i n. : L\1 IN AMERICA i. ’VARSHAW LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. F 1.4-08 .W29 Section. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/newlatinamerica00wars_0 THE NEW LATIN AMERICA BAY AND CITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO FROM SUMMIT OF CORCOVADO. THE NEW LATIN AMERICA J. WARSHAW, Ph D. Professor in the V niversity of Nebraska; Corresponding Member of the Hispanic Society of America With an Introduction by JAMES E. LeROSSIGNOL, LL.D. Dean of the College of Business Administration, University of Nebraska NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1922, By THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY Printed in the United States of America TO MY WIFE Hazel .Marie Warsljabi WHOSE ASSISTANCE AND ADVICE HAVE BEEN INVALUABLE TO ME INTRODUCTION The average American of these United States who re- members his geography may know that America was discovered by an Italian from Spain, that tobacco is grown in Cuba and coffee in Brazil, that the Amazon is the largest river in the world, that the forests of those regions are full of tapirs, jaguars and boa constrictors, that the condor of the Andes is one of the largest birds, that cattle abound on the pampas of Argentina, and that revolutions are endemic in Mexico and Central America; but he would have trouble in carrying on a conversation of ten minutes about Latin America, and the writing of a thousand-word essay on the subject would drive him to despair. To such a person Dr. Warshaw’s admirable book should come as a revelation, expanding his intel- lectual horizon, mitigating his provincialism and his Anglo-Saxon prejudice, and teaching him to recognize and appreciate the truly remarkable achievements of Latin-American civilization. It is, indeed, surprising to find urban conditions in Latin America so similar to those of the United States, although in every part of the civilized world they seem to be conforming to certain types. Buenos Aires, for example, is a great seaport comparable to any of our own, with the usual ships, wharfs, railway terminals, derricks, flying cranes, grain elevators, packing plants, stores, office buildings, magnificent streets, electric lights, trolleys, motor cars, hotels, banks, churches, schools, hospitals, art gal- leries, newspapers, theaters, movies, and all the other con- ventional equipment of a modern metropolis. Even in the country districts one finds the most approved agricultural and mining machinery, roads, railways, bridges, telegraph lines, irrigation works, and fences, even, so like our own that one wonders whether Latin America is being “Ameri- canized” or whether the material progress so characteristic vii Introduction viii of the United States is but a phase of a far wider movement going on in every part of the world. The same question arises as one reads of the more strictly cultural side of Latin- American life : the magnificent build- ings and the noted scholars of many universities, the fine Law School at Pernambuco, Brazil, the Agricultural School at Sayago, Uruguay, the Military School at Rio de Janeiro, the Palace of Fine Arts at Santiago, Chile, the Coyoacan Art School of Mexico City. And then, of course, the cities have their leading merchants, manufacturers, physicians, lawyers, educators, clergymen, architects, painters, musi- cians ; nor are the women ’s club and the feminist movement lacking to complete the picture of up-to-date, progressive civilization which is rapidly spreading everywhere and doing so much to unify the world. While thus pointing out the resemblances between Latin- American civilization and our own, Dr. Warshaw by no means ignores the many points of difference due to race, history, geographical conditions, economic resources, and the savage background, which in some of the countries makes their civilization shine with a brilliant and almost lurid light. The ways of the Latins are in many respects different from ours, but all things considered, they have achieved notable results in encroaching upon the primitive savagery and in discovering and exploiting the vast re- sources which lay at their disposal, though frequently in difficult, if not inaccessible places. In this process of development the Latins have been greatly aided by foreign capital and adventurous spirits from the British Isles, Ger- many, Italy and, more recently, from the United States, many of whom have been consoled for their self-imposed exile by rich material rewards. Not a few of these have settled down among their Latin friends and neighbors, and it is interesting to find in Chile and elsewhere their descendants bearing such names as Tomas Le Breton and Vicuna Mackenna, reminding one of the old time soldiers of fortune of the British Isles who used to take part in foreign wars and whose descendants are now found in many parts of continental Europe. Introduction IX Of all the foreign pioneers of Latin America the most highly esteemed have been the British, because of their large investments and their reputation for solidarity, sin- cerity, and other sterling qualities. As Dr. Warshaw well says, “The word of an Englishman ( palabra de ingles ) is the gold standard of commercial honor throughout Latin America.” During the past generation the Germans have pushed the British hard, and they are now recovering a considerable part of the trade lost during the war. Of late years the trade of the United States with Latin America has much increased and is likely to grow to large proportions as larger investments are made and our com- mercial representatives establish themselves more per- manently in the countries where they do business. There are now about 100 branches of American banks in Latin America, of which about 42 are controlled by the National City Bank of New York. United States capital, too, has been invested in shipping companies, the fruit business, meat packing, nitrate fields, mining and other lines of development — all of which contribute to the expansion of trade and to friendly relations with our fellow Americans. Naturally, Dr. Warshaw has something to say of the Monroe Doctrine, the Panama Canal, Pan-Americanism, and other international questions, and his comments on the Latin point of view should help us to see ourselves as others see us. It will surprise many people to learn that Latin Americans are more or less touchy on the Monroe Doctrine, that they consider our protective tariff a serious handicap to their foreign trade, that they resent our patronage, suspect us of imperialism, speak of the “Yankee Peril,” and, in general, dispute our claim to primacy in Pan-American affairs. All this gives food for thought, and suggests that our merchants, manufacturers, investors, bankers, ship- owners, railway magnates, statesmen, and the general public must become more ‘ ‘ internationally minded ’ ’ if they would establish friendly and profitable relations with our Latin neighbors upon a firm and lasting basis. James E. LeRossignol. PREFACE My chief aim has been to present a faithful picture of progressive Latin America, the Latin America of to-day, the Latin America which is still too generally unknown. Scores of books have dealt with the history of Latin America or of the various Latin American countries, scores of others have summarized the impressions of travelers, many have been compiled from commercial data, and a few have furnished their readers with chapters or apergus on specific signs of social, political, and economic im-' provement: but practically none has attempted to offer a comprehensive and reasoned account of the onward moving Latin America of the present moment. It is, nevertheless, the last -mentioned Latin America which should appeal most to the general reader : it is that Latin America about which the general reader needs most to be informed : and it is with that Latin America that the public of the United States, above all, should become more intimately acquainted. The point of view to which I have tried to hold con- sistently has been that Latin American discussion ought now to be couched in the tone in which the discussion of European or American affairs is habitually carried on. The attitude of the cultured tourist observing strange phenomena in primitive lands is highly to be deprecated: and the sooner it is set aside in reports on Latin America, the better. Frequently, and perhaps tediously, throughout the book comparisons have been made with progress in the United States and with the gradual change of opinion in Europe, and particularly in England, concerning the resources and potentialities of the United States and the cultural and social evolution of the people of the United States. The essential unity of Latin American customs, manners, and morals with southern European customs, manners, and XI Xll Preface morals has also been stressed. No doubt some of the argu- ments contain elements of weakness: and it would be too much to hope that the legitimate comparisons should now be accepted in toto or at their full value. Yet I can see no escape from employing approved historical methods of measurement in setting forth evidences of advancement in Latin America. What has been applied successfully to other countries should, it seems, be applicable to Latin America also. I have, in so far as I am aware, no special propaganda to further with regard to Latin America, though my belief in the desirability and necessity of inter-American friend- ship has not, I trust, failed to show itself unmistakably. I am not anxious, nevertheless, to condone the genuine faults, inconsistencies, or prejudices of the Latin American nations. I am persuaded that Latin Americans have the same number of merits and defects as other peoples : but I am positive, likewise, that they have no more. On the other hand, I am convinced that the general public of the United States has never sufficiently recognized the worthy qualities and accomplishments of their Latin American neighbors: and I am sure that what is well known and thoroughly familiar to thoughtful students of Latin Amer- ica will often appear surprising and almost incredible to the casual reader. During the preparation of the following pages, valuable assistance, which is here gratefully acknowledged, was re- ceived from the Pan American Union, the National City Bank of New York (Our South American Trade and Its Financing, by Frank O’Malley), the Guaranty Trust Com- pany of New York ( Bank and Public Holidays Throughout the World), the Bankers Trust Company, New York ( List of Foreign Correspondents) , and Mr. Harry Weston Van Dyke, Washington, D. C., for lists of banking institutions in South America. The author acknowledges also his in- debtedness for material concerning Latin American news- papers to Dr. W. E. Aughinbaugh ’s Advertising for Trade in Latin- America, and to the Gotham Advertising Company. The trade statistics given in the Appendix are taken Preface xm from figures published by the Pan American Union, Wash- ington, D. C., January, 1922. The figures for Latin Ameri- can trade given on pages 107, 108, and 109 are from an article in the South American, May, 1921, based on a Latin American trade circular issued by the United States De- partment of Commerce, April, 1921. On page 308 the figures for 1919 and 1920 are taken from the Commerce Report of the United States Department of Commerce, April 6, 1921. I acknowledge with pleasure my indebtedness to Dean James E. LeRossignol of the College of Business Adminis- tration, and to Dean Philo M. Buck, Jr., of the College of Arts and Sciences, of the University of Nebraska, for their constant encouragement during the preparation of this book. J. W. May 20, 1922. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part One CHAPTER I PAGE Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts 1 A Comparison with the United States — Five Common Misconceptions — Sympathetic Appreciation of Latin American Customs Important — Immense Size of Latin America a Permanent Reality — Transportation — Im- mense Coastlines — Superiority of Latin America in Waterways — Water Falls and Water-Power — Grandeur of Latin American Mountain Scenery — Climate — The Negro Question — The Indian Question — Latin America not Effete — Examples of Latin American Energy — ■ Latin American Magnitudes — Possibilities in Growth. CHAPTER II The End op Isolation 27 Penetrating Forces — Shortening of Distances to Latin America — Emergence from Isolation — Increase in Ship- ping — Immigration — Transportation. CHAPTER III Changing Industries 53 Agriculture and Mining — Agricultural Prodctivity — In- tensive Agriculture — Salient Industries — Cattle-raising in Argentina and Uruguay — New Fields for Cattle- raising — Brazil a Coming Cattle Center — American Packers in Brazil — Latin America’s Part in the Odyssey of Oil — Coal in Latin America — Lumber. CHAPTER IV Manufacturing and Labor 81 Cotton-growing and Cotton-manufacturing in Brazil — Cotton-manufacturing in Argentina — Advent of the Manufacture of Rubber in Brazil — Future Manufac- xv XVI Contents PAGB turing Centers — Varied Manufactures of Brazil — New Manufacturing Projects in Brazil — Varied Manufac- tures of Mexico — Future of Manufacturing in Latin America — Changing Conditions of Labor — Labor Legis- lation — Protection of Children and Women in the In- dustries — Housing for Workingmen — Comparison with the United States in the Development of Industries. CHAPTER V Paramount Foreign Interests 107 National Mobilization for Latin American Trade — Cap- turing Latin American Trade in the Past — British Con- fidence in Latin America — Latin American Trust in British Management — The German “Drive” in Latin America not Sinister — German Doctrine of “Sendee” — Germany “Coming Back” in Latin America — Weakness of Former American Methods — American Business- men Making a Gallant Fight — Disadvantages of Ship- ping in the Vessels of Competitors — Rapid Progress of American Shipping — American Banks in Latin America. CHAPTER VI The Monroe Doctrine 136 The North American Peril — Latin American Notion of the Transformation of the Monroe Doctrine — Contra- dictory Applications of the Monroe Doctrine — Jus- tifiable Policy of the United States Toward the Caribbean Countries — President Roosevelt’s Interpreta- tion of the Monroe Doctrine — The Monroe Doctrine and the Trans-Caribbean Countries — Tbe Monroe Doc- trine in Reality a Pan-American Doctrine — The Trans- Caribbean Countries Able to Solve Their Own Political Problems — Broadening of the Monroe Doctrine. CHAPTER VII International Rapprochement 158 Foreign Antagonism to Pan American Leadership of the United States — Rapprochement Between Latin America and European Latin Countries — Rapprochement Among the Latin American Countries Themselves — Free Trade and Rapprochement — Political Confederation — Recent Establishment of the Republic of Central America — Antecedents. Contents xv n Part Two CHAPTER VIII PAGE The Growth of Nationalism 178 Separatists Tendencies— Brazil as a Distinct Nation — Historical Reasons for Lack of Solidarity Among the Spanish Countries of Latin America — Latin Americans not to be Confused with European Spaniards — Chief Factors in the Development of Individual National Spirit — Latin American Dictators as Contributors to Patriotism — Modern Methods of Inspiring Patriotism — Regionalistic Literature and Patriotism — The “Entente” Idea Supplanting the Idea of Confederation. CHAPTER IX Social Development 204 Foreign Influences on Latin American Social Usage — Physical Culture and Athletics — New Conception of Sanitation — Social “Movements” — Prohibition in Latin America — Housing and Prison Reform— Salvation Army, the Y. M. C. A., and the Y. W. C. A. in Latin America — The Transition from Individualism to Social Regulation. CHAPTER X Public Enlightenment and Education .... 227 Public Education of Recent Date — Educational Zones — Educational Progressiveness of Argentina — Changing Ideals in Chilean Education — An Important Experi- ment in Mexico — Secondary Education in Latin Amer- ica — A Suggestion Concerning the Admission of Latin American Students to Our Universities — European Characteristics of Latin American Universities — Devel- opment of Normal Schools — Technical and Vocational Education — The People’s University of Buenos Aires — Libraries, Newspapers, and Motion-Pictures as Educa- tional Agencies. CHAPTER XI Cultural Development 255 Comparison with the Progress of American Literature — “Schools” in Latin American Literature — Andres Bello, Scholar and Poet — Sarmiento, the “Schoolmaster Presi- dent” — Ruben Dario, the Most Significant of Modern Spanish Poets — Latin American Painters— Modern Art in Mexico — Music and Drama — Science and Scholar- ship. xviii Contents CHAPTER XII PAGE The Position of Woman 279 Southern European Antecedents of the Latin American Women — Effect of Example Set by American Women — Legal Status of the Latin American Woman — Or- ganized Feminism — Women Voters in Latin America — Different Means Employed by the American and the Latin American Woman — Social Factors in the Woman’s Movement in Latin America — The Education of Woman — Vocational Education for Girls — The Peru- vian Society of Feminine Industry — The Profession of Teaching and the Dignity of Work — Women and the Eradication of Social Evils — The Child-Welfare Work of Latin American Women — Greater Freedom now Per- mitted Women in the Larger Cities. Part Three CHAPTER XIII The Field of Opportunity in Latin America . . . 306 Can We Hold This Trade? — Remarkable Expansion of American Investments in Latin America — Financial In- vestments Accompanied by Investment in Personnel — Americans Who Owe Their Fortunes to Latin America — Recent Successes of Large American Industrial Con- cerns in Latin America — Outstanding Opportunities for Men with Some Capital — European Department Stores in Latin America — Immigrants who Built up Fortunes in Latin America — Splendid Agricultural Opportunities for the “Average Man” — Colonization Conditions — Beneficial International Results of Colonization. CHAPTER XIV As Latin Americans See Us 333 Why We Are “The Americans” — The European Legacy of Depreciation — A New Political View of the United States — American “Kultur” — Latin American Judgment of our Newspapers — Our Metropolitan Cities not a Fair Standard for American Life as a Whole — Dif- ference Between American and Latin American Intel- lectual Perspective — Mistaken Latin American Criticism Contents xix PAGE Due to Insufficient Knowledge — Difference in the Genius of American and Latin American Journalism — Susceptibility of Latin Americans to Acts of Courtesy — Customs and Manners Distasteful to Latin Ameri- cans and Europeans — Seriousness of Our Ignorance of Latin America — A Defect in Our Educational System. Appendix 359 Useful Information — Postal Information — Distances to Principal Ports — Credit Conditions — Branches of Amer- ican Banks — Principal Banks. Bibliography of Recent Books 399 Index 403 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Bay and City op Rio de Janeiro from Summit op Corcovado Frontispiece FACING PAGE Botafogo Bay, Harbor of Rio de Janeiro .... 12 “The Soldier’s Leap” — Gorge in the Andes, Across which One of O’Higgins’s Cavalry Leaped His Horse to Escape the Royalists 16 Avenue of Royal Palms, Rio Botanical Gardens . . 24 Avenida Central, Rio de Janeiro 24 A Coffee Plantation, Venezuela — Drying the Bean . 53 Prize Winners from “The Camp ” (Argentina) . . 58 Coffee Plantation, Brazil 90 Plaza Mayor, Lima 104 Scene on the Oroya Railway (Peru) .... 115 Statue of Bolivar, Lima 170 Iguazu Falls, where Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina Meet 194 Jockey Club’s Grandstand at the Race Track (Buenos Aires) 210 Solis Theater, Montevideo 256 Cagancha Plaza, Montevideo 256 Col6n Theater, Buenos Aires 278 Federal Capitol, Buenos Aires 278 Shrine of Our Lady of Capacabana, on Bolivian Shore of Lake Titicaca 329 Town and Mountain of Potosi, Bolivia .... 329 MAPS South America 358 Central America 374 Communications and Commercial Languages of America 384 Mexico 398 xxi The New Latin America PART 1 CHAPTER I FALLACIES, FANCIES, AND FACTS The beginning of the twentieth century is witnessing something like a cosmopolitan attempt at a second con- quest of Latin America. Foreign, governments and indi- viduals appear to be engaged in keen rivalry for the favors of the vast “backward” countries of Spanish and Portuguese America possessed of incalculable natural wealth and characterized by a genuinely extraordinary purchasing power. Official and unofficial overtures look- ing toward increased commercial and cultural relations are being made with courteous and flattering insistence. In recent years, and particularly during the past six or eight years, the visits of “ambassadors of good-will” to Latin America have followed one another in rapid succession. Secretary Root, Secretary Knox, Secretary Colby, Senator Burton, Robert Bacon, ex-president Roosevelt, Viscount Bryce, M. Clemenceau, General Mangin, ex-minister Andrea Torre of Italy, Paul Fort, the French poet, a Spanish infanta, and numerous British, French, Italian, German, Belgian, Japanese, and American missions have journeyed to various Latin American coun- tries in a more than personal capacity, and the King of Spain is expected in South America as soon as internal affairs in the Peninsula permit his projected tour. 2 Fallacies , Fancies , emtf Facts The twentieth century conquest, as contrasted with that of the sixteenth century, is one of peace and friendship. No kidnapping of Aztec or Inca emperors, no enslavement of superstitious Indians, no seizure of territories is con- templated. Nations whose good-will must be won by complex pacific means have grown up in the former free and easy paradise of the Conquistadores. European governments have for some scores of years realized that Latin America has undergone a remarkable change in the course of four centuries. To the average American, however, Latin America has remained terra incognita. Even our leaders in thought and politics have not until lately grasped the significance of Latin America, and not then in any adequate manner until convinced by ocular demonstration. “I believe,” declared Theodore Roosevelt in 1914, while on his South American expedition, “that the present century is the century of South America.” Eight years before, Mr. Root, habitually less emphatic, but not less foresighted, had expressed the same idea. At a banquet that was given last winter to a great and dis- tinguished man, Lord Grey, Governor-General of Canada, he said: “The nineteenth century was the century of the United States; the twentieth century will be the century of Canada.” I should feel surer as a prophet if I were to say: “The twentieth century will be the century of South America.” I believe, with him, in the great development of Canada; but just as the nine- teenth century was the century of phenomenal development in North America, I believe that no student can help seeing that the twentieth century will be the century of phenomenal develop- ment in South America. The man whose reading on Latin America stopped with his schoolboy days has probably not the faintest inkling of the role now being played by Latin America in the world at large. The Latin American republics have, within a brief space, “completely marched off the map,” in the words of Mr. Root, just as the German armies had marched off the newly revised German maps a fortnight after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. The Latin America of our school geographies was a Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts 3 vast primitive tract overrun by jaguars, boa constrictors, tapirs, llamas, monkeys, parrots, and condors, and sparsely inhabited by picturesque gauclnos, stolid Indians, and indolent peons. That this Latin America has, of course, not entirely ceased to exist, goes without saying. Scatter some 80,000,000 people over a territory of about 8,000,000 square miles, and the difficulty of taming this enormous area to civilized uses becomes clear. But the primeval wilds of the Latin America of to-day are not the primeval wilds of our schoolboy geographies. Their conquest has moved on much more rapidly during the past forty years or less than during the preceding four centuries. Industrial needs, railroads, and highways have not merely been nibbling at them : they have been devouring them. A COMPARISON WITH THE UNITED STATES In order to realize how this may be, we must set our- selves back in our own history to about the year 1880. In 1880 our population was 50,155,783 and the number of miles of railroad operated was 93,267. To-day our popu- lation is 106,389,246 and our railroad mileage totals 264,- 233 miles. In 1880 our exports amounted to $835,638,658 and our imports, to $667,954,746. To-day our exports and imports have reached the colossal figures of $8,111,- 039,733 and $5,238,621,668 respectively. These changes have taken place during the past forty years. Now, approximately forty years — to be exact, forty- three years — marks the lead which we have had over Latin America in free self-development, unshackled by the repressive fetters of a monarchical government. The decisive battle of the Revolutionary War, that of York- town, took place in 1781. Reckoning from that date, we were ninety-nine years old in independence in 1880. The decisive battle for Latin American independence was fought at Ayacucho, Peru, in 1824. To-day, in 1921, Latin America is ninety-seven years old in independence. At ninety-nine, we had attained the expansion detailed above for the year 1880. At ninety-seven, Latin America has a 4 Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts population of approximately 80,000,000 and a foreign com- merce of more than $5,000,000,000. Considering the resources of Latin America and such conditions as the restriction of immigration into the United States, the focusing of the attention of all the great nations on Latin American exploitation, and the fact that we are in the full swing of the technological era, it is fair to assume that in forty more years, when Latin America shall have reached our present age, her development will have assumed something of the huge proportions on which we are accustomed to pride our- selves. Looking forward the remaining eighty years of the present century, the prospect seems even more impres- sive, and Messrs. Roosevelt and Root appear moderate historians rather than prophetic visionaries. Comparisons and conclusions of this sort may sound bold and unwarranted to readers to whom Latin America is still an unknown land. The comparisons, however, are based on facts, and the conclusions do not conflict with the logic of past history. To those who watch the on- ward steps, which are commonplace and almost imper- ceptible as they occur from day to day, but imposing in the aggregate, the predictions made by Theodore Roosevelt, Viscount Bryce, and General Rafael Reyes con- cerning the future of Latin America seem quite devoid of extravagance. Let any man of forty odd years of age hark back to 1880, when our population was fifty million and our foreign trade a billion and a half dollars and honestly ask himself if he expected to see our popu- lation mount to over 100,000,000 and our foreign com- merce to over $13,000,000,000 by the time he had barely reached middle age! Statistics, while invaluable, rarely tell the whole story. They are not sufficiently descriptive. Were Latin America only as large as the United States, its expansion, though remarkable, would present to-day but an ordinary appeal to the imagination. Discounting the Chilean and Peruvian deserts and the considerable extent of moun- tain-land over the entire length of South America, which Fallacies , Fancies , and Facts 5 is practically unsuitable for human habitation, we should be able to augur nothing startling for the future of Latin America. We should feel that it could do no more than progress at an average rate. As soon, however, as we visualize .its immense size and take into account a few of its natural resources and wonders and a small number of the achievements of its people, we are apt to be ready to admit its potentialities and to marvel that anybody should doubt them. “Nine days we were sailing along the Brazilian coast line!” exclaimed Secretary Colby at a banquet in New York in 1921. “Think of what that means!” (The trip had been made in a great American battleship.) This fact had astounded Secretary Colby as much as the dis- covery that Brazil is 200,000 square miles greater in extent than the forty-eight states of the Union — a cir- cumstance of which he had been “in blissful ignorance” until very recently. If a Secretary of State may ex- perience such surprises, what must be the case of the general public, whose business does not force it to know a great deal about foreign countries? If through nothing else, Latin America should awaken strong admiration in us by reason of its magnificent natural magnitudes, for we are more susceptible to the charm of magnitudes than any other nation on earth. Once the American people becomes convinced that Latin America rivals the United States in many natural re- sources and in many works achieved by the hand and the brain of Latin Americans, its prevalent belief in the inferiority of Latin America will undergo a significant and needed alteration. FIVE COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS Unfortunately for Latin America, our appreciation is almost indelibly colored by traditional notions of its in- feriority. Ignorance plays a prominent part in these notions, but several unjustifiable misconceptions are mainly responsible for them. 1. To-day we look upon Spain as a decadent nation — 6 Fallacies, Fancies, cmd Facts a thoroughly erroneous view. Because the fortunes of Latin America were so long linked with those of Spain, and because our war with Spain made the once famous empire of Philip II seem ridiculous and insignificant, we assume that nothing good can come out of Hispanic countries. 2. Mexicans, Porto Ricans, Bolivians, Brazilians, Argen- tinians are lumped together by us indiscriminately as “natives.” The use of the term “native” is alone responsible for a strong sense of superiority on our part. To say “native” is to classify Latin Americans with untutored African savages. “Natives” there are in Latin America : but they are in the negligible minority and do not represent Latin America any more than our few “native” Indians represent us. 3. Moral conditions are unduly stressed by many authors, some of whom are or have been missionaries. But Latin America is not a sink of iniquity — unless we so regard France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, from whom the Latin Americans derive their conception of morality. Latin American morals are nothing more nor less than European Latin morals, and European Latins like M. Clemenceau have no comment to make on them. 4. To the lay mind, Latin America is unsafe because of its revolutions. Yet its revolutions are in no way com- parable with our Revolutionary War or our War of Seces- sion. In most instances they have been simply the clash- ing of two leaders with a handful of followers, and have been no more destructive than our railroad or automobile accidents. “No Viceroy of Brazil, no King and no Presi- dent,” is the pertinent comment of Miss Lilian E. Elliott in Brazil Today and Tomorrow, “has been assassinated in the history of the country.” The once popular method of electing by bullets rather than by ballots is now an anachronism and is sure to disappear totally as outside pressure increases through investments, immigration, and international relations. 5. The north, the south, the east, and the west of Latin America are as yet all one to us. We refuse to acknowl- Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts 7 edge differentiation. Nevertheless, the Mexican is no more like the inhabitant of Santo Domingo than the latter is like the Argentinian, thousands of miles away in the south temperate zone. The dominant racial traits of the con- quering Spaniards persist, it is true, practically intact and lend a real social unity to Spanish America, but immigra- tion and a variable rate of progress have brought about marked differences in the several republics, and it is be- coming increasingly necessary to speak of Argentinians, Uruguayans, Peruvians, Colombians, Costa Eicans rather than of Latin Americans en masse. SYMPATHETIC APPRECIATION OF LATIN AMERICAN CUSTOMS IMPORTANT Probably the most important factor in our intercourse with Latin America will be the willingness to accept Latin American customs, manners, and morals as equivalent to our own. That we can do so in a hurry or with any degree of sincerity is, perhaps, too much to expect. Only an infinitesimal fraction of our population will ever come in direct contact with Latin Americans until we emigrate in large numbers to the Latin American republics or Latin Americans flock to our shores — either of which alternatives is remote, though the second more so than the first. Most of us are stay-at-homes; our ethical dogmas are fixed and uncompromising; and Anatole France’s observation to the effect that souls are impenetrable to one another applies to us with peculiar appropriateness. Unless travelers, books, and newspapers make a practice of treating Latin American customs fairly and sympathetically, and not with Pharisaical sneering, we shall be as great strangers to Latin America at the end of the century, no matter how much business we may do with it, as we are now. The role of moral censor is at best a precarious task, especially among peoples whose religion, civilization, and traditions are older than our own. There has been no conspicuous American attempt at reforming French habits, except in the substitution of the American bar for the French bar, and it cannot be repeated often enough that 8 Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts Latin American and French or Italian or Spanish customs and manners are one and the same thing. The usual American chapter on Latin American morals is a distinct evil and an encouragement to unfriendliness. Our books and periodicals are read and reviewed in Latin America, and no subject gives so much steady offense as our super- ficial obiter dicta on morals and manners. In general, in our present state of knowledge concern- ing Latin America, we shall not greatly err in stressing the progress of to-day rather than the stagnation of yesterday, excellences rather than defects, hopeful rather than hopeless signs. However much this may smack of shoddy — and much shoddy has been written about Latin America — it is the only profitable and gracious direction to take for the time being. With fuller knowledge may come deeper appreciation, and with appreciation, only useful criticism. Rare indeed [as Mr. A. H. Verrill suggests], is the North American who adapts himself to Latin-American conditions in such a way as to retain his self-respect and the respect of the natives; but when we do find such men we find no contempt for the Latin Americans, no patronizing or overbearing manners, no complaints, but instead, praise of many things, criticism of few, and an ever-increasing love of Latin America and its people. Leaving preconceptions aside, it is well to examine in an impartial manner some of the outstanding natural and social features of Latin America. IMMENSE SIZE OP LATIN AMERICA A PERMANENT REALITY The most prominent and permanent feature of Latin America is its immense size. Without an adequate com- prehension of the extent of territory covered by the various republics, it is impossible to surmise their capacity in agriculture, industry, and population. Too often the mistake is made of picturing these countries as states, in the North American sense of the term. We are more than liable, for instance, when thinking of Brazil, to lay it over our mental image of Texas; when visualizing Chile, to put it in juxtaposition with California; when looking Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts 9 at Uruguay, to compare it with Rhode Island: and that, for the simple reason that Texas is our largest state and Brazil, the largest country in South America; California our longest state on the west coast, and Chile the longest country on the west coast of South America; Rhode Island our smallest state, and Uruguay the smallest country in South America. This order of visualization is easy to understand and most difficult to combat. It will take years, perhaps scores of them, to rectify the faulty conception which we have of the magnitude of the Latin American republics. Since we cannot speak of empires — a term which denotes great size and actually distinguished Brazil in dimensions from the other Latin American republics — we ought at least to popularize the use of the word “country” as a generic term for the Latin American republics instead of the word “republic.” A republic may be as diminutive as San Marino or Andorra, whereas a “country” stands for something considerable. Very few of the Latin American countries correspond in size to our states. They are in most cases vastly larger. They are “countries.” Brazil, as is quite generally known, is larger than the whole United States exclusive of Alaska. It could con- tain within its boundaries not only all the forty-eight states of the Union, but in addition another state of the size of Texas or four more states of the size of New York. In other words, Brazil has an area 200,000 square miles greater than that of the entire United States proper and very little less than that of all Europe. If it were as densely populated as France, it would shelter 622,000,000 people, and, if as densely populated as Germany, 955,- 000,000, according to estimates which have been made. Chile, which appears so narrow, and therefore small, on the map, would hold two states of the size of California or four states of the size of Nebraska, and is actually larger than any country in Europe except Russia. Mexico would have no trouble in covering Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut, North Dakota, and 10 Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts South Dakota, or fourteen of the by no means smallest of our states. Even “little” Costa Rica would have room, and to spare, for New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecti- cut, and Paraguay could