The Project Gutenberg EBook of Venezuela, an economic report, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Venezuela, an economic report Author: Various Editor: Georgetown University Release Date: May 29, 2015 [EBook #49073] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENEZUELA, AN ECONOMIC REPORT *** Produced by Richard Tonsing, Adrian Mastronardi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) VENEZUELAN AND GEORGETOWN STUDENTS FRATERNIZING AT THE FOOT OF STATUE OF SIMÓN BOLÍVAR SERIES II BULLETIN NO. 1 Georgetown University SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE VENEZUELA AN ECONOMIC REPORT PRESENTED BY STUDENTS OF THE SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE AS AN AID TO THE FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON, D. C. APRIL, 1921 THIS REPORT The first of a series of economic surveys of the commercial areas of the world to be conducted as aids to American overseas commerce by Students of the School of Foreign Service Is Dedicated TO Señor Doctor Esteban Gíl Borges MINISTER OF FOREIGN RELATIONS OF VENEZUELA Upon Whom as Representing the People of The Land of Bolívar Georgetown University will Confer With felicitations The Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws On April twenty-sixth nineteen hundred and twenty-one Digitized for Microsoft Corporation by the Internet Archive in 2007. From University of California Libraries. May be used for non-commercial, personal, research, or educational purposes, or any fair use. May not be indexed in a commercial service. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I PAGE Letter of Submittal of Regent of School of Foreign Service to President of the University 11 Report of Dr. Sherwell, Head of Georgetown Mission to Venezuela 13 Personnel of Group 13 Program of Studies 14 Departure from New York 14 Reception by University of Caracas 14 Message of Georgetown University 15 Reply of University of Caracas 19 Reception at Military Academy 21 Tour of Northern Venezuela 23 Recitation and Research Work 26 Final Lecture 26 Departure for the United States 28 Acknowledgment of Courtesies 29 PART II STUDENT REPORTS Economic History of Venezuela 31 Geographical 31 Political 32 Banks and Currency 33 Aids to Economic Development 34 Government 35 Prospective 36 Population, Immigration, Education 37 Census Reports 37 Most Thickly Populated Districts 38 Need of Immigrants 39 Inducements to Immigrants 40 Educational Facilities 41 Ports of Venezuela 46 Coast Line 46 Major Ports 47 Minor Ports 48 Special Port Activities 49 Port of La Guaira 50 Pilotage and Towage 52 Lighterage and Cartage 52 Stevedoring 52 Port Charges 53 Wharves and Warehouses 53 Documents 54 Ocean, Cable and Radio Communications 55 Shipping Communication 55 Number of Ships Entering each Port 57 Nationalities of Ships Entering same Ports 58 Steamship Lines 60 Red "D" Line 62 Cable Communication 63 Wireless Communication 64 Transportation Facilities 65 New National Highways 66 Equipment and Care of Highways 67 Automobiles in Venezuela 67 Venezuelan Railroads 68 Waterways of Venezuela 71 Agriculture in Venezuela 73 Agricultural Zone 73 Products 73 Coffee 74 Cacao 74 Tobacco 75 India Rubber 77 Sugar Cane 78 Wheat 80 Cotton 80 Tonka Beans 81 Vanilla 82 Cocoanuts 82 Indian Corn 83 Beans 83 Indigo 83 Capital Invested in Agriculture 84 Forest Zone 85 Cattle Industry of Venezuela 87 Number of Cattle 88 Other Live Stock 88 Exports of Pastoral Zone 89 Facilities for Cattle Raising 90 Obstacles to Cattle Raising 92 Recent Developments 93 Centers of Animal Industry 93 Dairy and Canning Plants 93 Price of Land 95 Desirable Regions 95 British Investments 96 Mineral Resources of Venezuela 97 Land Surface of Venezuela 97 Rocks 97 Gold 98 Copper 99 Iron 99 Coal 100 Salt 100 Summary of Ores Mined in Recent Years 102 Petroleum and Asphalt in Venezuela 102 History of Petroleum 103 Mining Law of 1905 103 New Code of 1909 104 First Development of Petroleum Fields 104 Mining Law of 1918 104 Contracts Awarded 105 Opportunities for Development of Petroleum Industry 107 Petroleum Exported 108 Description of Asphalt 108 Occurrence of Asphalt 109 Asphalt Industry 110 Checks, Drafts, Bills of Exchange and Trade Acceptances In Venezuela 110 Function of Credit 110 Extent of Check System in Venezuela 111 Clearing of Checks 112 Laws regarding Commercial Paper 112 Drafts and Bills of Exchange 113 Long and Short Time Credit 113 Foreign Drafts 114 Definition of Trade Acceptance 115 Extension of Usage of Trade Acceptances 116 Commercial Travelers in Venezuela 117 Importance 117 Climatic Conditions in Venezuela 117 Customs Duties on Samples 118 Catalogues 118 Knowledge of Language and Customs of Venezuela 119 Climate of Various Cities 120 Market for Various Products 120 Complaints Against American Methods of Packing 120 Roads and Highways in Venezuela 121 Tables of Distances Between Principal Cities 121 Freight Charges 126 Financial Conditions 126 Currency 127 Venezuela's Tariff 127 Opportunity for American Travelers 128 Foreign Investments and American Capital in Venezuela 129 Venezuela's Public Debt 129 Foreign Banks 