CONDITIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA.
In view of the present conditions of political unsettlement in South America, additional interest centred in the speech delivered on Tuesday by Mr. R. J. Hose to shareholders of the Anglo-South American Bank. For it is the custom of the Chairman of that Institution each year to survey the prominent features and developments of the countries in which the Bank's operations are carried on, and Mr. Hose is not a Chairman to shrink from that summary because conditions happen to be unfavourable at the moment. Concerning the position in Brazil, Mr. Hose did well quietly to emphasize the fact of the magnitude and size of the country. In a sense that, of course, is an obvious fact, but it largely explains why it is so difficult at the moment accurately to gauge the position, or even to obtain very complete information. Moreover, the fact also cannot be disguised that one of the chief fears of those who are watching developments in Brazil is lest the Revolution should last for a sufficiently long period to involve serious physical and financial loss. With regard to Argentina, Mr. Hose very properly observed that the recent disturbance was in the nature of a coup d'etat rather than a revolution and that the new Provisional Government was composed of leading
citizens representative of the best elements in the Republic.
Previous page
