as social customs, commercial usages, simple geographical data, etc., relating to
the countries of South and Central America are naturally matters of common
knowledge in those countries, but are the very things relative to which the people
of the United States need information. Articles dealing with such matters are
therefore published only in the English edition. As an example of recent occur-
rence may be cited the series of articles which have appeared in the English Bulle-
tin under the title ''Exporting to Latin America." Prepared for readers in the
United States by a member of the Pan American Union staff who is an expert on
Latin American commercial matters and international trade generally, these articles
cover in general terms the fundamental principles and chief bases of one side of
trading with Latin American countries the exporting side. The appeal, there-
fore, is to such manufacturers and exporters of the United States who, while
perhaps familiar with the factors that enter into the problem of exporting to
European or Asiastic countries, are neophytes as far as the other Americas are
concerned. Naturally such articles are unsuited to the other language editions of
the magazine. On the other hand, articles dealing with official statistics of the
foreign trade of the various countries of the Union are of interest to all American
commercial concerns engaged in foreign trade whether they are doing business
in the United States or Chile or any other American country. Hence such sta-
tistical articles appear in all editions.
Again, articles dealing with the cultural status of the various countries form
a special feature of the magazine. A series of articles recently appeared in the
Spanish, Portuguese, and French editions which dealt with the artistic development
of the United States, and briefly covered the fields of music, painting, and sculpture,
giving concise accounts of the works of leading artists in their respective spheres.
Presuming that the readers of the English Bulletin are familiar with such works
of their own countrymen, these articles were excluded from that edition.
Many articles, however, besides those on commercial matters deal with
subjects that appeal to readers in practically all of the countries. Such, for
example, are articles describing the larger cities of the various countries, articles
dealing with leading mineral or agricultural products ; accounts of historical and
scientific interest ; non-technical articles dealing with progress in transportation,
including aviation ; sketches showing the present status of the intellectual life and
of educational progress in the various countries, etc.
In addition to the special articles covering matters outlined above, the Bul-
letin gives summaries, in the form of short notes, of new developments in each of
the countries under six special headings, viz.: (1) Agriculture, Industry and Com-
merce; (2) Legislation; (3) International Treaties; (4) Economic and Financial
Affairs; (5) Public Instruction and Education; and (6) General Notes. Under
these general headings are to be found news items gathered from official and
unofficial sources from all the countries. These items cover matters of interest
and important occurrences in the varied phases of development indicated by the
general titles. Here again, notes dealing with important events or occurrences in
the United States are included in the Spanish, Portuguese, and French editions
but excluded from the English edition, these matters having been covered by the
daily press and therefore having lost news value for English readers.
In short the aim of the Bulletin is to be a reliable medium of information
through which may be had a better acquaintance and fuller understanding of the
culture, activities, and general advance in all the complex factors of modern
civilization, of the countries comprising the Pan American Union. Latin American
readers seek such information relative to the United States, while the subscribers
to the English edition desire a better knowledge of the Latin republics^ and it
is this demand that the Bulletin seeks to meet in its several language editions.
Another feature of the publicity department, and one that has an important
part in meeting the demands made on the organization as a bureau of information,
consists in the publication in the form of pamphlets- of special reprints of certain
articles that have appeared in the Bulletin, or of specially prepared matter dealing
362 SECOND PAN AMERICAN COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
with certain commercial information for which there is *a general demand.
Among such reprints of articles that have appeared in the Bulletin may be
noted the series that deals with the leading cities of Latin America, such
as Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Montevideo, Lima, La Paz, the
City of Mexico, Sao Paulo, etc. Another series covers leading American products
such as coffee, rice, rubber, yerba mate, tobacco, cotton, etc., while other subjects
covered by similar reprints deal with various mineral products of the Americas.
Occasionally series of articles covering a single subject, such as the articles on
"Exporting to Latin America," are embodied in a single pamphlet and are dis-
tributed gratis among those interested in the particular subject.
Another pamphlet designed for distribution in Latin American countries
generally, was published in Spanish. It consisted of 40 pages in which were set
out the general system of university education in the United States, calling atten-
tion to special facilities for higher training in cultural and professional courses,
explaining the educational requirements for admission, general courses of study,
degrees conferred, and practical information as to expense, etc., relative to the
leading universities in the various sections of the country. These pamphlets were
distributed to hundreds of educational institutions and public libraries throughout
South and Central America, and did much to attract students from many of the
Southern republics to the United States. It is estimated that in 1918-1919 there
were not less than 3,000 Latin American students distributed among the colleges
and universities of this country.