130 Public Utilities 131 Other Investments 131 Investment Opportunities 132 Proposed Railroads 133 Foreign Trade and American Goods 137 Foreign Trade in Venezuela 137 Effects of the World War 138 Imports and Exports 139 Summary of Venezuelan Foreign Trade—1917-1919 140 Market for American Goods 141 Complaints Regarding Packing 141 American Selling Methods 142 German Competition 142 Customs Collections 143 American Personnel in Venezuela 144 APPENDIX Closing Lecture in School of Political Science by Dr. Pedro Itriago Chacín 145 Editorial Comment by American and Venezuelan Journals 156 Good Trade Ambassadors, N. Y. Post Express, August 11, 1920 156 Student Fraternization, El Nuevo Diario, Caracas, June 20, 1920 156 Llegada de los Estudiantes Americanos, El Nuevo Diario, June 27, 1920 158 El Profesor Sherwell, El Universal, June 27, 1920 159 Dr. Sherwell Arrives, etc., La Prensa, New York, August 26, 1920 161 Georgetown Students Welcomed in Venezuela, Sunday Star, Washington, July, 1920 163 El Match de Base-ball, El Imparcial, July 18, 1920 164 ILLUSTRATIONS At the foot of Bolívar's Statue Frontispiece FACING PAGE Salutation—Georgetown to University of Caracas 16 Reply of University of Caracas to Georgetown 20 Map of Venezuela 24 Dr. Sherwell and Georgetown Students 31 Rancho Grande and Ocumare de la Costa 49 Bolívar's Home in the Mountains. On the Road from Maracay to Caracas 65 At Central Tacarigua. At foot of Statue of Ribas 97 Ceremonies in honor of Bolívar and Washington 133 Trophy presented to Georgetown Students by Minister of Public Instruction 165 REPORT OF THE REGENT OF THE SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE TO THE PRESIDENT OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WITH RESPECT TO THE VISIT OF CERTAIN STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY TO VENEZUELA. Office of the Regent School of Foreign Service Georgetown University Washington, D. C. March 1, 1921. To the President of Georgetown University. Sir: I hand you herewith papers relating to the visit to Venezuela made by a group of eighteen students in the summer of 1920. These papers comprise a brief report of the trip, by Dr. G. A. Sherwell, who was in charge of the mission, some of the essays on the economic resources of Venezuela, prepared by the students, and, in the appendix, a translation of a notable address delivered by Dr. Itriago Chacín at the close of the Georgetown students' sojourn in Caracas, together with editorial comments from certain journals of this country and Venezuela. I venture to refer briefly to each of these documents. Dr. Sherwell's report makes clear how great was the courtesy shown and how extensive were the facilities afforded to the Georgetown students by the official and academic authorities of Venezuela. I believe the University, and for that matter academic circles outside our own University in this country, must be grateful for the many attentions and unfailing interest manifested by the Venezuelan officials and teachers in the work of these students. Dr. Sherwell's report likewise makes clear that the contact was a valuable one for the particular students who made the trip, and that they bore themselves well and creditably. All the more satisfaction may be derived from this fact inasmuch as the students selected might be fairly taken as a cross section of the student body in the School of Foreign Service,— and you are already aware how widely representative of the youth of our country that student body is. That these young men should have made a favorable impression in a rather long trip of this character when they were under the observation of a great number of persons, and often in situations calling for a demonstration of no inconsiderable poise and sense of the fitness of things, can not but enhance our satisfaction and our confidence not merely in the resourcefulness but in the trustworthiness of the men upon whom this country must depend in the future for the promotion of her trade and the dignified and active representation of her policies. The address of Dr. Itriago Chacín has been reproduced in full,—in so far as a translation can ever render the full effect of an original,—and it is, quite apart from its intrinsic merit, a document of much interest, for it shows how profitable and enlightening must be the studies in the field of political science carried on by students sent out in groups under conditions described in this report. Studies in the field of Political Science are not, to be sure, the primary object of students going abroad to survey the economic resources, the commercial usages, and the facilities for transportation and distribution of commodities in the countries which they visit. None the less, sustained contact with trained masters of political studies may at times be possible, and should in all cases be availed of in order to gain the valuable experience of hearing points of view on matters of international policy developed in other countries and under conditions quite different from those obtaining at home. Space forbids that more than thirteen of the reports prepared by the students be