheritance imposes upon you a great responsibility. You are to increase it, never to imperil it. You will never, I am confident, tarnish the purity of Venezuela's glory by not exemplifying the highest ideals of life or by not striving in every way for the promotion of Venezuela's welfare. ”

“ The thinkers of the French Revolution could well be proud of having proclaimed the right of man. To President Wilson will belong the glory of proclaiming the rights of peoples, because the League of Nations does not mean the denial of patriotism, the denial of country, but the glorification of this sublime concept, as the idea of country does not exclude the mother idea of family and home, which was and ever remains its necessary foundation. ”

“ And when we gazed upon the mountains and the huge abysses which abound in this part of the American continent, we ceased to wonder at the marvelous deeds of your famous warriors in your struggle for independence. Backed by men accustomed [Pg 18] to fight and conquer a land of mountains and valleys like your mountains and valleys, a chieftain might well dare to range over a continent fighting for the freedom of his own country and offering freedom to neighboring peoples. Bolívar and the Venezuelans seem in some respects identical with this territory. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It has done more—a thousand times more—to enrich nations than all the mines in the world. It has excited labor, stimulated manufacturers, pushed commerce over every sea, and brought every nation, every kingdom and every small tribe among the races of men to be known to all the rest.
"All bills of exchange, all notes running upon time as well as the paper circulation of the banks, belong to the system of commercial credit. They are parts of the one great whole. ”

“ The future of Venezuela depends primarily on her own people, upon whom devolves the duty of developing in a conscientious and painstaking manner the many resources of their country. It is certain that in the task which lies before them they will need and obtain assistance of foreign capital and advice, and in this, if American enterprise is alive to a great opportunity, we as a nation should bear no small part. ”

“ Reason has striven to replace the reign of violence, the negation of thought, by effecting the progressive development of human society through the force of justice; and, hence it is that every day more perfect relations have been established among civilized countries through respect for the equality of all and through the acknowledgment of mutual individuality, which is in effect a consequence of the respect we demand for ourselves. ”

“ Venezuela is one of the best fields in South America for commercial travelers, as the nation is very rich and has a high standing in the financial world. The natural resources are innumerable and rich, as can be readily realized from the number of countries competing for investments and monopolies at the present time. The large amount of money in circulation and the importance of Venezuelan markets in the export trade has encouraged export houses throughout the world to send representatives to study conditions and eventually place their products in that market. ”

“ The North American students who are going to Venezuela, we are sure, will be able to carry back on their return a fresh and pleasing impression of the noble Venezuelan land, and will be able to understand that on the part of the students of Spanish America there exists toward those of the United States nothing but warm sympathy and a generous brotherhood. ”

“ In many cases the tariff is so high that it is inadvisable for outside merchants to attempt to do business there. For example, it would be very poor business judgment for a shoe salesman to attempt to sell shoes in Venezuela as that industry is well protected by the tariff. The same applies to many other industries. Appeals have been made to the Venezuelan government to lower the tariff but as yet it has not complied with the request. Tobacco is another protected industry. American cigarettes in Venezuela retail for as much as three times the price in the States. ”

“ All countries recognize the vital economic value of ports and with few exceptions can gauge their own prosperity by the nature and number of their harbors. Few countries are more dependent upon their ports than Venezuela. Because of poor inland communication with neighboring countries, and an inability to maintain itself, largely due to lack of manufactures, and due also to a marked dependence upon the outside world for the marketing of its products, this nation is to a high degree reliant upon its foreign commerce and hence, in turn, upon its ports. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Considering the existing monopoly in communication, it is surprising that trade between Venezuela and America has progressed to the extent that it has. Venezuela is a rich country and can supply many varieties of agricultural products to the United States; on the other hand, she must look to the United States for manufactured goods, machinery, etc., to enable her to prosper. There is a wonderful opening for American capital in the country of Simón Bolívar, but it never can be fully realized until ocean communication between the two sister republics is greatly improved. ”

“ It is only too true that the present catastrophe which shook the world has given rise to the thought, the sad thought, that the work of centuries has failed; and truly the spectacle appals us with its magnitude. ”

“ Thus a vital public improvement, undertaken by the Venezuelan Government, operated primarily to establish an altogether new market for one of the chief industrial products of the United States. Yet despite the fact that the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, has a population of 100,000 and boasts of having 1,000 automobiles or one car for every hundred citizens, relatively few motor-trucks are to be seen there or, in fact, elsewhere in Venezuela. ”

“ The greatest obstacle in the way of increased sales of American goods in Venezuela is American selling methods.
In selling the Venezuelan market, German and British merchants have always evidenced a readiness to adapt their goods to meet the requirements of Venezuelans, while it has been the policy of Americans in general, to attempt to force their customers to alter their requirements to fit American goods. The World War, by shutting off Europe from South America, helped certain American dealers to force on Venezuela goods which the merchants of that country did not want. ”

“ Venezuela stands to-day upon the threshold of great interior development especially in agriculture and cattle-raising. Her position is similar to that of the United States after the Civil War when vast areas, sparsely settled, lay awaiting the movement of population to develop them. Her mineral resources are practically untouched and opportunities await foreign capitalists who are familiar with the development of new countries. ”

“ It seems as if we were approaching the realization of the generous idea of Cicero and Seneca; man is nowhere a foreigner; his true country is the universe. The dream of a Magna Civitas, the ideal city of humankind, is taking shape. ”

“ They crossed the seas to the European battle fields to defend the cause of liberty for which America stands, and now, upon returning to the activities of civil life, they are preparing themselves for a better service to their country by improving their minds, with the ultimate purpose of promoting the foreign trade of the United States. They have much to learn, and you have much to teach them. They are in your hands, and I am sure that the University of Georgetown could never hope to provide better instructors for students of Latin American affairs. ”

“ To the young men who study in this University I must say a few words, yielding to the old tendency of men accustomed to speak from the chair or the platform of the classroom. It would seem that every teacher should have a message to deliver to the youth of his country, or to those of any other country of the world. ”

“ The customs duties of Venezuela are very high, more so than in many other Latin-American countries. The high protective tariff has been a means of increasing the revenue of the country but on the other hand it has made it practically impossible for the poorer classes of Venezuela to purchase foreign made goods. Another purpose of the high protective tariff is to protect home industries but the fact remains that the manufacturers in Venezuela can not supply the demand. ”

“ Every natural advantage is afforded in the working and developing of iron ore deposits in Venezuela. In a metallic mine, value depends more upon its fertility and less upon its situation.
It is otherwise with coal. The value of a coal mine to a proprietor frequently depends as much upon its situation as upon its fertility; hence we may deduce the conclusion that the iron mines of Venezuela being both fertile and commercially well situated, should have a compelling interest for foreign capital, especially American capital, in its search for profitable fields of investment. ”

“ Now that the war is over and Europe is hastening to pick up the slack ends of her world trade, America is liable to lose a large part of her war-won trade if she does not immediately alter her previous attitude. "With the exception of flour, lard, lumber, cement, certain lines of dry goods, typewriters, cash registers, sewing machines and a few other articles in which Europe does not compete, the main current of importation into Venezuela has been from European countries, which [Pg 142] have for many years made a careful study of the merchandise and packing requirements of the Republic. ”