Special pamphlets dealing with foreign trade statistics of each of the Latin
American countries are prepared by the statistical department of the Pan American
Union, and are published as soon as official figures are received from the several
governments. Translations of laws having special bearing on trade and industry
are made for purposes of free distribution and to answer inquiries relative to these
matters.
Another form of publicity undertaken by the organization is the furnishing
of short, pithy articles to newspapers. These releases to the press cover matters of
unusual interest to the reading public generally and deal with a great variety of
subjects. If a distinguished official from some Latin American country is ex-
pected to arrive in the United States, a brief biographical sketch, often accom-
panied by a photograph, of the visitor is sent to the leading newspapers throughout
the country. If some new enterprise is started, or a new development of an old
industry, or an unusual public work is completed in a Latin American country,
a short sketch covering the subject is sent to the daily press in the United States,
publicity of this character reaching many more readers than can magazine articles.
On the other hand, press releases dealing with special occurrences or events, non-
political in character, taking place in the United States are prepared in Spanish and
Portuguese and are sent to hundreds of newspapers in Latin American countries.
While the subject matter of these releases is usually timely, they do not deal with
matters usually covered by cabled news dispatches of other agencies and thus do
not conflict with such services.
Supplementing these various forms of publications are the activities of the
information section. Hundreds of letters are received daily in the office of the
chief clerk and are segregated and assigne.d to the various members of the staff
for reply. Many of these inquiries can be answered by previously prepared multi-
graphed letters or by the special pamphlets heretofore described. Others require
the attention of experts in Latin American trade and statistics, or need special
research in furnishing the required information.
In this connection, a series of pamphlets containing general descriptive data
in regard to each of the Latin American countries is published. Each pamphlet
covers only one ^country and contains (1) a condensed description of the geographi-
cal and topographical features; (2) a short historical sketch; (3) an account of
the constitutional provisions and interesting facts as to its government; (4) an
account and brief description of its leading industries and products; (5) the most
recently available statistics and analyses of its foreign commerce; (6) a condensed
description of its leading cities; (7) an account of its railways and waterways ; (8)
a brief sketch of its progress in education and its public school system. These
pamphlets thus cover many lines of inquiry, and are designed to answer such
general questions as are usually asked by hundreds of persons in the United States
whose interest in Latin American countries is more or less commercial, cultural and
general. The foreign commerce sections of the pamphlets are revised each year
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PUBLICITY 363
by the statistical experts of the organization, and this feature alone has resulted in
a large demand for these little booklets. Other sections of the pamphlets are
revised as occasion demands.
From this mere outline of what the Pan American Union does in its depart-
ment of publications alone, some idea may be had of the manner in which the
organization^ carrying out the purposes for which it was founded. As to the
merit and utility of this work those connected with it may not judge. It may not
be amiss, however, to cite an instance that occurred a few weeks ago. A tele-
gram from one of the great banking institutions of New York reached the Chief
Clerk's desk. It asked for 100 copies of a descriptive pamphlet on a certain country
and also 100 copies of the special pamphlet dealing with its capital city. The re-
quired matter was at once forwarded. Subsequently it was learned that the Gov-
ernment of the great republic concerned had applied for a large loan for the
purpose of making certain civic improvements in the capital. The officers of the
New York banking institution knew of the Pan American Union's publications,
and in order to inform their correspondent banks in other sections of the United
States in regard to the resources of the country, the municipal government of the
city, the character and enterprise of its citizens, the recent civic improvements
made, etc., they needed the pamphlets of the Pan American Union. To float a large
loan, confidence in the country applying for it, confidence based upon reliable sta-
tistics, trustworthy information as to present conditions in the city in which the
money was to be expended, etc., was necessary. In order to inspire such confidence
among the many financial institutions that were expected to aid in placing these
bonds, the Pan American Union's publications, were distributed. That is at least
some indication that such publications have considerable utility. This single
instance is cited merely because many millions of dollars were involved ; many other
cases in which the Pan American Union experts have been consulted in regard to
national loans for other countries might be mentioned, but in this case so many
institutions were involved that personal consultation was impracticable.
As stated at the outset, this sketch deals only with the publications of the
Pan American Union. To describe its other agencies and activities, such as its
great library ; its remarkable collection of photographs used for illustrating its
own publications and freely loaned to other magazines and newspapers ; the
propaganda carried on by means of addresses, lectures, etc.; its unique exhibits of
Latin American products ; its features of entertainment of distinguished Latin
American visitors, etc., would require a book. Hence the limitation to a mere
sketch of one feature of the unique institution which has for its slogan "Peace,
Friendship, and Good Understanding among all the Americas."