published. Those selected are believed to have the more general interest and to contain material not easily found in other sources. All of them were based upon personal investigation and consultation with Venezuelan authorities. Obviously, there are evidences of hasty preparation and the papers leave something to be desired in the arrangement and presentation of material, the collation of figures, and the critical discussion of printed sources. In places, too, there are statements which might require modification if a more mature person were to assume responsibility for the given report. They are submitted solely as the work of students in process of formation. It is of interest to call attention to the fact that this visit to Venezuela was the source of much favorable comment in the press of the two countries, several papers in the United States dwelling upon its significance as the first formal effort to place our own students directly in contact with the life of the other Republics. Specimens are included in the Appendix. Dr. Sherwell has referred to the bestowal of a decoration on him by the Venezuelan Government, and has minimized its personal significance. This reservation of his I transmit with amendments, for I can not but share the views of the Venezuelan authorities in granting him first, the Medal of Public Instruction and later the Order of the Liberator, that he had rendered Venezuela a lasting service, no less than his own country, by his dignified, gracious, and enthusiastic interest in the promotion of the intellectual and commercial relations of the two republics. The immense practical value of laboratory work in the physical sciences is among the cardinal tenets of sound pedagogy. In like manner, the application of economic principles and theories of political science to actual conditions as they exist in the world to-day is the ideal feature of a liberal education for foreign service such as this department undertakes to provide. Perhaps in no other educational program should more pains be taken to cultivate the faculty of accurate observation, exact expression and bold initiative, based on logical reasoning aided by fertile imagination. Proficiency in the technique of foreign trade or consular practice or diplomatic procedure is but a fractional part of the full equipment of American youths aspiring to serve their country's interests abroad either in public or private capacity. Technical knowledge will be futile unless humanized by a broad sympathy with the men and institutions of other climes. Therefore, the policy of sending such groups of students abroad deserves encouragement, and I earnestly recommend that the Regent of the School of Foreign Service be authorized, on the basis of the substantial success of this first experimental visit, to send such students as it is possible to select and send under competent direction, to other countries in the summer of the present year and hereafter. Respectfully, Edmund A. Walsh, S. J., Regent. To John B. Creeden, S. J., Ph. D., President of Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. Part I Report of Dr. Guillermo A. Sherwell Professor of Spanish to the Regent of the School of Foreign Service Sir: In order to afford the students of the School of Foreign Service an opportunity to practise Spanish and to study at first hand economic conditions in one of the South American countries, it was decided in May, 1920, to send a group of not more than twenty to Venezuela under the direction of the Professor of Spanish. The Knights of Columbus agreed to pay for the expenses of twelve of the students, who were holders of scholarships awarded by that organization to ex-service men, and six other candidates offered to pay their own expenses. Consequently, a group of eighteen was selected in accordance with the following conditions laid down by the University authorities: (1) That the student's mark in Spanish had not been less than 70% and (2) That he had not failed in any other subject of the Foreign Service curriculum. The students chosen were: Paul Babbitt, Arizona J. Homer Butler, Massachusetts Frank Chirieleison, District of Columbia James F. Costello, Wisconsin Walter J. Donnelly, Connecticut Edward Fanning, New York Willard C. Frazee, Ohio Matthew Heiler, Massachusetts Nelson Hopkins, New Jersey William Johnson, District of Columbia George E. Mckenna, Massachusetts Thomas Morris, New York Edward L. Murphy, Pennsylvania James J. O'Neil, Massachusetts Joseph P. Quinlan, Massachusetts David Schlesinger, Iowa Philip D. Sullivan, Massachusetts George A. Townsend, Maryland It was provided that the students should have, each day, an academic hour of formal Spanish instruction while in South America, that they should be distributed among private families where they might have frequent opportunity to practise Spanish and that they should devote a second academic hour each day to recitation and discussion of the economic and financial conditions of Venezuela. Individual research work on economic topics was likewise required. The results of each student's investigations were to be discussed in class so that each