encompass Indiana four times over. Portugal would rattle around freely in Honduras, and Belgium expanded to three times its size would still fall short of coinciding with all the edges of that Central American country; Colombia could embrace Germany, France, Holland, and Belgium together ; and countries of the combined areas of France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Norway, and Sweden could be carved out of Argentina, with just about enough left over to fit Connecticut and Delaware nicely into the re- maining space. The other countries of Latin America being propor- tionately extensive and for the most part inhabitable, there is not the slightest exaggeration in foreseeing that, in the course of a few centuries, the Hispanic New World will be contemplating its northern brother, the United States, from a great height — provided, of course, that tre- mendous changes do not occur in the meantime. According to Mulhall, the population of Europe hardly exceeded 50,000,000 before the fifteenth century. It is now over 460,000,000. The population of Latin America to-day is about 80,000,000. The area of Latin America (over 8,000,000 square miles) is considerably more than twice that of Europe (3,754,282 square miles) and larger than the area occupied by any other homogeneous group of peoples in the world. A forward-looking nation like ours cannot fail to see the plain moral and the obvious duty. Latin America is sure to grow on us and cannot, without regrettable results, be overlooked. Size, by itself, it goes without saying, is relatively unim- portant unless helped out by other conditions favorable to human welfare. Arid deserts and unproductive moun- tains stretching for millions of miles would signify little for the progress of mankind in the present state of our needs and our ability to use what Nature has placed at our disposal. Latin America certainly has its share of Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts 11 such lands, but is remarkably fortunate in that its per- centage of useless territory is comparatively small. Deserts it has, totally bereft of vegetation, but from these deserts come the nitrates which have fertilized and fructified large portions of the globe. From its moun- tains have been extracted untold riches, and mines like that of Potosi in Bolivia, from which between 2,000,- 000,000 and 3,000,000,000 ounces of silver have been taken, continue to supply much of the output of the precious metals of the world. Mexico still leads in the production of silver, and Peru, in that of vanadium. Bolivia is one of the chief sources of tin; Chile, of copper; and Brazil, of the precious stones. According to a recent govern- ment report, the iron deposits of Brazil are estimated at 4,000,000,000 tons, and what other mineral wealth lies unexploited and even unexplored in the mountains of Brazil for want of transportation facilities nobody can even guess at as yet. TRANSPORTATION The question of transportation is so vital in un- developed countries housing large stores of natural resources that it may be regarded as the key to Latin American progress. Without adequate transportation, raw materials remain at their source and commerce fails to move with the necessary freedom and volume. For the next fifty or one hundred years, Latin America will find its strength heavily taxed to provide sufficient rail- road, highway, and water facilities for the transportation of the immense supplies which it will be called upon to furnish to an overpopulated world leaning on it more and more for the necessities of life. Its railroads and highways must be made, and their extension will unques- tionably rest chiefly on the investment of foreign capital and on the further discovery and working of coal and oil, the former of which, though not now known to exist in excessive quantities, is nevertheless mined on a pay- ing basis in a number of countries between Mexico and Chile, and the latter of which already shows dazzling prospects. Its waterways present less numerous prob- 12 Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts lems, for Nature has distributed them over all parts of Latin America in admirable profusion. The possibilities for coastwise and river trade are scarcely surpassed else- where. EXTENSIVE COASTLINES The length of the coastlines of the Latin American coun- tries is usually not grasped by Americans because of the almost universal tendency to measure by our own country. Probably few persons realize that Mexico has nearly six thousand miles of coast — about 4200 on the Pacific and 1600 on the Atlantic. Brazil alone has five thousand miles of coast. Laid across the Atlantic, this coastline would extend from Boston to Liverpool, and superimposed on the margin of North America, it would stretch from New Orleans to the northern extremity of Labrador. The influence of this coastline, facing Europe, on the same side of the hemisphere as the majority of our cities which ship manufactures and require huge amounts of raw materials, and possessed of the finest harbor in the world at Rio de Janeiro, cannot be overdrawn with respect to maritime trade and naval growth. Argentina, likewise, favored by a coastline of surprising length which, if moved north, would have its termini at Key West, Florida, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, enjoys equal advantages with Brazil and has become the objective of most of the steam- ship lines of the world. Even Chile has a coastline about three thousand miles long and feels that its position is forcing it into paths of maritime prowess and expansion. In its external means of communication by Avater, Latin America is, indeed, favored above other geographical divisions. Each nation except Bolivia has an ample sea- board; the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico con- stitute a veritable American Mediterranean, open to com- merce at all seasons of the year; and the Panama Canal facilitates traffic from all corners of the globe to either side of the North American and South American republics and from the Orient to the Antilles. Thus far the settle- ment and the social history of Latin America have been determined principally by these maritime factors. Its Copyright , 1911, by W. D. Boyce. BOTAFOGO Qfi Photograph used by courtesy DE JANEIRO. d the Pan American Union. Fallacies. Fancies , and Facts 13 future development, too, will depend largely on these natural advantages. SUPERIORITY OP LATIN AMERICA IN WATERWAYS For purposes of internal commerce, Latin America is extraordinarily well equipped with navigable rivers. It has also some navigable lakes of importance. Lake Titicaca, the most elevated inland body of water in the world, with an area of 3220 square miles, is traversed by numerous steamships which traffic with the many towns and villages of the fertile country lying along its shores; Lake Chapala, in Mexico, between the States of Jalisco and Michoacan, is 51 miles long and 18 miles wide, and has become a fashionable summer resort ; and south- ern Chile is favored with a beautiful lake region, includ- ing Lake Llanquihue — which has an area of about 660 square miles — comparable for picturesqueness and climate with the lake regions of England and Switzerland. How- ever, Latin America has no inland bodies' of water of the significance of our Great Lakes. But in fluvial waterways Latin America stands pre- eminent. The Amazon, the Rio de la Plata, the Orinoco, and the Magdalena form a system so extensive that one can go by boat nearly the whole length of South America with practically no portage. Many of these arteries amount to extensions of the ocean into the heart of the interior countries and spread out in all directions in a vast network of infinite ramifications. The Magdalena, the Cauca, the Meta, and the Putumayo of Colombia — the last-mentioned of w r hich has a length of 932 miles, flows through a rich region of gold, cacao, and rubber, serves as a means of communication with Brazil, and was only within recent times opened up through the explorations of General Rafael Reyes — are vast rivers crossing the entire country and joined by innumerable tributaries. The river-system of Brazil as pointed out by Mr. Domville-Fife, is truly magnificent, the great Amazon alone affording 3,000 miles 14 Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts of fluvial navigation, and having three tributaries of over 600 miles in length and fourteen others, some of which are navigable for river steamers for a distance of over 1,000 miles. . . . Besides the great network of water-ways known as the Amazon, Brazil possesses thirty-two rivers of minor importance, which flow through all parts of the country, and afford means of communica- tion with the surrounding foreign States. The total length of the Amazon is more than 3800 miles, and some notion of its volume and force may be gathered from the fact that its waters color the Atlantic for a distance of over 100 miles and freshen the salt water of the ocean to a point 180 miles beyond its mouth. The Rio Theodoro, named after Theodore Roosevelt — the famous River of Doubt — is no inconsiderable stream, either, for it courses over a space of 950 miles. Excepting for the Missouri-Mississippi, our rivers are small and few when contrasted with the wealth of usable waterways in South America. Besides the Parana and the Uruguay, more than forty rivers of lesser importance Avater the fertile tracts of Argentina. Chile, Avhose breadth varies from 40 to 200 miles, suffers from no dearth of rivers in spite of its narrow Avidth, its northern deserts, and its cold regions in the extreme south. Nearly thirty rivers of fair size cross the country in different directions, and the largest, the Biobio, of some 220 miles in length, is tAvo miles Avide at its entrance into the Pacific and permits small steamers to sail a distance of 100 miles from its mouth. WATERFALLS AND AV ATER-PO AVER Incidentally, and as a priceless by-product of Avater resources, some portions of Latin America are enriched by Avaterfalls Avhose future usefulness cannot be over- estimated. The most notable instance is Brazil. At the meeting-point of the frontier of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, surrounded by secular forests, roar the foam- ing cascades of the Iguazu Palls, higher by fifty feet than the Niagara Falls and 1250 feet greater in lateral dimen- sions. The Sete Quedas or Guayra Falls, on the frontier Fallacies , Fancies , and Facts 15 of Paraguay, have an estimated force of 80,000,000 horse- power, and other falls are correspondingly high in energy. Cities, towns, and even villages, which otherwise might continue in medieval darkness, now enjoy the latest elec- trical improvements in consequence of their nearness to some of these waterfalls, and public utility corporations have released power often unavailable in the ordinary way because of the scarcity or the prohibitive cost of coal. Data such as these suggest the part to be played by waterways and water-power in Latin America. They in- dicate that railroads and highways need not be depended upon solely, though it is only by the joint use of all these modes of locomotion that the boundless resources of Latin America can be fully developed. But when ocean steamers from New York and Liverpool can reach Iquitos, Peru, 1800 miles up the Amazon from Para, Brazil, long and expensive railroad connections are often not absolutely indispensable. The number of cities and towns served by boat is much larger than most of us suspect, for thriving centers, of whose names we never hear mention, lie along these routes and constitute depots for European and American goods. In Chile, many of the rivers of small carrying power perform a different, but equally beneficial, function in bringing to plains naturally sterile the alluvial deposits and moisture which transform them into fruitful garden-spots. GRANDEUR OF LATIN AMERICAN MOUNTAIN SCENERY The mountains of Latin America are likewise invaluable social assets. In themselves, and as objects of nature, they cannot help stirring the imagination by their grandeur. Aconcagua, rearing its snowy peak to the nearly incomparable altitude of more than 23,000 feet between Argentina and Chile; the twenty stupendous crests of the Avenue of Volcanoes in Ecuador, all of which are higher than Pike’s Peak; Misti, of the perfect cone (over 18,000 feet), and Sarasara (19,500 feet) in Peru; 16 Fallacies , Fancies , and Facts Illampu (21,470 feet) and Illimani (21,040 feet) in Bolivia ; and the lofty table-lands extending from Mexico to Chile must awaken respect in admirers of the sublime and cause them to share the wonder of Mr. Frederick Church, the celebrated painter, who characterized this mountain scenery as the grandest in the world. Tourist travel, which is an important economic benefit to many privileged lands and the mainstay of whole cities and the surrounding country, as, for example, in Colorado and Switzerland, will unquestionably in the course of time turn toward the scenic splendors of Latin America. But the mountains of Latin America have an even more direct economic and social bearing. Besides holding much of the mineral wealth of the world, they multiply the variety of agricultural products and diversify the climate in a manner rarely understood in the United States. CLIMATE Climate throughout the major portion of Latin America is, so to speak, vertical, not horizontal. If the type of climate depended entirely on latitude, the fallacious be- lief that few of the countries are “white men’s countries” might seem plausible. Because South America lies to the south of us, the average American normally regards it as a uniformly torrid region. Schoolday preconceptions exert on the untraveled and the unanalytic a power as immovable as the dead hand of the past. To counter- balance usually superficial impressions, it should be pos- sible to represent geographical facts by some such means as the juxtaposition, let us say, of South America in reversed form at the side of North America so as to show graphically the true conditions and relationships. Ecuador, the land of the equator, should, according to map appearances, be one of the most tropical countries in the world. In reality, because of its physical configura- tion, Ecuador supports all the products of all the zones, from the tropical to the glacial : and one may stand in certain places and contemplate sugar-cane, potatoes, THE SOLDIERS LEAP ' — GORGE IN THE ANDES, ACROSS WHICH ONE OF O'HIGGINS S CAVALRY LEAPED HIS HORSE TO ESCAPE THE ROYALISTS. Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts 17 barley, and wheat growing simultaneously, according as one lets the eye ascend to the higher mountain-lands. The average temperature of Ecuador — which is much lower than might be expected — is 79 degrees Fahrenheit as a maximum in the coast region, but in the Inter-Andean region it becomes 58 degrees. Bogota, the capital of Colombia, has a temperature ranging between 58 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Four hours distant by train, the temperature averages 86 degrees, and the most exotic fruits of the torrid zone flourish. In the market-places of Bogota, bananas, pineapples, yams, alligator-pears are displayed side by side with fresh garden-truck of the temperate highlands, potatoes, peas, peaches, apples, strawberries, and the common cereals, just as at La Paz, Bolivia, llamas laden with ice from the mountains are often seen close by mules from the lowlands laden with oranges and other tropical fruits. It is as if Indiana and Maine were superimposed on Florida or Cuba. Evidently the much talked-of “white man’s, land” is rarely far to seek in Latin America, even where tropical conditions predominate. Beginning with the southern half of Brazil, the characteristics of the south temperate zone prevail. In the table-lands of the southern states, snow is frequent, a coating of ice may form on the lakes and ponds, and the thermometer may fall to the freezing- point. This occurs not only in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, but also in the States of Parana, Santa Catharina and Sao Paulo, further north, where the average tem- perature away from the coast is 68 degrees: and the fact will no doubt surprise the average American. Rio Grande do Sul is, indeed, noted for its excellent, equable climate, and Mr. Roger Babson, in The Future of South America, repeatedly expresses admiration for the climate and agri- cultural advantages of this most southerly of the Brazilian states. An idea of the kind and quantity of crops of the temperate zone raised in Rio Grande do Sul may be obtained from these figures published for 1919 by the United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce : 18 Fallacies , Fancies, and Facts Products Metric tons Products Metric tons Corn . . 1,632,000 Rice 152,000 Vegetables 420,000 Pumpkins .... 75,000 Herva Mate . . . . 171,000 Susrar cane . . . 31,500 Wheat 108,000 Tobacco 15,250 45,000 Beans 121,000 Wine Mandioca 155,000 Alfalfa 176.000 Sweet potatoes . Irish potatoes . . . 180,000 83,600 Fruits 400,000 Farther south, the climatic conditions are as a rule those of our more northerly states, with the difference that extreme cold is rare except at the lower extremity of the continent and that the temperature is generally Californian in quality. Here, the horizontal distance from the equator is the determining factor, and not the vertical elevation, as at La Paz, Quito, Bogota, Caracas, and Mexico City, the five highest capitals in the world, rising from a distinctly tropical base. The climate of Uruguay is most like that of Italy, two-thirds of the days being sunny, and explains in part enthusiastic declarations such as that uttered by Dr. J. A. Zahm, Roosevelt’s companion in South America and the originator of that remarkable expedition: California is justly famed as a flowerland. So is the French Riviera, but I have never seen in either of these favored regions of Flora such gorgeous displays of bloom as I have witnessed in and around Uruguay’s magnificent capital. Across the continent, Chile raises melons oftentimes weighing twenty pounds, peaches weighing nearly a pound, Tacna watermelons as fine as the luscious Georgia article, zapallos — a kind of pumpkin — weighing from 75 to 100 pounds and sometimes as high as 215 pounds, pears, quinces, apricots, apples, cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower, tomatoes, artichokes, potatoes, and the like. The “Irish” potato, it may be observed, is now generally accepted as having originated in the Andean highlands of Chile, where it is often frozen hard and kept indefinitely, being then known as chuno. As pleasant in climate as Uruguay and some parts of Chile is a great deal of Paraguay, including Fallacies , Fancies, and Facts 19 the practically uninhabited Gran Chaco, whose climate has been likened to a perpetual Mediterranean spring. These are “white men’s” lands beyond the peradventure of a doubt, and “white men” from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, and Russia, whom the enervating comforts of ‘ ‘ modern improvements ’ ’ do not deter, are gradually taking them up. THE NEGRO QUESTION The average American has a fixed idea that Latin America as a whole is a region of “black brethren” or at best, “little brown brothers,” prone to the philosophy of manana (to-morrow), and ever willing to put up with mas o menos (more or less). That Latin America is not “black” or even “red” and that Latin Americans are in reality industrious and hard-working will undoubtedly strike the American public as two notions conjured up by an over- zealous imagination. They are, nevertheless, true. The negro problem, as we know it, does not exist in Latin America. In the first place, in the tropical and subtropical north- ern section of Latin America, where negroes are numerous, the European Latin freedom from racial prejudice makes it possible for the white and the black races to live in amity and to intermingle. In northern Brazil, particularly, the doctrine is popular that the fusion of the races is result- ing in a nation better adapted to its New World environ- ment : and certain it is that many of the most eminent Brazilian statesmen, artists, and men of letters have had a marked negro strain. This does not mean, however, that the color line is not drawn at all, for there are social circles in the countries most liberal toward negroes in which the appearance of a negro or a mulatto would be regarded as a profanation. But by and large, and as a result of the European Latin attitude toward miscegenation, and not because the Latin American feeling is peculiarly uncritical, northern Latin America is tolerant of the negro and has avoided the tension and the repugnance which are so noticeable in Anglo-Saxon America. 20 Fallacies , Fancies, and Facts In the second place, negroes are not a significant element in the greater part of Latin America. Southern 'Brazil has never had a larger proportion of negroes than our north- ern States and probably never will. There are practically no negroes in that most enterprising of Brazilian States, Sao Paulo. There are few negroes in Chile, where strict immi- gration laws ban them along with the Chinese. The negro is virtually non-existent in Argentina and Uruguay, as well as in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Costa Rica. Nor is he a factor in Mexico. Many a southern or western South American, accustomed to conditions in his own country, has not been able to hide his astonishment at the heavy negro population of our southern States. The absence of negroes from those Latin American coun- tries in which they have failed to gain a foothold is due, it need hardly be said, to historical reasons rather than to foresight or prejudice. It should be added, too, that wherever the negro is found in Latin America he is, as may be expected, usually more Latin in his traits than negro and often not distinguishable, except by his color, from his white countrymen. THE INDIAN QUESTION ^The Indian population in some countries does, to be sure, present something of a problem, but it is, in our eyes, of quite a distinct nature from the negro problem. Brazil still has within its borders about 1,300,000 Indians; Peru 1,700,000; Ecuador 1,000,000; Bolivia, 900,- 000 : Nicaragua is seven-eighths Indian ; and the popula- tion of Mexico is heavily Indian: for the Spaniards, ruth- less as they are reported to have been, did not exterminate the original owners of the land. The other countries have either completely assimilated their Indians or nearly done so. As in the United States, it is to be expected that the Indian strain will disappear in a relatively short time through the increase in immigration, the greater fruitfulness of immigrant families, the limited power of adaptation of the Indian, and the generally adverse con- ditions in sanitation, food, inherited defects, and addic- Fallacies , Fancies , and Facts 21 tion to alcohol which have wrought havoc among the Indians of both continents. For the present, the Indians of Latin America supply a large share of the labor needed in mining, agriculture, and the industries. They have, too, on occasions, produced some of the most capable leaders in Latin America^^/One of the most interesting chapters still to be written on Latin America will set forth the emergence out of unpropitious surroundings of men of Indian extraction in Latin America who have left the imprint of their spirit of independence, energy, and sagacity on several countries. The names of Hidalgo, Juarez, Porfirio Diaz, Altamirano, Andres Santa Cruz, Paez, deserve a conspicuous place in history. LATIN AMERICA NOT EFFETE The industry of Latin Americans, whatever their com- plexion, has always offered opportunities for reprobation to American writers and travelers. How undeserved much of the comment is may be gathered from a brief statement <)f facts. That we should carp at the laboriousness of less favored nations is, of course, somewhat ridiculous. By reason of our mechanical appliances, our splendid trans- portation facilities, and our labor laws, we have become the leisure nation par excellence. The Latin American undoubtedly works more minutes per day and harder per minute than the progressive citizen of the United States. In 1900, a year in which our figures for population (75,994,575) are comparable with the figures for the present population of Latin America (about 80,000,000), our foreign commerce amounted to $2,444,424,266. In 1919 Latin American foreign commerce amounted to $5,064,588,740, or more than double our own per capita, as the figures stand, and probably not far below ours if the changed conditions in money values are taken into account. It is conceded by every patriotic American that we have the most productive country in the world, more machinery, and more efficient labor-saving devices. What else, then, can this Latin American business mean than that the Latin Americans are fully as laborious as Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts we are — if not more so? All the sowing, harvesting, sacking, hauling, shipping of agricultural products and all the smelting, forging, hammering, assembling of manu- factured products in Latin America are done by Latin Americans, usually without the benefit of our superlative implements, splendid roads, and multitudinous railroads. Mr. Nevin 0. Winter in Argentina and Her People of Today offers some instructive testimony on this score: The term “effete,” so often applied to Latin nations and the “proverbial laziness” of Spaniard and Italian, so often referred to by writers, does not apply here [in Buenos Aires]. From the shipping sections where boats, barges and tugs throng in endless procession, from the flats on the river where hundreds of acres have been reclaimed in recent years, to the business section and the wide tree-planted avenues where the electric cars rush out into the residence section, the traveller will observe noth- ing but movement and effort, unceasing work and activity. The Spanish and Italians spoken of are, it must be understood, Argentinians. EXAMPLES OF LATIN AMERICAN ENERGY A sense of fairness should compel us to judge Latin American ability and energy by what has been accom- plished in repeated instances. The register of extra- ordinary achievements is too long to be recited in full, but a few salient data will demonstrate sufficiently well the magnitude of Latin American enterprise and the vigor with which practical problems involving hard work are attacked. When the Government of Argentina decided to build its new Palace of Congress, which has already cost over $11,000,000, an entire section of the city had to be re- modeled. Five hundred business houses and private residences had to be torn down, whole streets had to be altered, and an extensive square had to be laid out, graded, and beautified into a fitting site. In 90 days the work was finished: and it is not too much to say that few similar projects have ever been carried out with greater speed in the United States. The construction of Fallacies , Fancies , and Facts 23 the Avenida do Rio Branco in Rio de Janeiro entailed a like transformation and was effectuated under the direc- tion of Dr. Passos with startling rapidity. Over a thousand houses were demolished and removed, streets eliminated, sidewalks and roadbeds paved, trees planted, and public buildings erected in the space of IS months. The reputation of this splendid avenue as the most superb street in the world testifies to the artistic taste and the admirable workmanship of the Brazilian director and his Brazilian employees. Buenos Aires, of course, as the chief metropolis of Latin America, may be expected to demonstrate in the most conspicuous fashion the degree and the quality of Latin American energy and progressiveness at their best. That it compares favorably with the greatest of foreign cities, though the capital of a republic having at present a population of only about 9,000,000 inhabitants, is a fact of extreme future significance. What its size and achieve- ments will be when Argentina has ten or fifteen times its actual density of population of nine inhabitants per square mile is a subject for interesting specidation. Thus far it has kept pace with the most advanced cities in either of the hemispheres. It has one of the most remarkable and expensive port systems in the world, the largest hide and wool market in the world, one of the most colossal warehouse buildings in the world in its Central Produce Market, one of the most complete systems of grain elevators in the world, one of the most extensive street- car systems in the world, one of the largest and most splendid opera houses in the world, one of the finest and largest race-tracks and stadiums in the world, one of the handsomest club-houses in the world, owned by one of the most exclusive of clubs, two of the greatest news- papers in the world — one of which, La Prensa, has one of the best equipped, most imposing, and most useful journalistic buildings in the world, costing $3,000,000, and what is considered nearly the best, if not actually the best, of foreign news services — and some of the most palatial public and private buildings in the world. In 24 Fallacies , Fancies, and Facts the opinion of ex-Seeretary Colby, “the Colon Theatre (of Buenos Aires) would make the Metropolitan Opera House look like a hastily constructed theatre in one of the rural towns of the Shubert Circuit.” This opera house cost $10,000,000 and occupies an entire square. But Buenos Aires is not all Latin America and has no monopoly on the “grand style,” whether in buildings, in business, or in spending. LATIN AMERICAN MAGNITUDES Mexico City possesses in its Cathedral the most impres- sive temple on this hemisphere, surpassed by only three others in the world, namely, St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, and the Cathedral of Seville. Its theater is accounted the finest now in existence. The Botanical Gardens of Bio de Janeiro, embracing a million square meters of land and containing over 50,000 different species of flora, has scarcely a superior anywhere, and its Avenue of Palms, formed by 134 palms averaging 80 feet in height, has no equal. El Cerro de Santa Lucia of Santiago, Chile, has been termed by many travelers the most beautiful recreation park in the world. Sao Paulo, Brazil, has military barracks which aroused envy in M. Clemenceau : It is true that we were discussing a select troop, who enjoy not only special pecuniary advantages, but also quarters called by the vulgar name of barracks, but which, for convenience, hygiene, and comfort far surpass anything that our wretched budgets can allow us to offer to the French recruits. Latin American cities, in spite of their age, are young in development. The time may easily be foreseen when Buenos Aires, now the second largest Latin city in the world, coming next to Paris, will be the largest, when Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, with a present population of over 1,500,000 and 1,000,000, respectively, will displace Philadelphia and, perhaps, Chicago, in the census lists of the Western Hemisphere, and when many Latin American cities, either because of their size or of their beauty, or because of their natural picturesqueness will become the show places of the New World. The growth AVENUE OF ROYAL PALMS, RIO BOTANICAL GARDENS. AVENIDA CENTRAL, RIO DE JANEIRO. Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts 25 of several of them to immense proportions in population and commerce is certain, for already Havana and Buenos Aires receive and despatch more merchandise annually than any other ports in the Western Hemisphere after New York; Valparaiso, Chile, is the most important harbor on the west coast after San Francisco; and a brilliant future is predicted for Panama as the residt of transit through the Canal. POSSIBILITIES IN GROWTH To the growth of wealth in Latin America by reason of its natural resources and to the consequent future increase in population no limits can now be set which will not seem extravagant to us and niggardly to later generations. In countries where, as in Argentina, the average holding of 100,000 reported landowners is six square miles, or where, as in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and Mexico, numerous estates range from 100,- 000 to 1,000,000 acres, or where, as in Patagonia, one of the grazing ranches comprises more than 2,000,000 acres, or an area larger than that of the State of Khode Island, all is possible, especially after the era of intensive cultiva- tion has set in. To those who doubt, two forecasts by that most judicious of observers, Viscount Bryce, will unques- tionably prove interesting. And now we may return to South America, the only continent containing both a large temperate and a large tropical area capable of cultivation which still remains greatly underpeopled. It is, therefore, the chief resource to which the overpeopled countries may look as providing a field for emigration, and to which the world at large may look as capable of reinforcing its food supply. In this immense fertile and temperate country [Argentina] with hardly six people to a square mile, what limit can we set to the growth of wealth and population? Already the nation is larger than the Dutch or Portuguese or Swedish. Within fifty years it may approach France or England, even if the present rate of increase be reduced. It may one day be the most numerous among all the peoples that speak a tongue of Latin origin, as the United States is already the most numerous of all that speak a Teutonic one. 26 Fallacies, Fancies, and Facts LAVISH EXPENDITURE AS A SIGN OF WEALTH Evidences of the wealth of Latin America are visible both in the “splurge” of city life and in the prices paid for articles of luxury and utility. A stall in the opera at Montevideo costs $12 and a box $80; and $50 to hear eminent singers like Caruso at one performance is not an unusual price. Membership in the Jockey Club of Buenos Aires costs over $2000 in initiation fees and more than $600 as annual dues: but this can scarcely seem a high rate in Argentina, where millionaires are more numerous in proportion to population than in any other country in the world. The bets made every year at the Hippodrome of the Jockey Club in the Parque de Palermo run well over $25,000,000. Cattle and race-horses bring in Argentina and Uruguay prices that would seem pro- hibitive even to us. Imported stud-horses have been bought for $150,000; $60,000 has been paid for a bull; and in 1920 the respectable amount of 2,700,000 pesos (exchange value of the peso at that time being $.3925) was paid for 12,000 steers in a single transaction. Fabulous sums are spent in Latin America for automobiles, furniture, dress, jewelry, and expensive sports by the moneyed classes: and the palatial residences and fashionable turnouts in the important centers of social activity are not excelled in Europe or the United States. Of late years, the attitude of our writers toward Latin America has been distinctly favorable. Better knowledge and, above all, a stronger desire to become acquainted with Latin American realities have changed the ideas of many writers, travelers, and readers. Certainly it would seem to be the part of wisdom to pay some attention to countries which, in a still undeveloped state, can present so many instances of initiative and enterprise and so many opportunities to a world in need of new fields and elbow- room. CHAPTER II THE END OF ISOLATION From the standpoint of the modern technological civi- lization, Latin America has belonged for about four cen- turies to that large group embracing most of the Orient — with the exception of Japan — and Russia. Partly through geographical reasons, partly through political reasons, and partly through racial reasons, it has stood aloof from the industrial and scientific movements which have so significantly altered the course of civilization in Europe and America. Left to its own resources, it would have remained in relative isolation for an indefinite period. But no region can now escape the penetration of modern economic and social forces: and Latin America has proved no exception to the rule. It is emerging from its simple, quasi pastoral life into the complex evolution of a techno- logical age. In the past, the mere matter of distance from the centers of modern activity was sufficient to isolate Latin America from the rest of the world, and the distances between Latin American countries, in conjunction with the primitive state of communication, prevented the coast cities, which always maintained some form of contact with outside nations, from disseminating quickening influences in the interior. Had Paraguay occupied the position of Uruguay, the Dictator Francia, called El Supremo, could never have kept Paraguay a hermit republic for more than a quarter of a century (1814—1840) and sealed it absolutely to foreign intrusion: and if Mexico had extended its roads and railways to a degree at all comparable with that attained in the neighboring American states, many of its revolutions could not have occurred, its marvelous wealth would have been put to practical use, and its admission 27 28 The End of Isolation into the circle of the promising nations of the world would by now be an accomplished fact. PENETRATING FORCES Recent events and tendencies are demolishing the walls of Latin American isolation with startling rapidity. The obstacle presented by distance no longer, in any real sense, exists. The declaration of many casual students of Latin American affairs to the effect that intercourse between Latin America and the United States, for instance, will always be hampered by the distance from our metropolitan cities to the chief cities of South America has little, if any, merit. SHORTENING OF DISTANCES TO LATIN AMERICA The Panama Canal has placed the West Coast of South America four and five thousand miles nearer the United States than it had been before, and the utilization of more powerful steamships has materially cut down the time required in making the voyage from New York to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and Montevideo. By the Canal route, Valparaiso, Chile, is only 4637 miles from New York, as contrasted with the previous 8588 miles, and 4035 miles from New Orleans, as opposed to the previous 9005 miles. London, which has been 9044 miles distant from Valparaiso, is still 7397 miles away by the Canal route. The improvement effected by the Canal in reducing the distance between the upper West Coast of South America and the United States is even more marked. Guayaquil, Ecuador, has profited to the extent of 8700 miles in its dealings with New York, having approached to within 2800 miles of that port from its former distance of 11,500 miles. On the East Coast of South America, although no geographical short-cut is possible, similar reductions can be secured by an increase in the horsepower of the steam- ships using that route, as was recently shown by the 12 days’ run, under adverse conditions, of a United States ship from New York to Rio de Janeiro. There is no reason why the feats of the “Mauretania” or the The End of Isolation 29 “ Deutschland’ ’ should not be duplicated on the South Atlantic. Buenos Aires is less than twice as far, and Rio de Janeiro only about once and a half as far, from New York as Liverpool: and ships of the caliber of the “Mauretania” should with ease make Rio in 10 days and “B. A.,” as the local British call it, in 12 days. As the importance of the South American trade becomes more patent, the size and power of the steamships engaged in its service will necessarily be augmented. In any event, modern commerce recognizes no such thing as distance. India, China, and South America command more diligent attention from Great Britain than Denmark, and Argen- tina is considered a greater prize in the United States than Greece. The belief that distance is but a slight barrier to trade evidently animated Spain in the colonial days. Fearful lest England, France, and the Netherlands might traffic too freely in its new-found possessions, it undertook a severely restrictive policy, debarring all nations from com- mercial relations with Latin America. It shipped goods to Latin America and received goods from it through the medium of the flota or fleet, which plied between Spain and Spanish North America, and the galeones or galleons, which voyaged between Spain and South America. The trip was made only once a year by each group of vessels, and the system was maintained practically intact from 1561 to 1748. But for the varied smuggling carried on by the buc- caneers, privateers, and traders of other nationalities, the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in America remained set apart from communication with the world of progress, prohibited even from the exchange of products with one another, and from commerce with any other city in Spain than Seville, which, through its Casa de Contratacion (House of Trade) exercised a genuine monopoly. Dis- tance — which then meant the greater part of a year before goods or correspondence reached some parts of South America, and sometimes, as Professor William R. Shep- herd mentions, seventeen months — and Spanish govern- 30 The End of Isolation mental manipulation imposed isolation on Latin America for centuries. That, however, is not as curious as the notion still held by some educated persons that the same state of isolation subsists to-day. Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of reputable American citizens imagine the major portion of Latin America to be an extension of the wilds of Brazil as described by Theodore Roosevelt. Isolation, too, has been inherent to Latin America both because of the character of its original dwellers and be- cause of the semi-Oriental life imposed by the Spaniards on the earlier civilization. Nowhere have the Indians of their own accord adventured far into foreign lands or attempted to discover what was on the other side of the waters surrounding them : and it is almost certain that they never would have done so to this day. The Spaniards and Portuguese, whose whole ambition in Latin America was to keep the easy fruits of slave labor to themselves, repelled advances by others and cared less about the progress of the countries which they had taken than about their own comfort. They instituted a domestic economy savoring of Orientalized Andalusia and were prepared to enjoy, time without end, the blessings of an untroubled landed proprietorship or the wealth extracted from the mines by docile Indian serfs. EMERGENCE FROM ISOLATION In general, the isolation of Latin America from uni- versal main currents lasted until about fifty years ago. Since then, Brazil has become a self-governing republic (1889), Paraguay has regained its independence (1870) after a heart-breaking struggle with the combined forces of Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil, Cuba (1898) and Panama (1903) have become autonomous political entities, Colombia has changed from a federal to a unitary govern- ment, substituting its present name “The Republic of Colombia” for its old title “The United States of Colombia,” and Brazil has definitively assumed the fed- eral constitution (1887) under the name of “The United The End of Isolation 31 States of Brazil” and removed the last vestiges of slavery in Latin America by its decree of abolition in 1888. Beginning with 1876, as Professor Shepherd rightly intimates, Latin America has been traveling on the road of modern progress. That date may be taken to represent the end of the isolation of Latin America. Whatever of importance has been achieved in aligning Latin America with the more liberal spirit of the modern world may be said to fall within the period dating from 1876. The opportunity for improvement has, then, been extremely limited in time. This does not, to be sure, mean that Latin America has felt the modern urge throughout the length and breadth of its territory. For any reasoning as to its progressiveness, it is divisible into four sections: the coastal and insular regions and the southern half of South America, which are immediately open to foreign influence, and the interior and the entire northern section, which, because of their present inaccessibility and their more tropical climate, absorb foreign elements more slowly. An encouraging phase of the situation in the latter regions is found in the dissatisfaction expressed by thoughtful Latin Americans. To-day [writes Don Mario Ribas in an article in El Renaci- miento of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and translated in Inter- America], we desire to refer, in a concrete manner, to the humiliating isolation in which we live in this beautiful land of pines' and mountains. We are fifty hours from the capital of Costa Rica, and, never- theless, our contact with that charming country is as remote as if it were on the European continent. The little telegraphic news that is sent us from there reaches us five to eight days after having been despatched; Costa Rican newspapers are received here from twenty to thirty days after being issued; letters come with the same delay. Well, then: would it not be wise for someone to take it on himself to remedy these evils that so much affect our reputation ? Would it not he well for someone to study carefully the way to improve our communications with the rest of the world by changing the blessed system, guilty of the evil we mention? This particular case is extreme, no doubt, but it is to 32 The End of Isolation the credit of progressive Latin Americans that it arouses righteous indignation instead of that philosophic acquies- cence in things as they are which is assumed to be the dominant Latin American trait. INCREASE IN SHIPPING The most profound change in Latin America’s relations with its neighbors of the world has been wrought by the tremendous increase in shipping facilities since the days of the annual visit of the Spanish fleet. Shipping implies entrance and egress, the admission of goods, people, and ideas, and foreign travel. It is difficult for an American citizen with his pre- conceived notions concerning Latin America to realize that Latin America is speedily becoming one of the great shipping objectives of most of the nations of the world. The energy being displayed in this branch of international communication parallels the efforts of international bankers at affording Latin America the largest possible amount of financial connections with the rest of the world. As in banking, shipping is vital not only because of what it brings into the Latin American countries, but even more, perhaps, because of what it secures from them for general world utility. A catalogue of the American ships actually engaged in the Latin American trade, including the ships recondi- tioned and allocated by the United States Shipping Board, while nearly as romantic, on account of their history, their names, and their purpose, as Homer’s celebrated catalogue of the ships, would prove too lengthy for ordi- nary reading. Suffice it to say that, a shipping total of 39,000,000 tons (1920) represents a very respectable num- ber of individual ships, particularly when those ships are for the most part of moderate displacement. More than 30,000 craft, steam and sail, come in and out of the harbor of Buenos Aires annually, or an average of over 80 every day in the year. During 1920, 3101 steam vessels and 177 sailing vessels entered the port of Bio de Janeiro, of which 438 were American. In 1905 The End of Isolation 33 not a single American steamer put in at Rio de Janeiro, and of the seven sailing vessels which made that port, two were in distress! In 1913 not a single American vessel arrived at Buenos Aires, though an observer in 1852 counted more than 600 vessels flying the American flag in the harbor of Buenos Aires: in 1919, 335 American vessels arrived in the Argentine. Well over 50 steam- ship lines arrive and depart regularly from Argentine ports representing every maritime nation on the globe: and 30 or more steamers a week leave United States docks alone for Cuba. After but six years of operation, the Panama Canal transmitted in 1920 a net tonnage of 10,378,265 tons or over 1,000,000 tons more than the Suez Canal in 1918, and more than half as much as the highest Suez record of 20,275,120 tons in 1912 : and much of this tonnage was in transit between Latin America and the rest of the world. The casual observer can but stand amazed at the feverish anxiety to make shipping connections with Latin America which appears to characterize every sea-faring nation in the world. It is as if Latin America had just been discovered and everybody were fired with the ambi- tion to establish a stake in the land of El Dorado. Be- sides the lines of old standing, such as the Lamport and Holt Line, the Funch-Edye Line, the Pacific Steamship Company, the Houston Line, the Lloyd Brazileiro, new steamship accommodations seem to be initiated daily. The following items selected from nearly fifty announce- ments of new service projected or actually instituted during the past two years give a faint idea of the variety of steamship connections between Latin America and foreign countries and of the cosmopolitan character of the recently awakened interest in the southern republics. The Blue Diamond Line is building two 2000-ton ships to operate between New York and Guayaquil, Ecuador. With a capital of $4,000,000, the Compania Viajera Antillana has been formed for the West Indian trade and is having 7 steamships laid down in the shipyards 34 The End of Isolation of the United States and England. Contracts have been let in the United States by the Companhia Minas e Viagao de Matto Grosso of Brazil for the construction of 20 vessels. The Munson Line has lately added to its South American service the “American Legion,” which has shown her ability to make Rio de Janeiro from New York in 11 days, and is about to send her sister-ship, the “Southern Cross,” over the same route. The Trans- atlantica Italiana and the Nacional de Navegacion have already instituted service to Chile by way of Panama and expect to add 10 more ships, receiving a substantial subsidy from the Chilean Government. Three large re- frigerator vessels are soon to be placed in the New York service by the South American Steamship Company for the transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables from Chile to the American market. Herr Hugo Stinnes, the German capitalist, has entered the “Hindenburg” as the first of a series of steamships connecting Germany with the La Plata region. The Hugo Persson Line has diverted some of its passenger and freight vessels to establish a service between Goteborg, Sweden, and Venezuelan ports. A joint steamship service has been organized by the Van Nievelt Goudriaan and Company’s Steam Navigation Company and the Holland-American Line to offer two distinct fortnightly services between Rotterdam, Ham- burg, and Antwerp and Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The ships of the Prince Line Far East Service have begun to ply between Yokohama and Havana. The Canadian Government has half a dozen ships in the Caribbean and South American trade and is projecting additional service between Vancouver and Mexican, Central American, and South American ports. Omitting hundreds of other happenings of profound import in the shipping world, such as the enlargement of the piers at the Panama Canal, the construction of new dockyards at Vera Cruz and of a dry dock with a capacity of 2500 tons at Valparaiso, the rapid building of ships in Latin American shipyards — 134 of which were finished by national workmen at Barranquilla, Colombia, The End of Isolation 3 5 alone between 1912 and 1916 — the erection of an expensive office building at Cristobal, Canal Zone, by British ship- ping interests, the constant widening of the docks at Buenos Aires, which are without a superior in the world and have already cost considerably more than $50,000,000, it may be said that a new era in world contact has undeniably dawned in Latin America. We may assume, also, as a matter of course, that the multiplication of shipping facilities will bring increased immigration to Latin America in its wake and that the possibilities of heavy immigration are furthered by our own immigration restrictions, our business depression re- sulting in unemployment, and the general labor situation in this country. IMMIGRATION Immigration into Latin America involves several ques- tions of extremely curious character. Every Latin Amer- ican country is to-day suffering from man-power hunger. Vast stretches of inhabitable land lie unused and tre- mendous natural resources remain undeveloped through want of population. Nations all over the world are bank- rupt in space; Germany and Japan have fought costly wars partly for the purpose of providing room for their excess population; the Jews of the world cherish the dream of a country of their own in which to assume the unequivocal status of a well-defined nationality and to secure economic well-being: and yet there has been no sudden rush to Latin America. Propitious though the latter has always been to settlers, and rich enough in supplies and opportunities to satisfy the needs of home- seekers for countless years, immigration into Latin America has pursued a leisurely course. The explanation is to be sought on the one hand in the policy of isolation maintained by Spain nearly until Latin America gained its independence and in the turbulent conditions following the revolutionary wars, and, on the other, in the real distance of Latin America from Europe down to a recent date and in the anti-pioneering spirit 36 The End of Isolation fostered in some countries by an accumulation of “modern improvements.” The first three causes are easily com- prehensible. The fourth seems trifling, but is in truth potent, and accounts for the direction from which immi- gration streams. The intrepid colonizers come from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the agricultural districts of Germany, where primitive conditions still obtain and man has not become enervated by the influence of labor-saving devices and all the appurtenances of a comfort loving civilization. Farming in Italy and farming in Argentina, Brazil, or Uruguay constitute an identical operation: the work is done with sweat of brow, by the use of rough implements, and in similar climatic circumstances ; and life is simple and unadorned. Land at five dollars an acre in the agricultural paradise of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, is not by any means without charm to the American farmer who pays from $200 to $300 for land that is not a Avhit better : but he does not venture to buy it. He is unwill- ing to “rough it” in a primitive environment. Compared with our own immigration, that of Latin America appears small. But it is always well to remem- ber that we cannot in fairness employ our figures of over a million immigrants in 1910 and 1913, or our immigra- tion “peak” of 1,285,349 in 1907, as a standard for Latin America. We must reckon back nearly 50 years — the lead which we have over Latin America in self-govern- ment and free expansion — in order to obtain a proper basis for comparison, for it is only by such a retrospect that we can expect to duplicate general conditions in the United States and in Latin America. In 1875 the number of immigrants arriving in the United States totaled 227,498, or slightly more than the 214,000 who entered Argentina alone in 1905. Not until 1881 did our annual immigration amount to half a million, and not until 1905, to a million. If, by 1927, half a million immigrants land in Latin America for the year, and if. by 1951, a million are admitted for that year, Latin America will have kept pace with us according to t.he The End of Isolation 37 most rigid arithmetical calculations. That such will actually turn out to be the case, nobody familiar with the immigration progress being made now in Latin America, the inducements offered by the Latin American governments, the conditions in Europe and the Orient, restriction of immigration in the United State's, and the wealth of steamship service to Latin America — always a most important factor — can for an instant doubt. The four countries of the most highly cosmopolitan complexion in Latin America are Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil. These countries are in close touch with the rest of the world and cannot any longer be characterized as remote or isolated, no matter how little we in the United States may know about them. To immigration, with its enlivening qualities and its external bonds, more than to any other cause, can be ascribed the transformation of southern South America from a region of medieval obscurity to one of ubiquitous modern relations. The influx of immigration into Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil has given a predominantly Italian or German cast to many sections of each country. Whether Argentina can now be termed a thoroughly Spanish country is a question, for nearly a quarter of its population is Italian, and there is, within the limits of Buenos Aires, a larger Italian city than Rome itself. As in our own large cities, the Italians of Argentina tend to congregate in groups, form their own aristocracy, maintain their own churches, establish their own artistic circles, and exert a political power commensurate with their numerical, social, and economic prominence. Much of the labor of Argentine cities is done by Italians, and a great part of the agricultural work is accomplished by Italians, many of whom belong to a pi’ofessional farm- labor class which harvests the crops of Argentina during the months of December, January, February, and March, and returns to Italy in time to plant and to reap its own harvests in the Italian summer and autumn. The Italians settling in Argentina are, as a rule, from 38 The End of Isolation the north of Italy, hard-working, serious, and ambitious to improve their lot. That they are not content to remain at the bottom of the ladder, from which most of them have started, is evidenced by the fact that out of 401,555 foreigners owning land in Argentina in 1914, over 203,500 were Italians, and that many of the most eminent bankers, planters, business-men, artists, and scholars are Italian. Whoever visits Buenos Aires will often wonder if he is not in a new Italian metropolis, and whoever crosses Argentina from the Gran Chaco to Tierra del Fuego will find Italians everywhere, whether as farm and factory hands or as proprietors and industrial leaders. Uruguay, too, has a considerable Italian population, with colonies in the departments of Colonia and Soriano ; and in Montevideo, as in Buenos Aires, the Italians are the foremost foreign element. Mr. Robert E. Speer aptly denominates the usual Uruguayan type as a mixture of the Spanish and the Italian. In Chile, however, the Italian yields to foreigners of a more northern European strain. But in Brazil, the Italian comes into his own again. Further north he is less conspicuous, and on the West Coast in general, he offers slight competition to the pre- ponderant German, English, and Irish groups. He is at his best in the broad agricultural zone of the East Coast extending down from Rio Grande do Sul, and it is probable that his proficiency in farm-work, in certain manufactures, as a railroad hand, and as a helper on the docks explains his settlement in that locality. This year (1921) 30,000 Italians are expected to arrive in Brazil, and the Italian Government is understood to be desirous of concluding a treaty with Brazil for the regulation of such emigration in the future. During the twelve years ending with 1919, Italy sent 165,709 settlers to Brazil — the largest quota after Portugal and Spain. From 1885 to 1905 the number of Italian immigrants to Brazil was almost three times as large as the number from Portugal, or 1,068,032 Italians as against 356,979 Portuguese. The total Italian population of Brazil, in- The End of Isolation 39 eluding children born of Italian parents, is now consider- ably more than 2,000,000. In the State of Sao Paulo, where the Italians are principally congregated, they number fully one-third of the entire population, or more than 1,000,000 out of a total of 3,000,000: and their influence in making that State the most progressive and energetic in the Brazilian Union can scarcely be overestimated. The capital of Sao Paulo, like Buenos Aires, is heavily Italian, more than half of its inhabitants being of Italian blood, and the Italian language, Italian music, and Italian laughter may be heard the livelong day in many sections of the bustling city. In Brazil, as in Argentina and Uruguay, the Italian prefers the expansive life of work done in the great out- of-doors, and we find, consequently, that he flocks to the vast coffee plantations, most of which are manned by his fellows. In spite of the numerical superiority of Italians in Brazil, no grave Italian problem arose during the war. Nor was there fear at any time of such a problem, as there was in many quarters on account of the German population of Brazil. Next to the Italians, the Germans have settled in Latin America in the most considerable numbers — leaving out of account, of course, the Spaniards and the Portuguese, who may be regarded at all times as imminent Latin Americans — and with every appearance of permanence. How much German colonization owes to instigation by the German Government will probably remain a moot point, but that it has always shown more careful organ- ization than the emigration of other nationalities is cer- tain. The German colonists of Valdivia, Chile, indeed, seem to have left their native land as a protest against the military and political career mapped out for the newer Germany toward the middle of the nineteenth century, and cannot be charged with German propaganda, but they, too, acted collectively, and not as individuals, founded their homes through co-operation in one of the 40 The End of Isolation garden spots of southern Chile, and by common consent retain the customs and speech of the Fatherland. They, together with the colonists of Llanquihue, now number more than thirty thousand. The opinion of some writers, such as Mr. Clayton S. Cooper, to the effect that these settlers entered into the German scheme of penetration in South America with the aim of creating a German Empire in Latin America, must be discounted in view of the early date of their emigration to Chile. They have preserved their language, schools, and churches, as agri- cultural Germans are likely to do everywhere : as they do to-day, or were doing before the war, in some districts of Nebraska and Missouri. Their undertaking was no more “inspired” than that of the group of citizens in Freiburg, Germany, who have recently begun (1920) the publication of a Paraguayan review for the purpose of fomenting emigration to Paraguay. One of the “vulgar errors” which must cautiously be guarded against in treating of German immigration into Latin America is the widely disseminated notion that every German colonist in Latin America marched under the aegis of the Prussian eagle. No Latin American country is without its contingent . of German settlers. In Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, and in most of the West Indies they are proprietors of coffee and sugar plantations, conduct important commission houses, and have large banking interests. It is possible that something like a loose organ- ization, at least sentimental, binds them to one another, to German firms in the United States, and to the mercan- tile and industrial institutions of Germany. The chief German centers, however, are situated in the southern part of South America, principally in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Brazil presents, perhaps, the best instance of the various steps through which German immigration has passed in Latin America. Beginning, in the fifties, with settlements made by Germans dissatisfied with political and economic conditions in Germany — and therefore never an instru- The End of Isolation 41 ment of the German Governmenf — it continued by addi- tions attracted through the success of the original colonists, increased with the definite support and encour- agement of Imperial Germany, reached its moment of greatest pride when a statesman of German descent be- came the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, under- went an eclipse when Brazil declared war against Germany and seized German ships and property, and is now being revived through private initiative in Germany, with the full approval of the Brazilian authorities. The Brazilian debt to these German settlers is large, and so thoroughly have Germans become an integral part of Brazilian national life that a diminution in their num- bers and influence may be set aside as highly improbable. German colonists now practically control two of the most fruitful states of the Brazilian republic, namely, Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul. From about 20,000 German immigrants in Rio Grande do Sul in 1859, the German population has grown by natural increase and the arrival of newcomers to over 200,000, and the German population of Santa Catharina, though smaller, shows a like rate of progress. The State of Parana is also markedly German. In these three states, the business houses are usually under German control, and Brazilian employees are often required to obtain a knowledge of German in order to be able to serve their clientele prop- erly. German is the common tongue. The picture drawn by the Rev. Dr. Zahm indicates the degree to which German colonists have made themselves at home in Brazil, and is free from any sinister sugges- tion, just as the life itself is probably free from anything bordering on political contamination by Germany: So true is this that one may travel from Sao Leopoldo, near Porto Alegre, for almost one hundred and fifty miles towards the west and rarely hear any language but German. The greet- ings of the peasants on the highway are a cordial guten Tag or guten Abend, and their accent is as marked as that of a newcomer from Thuringia or the Rhineland. They are kind and hospitable, and, in this respect, remind one of the Pennsylvania Dutch of a generation ago. They have everywhere their Vereine — social 42 The End of Isolation and athletic clubs — where the customs of their fathers are as rigidly preserved as in any part of Germany. In the larger towns, beer is the favorite beverage of the club members, but in the interior, far from the railroad, mate takes its place. Every- where one finds large families of light-haired, ruddy-faced chil- dren, and to listen to their animated prattling in German one could readily fancy oneself in a country home in Bavaria, or in a village in Hanover. Far from decreasing, German immigration into Brazil shows an upward trend at the present moment. The economic plight of Germany, heavy taxation, the discour- agement following an unsuccessful war which made the German name a subject of odium in many countries hitherto preferred by German emigrants, explicit announcements of the Brazilian Government that it would welcome and aid German settlers, and the assurance that they would find multitudes of their countrymen enjoying prosperity and honor in Brazil, have all conduced to an unusual German interest in that underpopulated and incalculably rich republic. Recently, the steamship “Caxias” arrived in Brazil with 1000 German immigrants and the “Pocone,” from Hamburg, with over a thousand ; an Austro-German immi- gration society for settlement throughout Brazil has been founded with over 2000 members; and the Government of Brazil, anticipating a steady flow of immigrants, has asked for transportation bids from the steamship com- panies carrying passengers between Europe and South America. The fear of German aggression has now disappeared in Brazil, the entering Germans come in an earnest spirit and very much in need of sympathy, and the results of further German colonization can but be beneficial. The States of Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul may con- tinue to receive accessions of Germans to such an extent as to make the German element indisputably preponderant, just as it is in some of our Middle Western states, but the Brazilian authorities have learned much about hyphena- tion and duality of sentiment during the war, and are prosecuting a sturdy campaign of patriotism to obviate The End of Isolation 43 the risk of harboring equivocal residents within their national territory. Over Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay, Ger- mans have spread in goodly numbers, and delegates of German immigration societies are to-day busily inves- tigating the possibilities of group colonization. This will naturally mean the occupation of rural lands, and a farm- movement rather than a city-movement. As an agricul- turist, the German is exemplary. His sense of comfort and neatness causes him to convert bare fields into well- ordered, productive land and to conjure a homelike atmosphere out of the desert air. He is also unspoiled by that urban German forwardness resembling a military offensive, which leads to a distaste for his manners and suspicion of his motives. In El Chaco of Paraguay, in the valleys of Chile, in the far districts of Patagonia, the German is a model farmer and citizen, and asks only to be permitted to work out his salvation by thrift and unremitting toil. He has nothing in common with that class of immigrants, dangerous because of their destruc- tive sentiments, their secret ambitions, or their personal uneleanliness, against which some publicists, in spite of Argentina’s need of a continuous flow of newcomers, are already urging the adoption of restrictive measures similar to those contained in the Johnson bill. Argentina and the other Latin American countries, to be sure, cannot afford to prohibit immigration even for a year, but many of the recent labor and political troubles indicate that they may be obliged to exercise a careful choice in admitting foreigners. The emergence from isolation brings its penalties as well as its rewards. Among the other foreigners in Latin America, the British exert, beyond question, the greatest per capita influence. Never found in large numbers — though mak- ing up the respectable figure of 54,000 in Brazil by 1913 — they have settled in every country and are connected with important banking, agricultural, railroad, commer- cial, mining, and hydraulic enterprises. They preserve a social aloofness, yet set the styles in sports, men’s dress, 44 The End of Isolation and, in some instances, in household economy. The wealthy Argentine family often boasts a hall and an English governess, and the educated Argentinian or Chilean interlards his speech with Anglicisms. The size of the British colony of Buenos Aires may be judged by the fact that in 1910 eight English papers were published in the Argentine capital — not as many, indeed, as were published in Italian (22), but equal to the number pub- lished in French and in German. The total British popu- lation of Argentina is now something over 50,000. Particularly noteworthy among the British settlers are those hardy Scots, Welsh, New Zealanders who work immense tracts of land in Patagonia, and the agricultural English and Irish who elect to cultivate the “camp,” frequently giving up their national identity and speech for the nationality and language of their adopted country. In Chile, the most honored names are of men of British stock, such as O’Higgins, Lord Cochrane, Vicuna Mackenna, who have contributed gloriously to the history and learning of the republic. In Peru, too, the standing of the British is extremely high, though their numbers are few. The least prominent among settlers in Latin America are the North Americans. From the 30,000 odd Americans at present in Mexico, to which the Mennonite colony of between 15,000 and 20,000 from Canada is, it is reported, to be added this year (1921), and the 7000 in Cuba in 1914, they dwindle to a mere handful in most of the Latin American countries. But the expansion of American busi- ness in Latin America and the continued exploitation of oils and minerals, together with the high cost of land and the limited opportunities for cattle-raising on a large scale in the United States, are already beginning to draw the attention of persons in the United States seeking broader or better fields of action. The recent project for establishing 1000 American families in Bolivia, where 120 acres may be obtained for $5.00, cannot fail to inspire similar undertakings. Nothing could prove more benefi- cial to our commercial and cultural relations with Latin America. The End of Isolation 45 Nor should immigration into Latin America seem a fearful trial to our citizens. Better immigration induce- ments, regulations, and accommodations are offered no- where. Italians, Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, Scan- dinavians avail themselves of this liberality, and there is no reason why Americans anxious to improve their condition should not do so. A glance at the following data of immigration shows the cosmopolitan make-up of the larger Latin American republics and should effectually dispose of the idea that Latin America has few world contacts or that the popu- lation is anywhere either exclusively Spanish or Por- tuguese or almost exclusively Indian. In the new era upon which Latin America has entered with the twentieth century, it is becoming more and more Europeanized, and will some day be identical as a “melting pot” with the United States, differing only in the circumstance that the basic fabric of society will be Spanish or Portuguese, instead of English, as among us. Approximate immigration into Argentina during the past 50 years Italians 2,250,000 British 53,000 Spaniards 1,500,000 210,000 Swiss 32,000 French Portuguese 25,000 Russians 155,000 Belgians 22,000 11,000 Syrians 130,000 Greeks Austrians 85,000 Dutch 7,000 Germans 60,000 North Americans ... 