No. 200.
Mr. Moureau to Mr. Hunter.
Sir: In compliance with your circular of August 19, I beg to state the following:
The commercial relations of the United States and this country are very insignificant, and I shall try to explain the reasons thereof to the best of my knowledge.
Under the Spanish rule of Mexico commerce was monopolized entirely by Spain, with total exclusion of all other nations, and those monopolies went even so far as to prohibit the raising or manufacturing of a great many articles in this country, in order to oblige Mexico to import such things from Spain.
After a whiles-when Mexico made itself independent, still by far the largest part of its commerce, as well as its mines and agriculture, remained in the possession of Spaniards, and, so far as agriculture is concerned, remains so still, although mining interests have passed into the hands of the English, and a good share of the commerce is done by German houses as well as French houses. American commerce is hardly represented at all. This fact I think is the result of different coincidences, namely: First. That at the time Mexico declared its independence the United States had so much to attend to at home, and capital there found fully enough good investment, that people did not look abroad for commercial relations; while Europe, where capital was superfluous, eagerly caught the opportunity offered to establish new business relations, and succeeded in this so well that, up to the present [Page 265] day, by far the greatest part of all importations are made by European houses. Therefore, it would require the establishment of large American houses in this country, who, by giving extraordinary inducements, might change the present current of business, and bring it home into its natural course, although it would also require that our manufacturers should condesend to manufacture the particular styles of goods generally used in the country. Whether all those exertions would be compensated, I rather doubt, at least as long as the present state of misery and lack of confidence prevail; and thus far there are not even the most remote signs of a change for the better.
The second reason is, that the state of affairs, politically as well as financially, of this country is too well known and understood in the United States as to induce our commerce to invest capital on a large scale here; and business men there would a great deal rather trust their goods to China than to this country; and I know of a good many instances where merchants in this country, whose credit is good to any amount in Europe, were refused it in the States.
There does not appear to be any wish nor willingness on the part of our commerce in the United States to improve relations with this country at all, and, the way things are here at present, this is but prudent.
If our government does wish to induce American commerce to come to this country, then the principal and first thing to be done would be to take the necessary steps to give the necessary security and protection to such property, and the certainty to get full and immediate redress in a case where this property is unlawfully taken from them.
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