student might profit by his fellow-students' labors, each man having one topic on which to report. This program was carried out as it had been planned. The topics, distributed by lot during the sea voyage, were as follows: Economic history of Venezuela. Agricultural and forestal resources of Venezuela. Cattle industry in Venezuela. Coffee industry in Venezuela. Sugar industry in Venezuela. Mineral oil industry in Venezuela. Mineral resources of Venezuela. Ports of Venezuela. Commercial travelers in Venezuela. Venezuela as a field for the investment of foreign capital. Present foreign investments. Banking and currency in Venezuela. History and present status. Venezuelan foreign trade. American goods in Venezuela. Bills of exchange, checks, and trade acceptances in Venezuela. Steamer and cable communications with Venezuela. Taxation and budget in Venezuela. Venezuelan public debt. Population, immigration, and public education in Venezuela. On June 16, 1920, the group sailed from New York on the Red "D" Line Steamship Caracas. Several representatives of the press came on board together with friends and alumni of Georgetown to bid Godspeed to the first missionaries of friendship sent by an American university to South America. On June 26th the group arrived at La Guaira, the port nearest the capital of the country, and was received by personal representatives of the Secretaries of Foreign Relations, of the Treasury and of Public Instruction, as well as by a very distinguished group of students of the different schools of Caracas, headed by their President, Mr. Atilano Carnevali. After lunching at a beach called Macuto, the group was taken in automobiles to Caracas and escorted to their lodgings where two students were placed in each house. On Monday, June 28th, the message, in Latin, from the University of Georgetown, engraved on parchment and addressed to the Universidad Central de Caracas, was delivered to the Venezuelan authorities in the beautiful auditorium of that University. The President of the Council, a body which exercises supervision of the University studies and is the supreme examining tribunal for the conferring of diplomas, announced in brief words the object of the meeting and invited us in the following words, to present the message of the University of Georgetown: "Gentlemen of the National Council of Instruction and Members of the National Commissions; President and Members of the Schools of Physical, Medical, Mathematical and Political Sciences of the City of Caracas; Representatives of the Academies and other Institutions of University Extension; Students, Ladies and Gentlemen: "We have assembled to receive the visit of illustrious guests who bring a noble and generous message from the University of Georgetown; they come at a time propitious for American patriotism and they are going to spend here the month in which we celebrate the date of the independence of our countries. It will be a pleasure for the Venezuelans to do as much as lies in their power to the end that such distinguished guests carry back to their country the most agreeable impressions. You are about to hear the message from the University of Georgetown. Prof. Sherwell will now address you." The message follows. The President and Faculties of the University of Georgetown to The President and Faculties of the Central University of Caracas, Greetings: "We avail ourselves of a mission made with an educational object by one of our professors and a group of our students to send to you and to the students of your University fraternal expressions of affection and comradeship from the University of Georgetown. "The University of Georgetown has developed at the same time that this nation has advanced into its proper life. She has witnessed its struggles for liberty, its efforts to acquire constitutional life, the bloody conflict which was necessary to preserve the union and the last tremendous war into which it entered in order to preserve inviolate the sacred heritage of liberty which our ancestors have handed down to us. "To each one of these conflicts the University of Georgetown has given liberally of its blood, and she preserves sacred the names of those who carried the banner of the Blue and Gray whithersoever the banner of the Stars and Stripes led them. "Identified with the country of Washington since the days of Washington, this University believes itself worthy to regard itself as a sister of the University of the country of Bolívar, and in extending its hand to clasp the hand of its sister, the University of Georgetown presents to the University of Caracas her sincere wishes that the friendship of the two institutions may endure and be as profound as was the friendship of the two liberators for the whole American continent, and as sincere as is the friendship which exists between the United States of North America and the United States of Venezuela. Assuredly there is no stronger bond among men than the pure love of liberty and truth. In this common devotion, racial differences are forgotten and party strife ceases. When Truth and Liberty speak, all else is silent. Farewell. John