6,000 Approximate immigration into Brazil, 1820-1915 Italians 1,300,000 French 28,000 Portuguese 976,000 468,583 British 22,000 Spaniards Japanese 15,000 Germans 123,000 Swiss 10,000 Russians 104,000 Swedes 5,000 Austrians Turk-Arabs 78.000 52.000 Belgians 4,000 Approximate number of foreign residents in Mexico in 1910 Spaniards 30,000 French 5,000 North Americans (U. Germans 4,000 S.) 29,000 Turks 3,000 Chinese 13,000 Italians 3,000 British 5,000 Japanese 2,000 46 The End of Isolation The effect of this foreign leaven of energetic character and procreative capacity on the small basic population of Latin America and on the slowly, but surely, diminish- ing Indian strain must portend significant ethnic changes in the near future, and should result in highly instructive social phenomena. TRANSPORTATION The development of internal communication in Latin America has an important bearing on the rate of immi- gration, and, obviously, on the rapidity with which the remoter regions issue from their actual state of isolation. In spite of the magnificent system of waterways with which South America is supplied, the crying need every- where is for more railroads, more highways, more auto- mobile roads. Our own experience has demonstrated that nothing has equaled these arteries of travel and trans- portation in the stimulation of agriculture and the indus- tries. Latin American statesmen and financiers are thor- oughly convinced that the ultimate prosperity of their countries is conditioned on the increase in railroad and highway transportation facilities and are making every effort to extend them in every direction. The work is necessarily slow, due to the configuration of the West and North coasts of South America and to the small amount of coal available within the republics themselves, but the work has never stood still and is actually pro- ceeding at an encouraging rate. The disparity betAveen our 264,233 miles of railroad and the 65,000 or 70,000 miles of railroad in Latin America need not mislead us into underestimating what has been accomplished in the southern republics, however, great that difference may be in figures. Forty-one years ago, only 93,267 miles of track had been laid in the United States: and Ave must wait nearly half a century before AA*e can expect achieA’ements resembling our OAA r n from Latin America. The difference between the date of our independence and that of the Latin American republics should not be forgotten for a moment, in making com- The End of Isolation 47 parisons. Although there is little practical use in draw- ing a parallel between any of the Latin American coun- tries — which are genuine countries, and not states — and any of our states, it is still interesting to observe that in absolute mileage, many of those republics exceed ours. The relative smallness of our states, when placed be- side the Latin American countries, our general lack of such natural fluvial communication, for example, as per- mits vessels of 9 and even 14 feet draft to reach eleven large interior river-poi’ts in Uruguay — ships therefore, of nearly twice as great a draft as those which can navigate the Erie Canal, with its allowance of 6 feet draft- — our swift evolution of industries, and our habitua- tion to rapid means of locomotion have literally forced a remarkable railway expansion in the United States. The opposite obtains in every one of these particulars in Latin America: so much so, that most of us, even when admitting the huge size of some of the Latin Amer- ican countries, would feel inclined to doubt that Mexico has more railroad mileage than New York State or that Uruguay has more miles of railroad than Connecticut, Maryland, or New Hampshire. In effect, New York in 1910 had 8429, Connecticut, 1000, Maryland, 1426, New Hampshire, 1245 miles of railway trackage. The railways of Argentina in 1918 totaled 21,880 miles; of Brazil in 1917, 17,477 miles; of Mexico in 1914, 15,840 miles; of Uruguay in 1917, 1654 miles. Railway progress in the more highly modernized coun- tries of Latin America is, in fact, well advanced. Buenos Aires is connected with the interior by numerous radiat- ing main lines; and that portion of the republic which lies within 300 miles of the capital is as densely studded with rails as the State of Ohio. Direct railway connec- tion exists between Argentina and Chile, Paraguay, and Bolivia, and the plans of both Argentina and Brazil look to the junction of the main Argentine and Brazilian sys- tems. To-day, Argentina occupies the ninth place in the world in railroad mileage. Brazil is joined by rail to Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia, and has in the Sao 48 The End of Isolation Paulo-Santos line perhaps the best equipped railroad in the world, due undoubtedly to the fact that its profits, above a moderate dividend, should revert to the Govern- ment and are consequently, for reasons which will readily be understood by those who have observed some of the workings of our excess profits tax, employed in main- tenance of the highest and most costly type. Chile has direct railroad contact with Argentina and Bolivia, and its Longitudinal Railway already covers a distance of 1957 miles. Peru has some of the most remarkable rail- roads in the world, including the Central Railway, which climbs from sea-level to a height of 15,865 feet near Oroya, or over 1700 feet higher than Pike’s Peak; the Guayaquil-Quito Line of Ecuador, mounting to an eleva- tion of more than 9000 feet above sea-level, shortens to two days a journey which formerly took two weeks on mule-back; and the Trans-Andean Line, between Argen- tina and Chile, and the La Guaira-Caraeas Railroad of Venezuela represent some of the most ambitious feats of railway engineering as yet undertaken. Ever since 1880, Mexico, racked though it has been by internal up- heavals, has kept on with railroad construction, and is now finishing such projects as the Durango-Canitas line, instituting new projects, and building many additional terminals, of which the Tampico station in Aztec style and the union station in Mexico City will be the most noteworthy. In the course of another half-century, the present rail- way situation in Latin America will be regarded as but the nucleus for the real railroad development which is coming. It is more than probable, likewise, that we shall learn something from Latin America about the govern- ment ownership and operation of railroads, for Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico have already had a con- siderable and generally successful experience in that direction. Many writers and travelers maintain that not railroads, but highways will for a long time be the chief essential for the effectual opening up of the unexploited resources The End of Isolation 49 of Latin America and for the definitive settling of the land : and anybody who has traveled over the nondescript trails and mud roads of the interior or even of the rural districts just outside the cities will cordially approve this view. The immense extent of non-urban territory, its rugged condition, and the traditional indifference of gov- erning bodies to rural needs have held road-building down to a minimum. The unorganized peasants of Latin America have rarely complained about the hardships in getting their produce to market. Their forefathers drove their horses, mules, burros, or llamas before them in biblical fashion, and what was good enough for them has usually been good enough for their descendants. Economy of time in the simple pastoral age in which they have lived has had no special charm. The rich planters, particularly the more modern, money-making individuals or corporations who have come in from the advanced industrial sections of Europe or the United States, have either had railways built to their estates and tolerated poor roads more than they could otherwise have done or have put up with what they have found, depending on trains of rude, heavy carts and plentiful, cheap labor. There is little doubt, indeed, that the governments of Latin America have, until very recently, done less for roads than the aboriginal Indians, who, especially in Mexico and Peru, constructed enduring highways for their armies, their merchants, their revenue collectors, or the Spaniards, to whom for both military and commercial purposes, highways were absolutely indispensable. The Spaniards in Latin America were in exactly the same position as the Romans in the conquered provinces: and highways followed the flag. The apathy with regard to roads has resulted partly from the withdrawal of policing armies and partly from the investment value of railways. If foreign investment companies were able to derive a satisfactory and regular profit from road-building, the highways would now be in as flourishing a state, at least, as the railroads. All 50 The End of Isolation forms of transportation in Latin America have thus far owed their main development to foreign capital: and steamships and railroads return a steady yield and offer prospects of expanding returns whereas roads do not. In addition, road-building in Latin America waits on govern- ment initiative and is not a popular type of occupation to the laboring classes, even immediately before elections. But road-building in Latin America cannot remain at a standstill w T hile everything else is advancing. The dis- covery of oil, above all, in almost every Latin American country points to immediate highway activity. The auto- mobile bids fair to do for the non-urban district what it has brought to pass in the United States. It should prove as destructive to isolation as it has in every section of our country. Curiously enough, Venezuela, which has commonly been depreciated beyond its deserts, in spite of the inspiration which it has furnished and the great leaders — Miranda, Bolivar, Andres Bello — whom it has produced for Latin America, appears to be forging ahead in the construction of roads more rapidly than most of its sister-republics. The great Western Highwmy which will join Caracas with San Cristobal across the country at the frontier of Colombia, and the roads from Ocumare to San Fernando on the River Apure, from Coro to Trujillo and to Mara- caibo, from Barcelona to Ciudad Bolivar, the chief city on the Orinoco, are all under way and radiate inland from the north toward the west and south, opening up large sections to commercial and automobile traffic. In Nicaragua, an American syndicate has been con- structing cart roads to many points in the interior. Salvador and Guatemala have joined the good roads movement, mainly Avith the object of facilitating trans- portation to and from the interior; Cuba is fairly well provided with roads; and the military highway, together with numerous stretches of road built by the American government in Porto Rico, is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. On the South American continent, the small republic of Uruguay, has over 2000 miles of national The End of Isolation 51 highways and 3000 miles of wagon roads and bridle paths, though Mr. J. 0. P. Bland’s acute criticism is funda- mentally correct : One need not be a prophet or an augur to perceive that the one thing needful for the development of the country (and with it of the railway) is good roads, and plenty of them, throughout the interior. I have met with estancieros who recognized this fundamental truth and who would be glad to contribute their fair share for a comprehensive scheme to make and maintain roads for motor lorry traffic; but as a general rule they prefer to stick to the good old hoary system which isolates the estancias of any district when the rivers happen to be in flood, and which means sending produce and bringing in materials, either by slow bullock-wagons or eight-horse team, over the vilest of makeshift mud roads. One would imagine that a government which pro- claims the democratic and progressive gospel according to Senor Battle would perceive the futility of encouraging the immigration of colonists and clmereros [agriculturists] without first evolving a practical road-making policy. Chile’s public roads now total over 20,000 miles. Brazil, though making slow pi-ogress in roads, has good auto- mobile roads from Santos to Sao Paulo, from Sao Paulo to Campinas, from Piedade to Sorocaba, and in several other localities, where there is usually a garage or two and a repair shop, and is extending a- road 1000 miles in length to connect Guarapuava in the State of Parana with the town of Matto Grosso. The latter highway, which w r ill take in Yaccaria, the most important cattle center in the State of Matto Grosso, is reckoned of such prospective value by the Government that measures have already been taken for the colonization of Italians along the route. With the fondness for motor cars which charac- terizes the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, the construction of automobile roads for goodly distances from the capital in every direction is bound shortly to be an assured fact. Even mountainous Peru has of late years become con- vinced of the civilizing and commercial influence of roads, has many short automobile routes to which additions are being made, has completed the beautiful Avenida Miramar joining Lima to half a dozen suburban and seashore re- sorts, and is considering — though it can scarcely hope to 52 The End of Isolation carry it out — the remarkable expedient of making road service, payable in personal or hired labor, compulsory for all males between 18 and 60 years of age. Among the organizations chiefly instrumental in stimulating road- making in Peru is the Automobile Club of Lima: and various other automobile clubs in Latin America have exerted both personal and corporate power to a highly; significant degree in securing more and better highways. Through its shipping, immigration, and railway and road development, Latin America as a whole is yielding to the pressure of the modern technological civilization and taking up, sometimes successively and sometimes simultaneously, the activities of the modern western world. Its transportation is not now what it was in the days of the Incas and the Aztecs or of the Spanish. Its ethnic structure is undergoing a rapid change through modification by more advanced foreign elements than Spaniards and Portuguese of the old school. Its newly awakened interest in roads, resulting to a large extent from the transcendent role of oil, signifies that it has in many republics at last become aware that highways are the foundations on which all modes of transportation and all successful colonization ultimately rest. Steamships, railroads, highways, telephone and tele- graph systems, and newspapers are rapidly overcoming Latin America’s isolation with respect to the outside world in the more progressive countries and slowly, but per- ceptibly, in the less accessible republics, such as Bolivia and Paraguay. Fully as important a result is the break- ing down of sectional barriers within Latin America it- self. COFFEE PLANTATION, VENEZUELA — DRYING THE BEAN. CHAPTER III CHANGING INDUSTRIES During the major part of its history, Latin America has been taken up and utilized more or less at random, without special regard for the morrow, and unmolested by immediate considerations of economic necessity. That time has definitively passed. Latin America has finally moved from the outer fringe of the world into the concert of nations dominated by economic conceptions, or, to state the case differently, has been environed by the ever-widening circle of the technological civilization. This change is visible not only in the social evolution that is going on, but also in the evolution of the various industries and in the measures taken to adapt them to present world conditions. The visualization of a Latin America persisting in the rudimen- tary raw material stage needs correction. AGRICULTURE AND MINING Agriculture and mining, of course, still constitute the main industries of Latin America. Though undermanned and, in general, untouched by intensive methods, Latin American agriculture has, through mere extent of territory and exuberance of soil, occupied for many years either the first or the second place in the world in the production of corn, sugar, coffee, cacao, the third or fourth place in the production of tobacco, and one of the front ranks in the production of cereals, cattle, and wool. Until overtaken of late years by British and Dutch East Indian competition, Brazil possessed a virtual monopoly of rubber. Recently, Brazil, Peru, and Mexico have become prominent among cotton- growing countries. 53 54 Changing Industries The mineral resources of Latin America continue to hold the high place given them by Spanish exploitation centuries ago. Mexico now stands first in the world in the output of silver and Colombia in that of platinum ; Bolivia occupies the second rank in the production ot tin, Chile in copper, and Mexico in petroleum; Venezuela and Cuba and British Trinidad together lead the world in the production of asphalt. Brazil supplied most of the diamonds of the world before the rise of the Kimberley mines in South Africa, and from the State of Diamantina have come such famous gems as the Coroa do Portugal (Crown of Portugal), weighing 127 carats, and the Estrella do Sul (Southern Star), weighing 254y 2 carats, uncut, and when cut 125 carats. The latter, purchased by the Rajah of Baroda at the reported extraordinary price of $15,000,000, was, as M. Pierre Denis states, “dis- covered by a negress engaged in washing clothes at the riverside.” Bolivia supplies all the bismuth used in the world, Brazil most of the thoi’ium, one mine in Peru four-fifths of the vanadium, and Colombia practically all the fine emeralds. In spite of the incessant exploitation of the mines of Latin America for the past four centuries, nothing is yet known with certainty of their capacity. Vast areas still await scientific investigation. Even the possibilities of gold and silver mining have not been exhausted nor as- certained with precision, and the era of iron and of technically important minor metals has barely dawned. Whenever entered upon, however, the working of mining properties in Latin America is now carried on with high efficiency and their proper development is contingent only on progressive discoveries. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY Were it possible to make the latter statement of Latin American agriculture, a truly astounding production could safely be predicted. Wherever modern scientific methods of agriculture have been applied consistently remarkable yields have been secured. Sugar cane in Cuba, Changing Industries 55 according to the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor of the island, averaged last year (1920) a gross return of $800 per acre ; and the cane on virgin land may be cut without replanting for thirty years. Tobacco is planted, grown, and gathered in ninety days. Cotton, which is now the third most important crop of Peru, furnishes in the Ganete valley an average of 553 pounds to the acre, and has attained a maximum of over 1300 pounds in the valley of Lambayeque. Five good crops may be obtained without replanting, and the cotton in general is of the finest grade. The better class of grapes of Mendoza, Argentina, often yield a net profit of from $800 to $1000 per acre. In the valleys of Tacna Province, Chile, olive-trees exhibit a wonderful fruitful- ness, a single tree being reported to have produced 1900 pounds of olives. The degree to which a modern system of cultivation and merchandising has expanded the banana industry from the humblest beginnings may be gleaned from the rise of the United Fruit Company, founded by Mr. Minor C. Keith, to a commanding position in the commercial world within the short space of some thirty years. A similar expansion is possible in some other tropical fruits, and especially in the fruits of the temperate and sub- tropical zones of southern South America. The business methods of the California fruit-growers, if transplanted to Chile, Argentina, and southern Brazil, would enable those sections of Latin America to supply our markets plentifully with peaches, pears, apples, plums, nectarines, apricots, melons, and grapes — which mature there during our winter and early spring months — and to compete strongly in Europe with other fruit-growing countries. INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE Under the Incas, the Aztecs, the Mayas, and the Spaniards and Portuguese of the olden time, agriculture and mining followed a set routine. A few staple crops and the precious metals absorbed the attention of natives and conquistadores alike. Experiments were, indeed, 56 Changing Industries made by the Spaniards and the Portuguese — to whom we have never been just in our appreciation of their gov- ernmental policies and their real contributions to Amer- ican social and economic progress — but they were rarely transformed into an intensive programme. The attitude on the whole Avas that of the peripatetic prospector Avho scratches the surface, gathers what he can easily see, and then moves on. In Brazil this attitude resulted in what Miss L. E. Elliott calls “revolutions in industries,” by reason of Avhich the dyewood, gold, diamond, and other promising industries waxed and Avaned in the past, and, to a certain extent, also, the rubber industry is shoAving a marked decline at the present moment. Superlative and A'aried Avealth and underpopulation quite naturally lead to an extensive rather than an intensive treatment of resources. To-day, thoughtful Latin Americans realize that it is necessary to dig deeper and to place a more solid founda- tion under the future. An earnest of their desire to modernize their industries is seen in the universal estab- lishment of agricultural, mining and engineering, trade and vocational schools and in their search for expert scientific assistance from abroad. Heretofore, the foreign scientific experts called to Latin America have come from Europe, and principally from Germany. It is gratifying to note that a decided prefer- ence is now being shoAvn for scientists and industrial investigators from the United States. Noav it is Professor EdAvard Green, the American cotton expert, Avho is chosen by the Brazilian Government to classify and standardize the best cottons for planting in Brazil and to advise the Government as to the most suitable regions for groAving the different grades : noAv, it is three American specialists in tropical agriculture whom the Government of Ecuador asks of the United States Department of Agriculture: noAv, it is seA r eral expert American stock judges Avho are invited to Argentina, and Avhose decisions are accorded the highest appreciation: again, it is Professor Nels A. Bengston of the University of Nebraska and other Amer- Changing Industries 57 ican geologists whose opinions on oil-lands are eagerly- requested by Latin American governments and private companies. An extension of this deference to our judgment is to be seen in the sending of Latin American specialists to the United States for study and help, as in the case of Don Jose A. Vivanco, who has been commissioned by the Peruvian Government to negotiate an interchange of seeds and cereals between the United States and Peru, and in the attendance at our technical schools of large numbers of Latin American students, many of whom are sent at government expense. SALIENT INDUSTRIES The Latin American industries in which the world at large is to-day showing the greatest interest and in several of which modern principles are being most plainly ex- hibited are cattle-raising and packing, oil and coal ex- ploitation, lumbering, and manufacturing. Some of these are new industries, whereas others are of long-standing, but are undergoing a radical change. The influence of foreign ideas is observable in all of them. Nevertheless, it is Latin American enterprise which is making all of them possible, and Latin American scientific skill, indus- trial acumen, and workmanship which are successfully carrying them on. Cattle-raising is one of the oldest of industries in Latin America, has long been nurtured with especial care in Argentina and Uruguay, and yet is on the eve of a new epoch. To-day, Argentina has more cattle than any coun- try in Europe except Russia, and is, perhaps, not behind post-war Russia. Argentina and Brazil together have probably more cattle than the United States, since Argen- tina’s 29,500,000 head in 1915 and Brazil’s 30,705,000 in 1913 have been increasing, while the 61,804,000 head in the United States in 1910 diminished to 61,441,000 in 1916, and seem likely to keep on decreasing. Uruguay and Mexico combined surpass the United Kingdom in numbers of cattle, and Uruguay alone excels Canada. From the 58 Changing Industries few cattle brought over by the Spaniards, and in many cases abandoned on the South American and Mexican plains, has sprung the colossal industry which purveys meat to the major part of the Western World: for on our own prairies there were no cattle in the early part of the last century, and our western herds were established from stock taken from the Mexican ranges. CATTLE-RAISING IN ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY The prominence of Argentina and Uruguay in cattle- raising and packing is known in all quarters of the globe. Enjoying unequaled pasturage and a benignant climate, Argentinian and Uruguayan cattle can hardly help pros- pering and increasing to the uttermost limits of the broad pampas. The introduction of blooded stock from Eng- land, Scotland, and the United States is quickly raising the standard of the native strain ; and the care with which all the minutiae of registration are followed and the pride shown in the ownership of cattle which have taken prizes at the wonderful livestock exhibitions make it certain that no other nations will soon Avrest the palm from Argentina and Uruguay. The great respect in which the late Thomas Howard, of Boston, has been held in Uruguay for his life-long labors in introducing pedigreed stock into Uruguay, and the honors paid to his family, which has continued his work, testify to the nature of the reigning passion in southern South America. Cattle are regal, and a whole economic and social evolution is largely condi- tioned on their welfare. When an Argentine rancher thinks nothing of paying $35,000 and $60,000 for a pure- bred bull, or $10,00*0 for a prize ram, or $150,000 for Diamond Jubilee, King Edward VII ’s magnificent thor- oughbred, we are safe in assuming that cattle-raising has left its primitive state and become one of the fine arts. Distinction comes to Argentinians and Uruguayans merely as a result of their possession of unusual animals, and cattle dynasties have been potent social and political forces in the history of both Argentina and Uruguay. Hitherto in the United States, whenever mention has PRIZE WINNERS FROM "THE CAMP. Changing Industries 59 been made of cattle-raising on a large scale in Latin America, the only countries named have been the two cited above. During the past ten years this impression of Argentina’s and Uruguay’s supremacy has been inten- sified by the construction there of frigorificos (packing plants) and the purchase of immense tracts of grazing land by the Armour, the Swift, the Morris, the Wilson, and other American companies. Preceding them by nearly half a century, the Liebig company, whose extract of beef is a household article, expanded mightily until now hun- dreds of thousands of cattle are slaughtered annually at Fray Bentos and the Liebig land holdings embrace some- thing like five million acres of rich territory. Naturally, the region capable of appealing to such powerful foreign interests has attracted the widest atten- tion. But there is no certainty that it will always remain the leader in cattle production, and the signs point to the rise of new cattle districts of great promise. NEW FIELDS FOR CATTLE-RAISING Paraguay and Bolivia, because of their climate and excellent pasturage, and Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru, because of their proximity to the United States, should thrive as cattle-raising countries. Cattle-raising has, in fact, become the principal industry of Paraguay, American packing companies are alive to its possibilities, and the government is making special efforts to stimulate the industry by strict sanitary regulations and by offering excellent grazing land at from $1 to $4 an acre. Agricul- tural colonies chiefly devoted to cattle-raising are being established in Bolivia, and to one of them under the direc- tion of Mr. C. Dunbar Smith of Nebraska City, Nebraska, a concession of 17,000 square miles is reported to have been granted. Mexico now has 20,000 cattle ranches valued at $500,000,000 and can provide ample room for expansion. Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru are admirably adapted to cattle-raising, and their strategic position along the great trade routes which are being fixed by the Panama Canal should give them the benefit of com- 60 Changing Industries paratively high prices and low transportation expenses. In most of these countries, inducements approaching the liberality of the Colombian government, as enacted in the following recent law, obtain: Any person introducing into the country pure breeds of cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, goats for the exclusive purpose of improving the native stock will be entitled to a reimbursement from the Government for one-third of the value of the animals, including all expenses of examination, transportation, feeding, insurance, consular invoices, etc. Argentinian, Uruguayan, Paraguayan, and Mexican ac- tualities and prospects in cattle-raising, nevertheless, im- mense as they undoubtedly are, fail to impress the mind with that sense of magnitude which ensues from a study of the probable career of the cattle industry in Brazil. BRAZIL, A COMING CATTLE CENTER If, in 1913, Brazilian cattle totaled over thirty million, exclusive of sheep, swine, and goats, what may it not amount to within a generation in consequence of the great activity displayed by the Government, by the numerous organizations of cattle-raisers which are springing up, and by the huge packing-plants erected by American and British interests since the beginning of the European War? Within that period, Armour and Company have built in Brazil the largest packing house in the world at a cost of $10,000,000, and half a dozen British and Brazilian firms, in addition to Swift and Company and Wilson and Company, have constructed or begun the con- struction of important packing plants. Refrigeration is so new a process in Brazil that no shipment of frozen meats was made until November, 1914, when one ton was sent to England as an experiment. In July, 1915, the consignment which left Santos amounted to 205,350 pounds. During the subsequent six months, over seventeen million pounds of refrigerated meats were cleared from the same port: and during the year 1919, 55,685 tons of canned and refrigerated beef alone were exported from Brazil. Changing Industries 61 If comparison with Argentina is at all permissible, the; growth of the industry in Brazil during the next genera- tion should prove truly astounding. Buenos Aires made; the first shipment of refrigerated beef from Argentina in 1877 — forty-four years ago: and that shipment consisted of only 80 tons. By 1915 Argentinian exports of animals and animal products had risen to over $218,000,000, or about forty per cent of the total exports. The exports of Argentina in 1919 came to $867,823,000 and if the 1915 ratio just cited has held good, the value of the exports of animals and animal products must have been close to one-third of a billion dollars — a distinct increase, indeed, over the price received for the 80 tons shipped in 1877, or the $1680 received for the total exports of refrigerated beef in 1885, plus the value of any additional animal products exported by Argentina forty-four years ago. AMERICAN PACKERS IN BRAZIL The new factor cropping out in the modern cattle' situation in Brazil is that American enterprise has been able to enter the field without the handicap of a long tradition of “favored nations” to overcome. The packing industry started with the Companhia Frigorifica e Pas- toril organized at Barretos by Dr. Antonio de Silva Prado in 1913 for the provisioning of Sao Paulo with chilled meats, and shortly thereafter the Armours, the Swifts, the Wilsons made plans to establish packing centers in the republic, and especially in the States of Rio Grande do Sul and Sao Paulo. In equipment, methods, management, and plans for the future, the American packers start out with a clean slate. Already they are energetically setting about inculcating the latest scientific principles of cattle-raising, packing, and shipping, improving the native stock by crossing it with pure-bred Herefords or Short horns, getting the most out of the by-products, and teaching the value of attrac- tive presentation for the market. The acquisition of high-priced experts has been one of the first steps taken b^ these immense foreign interests, 62 Cha ngi ng I n dustries and should result in the opening of excellent positions for qualified graduates of our agricultural colleges. Mr. Murdo Mackenzie, a former Texas cattleman, until re- cently the manager of the Morungava ranch of the Brazil Land, Cattle and Packing Company, which owns five mil- lion acres of land in Brazil and about four million in Bolivia, was paid £10,000 a year for his technical knowl- edge and business ability, and had under him a large staff of highly capable Texans and Coloradans. Through its natural advantages in climate, extent of grazing territory, and river transportation, and through American initiative displayed in the industry, Brazil rests assured of developing into one of the great cattle-raising and packing centers of the world, if not the greatest. LATIN AMERICA’S PART IN THE ODYSSEY OF OIL The petroleum industry presents aspects similar to those noted in the cattle industry. Apparently restricted to one area, Mexico, before the war, it has been found to have ramifications throughout Latin America. Individual fortunes have already been made by foreigners from Latin American oil, the most remarkable being that of Mr. Edward L. Doheny, of San Francisco and Los Angeles, president of the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Co., the Mexican Petroleum Co., Ltd., the Huasteca Petro- leum Co., etc. : and governments have engaged in strenuous efforts to secure preferential rights. Without Mexican oil, the British Navy could not have functioned freely during the war, and the activity of the automobile industry in many countries would be para- lyzed. To England, especially, and in no small degree to the United States, Latin American oil has come to be a most important factor in economic development. To the reflective mind, Latin American petroleum offers another beautiful illustration of the ability of that “most promising of the undeveloped sections of the world,” as it is called by Mr. 0. P. Austin, statistician of the National City Bank of New York and secretary of the National Changing Industries 63 Geographic Society, to supply the world at critical mo- ments with what it requires most. "When the world hungered for the precious metals, gold and silver, with an intensity never before known, Latin America out of its bountiful stores enriched Spain and the rest of Europe, one district alone, that of Potosi in Bolivia, yielding about $3,000,000,000 in silver and the gold mines of that single country producing the almost equally fabulous sum of $2,500,000,000. As cereals, meats, wool, rubber, and coffee become primary obsessions of civiliza- tion, Latin America took a front rank in those articles. Now that petroleum represents one of the world’s greatest needs, Latin America again comes forward, this time to replenish the visibly failing reservoirs of other parts of the world : and foreign politics in Latin America, which is usually guided by the development of some great native resource, is in many of the republics becoming a politics of petroleum. In the Odyssey of oil in the Western Hemisphere, Mexico, of course, has furnished the most thrilling stage after the United States. Its production has risen from 21,188,247 barrels in 1914 to 159,800,000 barrels in 1920. The external and internal affairs of the republic have been determined to a great extent by the sustained yield of the oil deposits and the successive discoveries of new fields. British and American companies with tremendous capitalizations have vied desperately with one another, making use of all possible private and governmental agen- cies for strengthening their position. The attitude of a Mexican president toward foreign petroleum conces- sionaires has had more to do with the question of the recognition of his administration by the United States than anything else. New cities have arisen, new ports have been opened, new living conditions have resulted — the cost of living in Tampico being probably higher than in most of the metropolitan cities of the world — a new population of diverse foreign ingredients has been created, as the direct result of petroleum activity in Mexico. But Mexico is not the only great petroliferous area in 64 Changing Industries Latin America, and the epic of oil has begun to blazon forth the merits of other protagonists. According to Mr. Eugene Stebinger, of the Geological Department of the United States, the amount of oil ultimately available in the different countries in which petroleum is obtained in considerable quantities, is as follows : United States and Alaska 7,000,000,000 barrels Mexico 4,525,000,000 “ Northern South America, including Peru. . 5,730,000,000 “ Southern South America, including Bolivia 3,550,000,000 “ Southeastern Russia, southeastern Siberia, and the Caucasus region 5,830,000,000 u Persia and Mesopotamia 5,820,000,000 “ In other words, Latin America, on the basis of this cal- culation, is regarded by authorities as able to produce twice as much oil as the United States and more than twice as much as either of the other great divisions men- tioned. Since operations in Latin America outside of Mexico are still in an embryonic state, the oil history of Mexico should at some future date repeat itself in such countries as Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Central America, and the West Indies. Without doubt, the procedure followed in Mexico by individuals and by the great industrial governments will be duplicated in these countries. The outcome, however, will vary with each country, in some coinciding with the results which have been observed in Mexico, but in others having a totally different complexion because of the es- tablishment of government oil reservations and the desire to keep the profits of the business in the hands of native sons. A concomitant of such action will be a new bent in the Latin American diplomacy of the United States, Eng- land, and one or two other great industrial countries whose need of oil is now becoming acute and impossible of satisfaction through the supplies within their own borders or at present under their control. From Mexico southward, oil is found in varying quan- Changing Industries 65 tities in every one of the Latin American republics, in- cluding the Central American countries and Cuba. Almost daily, new discoveries are announced, and each discovery leads to the formation of numerous companies, occasion- ally inspired by nothing stronger than hope and the eagerness to participate in the most rapid and dazzling of alchemies. Usually, exploration by private companies is welcomed by the governments, but sometimes, as in Guatemala, the government exercises strict control over all oil existing within its jurisdiction. There is a growing tendency, however, on the part of the governments of all the smaller countries to add to their revenue by levying a royalty on the returns of companies to whom concessions have been granted. Thus, in Costa Rica, the government will receive ten per cent of the yield of the Cahuita deposits, which are expected to have a minimum flow of 50,000 barrels per day and will, at present prices, add $25,000 daily to the national treasury, and a concession on the basis of a royalty to the government of seven per cent of the crude product obtained in the provinces of Limon, Puntarenas, and Guanacaste has been made to the Standard Oil Company of California. In Panama an American firm has signed a lease for a period of 90 years for large oil holdings in the Province of Chiriqui. Three oil concessions are in force in Hon- duras. Cuban and American interests are vigorously prosecuting the search for oil in Cuba, and the Compania Cubana de Petroleo de Vuelta Aba jo has acquired several valuable properties in the province of Pinar del Rio. In these countries, many of the contracts stipulate that the favored companies shall invest a certain amount of capital within a specified period, and this commonly means almost immediately large local expenditures, benefiting the par- ticular district and the country in general, in the employ- ment of labor, the construction of roads and railways, docks, and telephones, the purchase of such supplies as do not have to be imported, and the maintenance of the plant. 