ADVERTISING LITERATURE FOR LATIN AMERICA
BY DR. ANGEL CESAR RIVAS, ACTING EDITOR, SPANISH BULLETIN, PAN AMERICAN
UNION.
Language is without doubt the indispensable means by which we come to know
others and by which we make others know what we are, what we can do and what
is to be expected of us. It is no less necessary in order to arrive at a comprehen-
sion of people with whom we seek to establish relations of any sort. Up to now
the chief stumbling block to the progress of Americanism and consequently the
development of commercial relations between the United States and the other
countries of America has arisen from the difference of language.
Commerce is not merely a matter of exchange of products or of credits. An
understanding of the people with whom we are to deal, a knowledge of their needs,
of their tastes, of their habits, and of their peculiarities is necessary. Likewise,
they too require, since in a great part commerce signifies rivalry, that we reveal
ourselves for what we are, at least in the large, showing them our strength, our
capacity and how we compare with the people of other nationalities.
Before buying and selling we must advertise ourselves, not in the attenuated
sense that the word has in mercantile or newspaper language, but in the broader
?.nd fuller meaning of human relations and of the intercourse of people.
It may be said that the need of advertisement is reciprocal, that the work
should be shared by both equally, not only by the producer of manufactured goods,
but as well by him who offers raw materials for sale.
364 SECOND PAN AMERICAN COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
To a certain point this is true, but only up to a certain point. The manu-
facturer requires constantly raw materials and such he looks for and obtains with
little solicitation within or without his own country. It is only necessary that he
make his needs known.
On account of the difference existing between manufacturing industry and
extractive industry, whether the latter be agriculture or mining, those devoting
themselves to the former have imposed upon them the initiative in the advertise-
ment or the propaganda referred to. The stage of agriculture and mining preceeds
the stage of manufacture- In order that a people may arrive at the latter stage it
is necessary that they should first have attained the former, or if not to be able
to dispose of the elements necessary to acquire the raw materials not produced on
their own soil. Even more, a truly manufacturing people is one that after having
supplied its own needs overflows with its goods into the markets of others.
Necessarily this presupposes an economic status in advance of the agricul-
tural or mining status, assuming that through the accumulation or supply of capital
and of technical ability there may be created wealth not immediately needed, but
which serves as a fund of reserve for use when needed.
In the position that the United States and the Latin American countries oc-
cupy economically in relation to each other, it is the former which is called upon
to advertise itself, shouldering a double burden for itself and for the others. We
say a double burden, because tb the end that the United States may occupy in
Latin American commerce, the place which it should have, it is necessary to tell its
neighbors of the South what it has and the terms of sale, and must inform its
own people what it is that the others need and how to sell to them.
For the first part it is essential to know the speech of the buyers as well as
the art of advertising. Much progress is being made at present in the diffusion of
Spanish and even of Portuguese in the United States, all of which shows without
doubt that while the desired end has not yet been attained the purpose exists.
From what has been already done we may conclude without exaggeration that
Spanish will come to occupy the position in the United States that German occu-
pied before the war. This of itself wo'uld be incalculable progress and a force of
undoubted value. Thanks to a knowledge of the language, the people of the United
States would find themselves in a condition to know the Latin Americans, to fathom
their souls, to appreciate their qualities, to measure their needs, and to formulate
adequate plans to satisfy them. At the same time with the acquirement of the
Spanish and Portuguese tongues they would be able to make the Latin American
see directly and without any intermediary what in reality they themselves are, the
ends they seek, and what advantages the goods they fabricate may offer.
Catalogues in Spanish and Portuguese are unquestionably good advertising
mediums, but on condition that the Spanish and Portuguese in which they are
written be in reality such. The greater part of the catalogues which are sent from
the United States to Latin America are in truth filled from beginning to end with
Spanish or Portuguese words, but one cannot say that they are written in Spanish
or Portuguese. This is not a paradox, for one only needs to read these catalogues
to be convinced that, having been translated from some other language, they pre-
serve the rules of construction peculiar to the language in which they were originally
conceived. The manufacturer or advertiser in the United States must come to ap-
preciate the fact that in order for his catalogues to produce the desired effect in
Latin America it is absolutely indispensable that they be in, good Spanish or good
Portuguese. In English there is a word which suits well the genius of the people
cf the United States; it is "efficiency." In treating of catalogues, or of anything
else, true efficiency consists -in doing a thing as it ought to be done. It is not
necessary that the catalogues be voluminous, it is necessary only that they be in-
telligible, that anyone may understand them. In order to attain the highest grade
of efficiency, advertisers in the United States should judge with care those who
offer their services as translators and keep always in mind the fact that cheap and
rapid work is generally in this field the worst work.