B. Creeden, S. J., Ph. D., Rector of the University. William Coleman Nevils, S. J., Ph. D., Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Thomas I. Gasson, S. J., Ph. D., Dean, Graduate School. Bruce L. Taylor, D. D. S., Dean, Faculty of Dentistry. George Martin Kober, M. D., LL. D., Dean, Faculty of Medicine. George E. Hamilton, LL. D., Dean, Faculty of Law. Edmund A. Walsh, S. J., Ph. D., Regent, School of Foreign Service. Given at Washington, on the Ides of June, in the year of our Salvation One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty." SALUTATION—GEORGETOWN TO UNIVERSITY OF CARACAS After delivering in Spanish the formal message from the University of Georgetown to the Universidad Central de Caracas your representative added the following words: "The students of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University are very sensible of the honor conferred upon them by this reception in the Assembly Hall of the Central University of Caracas, and especially appreciative of the courtesy shown by this distinguished assembly of selected social and educational elements of this capital. "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. Most of them have passed through the harrowing experiences of the World War. 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. "We have journied hither with only the general knowledge of this country acquired in our schools, but since our arrival at La Guaira, we have passed through experiences which have left our spirits fatigued, if this expression may be permitted, with the constant spectacle of grandeur and majesty never dreamed of before. 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. 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 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. Their characters suggest mountains. "We shall learn more and more of you during our stay, and I hope you will know us well enough to consider us your sincere and permanent friends. "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. My message to you is this: We must use every endeavor in scientific research to extract from nature all that nature has for the benefit of mankind, in order to destroy such evil forces as still molest human beings, to improve our standards of life, to advance upwards to higher levels in thinking and in acting. To accomplish this, we need clear, practical and investigating minds. But beware of the fallacies entertained by those who contend that the mind of man can encompass and explain all truths, and that whatever can not be fully explained by the mind or demonstrated according to the limited means that science may offer is not truth. There are some things above human reason, and to understand them and to explain them we must invoke more than our minds. We must bring to them the best of our hearts. Those great truths that are beyond actual scientific demonstration are not lesser truths, but greater truths. It is not permissible to live indifferent to good and bad as some so-called philosophers pretend, but it is permissible, and it is our solemn duty in many instances, to look beyond science, because there are summits which science does not reach, and to attain which we must fly with the wings of our hearts. The supreme spiritual conceptions of God, of Home, of Country do not fall within the range of the physical sciences, but are, nevertheless, the great, fundamental truths upon which everything noble and everything lofty must rest. "We thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for opening your doors to us in such a frank and cordial manner, and we hope to prove during our stay in this country that we are not unworthy of such friendship." The Minister of Public Instruction, Dr. González Rincones, then read the reply of the University of Caracas and later forwarded the engrossed manuscript to Washington: The President of the Council of Instruction and the Faculties of the University of Caracas to the President and Faculties of the University of Georgetown, Washington, D. C., Greetings: "We appreciate profoundly your message of friendship, and we see with pleasure under the roof of the University of Caracas your distinguished professor and this chosen group of your students. "The fraternal expressions of affection and comradeship which the President and Faculties of the University of Georgetown send us have entered into the hearts of our professors and students, and have found there a most cordial welcome. Your travelers will be able to tell you how great has been the enthusiasm which your visit has awakened, a visit which does not come from a house unknown to us, since besides holding in our memory the scientific renown which the University of Georgetown deservedly enjoys, and the marks of glory of which she boasts, we remember with that fondness which we owe to all that proceeds from the Father of our Country, the special recommendation which he made that Fernando Bolívar be educated in the celebrated and ancient College of Georgetown, which we see to-day converted into a great University. "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