66 Changing Industries In many particulars, even in these smaller republics needful of ready money and inexperienced in oil tech- nology, legislation is seriously retarding oil development by the imposition of heavy restrictions and too high a rate of taxation on individuals and companies taking up leases. The short-sightedness of the policy is patent, for it discourages enterprise, sets a definite limit on expecta- tions, and creates an impression of narrow local selfish- ness. The Latin American penchant for making an ad- ministrative monopoly of the chief public utilities, or resources — a survival ’ of outworn Spanish practices — is particularly deplorable in those republics in which public opinion is not as yet strong enough to check the ambitions of a dominating party or political leader. Those republics, too, which are animated by the praise- worthy motives of promoting national industries through national channels and of utilizing their petroleum wealth with the aim of reducing the taxes of their inhabitants are in reality condemning to inactivity one of their most precious latent resources. Though desirous as never be- fore of attracting foreign capital for national develop- ment, not only Colombia and Bolivia, but even Peru and Argentina are placing serious obstacles, either through difficult regulations or through prohibitive taxes, in the path of oil interests perfectly willing to comply with rea- sonable requirements. The example of the shipment of Mexican oil to the Russian port of Batoum, which is the normal outlet for a vast petroliferous area, but cannot supply its own needs because of the paralyzing oil policy of the Russian Govern- ment, should point a moral to many of the Latin American republics. The monopolistic attitude of old Spain and of some modern Latin American politicians is one of the gravest deterrents to progress in some portions of Latin America. Nevertheless, in spite of appearances, the petroleum policy of Argentina, and perhaps of Peru, has many merits, may prove as advantageous to everybody in- terested in oil in the long run as ours, and contains co- Changing Industries 67 operative features new to that branch of industry. That neither government excludes private exploitation is demonstrated by the negotiations of Argentina with Lord Cowdray whereby $25,000,000 of British capital is to be provided for developing and extending the borings at Comodoro Rivadavia, Territory of Chubut, by the forma- tion of several Swedish companies for operations in the same field, by the organization of the Compania Inicial de Petroleo de Mendoza to work deposits in the Province of Mendoza, near the boundary of Neuquen, by the ac- tivities in Peru of the London and Pacific Petroleum Company, which has a total of 1314 wells at Lagunitas, Negritos, and La Brea, and the largest refinery on the West Coast south of Panama, at Talara, and by the recent acquisition by the Braden interests of over 5,000,000 acres of petroliferous territory in Bolivia. The criticisms leveled at the Argentine Government for its segregation of the Comodoro Rivadavia fields and certain districts in the Territory of Neuquen as national reservations apparently leave out of account the fact that private firms can establish themselves just beyond the government reservations and that, though all oil lands may become State property, the State may, and does, empower private organizations to function, giving the preference, wherever possible, to those important to the public welfare. The declaration of Dr. Tomas A. Le Breton before the American Petroleum Institute at Washington presents in its true light the position of the Argentine Government and shows that practical necessity, and not hostility to private enterprise, underlies the measures which have been adopted. Nobody disposed to a fair appreciation ■of international actions can take exception to the follow- ing reasons Avhich led to the establishment of the oil reservations in the districts of Comodoro Rivadavia and Neuquen: 1. the lack of interest in the distant Argentine fields when, in 1912, government agents in search of water accidentally discovered the oil deposits; 2. the deficiency in coal and the necessity of depending on England and 68 Changing Industries on the United States without adequate assurance of its delivery on time or in sufficient quantities; 3. the fuel requirements of the navy, the national railways, and the department of public service and sanitation. Dr. Le Breton might have fortified his argument, too, by citing President Roosevelt’s opinion, courageously uttered in the face of hostile private interests, that mineral fields, like the forests and navigable streams, should be treated as public utilities. So little inclined, indeed, is the Argentine Government to restrict the output of petroleum that it has recently voted two hundred and fifty thousand pesos for investiga- tions in the Plaza Huincul fields in the south of the Province of Buenos Aires, has nearly doubled the produc- tion of the Comodoro Rivadavia deposits in 1921 as com- pared with the record yield of 1920, is contracting for new storage tanks and tank steamers, is encouraging the borings of private operators in territory adjacent to the Government areas, and is planning soon to become an exporter of petroleum to foreign markets. It is going even further and entering into arrangements with the Bolivian Government to carry out railway projects for the exploitation of the immense oil belt extending south- ward from the eastern states of Bolivia into the adjacent provinces of Argentina and northward into Peru. Bolivia, though potentially one of the richest petroleum regions in Latin America, has not exported any oil, owing to a natural and an artificial barrier. The natural barrier is formed by the mountains on the west, toward the Pacific, and by the forests of the Amazon and the desert-lands of the Gran Chaco on the east and southeast. The artificial barrier has been erected by the Government itself. From its reasonable requirement in 1916 of a land-tax and ten per cent of the gross output of petroleum, it has, in 1920, joined the more short-sighted countries in petro- leum regulations by increasing its share of the gross output to twelve and a half per cent, by specifying that twenty per cent of the net profits from deposits on fiscal 69 Changing Industries lands shall be paid into the departmental treasury, by reserving the right, as United States Trade Commissioner W. L. Schurz points out, “to expropriate the oil land to such an extent as may be deemed necessary to supply the domestic demand for oil, 20 years after date of the contract,” and by expressly stating that “At the termina- tion of 50 to 66 years of working by the concessionaire, such oil lands as may not have been expropriated shall revert to the Bolivian Government,” together with the equipment installed by the concessionaire. Formidable as these conditions are, they have not frightened off all exploitation. Chilean interests, which disposed of a large portion of their holdings to American capitalists, still control some 300,000 acres of oil-bearing lands in the Beni Valley and along the Arica-La Paz Rail- way. The Anglo-Persian Petroleum Company is prepar- ing to work its concession in the Province of Caupolican, which belongs to the Department of La Paz, and consti- tutes a petroliferous zone of over two million acres. One American corporation, which has vast copper properties in Chile, has paid nearly $4,000,000 for the greater part of the five million acres in the Lagunillas field previously held by the Chilean interests, and another American com- pany has a concession of several million acres in the De- partment of Santa Cruz which it is to operate with an invested capital of $10,000,000. Two interesting facts worthy of special note are that Argentinian and Chilean capitalists are actively occupied in foreign oil investments and that in Bolivia, as in Mexico and Peru, American and British financial organizations have entered the field while it is in a pioneer state and are likely to hold their dominating position in these great- est of Latin American petroliferous areas. Venezuela and Colombia are both particularly well situated for rapid development in petroleum production and exportation by reason of their proximity to the shipping route established by the Panama Canal, and are both rich in oil. American interests, while not as prominent as yet in Venezuela as British interests, cannot 70 Changing Industries long remain inactive in the face of the possibilities of the Lake Maracaibo region, which, it is predicted by some authorities, is destined to rival the Tampico fields. As early as 1910, English capitalists began negotiations for a concession of three thousand square miles east and west of Lake Maracaibo, and have since secured the grant and drilled a number of wells. Subsequently, another grant of the same size was obtained in the State of Falcon, northeast of the lake and fronting on the Caribbean Sea, and another company formed, both the concessions men- tioned resulting from the privilege given to the represen- tative of the General Asphalt Company to explore almost half of the northern section of the country and to choose districts for exploitation. Other oil regions have been opened up, production is being carried on at a satisfactory rate — 500,000 barrels of petroleum having been produced in Venezuela in 1920 — local refineries have been built, a large refinery has Been constructed by an English cor- poration on the Dutch island of Curasao, off the coast of Venezuela, the English concessionaires are planning t'o invest over $50,000,000 in their Venezuelan properties as soon as an agreement can be reached with regard to cer- tain restrictions, and the increasing number of auto- mobiles, for which better roads are being laid out, and the railroads are already consuming in considerable quan- tities the oil actually produced. The indications along the Magdalena River in Colombia point to the existence of one of the major petroleum areas of Latin America, the oil regions in the Department of Santander alone having a length of one hundred miles and a width of sixty miles. In this distinct, the Tropical Oil Company, an American corporation, is energetically prosecuting exploration and production and is obligated by the terms of its agreement to maintain a refinery of sufficient capacity to supply the needs of the country, to turn over to the Government ten per cent of its gross products, and to work the deposits permanently, under penalty of recission of the contract. Its chief operations are at present being carried on in the neighborhood of Changing Industries 71 Barranca Bermeja, Santander, to which town it has laid pipe lines. Of the thirty-seven foreign companies which have already acquired oil lands in Colombia — the most important being the Tropical Oil Company, the Interna- tional Petroleum Company, the Carib Syndicate, and the Cities Service — the majority are sponsored by United States capital and managed by American experts. Taking into account Colombia’s advantageous location near the Panama Canal, the feasibility of transporting the petroleum by way of the Magdalena River — the steamers on which will undoubtedly be converted to the oil-burning type — and the short distance of the country from the United States, the future of Colombian petroleum may already be considered on a stable footing. The insatiable demand for oil by commerce and by governments foreshadows unusual activity in the larger regions already discussed and in the less developed but potential fields of Ecuador, Uruguay, Cuba, and Brazil within a short period. If the report of a Rumanian engineer, who states that he has discovered oil deposits on the island of Nova Borpeba, in the jurisdiction of the State of Bahia, Brazil, capable of producing half as much petroleum as the eastern portion of the United States, is accurate, Brazil may surprise the world again by the variety and magni- tude of its resources. Besides forcing the attention of foreigners on Latin America and compelling Latin American governments to exploit their petroleum regions or to permit foreign capital to exploit them, the presence of oil in large amounts in almost every Latin American republic offers a solution to a problem vital to the future welfare of Latin America as a whole. The evolution of Latin America can never be complete without a high development of the manufacturing indus- tries: and these industries are dependent on fuel, water- power, and iron. The principal countries are abundantly supplied with the means for creating water-power, and Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay have under consideration 72 Changing Industries an international power plant on the Uruguay Kiver, where 2,500,000,000 kilowatt hours per annum representing an energy equivalent to that of 3,000,000 tons of coal, could be developed. Many of the republics have vast iron de- posits. One section of Cuba contains 300,000,000 tons of excellent ore, the Tofo district of Chile shows 100,- 000,000 tons of Bessemer-grade ore and the Atacama region, 500,000,000 tons, and Brazil’s deposits have been estimated at 4,000,000,000 tons. Venezuela and Cuba both ship in the neighborhood of 1,000,000 tons of iron ore annually, but the quantity is insignificant when compared with the extant wealth of the mineral, and is held to such low figures primarily because of poor transportation and the small amount of coal mined. Until the water-power is created and coal made available in sufficient quantities, oil may serve as the transition motive-power for manu- facturing and transportation purposes, to be followed later by the development of coal. COAL IN LATIN AMERICA Latin America at present derives most of its coal from Great Britain and the United States: but it cannot con- tinue to rely for such an essential product on the foreign supply if its industries, which are beginning to loom large in its economic life, are to flourish. The war has taught Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile that during world crises they may be shut off absolutely from coal receipts from abroad, and that the price paid even in normal times may prove an insupportable tax on industries. In 1919 Peruvian consumers bought 56,761 tons of coal, chiefly from Great Britain, for $2,233,082, or at the rate of forty dollars a ton, in spite of the local production of more than one-third of a million tons. In the interior of Bolivia, foreign coal brings as high as seventy or seventy-five dollars a ton, yet must be purchased for the prosecution of work in the mining industry. A natural conclusion would be that Nature has omitted one of its greatest gifts from its bounty to Latin America, and that manufacturing must either be subjected Changing Industries 73 permantly to the hazards of a foreign supply or to the rate of progress in the utilization of petroleum or water- power. The situation, however, is not quite as bad as that. Coal exists, in fact, in most of the Latin American countries, and should eventually take care of most of the home markets, particularly since its use for domestic heating purposes is almost unknown and, though con- venient during the cooler months in the southern part of South America, not an absolute requirement, and thus far, not a national habit. The most important deposits of coal are found in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. There is no reason why these districts, lying at accessible intervals along the whole length of Latin America, should not gradually furnish coal to the neighboring countries, as Brazil began to do in 1916 by initial shipments to Argentina. Mexico with an annual production of about one million tons and extensive deposits nearly untouched, has already reached the stage when it can plan to ship coal to other countries, and several companies in Coahuila have lately sought the permission of the Government to export some of their surplus product to the United States. While no unusual claims are made by well informed persons for the coal resources of Latin America, its de- posits of this combustible are recognized by them to be much more extensive and to cover a much greater area than the general public has any conception of. Coal is now mined in different parts of Mexico, and the visible supply of one section in the State of Coahuila is authoritatively estimated at 300,000,000 tons : it is widely distributed over Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua : and new discoveries, such as the finding of a considerable deposit in the Department of Chontales, Nicaragua, are made from time to time, though little prospecting takes place. Western Venezuela possesses excellent coal in quantity, the bed of Lake Maracaibo is said to contain a large area of coal, and in 1919 the mines of the State of Anzoategui produced 25,559,490 kilos. 74 Changing Industries Colombia is an especially promising field. The coal deposits extend along the western side of the republic from north to south and take in the regions of the San Jorge River and the Cauca Valley. They are being worked in the Departments of El Valle, Cundinamarca, and along the bank of the San Jorge, and constitute a much more economical supply than can be obtained from the United States or Great Britain. On the San Jorge, the cost of mining is not above $.50 per ton, and the cost of barging to Barranquilla not over $6 per ton, thus enabling local operators to furnish coal to Barranquilla and the rail- roads of the district at a lower price than is now being paid in our Middle Western states. Many of the deposits are quite near the coast, and will unquestionably become increasingly valuable with the construction of several railroads already projected and the demand by ships tak- ing the Panama route. So thoroughly convinced are some British experts of the bright prospects awaiting the coal- mining districts of Colombia that they have ceased to regard the country as an important market for British coal. The interior of Ecuador contains extensive coal fields in which little work has been done. Peru’s coal deposits include much anthracite, the best being found in the Huayday district : and the Cerro de Pasco, Yauri, Huan- cayo, Chimbote, and Moquegua regions either produce or will soon be producing most of the Peruvian coal used for commercial purposes. In 1903 only 36,920 tons were produced, but by 1917 the output had risen to 353,595 tons — a striking increase, considering the small amount of attention which coal exploitation receives. Most of the production is now consumed by the mining industry and by the Peruvian and British navies: but the establishment of more manufacturing industries will necessarily stimu- late coal-mining, and the opening of coal reserves will without doubt encourage the upbuilding of more in- dustries. How plentiful and close to the surface coal is in some portions of Peru is suggested by an observation noted by Changing Industries 75 Mr. C. W. Domville-Fife and other travelers: “A curious sight, which further demonstrates the extraordinary abundance of coal in this region, may occasionally be seen from the decks of passing steamers — the waves beat- ing against the cliffs and rolling back blackened by coal dust.” How much coal will ultimately be discovered in Brazil cannot even be guessed at now, on account of the enormous extent of territory still unexplored. But it is actually being mined in considerable quantities in the southern states and will awaken keen interest if the high price of United States and British coal continues much longer. Even if the plans for harnessing the tremendous water-power of the rivers and falls should materialize within a short time — a great deal of which has been accomplished, resulting in the electrification not only of populous cities but also of obscure villages in remote dis- tricts — the demand for coal will continue to be heavy, and the growing industries and the increasing number of railroad lines are scarcely likely to remain forever at the mercy of foreign coal, so often intermittent because of nation-wide strikes, and sometimes almost absolutely unobtainable. The foremost Latin American country in the exploita- tion of coal, though not, perhaps, in the amount of its coal reserves, is Chile : and the attention paid to this industry has had vital national consequences. Before the construction of the Panama Canal, Chile was so far from Great Britain and the United States that its navy, which has made it the preponderating power on the West Coast, and its railroads could not have functioned effec- tively if they had been obliged to rely solely on foreign coal supplies. Chile was, therefore, driven to developing fuel deposits of its own. Fortunately, the existence of the coal mines at Lota was early known, and their working dates back to 1852. Since that time, coal has been mined along the whole coastal region of the southern half of the republic, the deposits at Lota, where the galleries extend for half a 76 Changing Industries mile under the sea, and at Coronel, being the most celebrated. In recent years, the coal exploration has gone as far south as Loreto, near Punta Arenas, and as far north as the Aconcagua region, with excellent results." Over 1,000,000 tons of coal are now produced annually in Chile, and the chances are that this output will be greatly increased, especially since the purchase by S Japanese syndicate, which owns extensive iron-ore de- posits in northern Chile, of valuable properties in the vicinity of Concepcion. The coal deposits in the Province of Arauco are estimated at over 1,800,000,000 tons. In general the coal of Latin America, though not of as good quality as Welsh or American coal, except in some parts of Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela, is capable when properly exploited of providing for most of the needs of the important mining and manufacturing coun- tries, and may, on the North and West Coasts, prove of high significance to foreign navies and merchant vessels. LUMBER Among the Latin American industries resting on vast resources of the unexploited basic material, the lumber industry, hitherto passed over lightly in discussions of Latin America, deserves a paragraph or two. To all intents and purposes, the general public, when it has thought at all of the illimitable forests of Latin America, has viewed them as picturesque natural adorn- ments or as serious obstacles to the building of lines of communication. It rarely gives them a moment’s reflec- tion as the potential source of a huge, profitable, and necessary industry, and appears totally unaware that they are now being utilized on a large scale in construction work, in various manufactures, and in preliminary experi- mental studies for the production of paper pulp. Lumber for construction purposes has heretofore been imported into Latin America principally from the United States, Canada, Norway, and Sweden. Prior to the war, South America was our most valued customer for lumber, but at present seems to be yielding ground rapidly to the Changing Industries 77 West Indies, whose imports of lumber from the United States have risen from $4,916,335 in 1913 to $12,212,352 in 1919. This phenomenon might be explained by the high cost of the lumber itself, by the world-wide scarcity of that commodity, by inadequate shipping facilities, and by excessive transportation charges: yet some of the con- ditions are no worse, relatively, than before, direct ship- ping from the United States is more numerous than ever, and nothing reasonable beyond the supposition that South America is producing more lumber and buying less can account for the very real decrease in our lumber exports to the South American republics. The diminution in the volume of lumber purchased from the United States by a few Latin American countries, as shown below, is much larger than the figures indicate because of the rise in money values: Lumber exported from the United States to 1913 1919 Brazil $1,657,965 $238,142 Chile 864,728 316,061 Colombia 72,476 53,456 Venezuela 75,573 58,375 These countries, as it happens, are just entering on what appears to be a new era in lumbering. Brazil, which has incalculable stores of Parana pine and precious tropical woods, exported to Argentina and Uruguay 150,021 tons of timber, notably pine, in 1918 as contrasted with 30,719 tons in 1915 : and its production for the home market has been proportionately large. The southern portion of Chile, in the environs of Valdivia and Llanquihue, is a beehive of lumber activity, with saw-mills along the railroad and huge stocks of the manufactured product awaiting ship- ment. The industry is mainly in the hands of the German colonists and is carried on with proverbial Teutonic sys- tem and energy. Much of the timber here, as elsewhere in Chile, consists of the alerce, or Chilean pine, often two hundred feet high and from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, cypress, cedar, walnut, and beech, and other native varie- ties suitable for ship-building and general construction. 78 Changing Industries In 1916 the Chilean Government made a contract with Dr. Karl Schwalbe, of the Royal Forestal Academy of Prussia, for an exhaustive study of the value of the white coigue — a splendid tree resembling the beech — for the mak- ing of paper pulp: but the war interrupted the negotia- tions. Interest, however, has lately been revived in the project, owing to the shortage and high cost of the raw material used in the manufacture of paper and to the large consumption of paper, cardboard, and other pulp products in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. Argentinian capitalists are seeking the permission of the Chilean Gov- ernment to cut the raw material for manufacture in Argen- tina, and it cannot be long before Chile will be supplying paper and articles of paper pulp from its thousands of square miles of usable timber to its neighbors and perhaps to foreign countries. The Government is distinctly favorable to the develop- ment of its timber lands, and American lumber companies and paper mills might well follow the example of our packers, such as the Armours and the Swifts, or our mine operators, such as the Guggenheims and the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, in establishing themselves in the south- ern part of the South American continent. That the utilization of the forest resources of Latin America, formerly neglected except for the dyewoods, the medicinal barks, the quebracho used in tanning, and the mate tree, from the leaves of which Paraguay tea— the most popular beverage of southern South America — is obtained, has become a source of concern to Latin Amer- ican governments and to companies having interest in Latin America, is visible in such facts as those detailed below. The Guatemalan Government has, during the present year, invited bids for the cutting of extensive tracts of mahogany and cedar, each contract to cover 50,000 trees. The Argentine Minister of Agriculture, in view of the importation of 19,000 metric tons of wood polp and 43,000 metric tons of newsprint paper into the republic, has initiated a scientific study of the great forests, which, Changing Industries 79 contrary to the common belief, the country possesses, with the object of stimulating the local manufacture of newspaper stock. Uruguay is occupied in a compre- hensive scheme of afforestation and has decreed a gold medal and a bonus of three thousand dollars to Mr. Henry Burnett, the British vice-consul at Maldonado, for his introduction of over ten thousand maritime pines. The Grace Company operates large lumber mills in Bolivia, various foreign interests control saw-mills in the upper Sinu and Choco territory of Colombia, and the Mexican Government has granted a concession of about 40,000 acres of good timber-land in the State of Chihuahua in which, it is expected, United States capital will play the leading part. Houses entirely built of black walnut or mahogany may still be seen in some districts of Peru, forest lands may yet be bought there for slightly more than twenty-five cents an acre, and holdings such as that, in the Territory of Misiones, Argentina, containing 416,800 acres of wooded lands covered with Araucanian pines sixty-five feet high, may for a while continue to be offered at about two dollars an acre : but in the course of a few decades incidents of this sort will be rareties. In the early years of the 18th century, [observes Professor Bernard Moses], even after the port of Buenos Aires had been opened to the extent of admitting two small vessels annually, an ox was worth $1, a sheep from 3 to 4 cents, and a mare 10 cents. From such insignificant beginnings has sprung the enormous animal industry which has enriched the whole southern half of the continent of South America. The forest reserves of Latin America, awaiting only transpor- tation, are destined to pass through a similar evolution. In addition to its tropical woods, Latin America has al- most inexhaustible supplies of the timber of the temperate zones which is growing scarcer in the United States and Europe. An impartial observer, watching the actual trend of developments in the major industries of cattle-raising, 80 Changing Industries petroleum exploitation, coal-mining, and lumbering treated above, would not hesitate to declare that they are undergoing a swift transformation which will soon place them on the level of industries in the more advanced countries and that on their progress depends much of the future comfort and industrial activity of the Western World. CHAPTER IV MANUFACTURING AND LABOR More than one loyal Latin American professes to see grave dangers in the growing industrialism of the south- ern republics. The unsettled conditions of some of the crowded industrial centers of Europe have been repro- duced in Latin American cities, “undesirables” have gained entrance, strikes have become frequent and are affecting the national life as a whole, and the simple habits of an agricultural age are in many places being subverted by the complex moral and physical modifica- tions of a machine-using, factory era. There are many, too, who are skeptical about Latin America’s ability to compete in the industries with the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan and are thoroughly convinced that the manufacturing ambi- tions of some of the countries are futile and unprofitable. They would welcome a general acceptance of agriculture as the predestined and permanent occupation of Latin America. It is their belief that Latin America should continue indefinitely as the land of raw materials. Much may, indeed, be said for their side of the case. The European War proved conclusively that the ultimate power resides in agriculture and its attendant basic sup- plies and exploded the fallacy — which appears to be com- monly held under the Western scheme of civilization — that some great virtue inheres in the rapid using up of natural stores, such as fuel, minerals, grains, and the like. If Latin America could remain the land of vast resources in raw materials for a few more centuries it would unques- tionably hold the fate of the United States and a large part of Europe in its hands. But it is an undeniable fact that Latin America is 81 82 Manufacturing and Labor gradually moving toward an epoch of industrialism, and that some of the countries which form a part of it have already crossed the edge of the charmed circle. The reasons are numerous, of course, and the tendency is prac- tically inevitable. The Latin America of to-day is in con- tact with the rest of the world; its inhabitants are coming increasingly from all sections of the globe, with definite attainments in certain branches of manufactui’ing or farming and seeking certain kinds of opportunities; its capitalists are forever on the watch to invest their money in profitable enterprises; the desire to be self-sufficient actuates several of the republics; and last, but not least, the effort of machine-making countries to sell Latin America their products stimulates industrial pursuits. Over and above all, the economic doctrine that local raw materials ought, whenever possible, to be manufac- tured on the ground, applies as well to Latin America as to any other part of the world. Without manufacturing, many of the natural resources, such as water-power, com- bustibles, iron, nitrates, remain dormant and of no appreciable service to humanity, and some industries of the nature of cattle-raising could not be carried on prac- tically on any other than a highly organized manufactur- ing basis. Latin American statesmen and financiers, most of whom are as thoroughly versed in world currents and as far- seeing as our own political and financial leaders, com- prehend clearly the next stage in the development of the more advanced countries. Instead of advising capital from your United States to invest in lands for agriculture [President Barros-Luco, of Chile, declared to Mr. Roger Babson], I advise them to consider manufacturing possibilities in Chile. Next to mining, Chile must look to manu- facturing for future growth. I believe that Chile is to become the great manufacturing center of South America. Here we have iron, coal, timber, water power, chemicals, wool, and all the raw materials. I believe that your people, instead of trying to sell us goods, should come down here and build mills. Give Chile a market for her nitrates, copper, and iron, together with capital to build mills, factories, and ships. In such a case, Chile Manufacturing and Labor 83 will become a great industrial country, an exporter instead of an importer. Certain staple products of Latin America have always presupposed large manufacturing establishments, the principal ones being sugar, tobacco, coffee, cereals, cattle, and minerals, and huge sums of money have been invested by citizens of the countries and foreigners in magnificent plants technically perfect and administered with the utmost efficiency. The mention of some of these may give a faint idea of the prevalence and capacity of the indus- trial plants connected with the staple products referred to above, which are situated all over the length and breadth of Latin America, and of the economic and social influence which they must wield in view of the wages paid and the example in modern methods which they set to their own workmen and to neighboring concerns. A few among them are the Cuba-American Sugar Co., with an authorized capital of $20,000,000, owning 367,000 acres of land, eight factories, 2 refineries, 336 miles of railroads, brickyards, electric light and water supply plants, etc. ; the Azucarera Argentina, with a capital of $1,500,000; the South Porto Rico Sugar Co., with a capital of $8,000,000, controlling plantations and factories at Guanica and other points in Porto Rico and a plantation of 35,000 acres in the Dominican Republic ; the British and Argentine Meat Co., capitalized at $10,000,000 ; the Liebig Extract of Meat Co., capitalized at $8,000,000, with lands and factories in Argentina, Uruguay, and Colombia ; the Mexican National Packing Co., capitalized at $12,- 750,000, and holding government concessions in the live stock and meat industries; the Argentina Tobacco Co., Ltd., capitalized at $9,816,330; the Braden Copper Mines Co., capitalized at $2,332,030, and operating In Chile; the German-American Coffee Co., capitalized at $1,000,000, with estates in Mexico ; the Santa Rosa Milling Co., Ltd., capitalized at $2,500,000, and carrying on a flour milling business at Callao, Peru, and Concepcion, Chile. In Argentina there are to-day about 800 flour mills; in Cuba about 200 large sugar factories, and in Brazil, 84 Manufacturing and Labor about 140 ; in all the countries there are innumerable tobacco factories, the Cuban establishments elaborating tremendous quantities of cigars and cigarettes, and the Buen Tono Company of Mexico alone turning out about 20,000,000 cigarettes daily; and in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, scores of packing houses and refrigerating plants, employing armies of men and using the most approved modern machinery, form industrial settlements of no inconsiderable size. The step from the production of the raw material to the manu- facture of the finished article was necessarily taken early in these industries. COTTON-GROWING AND COTTON-MANUFACTURING IN BRAZIL New industries, in addition to the multiplication of manufacturing establishments related to the traditional staple products, are now coming to the fore in Latin America, and some of them have already reached large proportions. The cotton manufacturing industry, of com- paratively late origin, stands preeminent in the more recent industrial development. In almost every country of Latin America where cotton is raised, it appears to be the settled policy of the govern- ment to foster local manufacturing. This is accomplished chiefly through a high protective tariff which enables manufacturers to undersell their foreign competitors. The Brazilian import duty of 7.27 cents a pound on raw cotton — the highest cotton tariff in the world — is an effective aid not only to cotton-growers, but also to cotton manufacturers, and is evidently not levied, as are most import duties in Latin America, for revenue only. Its industrial value is seen in the expanding dimensions of cotton manufacturing as opposed to the leisurely growth of cotton culture. Therein, it may be observed, lies in major part the explanation of the marked decrease in cotton exports in several of the Latin American republics: and the same reason holds good for apparent decreases in production in other branches. The reader who is aware that in 1872 Brazil exported Manufacturing and Labor 85 173,115,500 pounds of cotton and notes that its exports of that crop amounted to only 1,960,000 pounds in 1915 is led to infer that Brazilian cotton-raising has almost gone to smash. The progress, in truth, has been much slower than might have been expected. The 199,040,000 pounds raised in 1913, the last normal year before the war, do not represent any great advance during the forty- one years since 1872, and the figures for 1915 (137,456,000 pounds) show an actual drop, due in a measure to after- war conditions. But what is really significant is that the total exports of cotton in 1915 did not exceed the meager figure of 1,960,000 pounds (11,125 Brazilian bales of 176 pounds each), thus leaving 135,496,000 pounds for home consumption. At this rate, two alternatives face Brazil now: either the lowering of the cotton tariff, so as to admit the raw material for its established mills, or greater stimulation to cotton-growing and an extension of the cotton-growing area. The number of spinning spindles reported in Brazil for the half year ending January 31, 1921 was 1,500,000, plac- ing Brazil in the same class with Belgium, Switzerland and China, and ahead of Austria and Canada. Over three hundred fabric-weaving factories manufactured cloths of various kinds in 1915 and employed some 75,000 hands. One factory near Pernambuco produces over 1,500,000 yards of cotton cloth per month and distributes its output all over Brazil through the medium of more than eighty stores controlled by the company, while five mills in the Federal District, with 8000 operatives, average more than 80,000,000 yards annually. New mills are con- stantly being established, one of the latest locating at Cordeiro, in the State of Rio de Janeiro, and small towns are rapidly being converted into the typical mill centers which transform rural districts into urban districts, utilize water-power, add the smokestack to the architec- tural features of a landscape hitherto dominated by the church or cathedral, electrify even the poorest homes, and cause community life to revolve about the factory-whistle and the weekly pay-envelope. 