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Show uu Predicts Attractive Future for American Manufacturers in Soutli America Having sailed the "seven seas" almost al-most continuously since 1914, without with-out .sign or sight of Hun raider or submarine, sub-marine, E. G. Willems, Dodgo Brothers Broth-ers traveling representative, has just reached Detroit from South America. Mr. Willems brings word that the greatest obstacles to world business today are lack of freight facilities and gasoline, and total or partial embargoes embar-goes in all parts of the world. He predicts a vast enlargement of American Amer-ican world business after the war, but In tho face of keen and highly organized or-ganized competition from several quarters. He says that American business has made considerable progress in South America during the period of tho war, and that tho establishment of branch banks has done a great deal to promote pro-mote North American interests in the nations to the south of us. As he sees the situation, manufacturers In the United States havo now tho best opportunity op-portunity in their existence to take legitimate advantage of the South (Vmerican needs. "North American business men should understand," Mr. Willems says, 'that the representatives they send to South American business houses mould be equipped with a good work-ng work-ng knowledge and command of Spanish. Span-ish. A French scholar is at an advan-:age advan-:age in South America, because near-y near-y everybody of the intellectual class ilso speaks French. Representatives mould have a clear conception of the jatin temperament, nnd defer to La'-;In La'-;In customs as far as necessary." I Since 1911 Mr. Willems has visited1 I Australia, New Zealand. India, the Dutch East Indict, the Philippines; China, Japan, South Africa. Rhodesia, Portugese East Africa. Senegal, Ma-j doira, Portugal, Spain. Great Britain' and South America. In a Portugese! harbor he visited the yacht Nokomis-j now designated merely by a nava? symbol turned over to the United States at the beginning of the war by, Horace E. Dodge. She was well cani3 ouflaged and well armed, her drawing room turned into a machine shop, car-J rying a United States naval crew oi 103, and was flagship of a flotilla unA gaged in war work in the blockade? zone. In July 1917, Mr. Willems sailed on-, a troopship from New York for Lon don, arriving there with one of the very first contingents of Yanks who set foot on British soil Among theid was Kcrmit Roosevelt, who later serv-1 ed with the British in Mesopotamia! and is now in the American arm:.T Mr, Willems intended to return to lh United States from Spain early thiJJ year, but was unablo to do so because of the cancellation of passenger sailj ings to the United States, and wenQ t6 South America instead, returning from there. 1 Mr. Willems had cancelled a pas-f sage on the "City of Athens" fromi New York to South Africa, to go toj Capetown via England. The ' City oQJ Athens" was sunk on that very voya age almost in sight of Capetown harj bor. Mr. Willems, on that very voyoj age, via London to Capetown, passcdO twice through the war zone, but tva not disturbed by the slightest incial dent. |