In connection with the catalogue, it would be well if associations of manu-
facturers and chambers of commerce in the United States would publish weekly or
fortnightly well prepared bulletins in Spanish and Portuguese, advertising raw
products, fluctuation of prices, the state of the market, financial and banking move-
ments in relation to Latin America and special recommendations respecting the
preparation of raw materials from Latin America, which would meet the approval
of importers in the United States, and other information of like kind and im-
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PUBLICITY 365
portance- Such publications as this would render infinitely good service in the ex-
pansion of commercial relations between the United States and Latin America, for,
up to ^ now, the commerce of this country with Latin America has been almost
exclusively in the hands of New York commission houses. This expansion would
be produced by direct correspondence between manufacfurer and consumer. This
has been of manifest utility to the more important commercial houses of Latin
America for whatever has been attempted along this line has produced the very
best results.
In respect to newspaper advertising it would be well to discard stereotyped
uniformity, especially when prepared with a view to the psychology of the people
of the United States. Although of the same or similar origin, the countries of
Latin America have each its own proper physiognomy shown in all that relates
to forms. On this account advertisements should be edited with an eye to the
formal peculiarities of each country, in the country itself, or by persons familiar with
the idiosyncrasies of each country.
In respect to making known in the United States the commercial and indus-
trial activities of Latin America, the state of its civilization, the opportunities offered
for the investment of capital, etc., nothing better could be recommended than the
practice which has had such excellent results in the last few months of the New
York Sun which consists in publishing in its Monday edition two or three pages
of articles written by people familiar with the life, the business and the natural
resources of the Latin American countries and short miscellaneo'us notes covering a
variety of matters received from well authenticated sources. If this example were
followed by a single newspaper in each of the principal cities of the United States
the results which would quickly follow would be astonishing. The Sun readers are
able to ascertain from! the news therein published that not only are there revolu-
tions and mutinies in Latin America, but that there exists also a civilization worthy
of respect and of study, and an ample field for the commerce, the industry and the
capital of the United States.
NEWSPAPERS OF LATIN AMERICA
BY W. P. MONTGOMERY, SPANISH-ENGLISH TRANSLATOR, PAN AMERICAN
UNION STAFF.
The newspapers of Latin America are, generally speaking of a more serious
type than are those of a similar class and standing in the United States. They
gather their information with the utmost care, always aiming at accuracy and
truth, and seldom enter, knowingly or unknowingly, the field of purely inventive,
untruthful and sensational news manufacturing sometimes indulged in by some
newspaper reporters and newspapers in the United States. The great influence
which Latin American newspapers exert over the reading public is, undoubtedly,
largely due to the high ideals and lofty aims of their editors, reporters, managers
and owners, and to the keen sense of responsibility of all those who engage in
newspaper work that theirs is a calling not merely for the purpose of a money
remuneration, the paying of dividends or the wielding of political power, but rather
for the higher and more ennobling objects of educating and uplifting, mentally and
morally, the large mass of their readers.
Newspaper headlines in the United States tell the story of the printed matter
which follows, frequently rendering unnecessary a careful reading of the text, &o
that North American business and professional men often only hurriedly scan the
columns of the daily press, glancing at the headlines here and there on their way
to and from their places of business, while at meals or during some lull in the
arduous duties of office, store, factory or other work. An entirely different pro-
cedure is followed in the Latin American countries. The Latin American news-
papers are read and re-read from beginning to end by a large number of their
subscribers. While headlines are used they are as a rule very short and modest
and are nearly always confined to a clear and concise statement of the subject under
discussion, so that it is necessary to peruse the complete text in order to properly
grasp the meaning intended to be conveyed. This encourages and stimulates news-
paper writers in using their best efforts in an endeavor to excell in the art of
pleasing and correct expression in vividly, brilliantly and truthfully portraying in
an elegant and fascinating style such matter as is printed in their columns.
366
SECOND PAN AMERICAN COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
While the circulation of Latin American newspapers is not as large as that
which generally obtains for the same class of publication in the United States,
still the number of subscribers is not a correct index to the actual number of
readers, inasmuch as, due to long established custom and to the inherent polite-
ness and fine sense of consideration for friends and acquaintances, the Latin
American newspaper subscriber passes his paper on to a number of his friends,
until often, after going the rounds, it comes back to its courteous and accommodat-
ing owner worn, figuratively speaking, threadbare. While this custom of lending
one's paper to one's friends may work a hardship on newspaper publishers, in so
far as their circulation is concerned, still it is one of the many straws which shows
the exquisite courtesy and goodness of heart of Latin Americans, and, helps in
circularizing the advertisements contained in the paper.