86 Manufacturing and Labor The rest of the cotton-producing area of Latin America is passing through an identical evolution in which cotton- growing leads to manufacturing, and manufacturing to a profound change in local habits in and about the factory precincts. Mexico follows Brazil in cotton-growing, with an annual crop of 100,000,000 pounds and some very considerable plantations, one of which, the Mexican Cotton Estates of Tlahualilo, Ltd., is capitalized at $1,250,000. Of the cot- ton factories, the one at Atlixco is capitalized at $6,000,- 000, the Compahia Industrial de Orizaba, at $15,000,000, and a number of others, at more than $1,000,000. For the half year ending January 31, 1921, official returns gave the number of spindles at 720,000. Between 30,000 and 40,000 operatives are employed. The goods manufactured in Mexico, as in most of the other Latin American countries, are of the simpler kinds and do not usually compete with the highest grades obtainable from abroad: but this condition results mainly from the heavy demand for the less costly cloths, and will naturally change as the per capita wealth and the desire for more expensive fabrics increase. Peru, ranking next to Mexico in the production of cotton, is building up a large cotton-manufacturing in- dustry, and has begun to export the manufactured article to neighboring Latin American countries, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, all grow cotton and possess cot- ton factories, Colombia having by far the largest number of mills, which total about 30, and turning out, at Bogota, Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Medellin, a greater variety of spun, woven, and knit goods, including hosiery, than either of the other countries. Venezuela, nevertheless, has three large plants at Caracas, Valencia, and in the eastern part of the republic, and several smaller factories, which produce 80 per cent of the ordinary cloth con- sumed in the country and average 120,000 dozen under- wear annually. Central America, the West Indies, Uruguay, and Chile are practically negligible factors as producers of cotton, Manufacturing and Labor 87 but are not without cotton-manufacturing plants and are, in fact, as in the case of Chile and Uruguay, seeking to extend their textile facilities by the importation of cotton and the attraction of foreign capital to the cotton industry. COTTON-MANUFACTURING IN ARGENTINA Though cotton production in Argentina is as yet in its initial stages and amounts to little more than 1,000,000 pounds a year in spite of the large tracts in the north suitable for cotton-growing, half a dozen spinning and weaving factories and nearly fifty knitting mills consti- tute a branch of industry which may some day pi’ove of national importance. Accessibility to the great cotton regions directly north should eventually inspire Argentina with the ambition to fulfil in South America the role of the British and American cotton-manufacturing centers, which have to obtain their supplies at a distance. Though it is true that Argentina is still primarily an agricultural country and will continue to be so for decades, its manufactures are growing more numerous and more highly diversified. Its position as the leading and most progressive Latin American republic and the character of its immigrants, who are to-day coming less from the agricultural quarters of Europe and in larger numbers from the manufacturing districts, are forcing it into industrial avenues even more rapidly than it may desire. “buy home-made products” Not only in Argentina, but in almost every other impor- tant Latin American country, the slogan, “Buy home- made products,” is becoming a national cry and a cri- terion of patriotism. Thus far, it has caused no great anxiety among the manufacturing nations supplying Latin America, and is even encouraged by foreign con- cerns established there. Whether the refrain is spon- taneous, and a natural resultant of a growing nationalistic spirit, or whether it is artificially and artfully stimulated 88 Manufacturing and Labor by the business men and local chambers of commerce, matters little. It is the effect on foreign imports that counts: and that effect is becoming alarmingly manifest in several branches. It is not so long ago since traveling-bags, pocket- books, vanity-cases, card-cases, and manufactured harness material were imported from abroad into Argentina, offer- ing a lucrative business to European leather-workers. Many firms of respectable size catered especially to the Argentine market and maintained large establishments for the production of their wares. To-day, the foreign article is being inexorably elbowed out by the Argentine product, which in many cases is up to the European standard. The time may be foreseen when Argentine leather-goods, made by the factories in Buenos Aires — of which there are now about a dozen — and in other in- dustrial centers will fully supply the home-market and make a strong bid for the trade in other Latin American countries. Before the establishment of the paper factory at Maracay, Venezuela, practically all paper was imported: now, the Maracay factory furnishes a very considerable proportion of the paper used in the republic and has to that extent cut into the sales of the foreign product. ADVENT OF THE MANUFACTURE OF RUBBER IN BRAZIL By a curious anomaly, the manufacture of rubber articles, which should have had some standing in Brazil as soon as rubber became a marketable product, has until recently received almost no attention at all. But since 1913 several factories have taken up the elaboration of the raw material and are doing a prosperous business in the manufacture of rubber tires and other rubber goods; and the Goodyear Tire Company has terminated its pre- liminary negotiations with the Brazilian Government for the erection of a plant in which to supplement the out- put of its American establishments. Other American rub- ber manufacturers may be expected to follow suit. "While it may seem, and probably is, presumptuous to Manufacturing and Labor 89 institute a comparison between even the most advanced manufacturing countries of Latin America and our own country, the idea is not altogether preposterous. Coal and iron have undoubtedly proved the magic wand by means of which the United States has been transformed from a producer of raw materials — our early and signifi- cant economic role — into the world’s greatest manufac- turer: and Latin America thus far, though rich in iron, appears deficient in coal. Yet a new epoch in the develop- ment of power has arisen, and it is possible that water- power may come to be the final arbiter of the manufac- turing destinies of nations. In that form of energy, Latin America is peculiarly rich : and the projects which it makes feasible may be instanced by the transmission of a current of 110,000 volts by the Chile Exploration Com- pany from Tocopila, on the coast of Chile, to its remark- able plant at Chuquicamata, a hundred miles away. Without coal of its own, Argentina now possesses approximately 50,000 industrial establishments which annually turn out goods to the value of about one and a third billion dollars, and require the services of more than a third of a million persons. In 1850, when we exhibited the first signs of becoming an industrial country, the value of our manufactured products was $1,019,106,- 616 : and we were further along in the path of modern progress than Argentina is supposed to be to-day. The number of industrial plants in the Province of Buenos Aires alone was 12,687 at the end of 1919. Chile furnishes an excellent example of the even pace kept by the local exploitation of motive power and the growth of manufacturing, and shows to what extent some of the Latin American countries may “ease up’’ on their dependence on foreign fuel. Between 1909 and 1914, Chile imported an average of 1,403,579 metric tons of coal, or more than half of its requirement of 2^500,000 tons for its industries. The war intervened, coal was high and hard to obtain, and rail- ways and manufacturing plants had to be supplied from sources near at hand. Having a coal area of 1780 kilo- 90 Manufacturing and Labor meters, with coal reserves of more than two billion tons, the Government undertook an extensive programme to increase the amount of coal production. With such success was the programme carried on that by 1918, in spite of increased demands for the fuel, the importation of coal had decreased to 386,478 metric tons, or about a quarter of the former figures. In the many factories using gas obtained from Australian coal, gas made from native coal was substituted: and to-day practically all the Chilean gas is secured from coal mined in the Chilean fields. In the meantime, manufacturing has not slackened, excepting as affected by conditions which are world wide. To-day, Chile is the most important manufacturing country on the West Coast, and, as has been indicated by a quotation from President Barros-Luco, aspires to a prominent status in the manufacturing world. In 1913 the value of the production of its manufacturing indus- tries was $130,000,000, the number of its factories over 6000, and that of its factory employees, about 80,000. With a considerable provision of coal, an admirable supply of hydraulic power, a seaboard about 3000 miles in length, and the will to manufacture, Chile has splendid prospects of industrial prosperity. FUTURE MANUFACTURING CENTERS If an industrial chart of Latin America were to be pre- pared, showing present tendencies, four distinct regions could be selected as great manufacturing centers of the near future. These are Chile, Argentina, the southern part of Brazil, and Mexico. Enough has been said of manufacturing in Chile and Argentina to convince those who picture them as only raw-material countries that the industrial nucleus is large and undergoing a process of expansion. Data as sur- prising may be adduced in behalf of Brazil and Mexico. The principal manufacturing districts of Brazil are com- prised within the State of Sao Paulo and the Federal District, in which Rio de Janeiro is located. COFFEE PLANTATION, BRAZIL. Manufacturing and Labor 91 The State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, has always enjoyed the reputation of uncommon energy and commercial activity, and its fame is not belied in the province of the manufac- turing industries. To the general public, Sao Paulo symbolizes coffee — and only coffee. But a decided lack of initiative might be charged against the Paulistas — the Yankees of Brazil — if they were content to abide by the harvest of a single crop. In reality the Paulistas have kept their hands from few industries. Textiles, jute, lace, silk manufactures, beverages, clothing, matches, drugs, per- fumery, shoes, iron-ware, tobacco products, furniture, earthenware, glass, paper, matches, leather products, manu- factured hydrogen gas, chemicals are among the numerous articles manufactured in the State of Sao Paulo. During 1918, the total value of the manufactures of Sao Paulo amounted to 556,801 contos, or, at the exchange rate at that time of nearly $260 to the conto, about $140,000,000 in American currency. The leading articles were textiles and shoes. The Federal District, containing 1265 factories in 1919, and employing in the neighborhood of 50,000 persons, produced goods not far below the value of $100,- 000,000, and of a highly diversified character. These two states alone have, of recent years, fallen little short of the total value of manufactures in Brazil in 1910, when, as has been estimated, they represented the sum of about $240,000,000. VARIED MANUFACTURES OF BRAZIL At the present moment, Brazil possesses, according to recent data, 36,745 industrial establishments, of which 7613 are engaged in the manufacture of shoes, 1040 in the production of textiles, and 1291 in pharmaceutical supplies. Many of the manufacturing plants in Brazil, as else- where, are, of course, small, and their importance lies in their aggregate number and in their fulfillment of local needs. But large establishments are not wanting, and will stand comparison with the great public service cor- porations such as the Brazilian Traction, Light, and Power 92 Manufacturing and Labor Co., capitalized at $120,000,000, which controls the Rio de Janeiro Tramway, Light, and Power Co., the Sao Paulo Tramway, Light, and Power Co., and the Sao Paulo Electric Co. ; the Ceara Tramway, Light, and Power Co., capitalized at $2,000,000 ; the Companhia Brazileira de Energia Electrica, capitalized at $10,000,000; the Manaos Tramways and Light Co., capitalized at $1,500,000; the Southern Brazil Electric Co., capitalized as $3,750,000. NEW MANUFACTURING PROJECTS IN BRAZIL Thus, the Parana plant of the Brazilian Railway Com- pany, in which vast quantities of construction planks are made, involved an initial cost of $25,000,000. The con- struction shops of the North-Western line constitute an extensive manufacturing plant, in which practically everything required by the railroad, from rolling stock to dining-cars, is turned out of Brazilian materials by Brazilian workmen. Recently, authorization has been given to the Minister of Agriculture to contract for the establishment in the State of Minas Geraes of a “steel mill for the electric smelting of iron and the manufacture of steel sheets. The same contract will include a factory for the manufacture of cement and the development of the waste materials left from the metals, and the con- struction of a railway for the transportation of the raw materials for the several industries.” This enterprise will, it is expected, be completed by December of the present year (1921). Another large undertaking, which is listed for this year, is the exploitation of the paper pulp in- dustry in the States of Parana and Santa Catharina for the benefit of an association of the principal newspapers of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Several factories have lately entered the business of manufacturing the simpler agricultural implements and are offering competition to foreign firms in plows, harrows, rice machinery, and rough cane mills. Manufacturing and Labor 93 VARIED MANUFACTURES OF MEXICO Mexico’s chances of becoming a significant manufac- turing country, though little thought of by the general public, are fully as good as Chile’s and in many respects, better. It possesses the raw materials for almost every class of industry, has two long coastlines of 1772 and 4594 miles, respectively — the advantages of which it is plan- ning to utilize by a national merchant marine to be built from the proceeds of the centennial tax collected in September, 1921 — has an excellent start in railway trans- portation, contains large coal resources, ‘"and can get any supplementary quantities which it may temporarily need almost on its borders from the United States, is super- latively wealthy in petroleum, has water-power, and, in short, appears in every detail to be almost as well endowed industrially as the United States. Its manufacturing progress needs only political stability and more foreign immigration to become rapid. Mining and oil working have, of course, occupied the center of the stage in Mexico. Its manufactures, includ- ing textiles, woolen goods, chemicals, steel and iron products, paper, henequen — from which binder-twine is made — flour, soap, and dynamite and explosives, in addi- tion to cotton fabrics, which have been discussed, are, nevertheless, of impressive magnitude. Half a dozen fiber plants, capitalized at from $500,000 to $4,000,000, produce rope, thread, carpets, and rugs in large quantities. Woolen mills are to be found in dif- ferent parts of the republic, that at Tlalnepantla, famous for its blankets, being capitalized at $1,500,000. The Comision Reguladora de Henequen of Yucatan has prac- tically controlled the henequen output of about $40,000,- 000 annually. La Abeja Company, capitalized at $500,000, is but one of a large number of factories devoted to the manufacture of Mexican sombreros and “Panama” hats. Several soap factories, capitalized at varying amounts up to the $5,000,000 invested by the Laguna Soap Company, 94 Manufacturing and Labor manufacture millions of pounds of soap and thousands of tons of cottonseed oil and glycerine daily. Iron and steel manufactures have taken on huge proportions, the Mon- terrey Iron and Steel Company, which represents a capi- talization of $10,000,000, turning out three hundred tons of steel each day, and furnishing enormous amounts of structural iron and steel rails. The San Rafael and Anexas Company, capitalized at $7,000,000, operates several factories and a pulp mill near Mexico City. Flour mills in Chihuahua, Saltillo, Aguascalientes, Mexico City, and at other points throughout the country, elaborate the $20,000,000 of wheat raised annually and the great quantities of other cereals. The Mexican Crude Rubber Company* capitalized at $1,500,000, has factories in several Mexican cities. Public utility plants, on which much of the manufac- turing is dependent, are located in large number all over the country and have capitalizations running from less than $1,000,000 to $25,000,000. FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING IN LATIN AMERICA Even if the population of these growing industrial nations should increase at a rate less than normal and only double during the next fifty years — instead of tripling, as has been true in the United States in the past fifty years — the development of manufacturing for home consumption, for export to neighboring countries, and for such distant trade as may arise, must necessarily result in a production which would seem extraordinary to-day. Argentina would then have eighteen million inhabitants, Chile eight million, Brazil sixty million, and Mexico thirty- two million. The history of all countries with manufacturing facili- ties shows that those articles of common use which can be made locally at a reasonable cost are gradually stricken from the list of foreign imports and permanently placed among the national manufactures, receiving whenever necessary ample governmental protection : and there is no Manufacturing and Labor 95 reason to believe that the history of Latin America on this point will be different. Any far-sighted policy which looks fifty years ahead will keep this historical tendency in mind in its dealings with Latin America. What Latin America imports now in vast quantities may not form the bulk of its imports within another generation or two. Already several foreign articles are losing ground. The leather-goods trade has been cited : and mention may be made of the effect of the expanding metallurgical industry in Argentina and of railroad-car construction in Chile on their respective branches of importation. A much more intensive cultivation of the people and of the market, greater specialization, and the establish- ment of more American industries and commercial houses on Latin American soil will fairly soon have to become an integral part of our business relations with Latin America. Great Britain, with its industrial corporations located in Latin America and its commercial establish- ments like the Argentine branch of Harrods, is anticipat- ing coming events. Perhaps the surest evidence of the industrial evolution in Latin America is afforded by the changing situation of labor and the efforts made to arrive at a practicable modus vivendi between capital and labor. Recent labor problems, generally concerned with the industrial classes and rarely with the agricultural workers, have given much concern to Latin American governments and to welfare asso- < * ' 'ons. le Indian population of Latin America, which is pre- ponderant in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Mexico and principally occupied in mining and agriculture, is only infrequently and incidentally involved in labor difficulties. The docile character and phlegmatic temperament of the Indian, his contentment with a primitive mode of exist- ence, his lack of self-assertion, and his small power of building up social or economic organizations are not likely CHANGING CONDITIONS OF LABOR 96 Manufacturing and Labor to lead him into radical industrial movements unless stirred up by foreign agitatioi^ The prime movers of social unrest are the European immigrants who come to the large cities and congregate in the industrial districts. Bringing with them the latest ideas of the relations between employer and employee, counting on the sympathies of their numerous country- men in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil, strongly imbued with the democratic and socialistic theories which have been passing over Europe in periodic waves, and guided by professional labor leaders who understand how to use the public press and the spoken word, they have within a short period popularized the modern proletarian attitude in the southern part of South America and will inevitably influence agricultural and mining sentiment in the course of time. Their teachings will undoubtedly be taken to heart most seriously in those regions where the landed bureaucracy has been strongly intrenched since the founding of the Spanish colonies and where anything like a parceling out of the vast estates would savor of the wildest heresy. Reasoning from current history, it is impossible to see how the great landed proprietors can ultimately avoid con- flicts similar to those which ended in Francisco Madero’s election to the presidency of Mexico. The center of labor unrest is at present the Argentine Republic. From the beginning of the twentieth century, the social and political life of the country has undergone a distinct alteration due to industrial elements, culminat- ing in the election of President Hipolito Irigoyen in 1916 by the more “progressive” or socialistically inclined groups. Strikes have become increasingly frequent, the government has been forced to adopt repressive measures, at times declaring a state of martial law, and “unde- sirables” in large numbers have been deported because of acts of extreme violence. In 1906, in addition to a considerable number of strikes of minor duration, 23 general strikes took place, in which 18,317 workingmen participated; in 1910, 214 strikes, in Manufacturing and Labor 97 which 17,000 were involved and the business of the capital was paralyzed for a period, occurred in Buenos Aires; by the first half of 1919, the number of strikes in the republic had mounted to 259, affecting 262,319 working- men. Though originating primarily in the desire of the labor organizations to raise the standard of wages, to shorten the hours of work, and to better the economic and social condition of the laboring classes in general, the labor dis- satisfaction has had political and industrial repercussions which have been far-reaching, often disastrous, and, both in Argentina and elsewhere, sometimes beneficial. In January, 1921, according to a report received by the United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Labor conditions continue unfavorable [in Argentina]. The strike at the oil refineries has not been settled and there is in the Republic a great scarcity of gasoline, which is seriously inter- fering with harvesting operations. There is also a sympathetic strike of chauffeurs in Buenos Aires. There are frequent signs of unrest among the rural laborers but the trouble is hot as serious as last year. The rural society has petitioned Congress to pass strike legislation. After a whole year the strike of the Mihailovich fleet is still a deadlock. The month of May of the same year saw conflicts be- tween the authorities and the longshoremen of Buenos Aires which resulted in several deaths. The incident of the “Martha Washington,” belonging to the United States Shipping Board, gave rise to grave questions in which the editorial opinion of Buenos Aires foresaw the possibility of claims for damages by the United States Government and by reason of which the arrogant stand of the Maritime Labor Federation, in presuming to inter- fere in a dispute between the crew and the officers of a United States vessel, and the laxity of the Argentine Gov- ernment were roundly scored. American and British pack- ing interests have suffered from labor domination to such an extent that some of the companies have threatened to close their establishments, and one British concern has already done so. 98 Manufacturing and Labor The government of Paraguay has recently had to com- mission its Minister of War to try to compose the dif- ferences which have arisen between the ship-owners and the port- workers’ union, and Mexico has found it neces- sary to expel foreigners who have been fomenting trouble among the industrial classes. Labor difficulties have not been restricted to dock-workers, but have been prevalent in all the industries from cotton-milling to street-cleaning. Any American reading of such happenings in Latin America for the first time will in all probability ascribe them to the Latin American temperament and find in them another argument for persisting in his conviction that our southern neighbors are incurably unruly and in- capable of orderly progress. The truth is, however, that Latin America thus far has had a remarkably peaceful industrial development compared with other divisions of the globe. The record for the United States alone in 1919 was 3253 strikes and 121 lockouts: and between January and June, 1920, American workingmen to the number of nearly a million Avere affected by strikes, Avith a loss of over eleven million Avorking-days. What American labor has set out to accomplish, and does accomplish in large measure, though at the cost of tremendous sacrifices on the part of everybody concerned, including the innocent public, Latin American labor organizations also try to accomplish. Defeated in their demands in the majority of cases, as occurs in the United States, too, and in other countries, the Latin American strikers have, nevertheless, won significant victories, and caused the framing of modern industrial laAvs and the introduction of protective economic and social measures more effectively, perhaps, than strikers the world over have succeeded in doing. LABOR LEGISLATION M. Clemenceau, in his South America of To-day, pub- lished in 1911, states explicitly in several passages that “laA\ r s for the protection of labour are unknoAvn in the Manufacturing and Labor 99 Argentine” and Brazil, commends the mill-owners for their humane treatment of their employees, predicts that the labor question will soon force itself to the attention of legislators, and declares of Brazil that “a number of colonists in lands where the administration has shown it- self slow to take action have protested so loudly against the grave abuses that result that some Latin countries have been obliged to forbid emigration to Brazil.” From certain bills presented to the Argentine Congress about the middle of 1910, we may infer that the legal action in behalf of labor was just beginning to make headway at the time of M. C16menceau’s trip to South America: for in 1910 a bill before the Argentine Congress asked for the establishment of a Department of Labor to study labor problems, draw up and enforce regulations, and to offer its services as arbitrator in disputes. In the same year, the questions of workingmen’s compensation and compiilsory arbitration came up before that body. Since then, labor legislation has been one of the most engrossing topics in the halls of Latin American law- makers and among societies for social betterment. In all the larger countries, the demand for an eight- hour day, for compensation in case of accident, and for the right to strike has figured prominently in labor pro- grammes. The labor laws of Mexico are especially detailed with regard to a minimum living wage, adjustment of dif- ferences, the composition of the Committee on Concilia- tion and Arbitration, and the relations between employers and striking employees, and in reality embody Ihe best principles evolved in the most progressive countries of Europe and North America. As everywhere, their success depends chiefly on the effectiveness with which they are enforced. Uruguay, which is sometimes spoken of as the socio- logical laboratory of South America and is the most advanced republic in constructive legislation, has decreed that no laboring man shall work more than six days in the week, nor more than eight hours in a single day. 100 Manufacturing and Labor The President of Cuba has lately established the hours of work and wages for dockmen at Santiago, specifying that the working day shall run from seven to eleven o’clock in the morning and from one to five o’clock in the afternoon, that from $4 to $4.50 per day shall be paid port labor, and that overtime shall be paid double. The Buenos Aires City Council has conditioned its per- mission to two of the principal tramway companies to raise rates on their maintenance of an eight-hour day for their workmen, extra pay for all overtime, a general in- crease of ten per cent on wages below $108 per month, a minimum wage, and the foundation of a pension fund, to which the tramway companies must contribute eight per cent of the wages and salaries earned by employees. The interests involved may be gathered from the fact that in 1919 the gross receipts of the two companies from their lines operated in Buenos Aires were about $40,- 000,000 in United States currency. A further interesting provision stipulates that not more than eight per cent profit on their capital may be retained by the companies. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRIES Especial solicitude is shown in all Latin American labor legislation for children engaged in gainful occupations. Perhaps the steps taken to protect children against in- dustrial exploitation is one of the most cheering signs of the more modern Latin America. Naturally prone to that tenderness toward children which characterizes all the Latin races, the Latin Amer- icans have needed only a slight amount of outside sug- gestion, aided by the labors of some noble women, like Dona Elvira Garcia y Garcia, principal of the Colegio Na- cional de Educandas of Cuzco, Peru, Dona Juana Alarco de Dammert, of Lima, Peru, and numerous others, to trans- mute into law their affection for children in general and their infinite pity for the helpless little folk who have been drawn into the hazards and hardships of industrial life. Since the meeting of the First Pan American Child Manufacturing and Labor 101 Welfare Congress, held in Buenos Aires in 1916, the efforts to protect working children have become well organized, and remedial measures are reported at frequent intervals in nearly every republic. The Peruvian Government, after a careful inspection of the hygienic conditions of the cotton mills of Lima, has ordered that no minors shall hereafter be employed whose health has not been certificated by the proper authorities; that the work of minors now employed, but not coming within the law, shall cease ; and that extensive improvements must be made in the factories in the way of safety and sanitation so that the welfare of minors and women may be thoroughly safeguarded. The child labor laws of Chile place heavy penalties on the employ- ment of young children at any kind of night work or in any position in which their physical or moral welfare might be harmfully affected. In Argentina the National Health Department is conducting a searching survey of the material surroundings of minors working in industrial establishments and of the subsequent physical develop- ment of children who have been granted permission to work, and is enforcing rigorous medical examination. Children, in Mexico, may not, if under twelve years of age, be employed in any contract work ; nor, if under sixteen, may they engage in any night work which might be classed as dangerous or unwholesome; nor may chil- dren between the ages of twelve and sixteen be employed in any work for more than six hours per day. The working conditions of women are undergoing similar changes, and in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, and Mexico are slowly approximating the status which obtains in the advanced industrial districts of the United States and Europe. In some of these countries, the in- stallation of day nurseries, the provision of ample light and seating, the protection of women in delicate health, and the use of special devices to prevent deletei'ious sub- stances, such as lint and dust in the cotton-mills, from entering the respiratory organs or the eyes, have been made compulsory. Whatever the situation of women ma$ 102 Manufacturing and Labor be in the agricultural regions or in the remote sections of Latin America still closed to communication with the outside world and persisting in primitive habits and cus- toms, the fact is undeniable that the industries, instead of lowering the living conditions of women workers, are actually raising them. The influence, indeed, of the modern factories in light- ing, sanitation, orderliness, and of their adjuncts, such as the nurseries, recreation grounds, schools, and dis- pensaries, on the homes and environment of the poorer classes is certain with time to resemble that exerted by our public schools on the homes of our poorer immigrants. Such a remarkable institution, for example, as the wel- fare activities of the Guggenheim mining works at Chuquicamata, Chile, must perforce mean a new concep- tion of mining to the laborers and a new sense of responsibility to the mine owners. Since the majority of the great industrial enterprises are under the control of foreigners, it is altogether likely that they will main- tain quite modern establishments and that they will, by their mere presence and number, compel all other fac- tories to adopt their standards. In addition, it must be borne in mind that Latin Amer- ican working people, once they have discovered what they think their rights, or have enjoyed new privileges granted by their employers, can be much more forceful in insist- ing on them than our own workers. Once organized, as they now are in some occupations, they may, as in Argen- tina, unseat administrations and install their own, perhaps substituting thereby, in some republics, labor uprisings for political revolutions. That organized labor has, in an extremely short space, made startling progress in Latin American polities is evidenced by the short-lived “revolu- tion” of 1905 in Argentina, which, as Professor Shepherd explains, “was not primarily the work of politicians but of strikers organized into a workingmen’s federation.” Latin American workingmen, besides doing for them- selves, organizing into unions, publishing their own period- icals, such as “El Trabajo’’ (Labor) by the Federation of Manufacturing and Labor 103 Labor of Salvador, and taking an active part in the solu- tion of problems affecting themselves, their employers, and the State, have been generously assisted by the private corporations employing them and by the national and local governments. The peonage system, while undoubtedly existing in many localities in the same sense in which it still survives in some American mill-towns, is by and large a thing of the past, and in some republics — the most notable recent example being Ecuador — has received its death-blow through formal legislative action decreeing its total aboli- tion and canceling the debts owed by any persons in a state of peonage to their masters. Rare, indeed, are the large industrial companies which do not comprehend that it is to their advantage as well as to that of their employees to introduce, as fast as they have been worked out in Europe and the United States, all those methods of amelioration and cooperation which distinguish the modern from the feudal age. Schools, dispensaries, hospitals, recreation grounds, restaurants for supplying food at cost are fast becoming a necessary adjunct to the great industrial establishments of Latin America. Housing, in particular, is occupying the atten- tion of mill-owners and mine-operators, many of whom are building suitable, cheap dwellings for their working- men and either renting them out at a low price or per- mitting their employees to purchase them on the install- ment plan. One of the important cotton-factories near Pernambuco, Brazil, furnishes cottages practically free, charging only for ground rent, at the rate of two or four milreis (normal value $.54) a month. HOUSING FOR WORKINGMEN The most significant housing projects, however, are be- ing sponsored by the progressive municipal and national governments of Latin America, partly with a view to removing the shacks which deface many of the beautiful cities, partly to improve the sanitary surroundings of tho poorer classes, and partly to encourage thrift. The city of Montevideo has long felt the need of better 104 Manufacturing and Labor housing accommodations for workmen and is on the eve of a comprehensive building programme of an industrial character in which special attention will be paid to modern homes for its laboring population. The executive authori- ties of Peru have this year approved the petition of the Provincial Council of Callao to be allowed to contract a loan of 45,000 Peruvian pounds (normal value $4.86) for the construction of workingmen’s houses, which will be sold at cost, payable in monthly installments during a period of fifteen years. In Lima, a commission has been appointed to acquire public lands from the government and private lands from individual owners for the purpose of erecting cheap, sanitary houses, to be built of the most solid, modern material, provided with the best hygienic service, including bath, supplied with screens, and to be sold on the easiest possible terms to workingmen. The plans of an Italian engineer are being utilized by the Compania de Urbanizacion de Bogota for the construction of houses in an extensive workmen’s addition to the capi- tal of Colombia. In Medellin, Colombia, real estate is sold on the installment plan to laborers, servants, and other members of the thrifty working classes of that district — who are principally of Spanish Jewish descent, and show a most praiseworthy ambition to own their own property. One of the Chilean laws of 1906 provides for the con- stitution of councils in every province and department to formulate plans for inexpensive, but good, houses for workingmen, and specifies the sanitary arrangements which must be followed. These houses are sold to work- ingmen and minor employees of the State on the install- ment plan, and the President was authorized to make available $800,000 for the carrying out of the project. COMPARISON WITH THE UNITED STATES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIES For the benefit of those who are skeptical regarding the industrial and manufacturing development of Latin America, a striking parallel might be instituted with the United States. PLAZA MAYOR, LIMA. Manufacturing and Labor 105 By 1850 — less than seventy-five years ago — the rail- roads west of the Alleghany Mountains had hardly as yet come into being. As Professor Clive Day remarks in his History of Commerce, “Not a mile of railroad had been built in Iowa and Minnesota, and there was no railroad connection with the East in all the country west of the Mississippi and north of the State of Missouri.” One great crop, cotton — like cattle or cereals in the southern portion of South America, or coffee in Brazil — overshadowed all other exports, amounting to $191,000,- 000 in 1860 as contrasted with $37,000,000 in the exports of manufactures. Apparently we were not a great manu- facturing nation as late as only sixty years ago. Manu- factured articles constituted the majority of our imports, and raw materials for our own manufactures were brought in from abroad only in small quantities. A population [to cite Professor Day again] growing rapidly both in numbers and in welfare caused a demand for manu- factures which stimulated some producers to choose manufac- turing instead of farming for their livelihood, and the government aided these individuals by taxing imported wares, and so giving the domestic producer an advantage in the home market. The tendency toward high tariffs grew, and tariff legis- lation sought to combine the two aims of raising revenue and encouraging home industries. It is this era in the history of our commerce which the latter portion of the nineteenth century in Latin America most resembles. Transportation and manufactures are in their infancy — though a much lustier infancy than the general public believes possible — and the notion of import duties for the sake of revenue is beginning to give way to the settled plan of taxing foreign products to a point at which they cannot enter on more than equal terms with local manufactures. As the manufacturing industries broaden out in Latin America, the use of a high tariff is likely to be carried further than in the United States, since the combination of those who desire it for revenue or protection, or both, is stronger than in our country, the cost of living in the centers of population is higher 106 Manufacturing and Labor and everybody expects to pay well for products ordinarily imported, and the size of the intelligent public opinion capable of understanding legislation and liable to react powerfully against the mandates of congresses and the maneuvers of the moneyed interests is at present, in most of the Latin American republics, limited. Latin America, if facts and signs do not both lie, now stands on the threshold of an epoch corresponding to the second half of the nineteenth century in our history — an epoch of increasing immigration, increasing exploita- tion of natural resources, growth of manufactures, very slow, but certain, decrease in the importation of manu- factured articles, and expansion of transportation by land and by sea. The absolute amount of imports will for a long time, until Latin American territory is much more densely set- tled, undoubtedly increase greatly, but the establish- ment of each additional manufacturing plant ultimately means a diminution of imports, of manufactured products, both absolutely and relatively. On the social side of industrial development, many republics of Latin America, such as Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, are now nearly abreast of the other coun- tries of the Western World. The struggles of capital and labor, of capital and the consumer, of labor and the con- sumer, the attractive force of the “tentacular” cities, the prevalence of radical economic thought, and the theory of the responsibility of capital to society are vital prob- lems in Latin America to-day and have not waited for the “peak” of industrial development. Like Japan, several Latin American countries have suddenly been pre- cipitated into the technological era out of a lingering medievalism. CHAPTER V PARAMOUNT FOREIGN INTERESTS Without overexertion, without government subsidies, without American colonies in the Latin American coun- tries, without a credit system palatable to Latin Ameri- cans, without a thorough comprehension of Latin Ameri- can needs, habits, requirements in packing, or custom- house technicalities — according to American writer after American writer who has berated the apparent ignorance of our businessmen in details vital to Latin American trade — and in the face of deterrent exchange values, our manufacturers and merchants nevertheless did business with Latin America in 1920 to the amount of $3,256,- 295,601. These figures do not assume their merited proportions until a brief calculation is made. Our total trade with the whole world in 1920 was $13,508,157,959. Hence, Latin America furnished one-fourth of our entire export and import business. Our commerce with Latin America was more than twice as large as our commerce with Canada, and larger than our trade with all the rest of the world exclusive of Europe. Asia and Oceania with their hundreds of millions of people bought less from us and sold less to us than Latin America, with its population of about eighty millions. The population of the world is something under two billions, and the world therefore has at least 25 times as many inhabitants as Latin America. If we had done as much business with the whole world as we did with Latin America in 1920, our foreign com- merce would have reached the stupendous total of $75,- 000,000,000. Evidently Latin America is not a customer to be despised ! Further analysis reveals some highly instructive facts. 107 108 Paramount Foreign Interests Our imports increased between 1919 and 1920 in every single country of Latin America with the exception of Brazil, in which a drop from $233,570,620 to $227,587,594', or about six million dollars, is to be noted. Our exports in 1920 exceeded the figures for 1919 in every single coun- try except Bolivia, in Avhich a drop from $4,771,177 to' $4,573,381, or less than $200,000, took place. The in- creases by divisions may be seen at a glance in the follow- ing tables: Divisions Imports from Exports 1919 1920 1919 1920 South America. . . $686,221,358 440,505,712 148,926,376 43,149,859 $755,579,749 764,547,538 180,191,075 66,675,497 $433,820,545 313,459,826 131,455,101 55,652,518 $613,460,082 581,511,679 207,854,197 86,475,784 Mexico Central America. . Total $1,318,803,305 $1,766,993,859 $934,387,990 $1,489,301,742 Grand total of imports and exports: 1920 $3,256,295,601 1919 2,253,191,295 1920 $3,256,295,601 1919 2,253,191,295 Increase in one year $1,003,104,306 By what agencies have we increased our exports to Argentina from 45 million dollars for the year ending June 30, 1914 — prior to the war — to nearly 214 million in 1920: our exports to Brazil, from 30 million dollars in 1914 to nearly 157 million in 1920 : our exports to Cuba, from about 69 million dollars in 1914 to 515 million in 1920? Manifestly, the rise in commodity prices cannot account for the almost incredible difference. Has it been due to Germany’s crippled condition? Has the trade flowed toward us because England, France, and Italy have been hors de combat? That may all be, though none of the Allies ever retired one moment from the Latin American trade, and Eng- land’s competition has always been strong. Furthermore, the year 1920 is several years removed from the end of the war, and Europe has had two years in which to recuperate to some extent. Whatever the causes, the evidence is plain that we acquired markets more valuable Paramount Foreign Interests 109 than China and the entire Orient and that the question of holding or giving up these markets now rests with us. Lest doubt may be felt as to our ability to hold our own or to make additional gains, the following data for 1921 — the latest obtainable at the time of this writing — and corresponding figures for 1920 are given below. U. S. Exports to the Four Principal Latin American Markets for Eleven Months Ended May, 1920 1921 Increase, 1921 Argentina $153,559,950 $193,502,710 $ 39,942,760 Brazil 105,337,298 125,047,837 19,710,539 Cuba 352,301,480 390,983,306 38,681,826 Mexico 133,234,296 246,110,448 112,876,152 In view of the tremendous drop in our foreign exports in general, our position in Latin America may be con- sidered remarkably strong. To understand what the success of our businessmen in Latin American commerce means and to realize what must be done in order to hold the ground already gained, a study of the methods pursued by our foremost competitors is indispensable. Paramount commercial interests and a preponderating political and social influence appear to go so closely hand in hand in Latin America that it is often difficult to tell which is cause and which effect : and we have much to learn in this respect from European activities in Latin America, and particularly from those of Great Britain and Germany. NATIONAL MOBILIZATION FOR LATIN AMERICAN TRADE In the new Latin America — as, perhaps, everywhere in the world to-day — methods of business approach to na- tions have changed in a marked manner. The individual trader is subordinated to collective action in the game of modern scientific commercial exploitation, and nations mobilize for business. There is much point to Dr. W. E. Aughinbaugh’s comment on the aftermath of the Franco- Prussian War: No military campaign was ever planned with such exactness of detail and precision as that which characterized the prelim- 110 Paramount Foreign Interests inary movements of the expoi'ting nations of Europe to acquire control of Latin American markets. When the Franco-Prussian war was over and the Powers of the Old World had settled down to a development of their resources, it soon became apparent that foreign fields must be sought in which to dispose of the excess products of their industry. With that object in view governments, trade associations, manufacturers, shippers, exporters, civic and social societies, colleges, merchants, and individuals united in one harmonious movement to accomplish this purpose. The situation is identical to-day, with the United States, Japan, and even China and Czecho-Slovakia as added participants. What the Spanish captains secured by bold strokes, modern industrial organization is trying to obtain by the pressure of collective action. A common form of such pressure is seen in the flattering visit to Latin America of the particular nation, so to speak, in the per- son of its prime minister or its secretary of state, who, by well-chosen words on the public platform or in news- paper interviews, knits his own expatriate countrymen together in a feeling of enthusiasm for their fatherland, and incidentally — and primarily, be it said — “drums up” trade for his country. So important has this role of the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Secretary of State become of late that the query naturally arises as to whether the time thus spent may not be worth fully as much as a great deal of the regular routine of office of these high functionaries. M. Clemenceau tours some of the South American re- publics, creates a wave of interest in France, and accom- plishes his ulterior purpose, in so far as the French are concerned. Signor Orlando, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, is received with enthusiasm in the Argentine, where his counti'ymen number about 2,000,- 000, or nearly one-fourth of the total population, and returns home, satisfied that Italian commerce has been stimulated by his visit. The Spanish Infanta honors Latin America with her presence, and King Alfonso promises to follow in the near future: and an impetus has been given to Spanish wines, olive-oil, cork, fruits, spices, and manufactures. Secretary of State Colby visits South Paramount Foreign Interests 111 America, convinces himcelf that we have remained too long in the dark about the world to the south of us, leaves a message of good-will from the United States to our neighbors, and undoubtedly, without mentioning it, to be sure, reminds the South American public that we manufacture and sell many articles of superior merit. But the temporary benefits gained by the visits of dis- tinguished officials is, after all, not the only nor the most lasting benefit. Through them, we are really coming to believe that we have been guilty of colossal misconceptions and that we are not the sole arbiters of the destinies of the Western Hemisphere, for each returned Secretary of State, senator, or other dignitary brings back the same tale of extraordinary natural wealth, social progress, and unlimited prospects. CAPTURING LATIN AMERICAN TRADE IN THE PAST How different the present solicitude for Latin American good-will is from the cavalier attitude of the past, and how great a tribute to Latin American evolution, may be judged from the methods formerly pursued toward the Latin American countries. Until well into the eighteenth country, Spain, as has been mentioned, enjoyed in Latin America one of the mosf rigid monopolies the world has ever known. Trade was prohibited not only between the colonies and other Euro- pean nations, but even among the colonies themselves. To prevent, for example, interchange of goods between Argentina and Peru, a custom-house was established at Cordoba, and a duty of fifty per cent levied on everything in transit in either direction. Such a system could not endure. Smuggling became a fairly honorable practice, and English and Dutch freebooters reaped the benefits. Portugal modeled its commercial policy on that of Spain, and kept for itself the profits of Brazilian trade by the expedient of chartering various Brazilian trading com- panies. During the first half of the seventeenth century, Holland occupied the northern provinces of Brazil and hoped to found a vast empire with unlimited commercial 112 Paramount Foreign Interests possibilities, but was evicted by the formidable Joao Fernandes Vieyra in 1654. In 1710 and 1711 France attacked Rio de Janeiro under Admirals Duclerc and Duguay Trouin, but after an initial defeat and a succeed- ing victory, renounced her project of invading Brazil. Great Britain had kept a watchful eye on Latin America since the days of Sir Walter Raleigh, Drake, Hawkins, and Morgan, and stormed Buenos Aires in 1806 and 1808 : but her troops under General Beresford and General Whitelock were forced to capitulate by the citizenry. Other desultory attacks were made on the Latin Amer- ican colonies, without, however, shaking Spanish and Portuguese control. But by the first quarter of the nine- teenth century, Spanish America through its own efforts finally succeeded in throwing off its Spanish political and economic shackles, and Brazil became the head of its own mother-country. The Monroe Doctrine, enunciated in 1823, put an end to the Latin American aspirations of the European governments : and trade could proceed only along the lines of peace. Great Britain, France, and the United States became the foremost competitors in the Latin American market, Great Britain maintaining her ascendancy undisputed until the advent of Germany, about a generation ago. Spain, through racial sympathy, and France, through her ideals, literature, and art, have in the meantime exerted a pervasive commercial influence on all Latin America, but never of the first magnitude. The European War clipped the wings of Germany and added pinions to the Latin American commerce of the United States. Such, in brief, have been the significant moments in the development of foreign trade with Latin America. Among the outstanding facts are these: (1) that the European policy for capturing Latin American trade has passed successively through the stages of armed attack'; unorganized individual trafficking, and concerted action ; and (2) that the three leading nations in Latin American trade, namely, Great Britain, Germany, and the United' States, have been of different stock, different traditions, Paramount Foreign Interests 113 and different ideals from the peoples with whom they have dealt. The latter point is especially significant because it is a cogent answer to the assertion that Latin America, even in commerce, is moved primarily by feelings of con- sanguinity. The differences noted by such writers as Mr. C. W. Domville-Fife have never kept nations apart, par- ticularly in economic matters, when the logic of events or necessity has demanded that they stand together. Many of the steps taken by foreign countries, and especially Great Britain and Germany, in strengthening their business relations with Latin America, have a direct' application to our future economic and political stand- ing in Latin America. The extreme solicitude of Great Britain for its Latin American markets is natural. In this portion of the globe, Latin America is her best customer. Great Britain ex- ported in 1920 goods to the value of over 115,000,000 pounds sterling to South America, the West Indies, and Central America — which far exceeds her exports amount- ing to 43,792,136 pounds to Canada and even the 77,131,- 266 pounds’ worth of merchandise shipped to the United States. This business is the result of sedulous and care- ful nursing. True, the British merchant has, like his American compeer, been scolded in the newspapers, trade- journals and books for his sluggishness and lack of adaptability: and His Britannic Majesty’s Minister at Montevideo, Mr. R. T. Kennedy, voiced, just before the war, the sentiments of a large section of his countrymen in words that appear to have been taken bodily from some of our own writings of the past two or three years. At the risk of repeating well-known advice [he declared] I am bound to warn British traders that they must “wake up” and become less conservative in their attitude, and more adaptable in their procedure. They must watch the market, study the people, learn their wants, acquire a knowledge of the language, and when they have done all this, they must endeavor, like German merchants, with ready eagerness to meet and satisfy those wants and requirements. Nevertheless, Great Britain has little reason to be dis- satisfied with what her merchants have achieved in Latin 114 Paramount Foreign Interests America. Exports of more than 115,000,000 pounds sterling to one territorial division during a period of read- justment following a tremendous crisis constitute no mean feat. BRITISH CONFIDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA The British commercial edifice in Latin America is with- out question the most substantial structure erected by any foreign nation. Its foundations are an integral part of the foundations of most of the important Latin American countries. It has been duplicated by Germany, and in a measure improved upon, but has earned a reputation for solidity, for sincerity, oftentimes withheld from the more brilliant, better advertised rival house. “The word of an Englishman” ( palabra de ingles ) is the gold standard of commercial honor throughout Latin America. The keystone of British success is the demonstrated con- fidence of British businessmen in Latin America and the Latin American people. The proofs of their confidence are met in tangible form on every hand. Englishmen do not hesitate to invest in Latin American properties or securities, as do Americans, but appear to rate them as high as securities nearer home. The amount of British investments in South America is calculated at over five and a quarter billion dollars (about £1,050,000,- 000). For a representative six months’ period, according to former President de la Plaza, of Argentina, British capital invested in Argentina ($64,046,000) exceeded the sum invested in Russia ($61,220,500) and in the United States ($43,995,500) and nearly equaled the total British investments in the rest of Europe. The nitrate oficinas of Chile have drawn nearly half their capital from British sources, and many other huge enterprises all over Latin America are dependent on British money. That the confidence placed in Latin American securities is, in general, deserved may be inferred from the fact that about $100,000,000 represents the annual returns in the shape of dividends and interest on their Argentine proper- ties to British investors, and that the average yield on the SCENE ON THE OROYA RAILWAY. Paramount Foreign Interests 115 five and a quarter billion dollars invested in South America by Englishmen was, in 1913, four and seven-tenths per- cent — a much better rate, it may be supposed, than could then have been obtained at home as an average return on such a huge investment spread over highly diversified in- dustries and properties. But such profits represent by no means the most impor- tant or the most durable advantages derived by Great Britain from its active support of the vigorous young nations of Latin America. One of the best illustrations of the subsidiary benefits secured by British investments is to be found in the role played by British operated railways in Latin America. From one end of Latin America to the other, British money has stimulated the construction of railroads and dominated their operation. Of the 200,948,125 bolivares (quoted at $.17, March 19, 1921), for example, invested in Venezuelan railways, 45 per cent, or nearly one-half, was advanced by British interests. Out of approximately 25,000 miles of railways in operation in Argentina to-day, over 14,000 miles, bringing in gross receipts in 1920 of more than £37,000,000, are under British control. A Canadian com- pany, capitalized at $13,000,000, supplies the electric street- car transportation for Sao Paulo, Brazil. In like manner, wherever one turns in South America, one is brought face to face with instances of Great Britain’s predominance in all that relates to the handling of passengers and freight. The strategic economic value of her combined control of ocean and land transportation cannot be computed in pounds and pence. The railroads not only serve as feeders to numberless British concerns which manufacture rolling stock and equipment: they also affect the market for British coal and the acquisition and working of oil prop- erties, which are now becoming one of Great Britain’s chief concerns. Thus three of the British railroads in Argentina have recently joined forces in the exploitation of an oil concession in the Comodoro Rivadavia fields, and are likely in consequence to solve many of their fuel problems, be- sides holding in friendly hands supplies of the precious 116 Paramount Foreign Interests combustible so vital to the motive power of the British Government. The close connection between command of the railroads and such economic and political phases as the moving of crops, the influence exerted on railroad employees and labor in allied branches, and the executive opportunities for Englishmen attracted to Latin America, is so evident as not to need pointing out. LATEST AMERICAN TRUST IN BRITISH MANAGEMENT Due to the Englishman’s reputation for efficiency, honesty, and business-sense, other public and quasi-public utilities have confidently been given over to his charge. Tramway-systems, docks, water, light, and power plants have been initiated through British activity, and have be- come landmarks of high advertising value to the British nation. On occasions, Latin American republics have pre- ferred British supervision to the kind of attention paid by their own governmental departments, as is evidenced by the agreement lately entered into between Peru and the London Marconi Company, whereby the management of the Peruvian postal, telegraphic, and radiotelegraphic services was turned over to the latter. For a long time, the banking facilities of several of the largest countries in Latin America were almost entirely in the hands of British interests, and these banks have not only retained the patronage and favor of their clients, but also expanded immensely and paid handsome dividends. The first bank in Argentina, originally known as the Casa de Moncda, was established in 1822 by English and Argentine capital. Half a century ago, the London and River Plate Bank was founded and now has branches in most of the important towns of the southern half of the continent, extending its accommodations into Brazil and last year (1920) opening a Paraguayan branch at Asuncion. Its prosperous condition has permitted it to declare divi- dends of twenty per cent on many occasions. The London and Brazilian Bank has had a similar history. The amalgamation of the powerful Anglo-South American Bank with the British Bank of South America, now in process, Paramount Foreign Interests 117 should place the combination at the head of Latin American banking houses. Various other British and Canadian banks of considerable magnitude testify to the importance of the Latin American field in the eyes of British financiers. The salient feature of Great Britain’s commercial policy in Latin America has been the formation of business colonies in the foreign countries which serve as permanent agents and enter into local business affairs with the status of home concerns. The Englishman, as a rule, does not affiliate himself closely with the social units about him, but maintains an attitude of aloofness, sticks to his English habits, plays his English sports, has his five-o’clock tea, dresses in the English style, and surrounds himself with architectural and scenic beauties reminiscent of his beloved Albion. He lives his life approximately as he would have lived it in England. It is not he who conforms : nor is his non- conformity a sign of surliness or lack of sociability. If the ways of other peoples had an especial attraction for him, he would adopt them: but they do not. Others may take up his sports, his sporting terms, his styles, his teas • — as they usually do for purposes of invidious distinction in Latin America wherever there is a nucleus of English- men — but he does not proselyte. He carries on his business on the same general principle, though as a business-creature he is much less inflexible than as a social creature. He persists, to be sure, in “getting up” his goods plainly, declines more than three months’ credit, even if a month is lost before the consign- ments actually reach their destination, and does not like to listen to renewals. On the other hand, he realizes that he must have daily contact with his customers and does not attempt to sell solely from his offices in London, Man- chester, or Birmingham or through occasional drummers. He makes concessions in the spirit of the British colonial soldier or administrator, establishing commercial outposts on the time-honored British colonial plan, guiding himself generally by local conditions, but practically never, unless he has come as a poor immigrant to till the soil, severing 118 Paramount Foreign Interests ties with organizations in Great Britain and standing out as an individual. In a word, he remains, no matter where he may be, an official of that wonderful administrative bureau called the United Kingdom. These tendencies quite perceptibly distinguish English methods in Latin America from German or American methods. They perpetuate the colonial system in a modern environment. They create an extension of Great Britain outward, while at the same time utilizing foreign oppor- tunities to the growth and increment of the foreign coun- tries. In other words, foreign countries are regarded by British businessmen as territories or possessions acquired by courtesy, to be developed both for their own sake and for the well-being of British business. They involve a species of duty or moral responsibility. Sir Woodman Burbidge, the managing director of Harrods Department Stores, summarizes as follows the farsighted endeavors of his house, which is spending two million pounds in the extension of its Argentine branches : I should like to emphasize one fact which I believe will illus- trate in a clear manner that, while Harrods is a business firm, it is also striving to do its share in the development of Argen- tina and her wonderful resources. I want to point out that a large part of the money mentioned will be used in erecting fac- tories where we shall employ thousands of workpeople, and I fully expect that when we are in full working order we shall be paying salaries to 15,000 people. It may not be generally known that we shall be turning out seventy million pesos worth of manufactured goods in Argentina by the end of 1921, a fifty per cent, increase on the previous year’s figures. I myself have the most unbounded confidence in the possibilities of Argentina, and one of my ambitions is to see the industrial side of commerce here well developed, and placed in the high position to which it is entitled. That the broad vision of the British trader is appreciated in some of the Latin American countries, a paragraph from an editorial in the influential Chilean newspaper, El Mercurio, of November 8, 1919, attests with feeling: We knew that in Great Britain we had the great master of our fundamental political institutions and of our navy ; the Paramount Foreign Interests 119 powerful friend who guaranteed our external credit, always giv- ing an adequate reception to our signature; the admirable cham- pion of our trade, who sent us ships and supplies, received our own products, and firmly established on our soil strong aggrega- tions of capital and solid business enterprises; but it was still to be our privilege to see, as we see at this moment, that in her we could also find a sincere observer of our life and institutions, who understands thoroughly the evolution and the present state of this young nation which is now facing the future with confidence. Something, evidently, in the British temperament, which defies analysis, has been responsible for the freedom from suspicion of sinister motives with which British progress in Latin America has been viewed. Neither of the lead- ing rivals of Great Britain has been able to inspire such trustful confidence. THE GERMAN “DRIVE” IN LATIN AMERICA NOT SINISTER Perhaps more than any other foreign country, Germany has been suspected of designs on Latin America through the medium of peaceful penetration. The ships, banks, commercial establishments, agricultural and mineral hold- ings, and capital of Germans or of persons of German extraction; the colonies composed of German families; the scientists, teachers, and public officials having German affiliations, were all summoned during the war to assist and befriend the mother country in every possible way. The “drive” on Latin American sentiment was directed through governmental channels, and an air of cohesion obtained which ended by convincing many observers that a real programme had always been at the bottom of the German campaign for Latin American markets. All that can be proved, nevertheless, is that German companies and individuals were, before the War, compet- ing with other companies and individuals and that the government was lending them the support which it gave German business all over the world. The use made of German connections in Latin America did not differ materially from the use made of similar connections in the United States. The methods by which German trade became in a short 120 Paramount Foreign Interests time a formidable rival of the commerce of other nations dealing with Latin America are a fascinating study in efficiency. They represent the application of psychological principles to business. Germany, like Great Britain and the United States, is a non-Latin country and has enjoyed none of the initial advantages of identity of race, traditions, customs and manners, and religion on which Spain, Italy, Portugal, and in a measure, France, have always been able to count. It could not rely on proximity to any part of Latin America, as could the United States with reference to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and the north- ern regions of South America, to favor its trade, nor could it depend upon an experience tried by time, as was the case with Great Britain, to spread its commercial influence at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its upward thrust started little more than a generation ago, in the eighties, and what it has accomplished, surmounting more difficulties than any nation dealing with Latin America, is of very recent date. Its growth as a power in Latin America is comparable and almost synchronous with the development of Japan as a world power. That phase of German expansion in Latin America which is now commonly treated as the most premeditated and possibly the most dangerous to Latin America and to foreign interests in Latin America appears to have come about perfectly naturally, without malice aforethought, and so to speak, accidentally. German immigration into Latin America was not an invasion or an onslaught, but a slow current running parallel with the stream of immigration into the United States and originating in the same political, economic, and social conditions. As has been pointed out by Mr. William C. Wells, of the Pan American Union, the first German colony was established in Brazil at Leopoldina, in the State of Bahia, in 1818, more than a hundred years ago. The influx into Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catharina began in 1824 and continued at a high rate for about fifty years, there- fore antedating the Pan-Germanic ambitions of the last Paramount Foreign Interests 121 of the House of Hohenzollern. The first Chilean colonies were established in 1850, at Valdivia. No extraordinary accretions have been made to the German population of Latin America since the unification of the German Empire — the consummation of which marks the beginning of the modern combative spirit in Germany — and the bugaboo of a Germanized Latin America can safely be said to have existed only in the imagination of prejudiced persons. The total German population of Brazil to-day probably does not exceed 500,000, and that of Latin America as a whole, 1,000,000. The proportion of Germans to the entire population in Latin America or in any single Latin American country is much smaller than in the United States, where, in 1910, there were 2,501,333 Germans among the foreign-born population and nearly 8,000,000 of German stock. The importance of German settlements to the commerce of Germany did not, of course, escape the eyes of the Imperial Government : but it is impossible, with the facts before us, to subscribe to the fanciful ideas lately current concerning the subservience of German colonization to Pan-German plans. The German settlers in Latin America have wielded no undue political influence nor constituted the most significant element in the German commercial campaign : and great numbers of them have intermarried with Latin American families and became ardent Brazil- ians, Chileans, Paraguayans, Argentinians, Guatemalans. Such incidents as the administrative pro-Germanism of Argentina during the War — which ran counter to the popular feeling — were due, not mainly to the influence of citizens of German extraction, but to the machinations of German ambassadors and capitalists and to the polit- ical notions of such men as President Irigoyen as to what was best for their country. Looked at in judicious retrospect, the instrumentali- ties invoked in behalf of Germany’s “place in the sun’’ in Latin America offer nothing diabolic. They are in fact, for the most part, German imitations of the methods 122 Paramount Foreign Interests employed by British manufacturers, merchants, financiers, and governmental officials. Before the War, Germany held the third place among foreign countries trading with Latin America. It was still far behind the United States and Great Britain in the amount of its purchases from Latin America. In 1913 Germany bought only 193 million dollars’ worth of Latin American products to Great Britain’s 314 million, and the United States’ 481 million: and much of what it bought was destined for the United States, and not for its own centers. But what is prophetic is that Germany was quickly overhauling Great Britain in exports to Latin America, and particularly to the southern section of South America, which had been a British stronghold from time immemorial. To the $328,951,681 of exports from the United States to Latin America in 1913 and to the $284,786,580 of Great Britain, Germany could oppose $219,566,276: and to Great Britain’s exports in 1913 valued at $255,034,179 to the six southern countries of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Bolivia, Germany could oppose its own exports to the same countries amounting to $175,744,271. Because of such significant facts, many observers have unquestionably felt that, but for the war, Germany and Great Britain might be in reversed positions to-day with regard to exports to Latin America. All the agencies which Great Britain had used in the extension of her Latin American interests Germany employed with scientific efficiency, and usually improved upon her model. The German merchant marine rapidly overtook the commercial navies of such maritime coun- tries as Holland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and soon was giving the British merchant marine a close race. In passenger service, German steamships became the ne plus ultra: in freight-handling, their organization, helped by the care given to each minute detail by the German shipper, was nearly perfect. Investments were generously made, but they were commonly of a private nature, and a neces- Paramount Foreign Interests 123 sary corollary to the furtherance of ordinary business transactions. The assumption, indeed, that Germany was attempting to control whole governments in Latin America through fiscal loans has never been based on anything more substantial than hostile prejudice, for, of the loans negotiated by Chile since 1885, only 13y 2 per cent was assumed by Germany ; in the foreign loans contracted by Argentina down to 1913, Germany’s share amounted to only a little over £2,000,000 out of a total of more than £136,000,000 ; and among the majority of Latin American countries Germany has had practically no participation at all in loans contracted by the individual governments. Strong German banks, such as the Banco Aleman Transatlantic, the Banco Germanico, the Brasilianische Bank fur Deutschland, the Banco de Chile y Alemania, were established, but they operated, like most foreign banks in Latin America, largely on the money of de- positors and the capital furnished by Latin American citizens. During most of their history, the German banks in Latin America played no imperial role, and were able to be of only minor assistance to Germany at the out- break of the War. That all these auxiliaries of German commerce — bank- ing, loans, investments, shipping, and colonization — might, but for the War, have become a powerful govern- mental arm in such imperialistic aims in Latin America as were cherished by the Pan-German party, is possible. Germany’s policy of backing German commerce by official encouragement and by the injection of a coordinating German consciousness into private enterprises might well have led to far-reaching autocratic consequences. But no real evidence is at hand to prove that a “master- mind” was directing from Germany the daily schedule of German business in Latin America. GERMAN DOCTRINE OF “SERVICE” In reality, though these agencies contributed in a highly significant way to Germany’s excellent standing in Latin America, by far her most effective asset has been her 124 Paramount Foreign Interests doctrine of “service” as applied to international trade. Germany alone has supplied modern “service” to Latin America. Not only have great Britain and the United States been woefully deficient in their conception of inter- national trade “service,” but even France and Spain, zealous as they are for Latin American patronage, have rarely given the subject a moment’s thought. Spanish Americans and Spaniards living in America [observes Don Ricardo Beltran y Rozpide] are more consistent than we. They have their eyes fixed steadfastly on Spain, and their great newspapers devote a large amount of space to Spanish politics, to our men, to our scientific and literary movements. They know us much better over there than we know them. Here we do not even read their newspapers. There are in Madrid societies frequented by our most prominent political, literary, and scien- tific personages in the libraries and reading-rooms of which you will not find a single Spanish American newspaper nor a single Spanish American periodical. Germany, on the contrary, systematized her informa- tional and business resources with a view to eliminating haphazard procedure in her dealings with Latin America. Reliable reports were made available to her merchants and financiers. A central bureau for emigration to Latin America Avas operated under governmental direction. The Spanish and Portuguese languages were practically and intensively taught. Hispanic culture and social customs were included in the courses followed by men preparing for the Latin American field. Scientists and scholars were put freely at the disposition of Latin American govern- ments, and scholars and scientists from Latin America, such as Dr. Oswaldo Cruz of Brazil, were welcomed into German intellectual circles and institutions, imbued with respectful admiration for German methods and learning, and honored by election to German societies and by awards of distinction. The business practices of Latin America Avere diligently conned, and, Avith the slogan of “serA r ice” to the customer committed to memory by every German merchant and salesman, all the minutiae of pack- ing, customs house regulations, tariff, routing, lighterage, local conditions, and likings were painstakingly folloAved Paramount Foreign Interests 125 in order that the Latin American client might feel his importance and rest assured of the endeavor of the Ger- man businessman to satisfy him on all points. The readiness with which the German merchant effaced himself in the interests of his trade was equaled only by the genial good-fellowship and sympathy which he dis- played in his intercourse with people of Latin extraction. Unable to inspire cordiality or confidence among nations of his own racial stock, and incapable of comprehending the ultimate psychology of Englishmen or Americans, the German has shown a marvelous aptitude in winning the heart of Latin Americans and in understanding their mental and spiritual reactions. GERMANY “COMING BACK” IN LATIN AMERICA Through these habits of adaptability and “service,” Germany is finding it less difficult to regain her commer- cial position in Latin America than the crisis through which she has passed would lead us to expect. Already the suspicions aroused by the war have been allayed. Chile has recently granted the Krupps the right to acquire land in the Province of Llanquihue for the purpose of building an immense steel and munition plant, and German workmen are now pi’eparing to settle in the neighborhood. Herr Hugo Stinnes has obtained large tracts of land in the Territory of Neuquen, Argentina, and is exploiting the oil deposits in that region. The Hamburg-Colombian Bananen Aktien-Gesellschaft is developing the banana industry along the Gulf of Uraba on the general lines originated by the United Fruit Com- pany. The Solingen district of Germany has actively resumed its exports of small iron and steel goods to Argentina, in which it excelled before the war, and according to the Director of the German- Argentinian Central Association in Berlin, German manufacturers fore- see a strong recuperation in their sales of threshing machines, motor plows, grinding mills, and the like. German competition in paper, steel, and hardware has become extremely keen in the southern portion of South 126 Paramount Foreign Interests America, aided by the favorable export influence of 3 depreciated German currency. Hundreds of other items can be cited to demonstrate that Germany is successfully reaching out again, that her lost steamships are being replaced with marvelous speed, and that the commercial fear with which she inspired other nations before the War is again working overtime. It has even been said that the mark is kept down merely to enable German firms to undersell their British and American rivals! While adaptability, “service,” efficiency, organization, and expediency have been the outstanding features of Germany’s policy in Latin American trade, the contrary seems to have characterized the Latin American business of the United States. WEAKNESS OF FORMER AMERICAN METHODS It would be idle to rehearse the reproaches heaped by our own commercial experts, writers, and travelers on American merchants and manufacturers for their slip- shod management of a market which already consumes a fourth of our total exports. A great deal of the criti- cism is deserved, though too much of it is uttered with- out regard for such establishments as W. R. Grace and Company, the American Steel Products Company, the Singer Sewdng Machine Company, the National Cash Register Company, which rank among the most compe- tent firms trading in Latin America. Whatever mistakes have been committed, the fact re- mains that the United States has already passed both Great Britain and Germany in Latin American commerce. Until a few years ago, American business in Latin America appeared planless and purely individualistic. Our trade, like Topsy, “just grew.” That, how r ever, was really the case with British and German trade, at the start, also. During the next ten years, the tradition is likely to spring up that American commerce in Latin America w r as fostered mainly through governmental and individual cooperation: but the assertion will be without Paramount Foreign Interests 127 foundation. Our Latin American business, which is now “made,” has developed by trial and error and as a result of particular conditions. How the United States has risen to leadership in Latin American commerce is not at all easy to analyze. The war cannot explain our privileged position at the present moment. Great Britain and Germany have been making unheard-of efforts to regain their old status, and have been favored by their depreciated currency, by the premium on American money, and by their imperative need of the largest possible outlet for their products* yet the United States retains the gains which it made during the war and is consistently adding to them. From one end of Latin America to the other, America to-day holds the supremacy in trade. AMERICAN BUSINESSMEN MAKING A GALLANT FIGHT The theory that the United States can surpass Great Britain and Germany only in those articles in which it has a natural monopoly or in which it manufactures on a huge production basis is no longer tenable. An exami- nation of the imports of various countries, and notably of Brazil, demonstrates that in almost every line of manu- facture — including arms and ammunition, automobiles and accessories, chemical products, cotton goods, dry goods, electrical machinery and supplies, iron and steel manu- factures, agricultural machinery, office supplies, musical instruments, paper, rubber manufactures, jewelry, scien- tific instruments — and in many branches of foodstuffs and wearing apparel, the United States has secured the first rank. Unknown to the general public, our men of industry are making a gallant fight in Latin America. In less than half a dozen years, they have established most of the trade relations in which Great Britain, Ger- many, France, and Spain excelled, and are lacking in practically only one important auxiliary, namely, Amer- ican colonization in Latin America. The three elements of modern American business in Latin America which are distinctly new are: (1) adequate 128 Paramount Foreign Interests American shipping; (2) investments; and (3) banking facilities. “Team-work” in the interests of trade has also been developed recently : but it has existed for some time in the admirable endeavors of the Pan American Union and the energy of its former Director, Mr. John Barrett, and of its present Director, Dr. Leo S. Rowe, in the popularization of Latin America by the South American, the Pan American Magazine, several other general period- icals, and some technical reviews, in consular reports, and in the daily reports of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Latterly, the visits of American officials and travelers, the exchange of teachers, the employment of American scientists, and, in especial, of American geologists, the celebration of Pan American congresses, the publication by banking institutions of such helpful periodicals as The Americas by the National City Bank, the more liberal space allowed to Latin American affairs in our newspapers, and the creation of American chambers of commerce in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Havana, Asuncion (Paraguay), La Paz (Bolivia), have formed a network of intellectual communication which, if it con- tinues to expand, should actually realize the cherished ambition of the friends of both continents to see the three Americas — North America, Central America, and South America — brought together in sincere comity and co- operation. Some day, too, Latin American civilization and progress will undoubtedly be taught in our public schools on a par with medieval history, and probably with as useful, if not, indeed, more useful results. Whether or not the United States will maintain its ocean transportation at the height to which it has risen has be- come a highly debatable question. With the dismantling of some of the shipbuilding plants erected during the war and the wholesale criticism leveled at the Shipping Board, the impression is gaining ground that we are growing lukewarm over our merchant marine. Again arguments are presented to prove that it does not matter who con- Paramount Foreign Interests 129 veys our goods, so long as the transaction is economically profitable to our merchants. On the face of it, this argu- ment seems valid : and if it were accepted at its face value, we should be justified in allowing our ships to swing idly at their mooring — at a considerable expense to the tax- payers, of course — or in selling them to Germany and Japan, or in scrapping them altogether. DISADVANTAGES OF SHIPPING IN THE VESSELS OF COMPETITORS But there is another side to the problem, touched on by the Rev. John F. O’Hara, which is not without point: Non- American agents, through a false notion of loyalty to their mother country, have devised propaganda against American ship- ping. They will tell you that the Shipping Board boats are unseaworthy, that they are falling to pieces, that their upkeep costs more than their income, that America never has been or never will be a shipping nation, and that the United States Gov- ernment has no business depriving foreigners of an honest living by competing with them in a business that is theirs by right of inheritance. I say that they will tell you these things because they have told them to me, and they are so intent upon their own purpose of driving American shipping from the seas, that they are careless who knows of their propaganda against it. The more intensely loyal they are to their mother country, the more they feel it their duty to discredit American shipping and American business generally. The same thought was in Mr. Root’s mind when, in 1906, he stated: “It is only reasonable to expect that European steamship lines shall be so managed as to promote European trade in South America, rather than to promote the trade of the United States in South America.” America, however, does not surrender readily anything which it has undertaken, and it is inconceivable that, at the very moment when we have discovered that our pros- perity rests on our foreign commerce, we should give up our most important trade vehicle. If the control of a large percentage of the world’s shipping means much to Great Britain and Germany, it should mean at least as much to us. The subsidiary benefits derived from thriv- ing shipbuilding plants, the utilization of all the materials 130 Paramount Foreign Interests that go into the construction of ships, the maintenance of naval architecture as a profession, and the employment of thousands of workmen, may constitute a significant item in our industrial life, especially in view of the recent action taken with regard to naval armaments. In 1913, according to the United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, “not a single American vessel arrived at Buenos Aires. In 1914 there were 6; in 1915, 73; in 1916, 140; and in 1917, 151.” In 1919, 335 American vessels carrying 822,609 tons arrived In Argen- tina. By the end of 1920, the total shipping in our Latin American trade amounted to about 39,000,000 tons, an in- crease of 52 per cent over the 1914 figure, and of 54!/2 per cent over the figures for 1919. Of these, 31,000,000 tons, or 79 per cent, were registered under the American flag. The record is hardly short of amazing. RAPID PROGRESS OF AMERICAN SHIPPING The advance made in American shipbuilding and the rapidity with which the American merchant marine is catching up with the British are evident from these figures : Tonnage 1914 1920 (June 30) Great Britain 19,799,119 20,582,652 United States 7,928,688 16,049,289 That some relation exists between the increase in our Latin American commerce from about $750,000,000 in 1914 to over $3,000,000,000 in 1920 and the increase in our shipping tonnage from 7,928,688 in 1914 to 16,049,289 in 1920 appears probable. The close relation between investments and commerce in foreign countries is universally admitted. Investments may be of various kinds, and may include what Miss L. E. Elliott calls ‘ ‘ investment in personality, ’ ’ or the domiciling of resident employees, administrative officials, and colonists. In this, and in the more usual forms of investment, con- sisting in the acquisition of foreign properties and in the Paramount Foreign Interests 131 participation in state and municipal loans and the purchase of various species of foreign securities, the activities of American businessmen and investors have lately under- gone a noticeable transformation. The charge that Amer- icans show no interest in the development of Latin America, though never strictly true, lacks to-day whatever force it once had. The principal factor in the change has been the entry of American banking houses in Latin American finance. AMERICAN BANKS IN LATIN AMERICA Less than ten years ago, American banks in Latin America were conspicuous by their absence, banks in the United States were chary of Latin American negotiations, and Latin American securities were not, with rare excep- tions, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. An Amer- ican, who was so fortunate as to obtain the concession for building the subway in Buenos Aires, was obliged to forego his privilege because of his utter inability to interest Amer- ican capital. Finally, [relates Dr. Aughinbaugh,] a German raised the money in Hamburg, and now everything about the line from electrical installation to the motorman and bis uniform is “Made in Ger- many.” Being the first and only underground in Latin America it was written about and talked of everywhere, and at all times the Germans got credit for the enterprise and were well adver- tised as efficient and wonderful engineers. An American investor, who asked the advice of a pro- fessor of economics about placing some of his money in bonds of the municipality of Sao Paulo, Brazil — one of the richest and most progressive cities of the Western Hemis- phere — was urgently counseled to abstain ‘because of the notorious instability of South American governments!’ With the advent of American banks in Latin America, such occurrences are bound to become rare. There are now in the neighborhood of 100 branches of American banks in Latin America. Of these, 42 controlled by the National City Bank of New York are located in the 132 Paramount Foreign Interests Caribbean region alone, a territory whose commerce 1 approximates $2,000,000,000 annually. Other branches have been established in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay. The Mercantile Bank of the Americas has 35 affiliated branches in Central and South America. The First National Bank of Boston, the Anglo and London Paris National Bank of San Francisco, and other impor- tant American financial institutions have at this moment direct banking connections with Latin America. In many instances, these banks have erected their own palatial buildings in the most expensive portions of the business dis- tricts of Latin American cities, the first National Bank of Boston having paid about two million pesos for the lots alone, at the corner of Florida and the Avenida Diagonal, Buenos Aires, on which to put up its Argentine head- quarters. With the banks have come investments : but it must not be supposed that American capital was previously entirely lacking. In the northern countries of Latin America, such as Mexico, Central America, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Amer- ican money has predominated for some time. Of the total national wealth of Mexico, amounting to about two and a half billion dollars in 1912, over one billion dollars came from American sources, and of the $700,000,000 of mining properties, $500,000,000 is American. The United Fruit Company has expended $200,000,000 in Central America and nearby regions. Enormous sums of American money are tied up in Mexican, Peruvian, and Colombian oil, in the copper and tin districts of Chile and Bolivia, in the nitrate oficinas of the Grace Nitrate Company and the Du Pont Nitrate Company, in Chile, in the asphalt deposits of Cuba and Venezuela, and in the sugar ingenios of the West Indies. More recently, American packers have bought large tracts of land and constructed model packing plants in Argen- tina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. The Armours, the Morrises, the Swifts, and the Wilsons, anticipating the part 1 Including that of Porto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the British, Dutch, and French West Indies. Paramount Foreign Interests 133 to be played by Latin American meats in feeding the world and the diminishing role of cattle-raising in the United States, have carried their activities over into southern South America, the Armours have built a $10,000,000 packing plant in Brazil, and another American firm has established a large plant at Cispata, Colombia. A detailed list of the American investment in private enterprises in Latin America would astonish the general public because of its vastness and the relative suddenness with which it has seized opportunities. The most immediate result of the establishment of Amer- ican banks in Latin America lies in the awakening of con- fidence in Latin American securities on the part of American financial institutions and individuals. Few foreign government securities, as a matter of fact, offer as much safety and profit as those of the more prominent Latin American republics, and only lack of knowledge has deterred earlier and larger investments. The European investor has not had qualms on this score, since the Latin American investment field appears no more hazardous to him than any other, his information being quite accurate and unbiased. Under the stimulus of American banks on the ground, Americans are certain to drop their provin- cial timidity. The banks have already done so. The International Banking Corporation of New York was not long ago appointed the depository of the funds of the Dominican Republic with the understanding that it should maintain up to 40 branches or agencies in the island. The Department of Cauca, Colombia, negotiated a loan of 1,000,000 pesos gold with the firm of Amsinck of New York. The Bolivian Government has contracted a loan of $10,- 000,000 with a New York investment house. The State of Santa Catharina, Brazil, has arranged a loan of $5,000,000 in the United States for the construction of railways and for public utilities. American bankers have loaned the Argentine Government $15,000,000 in 6 per cent gold notes, and the securities were sold out before four o’clock of the day on which they were put on the market. An issue of $7,500,000 for the Uruguayan Government, announced by 134 Paramount Foreign Interests the National City Company, has been practically all sold at the time of this writing, and it is reported that the National Administration of Posts and Telephones of Uruguay has just signed a provisional contract with a bankers’ syndicate, led by the Equitable Trust Company, for a loan of $9,000,000 to be used in the construction of an underground telephone system and to be expended in the United States for materials. An effort is now being made to interest American capital in governmental and municipal loans and in private enterprises for the develop- ment of the oil shale, sugar-beet, flax, timber, and wood- pulp industries in Chile. American financiers and investors, then, as is evident from the above partial data taken at random, are now becoming aware of the solid, legitimate opportunities in the south of Latin America as well as in the north, and have already made progress toward contributing to the internal develop- ment of the Latin American countries. As in commerce and in shipping, so also in banking and investments, a new situation has arisen. The hegemony of the British and German banks has been thrown open to debate, at least, and private initiative has been directed toward the advantages of pioneer profits in lands naturally rich and still highly undeveloped. Enough testimony has been presented to demonstrate that the commercial and industrial progress of Latin America has depended on the enterprise of the great non- Latin nations, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, and that these nations have been markedly success- ful in dealing with peoples of different stock, religion, social customs, and traditions. The methods of Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, while dissimilar in the beginning, have come to resemble one another in essentials, and may now be summed up as consisting of “service” to the Latin American countries and of cooperation be- tween the individuals and organizations of each of the foreign nations and the Latin American countries. The next step in the evolution of preponderating foreign influences in Latin America is likely to be even more Paramount Foreign Interests 135 curious than the steps already taken. Japan, another non- Latin nation, has definitely adopted the western commer- cial system, has a considerable standing on the West Coast of South America, is opening banks, investing capital, and increasing its shipping in Latin America, and in some of the republics has already surged ahead of Germany, France, and Italy. CHAPTER VI THE MONROE DOCTRINE In many respects the political relations of the Latin American republics with one another and with foreign countries are unique, or nearly so. Latin America has yet to pass through the evolutionary stages out of which modern political organization has developed. With a twentieth century mind and in twentieth century surround- ings, it must trace a course through seventeenth or early eighteenth century obstacles while a highly sophisticated modern world looks on and interjects its various and often conflicting influences. Its national policies, tariffs, armaments, and even, to some extent, its boundaries are in a state of flux. Its unenviable position is that of a section of the globe which has not “caught up” and never- theless feels an imperative need of “catching up” without delay. Moreover, its political evolution is not free. The main- tenance of the Monroe Doctrine by the United States for about one hundred years has deprived it of liberty of action. No matter what the merits of that Doctrine may be, nor how useful it may have been to Latin America in the past, nor how necessary an instrument to our own safety, the fact remains that it has made Latin American political relations one-sided. THE NORTH AMERICAN PERIL Spain closed the markets of Latin America for several centuries to foreign traders and created a pressure from within which opened gaps in the monopolistic wall and finally in the eighteenth century broke down the wall it- self. Clandestine trading or smuggling both by the colonists and by European merchantmen and privateers 136 The Monroe Doctrine 137 nullified the dog-in-the manger policy of Spain, which, of course, was after all nothing but the general commercial policy of all European governments at the time. Our jealous watchfulness over Latin America in a political way appears to be leading to like results. Accepted at first in the spirit in which it was enunciated, as a protec- tion to Latin America against European aggression, the Monroe Doctrine has become to-day in the Spanish- American republics a cordially disliked political pronounce- ment. Brazil alone views it with equanimity and friend- liness. To the rest of Latin America it is synonymous with “the North American peril” and is taken much more seriously than the overrated German or Japanese “peril.” So long as our statesmen were able to reassure Latin America as to the essential benevolence of the Monroe Doctrine it was possible for the United States to allay the suspicions of overheated imaginations and to emphasize the real advantages which have accrued to Latin America through our firmness in upholding the principles of the Declaration of 1823. It has even been possible for them to interpret charitably and in the spirit of international comity the positive statements of Secretary Olney, during Cleveland’s administration, and of President Roosevelt. But the growing number of American publicists who, like Professor Hiram Bingham in The Monroe Doctrine an Obsolete Shibboleth, strongly doubt the present appli- cability of President Monroe’s enunciation, and the appear- ance of books, chapters of books, or articles partaking of the ideas presented by Professor Archibald C. Coolidge, the director of the Harvard University Library, in The United States as a World Power, have confirmed Latin American leaders in their belief in the malevolent tenden- cies of the Monroe Doctrine. Neglecting the plain fact that the skepticism about the Monroe Doctrine in the United States is as legitimate and representative a public opinion as its opposite, and per- haps a more sincere one because held only by thoughtful persons without political or financial interests, Latin Amer- 138 The Monroe Doctrine ican writers are prone to seize on self-evident statements like the following, uttered in the tone of dispassionate historical inquiry, and to draw the sort of conclusions pre- valent during the European War in discussions of von Treitschke ’s and Bernhardi ’s imperialistic works : When two contiguous States [quotes Senor F. Garcia Cal- deron from The United States as a World Power , by Professor Coolidge] are separated by a long line of frontiers and one of the two rapidly increases, full of youth and vigour, while the other possesses, together with a small population, rich and de- sirable territories, and is troubled by continual revolutions which exhaust and weaken it, the first will inevitably encroach upon the second, just as water will always seek to regain its own level. LATIN AMERICAN NOTION OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE Naturally, a patriotic Latin American, reading these lines, is filled with fear and foreboding, and treats Senor Calderon’s deduction that “The Monroe Doctrine has undergone an essential transformation ; it has passed successively from the defensive to intervention and thence to the offensive” as an irrefragable logical sequence. The intention of President Wilson to expand the Monroe Doc- trine to a Pan American Doctrine in which Latin America should have equal privileges and an equal responsibility with the United States is regarded as the well-meaning but futile attempt of a large-minded American statesman to counteract, like King Canute, an irresistible current. The action of the United States in the recent Panama- Costa Rica controversy and President Harding’s reaffirma- tion of the Monroe Doctrine are taken as far more typical of our true attitude toward Latin America. To either a disinterested or an interested foreign observer the imperialistic indictment brought against the United States may, indeed, seem formidable. The charges of inter- vention, seizure, and military and economic pressure made by Senor Blanco-Fombona in his introduction to Sarmiento’s Facundo can be augmented materially. Several presidents of the United States have advocated the annexation of Cuba and Santo Domingo; Porto Rico The Monroe Doctrine 139 is now our “possession”; we have acquired the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean for which we bid a score of years ago ; we have fortified the Panama Canal ; we as genuinely control Mexico and Central America from a political stand- point as if we exercised a de facto protectorate over those countries; as a result of the affair of the I tat a, followed by an attack on sailors of the American cruiser Baltimore at Valparaiso, an ultimatum was sent to Chile from Wash- ington ; because of American intervention Argentina feels that it lost the Falkland Islands to Great Britain; our watchfulness over Latin America appears to have increased rather than to have diminished during the first year of President Harding’s administration, and the dispatching of General Crowder to Cuba, Secretary Hughes’ note in the Panama-Costa Rica broil, our firm resolve not to recognize General Obregon’s government in Mexico until guarantees are given, and our expressions of disapproval concerning the proposed revival of Brazilian valorization of coffee seem to Latin Americans to hark back to the era of the “big stick”; and the rapid and extraordinary de- velopment of American trusts in Latin America — the meat trust, the copper and tin trust, the petroleum trust, the bank trust — is convincing proof to many Latin Americans that what we do not take by forcible annexation we are sure to absorb by peaceful penetration. The Yankee “peril,” then, looms up again on the Latin American horizon, and Professor Coolidge’s thought, in- sisted on rather noticeably throughout the volume above mentioned, which was based on his lectures at the Sor- bonne in 1906-7 and printed in 1908, once more represents the Latin American conception of the real attitude of the United States and the philosophy, often blandly masked, behind it : History shows that the close association of weak states and strong ones may be dangerous, sooner or later, to the independ- ence of the former. At the present moment, the United States, as regards strength, is in somewhat the same position as was Prussia toward the other members of the German Zollverein, that is to say, it has a larger population, greater actual wealth, more available resources, — in a word, is stronger in almost every re- 140 The Monroe Doctrine spect, not only than any one of the Latin American republics, but than all of them put together. Such a disproportion is for- midable to the weaker states, and though with the growth of Argentina and Brazil it will diminish before long, the day when any likely combination of the Latin republics will be the equal of the Anglo-Saxon one is still far ahead. We must admit, too, that the history of the growth of the United States is not entirely reassuring to the Latin Americans ; in particular the story of the Mexican War will always frighten them. The latest evidence of our jealous adherence to the Monroe Doctrine was given when the United States refused to permit the League of Nations to arbitrate in the Panama- Costa Rica boundary dispute, though both the contestants were willing to submit their contentions to that body and a previous settlement of tfie difficulty had been made in 1900 outside of the United States, by President Loubet of France. CONTRADICTORY APPLICATIONS OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE Because of its practical inconsistencies, the Monroe Doctrine, or rather, its application at different periods in our history, has come to be a Protean international principle. By virtue of our ability and desire to enforce it, we refuse to allow Panama and Costa Rica to have recourse to the arbitral services of the League of Nations: yet, in spite of our declared opposition, we have not in the past objected to the selection of the Czar of Russia as the arbitrator in the boundary differences of Brazil and French Guiana. We cannot even consider the existence or extension of European dependencies on the Western Hemisphere beyond those held before the enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine, nor the transfer of any portion of Latin America from one European power to another, as Henry Clay made clear in 1825 in declaring that the United States would not permit Spain to transfer Cuba and Porto Rico to any other European governments: yet, in 1878 Sweden made over to France the island of St. Barthelemy without protest from the United States. We admit, nay rather, insist on the rights of nations and particularly on the right of self-determination, yet constantly interfere with The Monroe Doctrine 141 the national aspirations of the Latin American nations near us and far from us. We stand for the open door in China in a commercial sense, yet shut the door tight on Latin America in a political sense, denying the privilege of foreign alliances to the Latin American republics. We foster Pan Americanism by special bureaus, conferences, and the interchange of teachers and students, yet oppose anything like bona fide Pan Americanism by arousing dis- trust through concrete acts. We yearn for the trade of Argentina, yet contemplate placing heavy duties on Argen- tine wheat and beef and feel that Argentina is not playing the game properly when she threatens to retaliate by im- posing heavy duty restrictions on our exports to her markets. Fundamentally, of course, the Monroe Doctrine is an expression of political opportunism in its barest terms. It is not a part of international law, though it commands the respect of nations. It was conceived in a broad spirit and has often been applied in a narrow spirit. It is sus- ceptible of infinite manipulation, and may be advanced at one time as a measure of protection to struggling nations and at another time as a measure of self-protec- tion. It has forced upon us the duties of guardian and policeman, though in all probability those duties would have thrust themselves upon us, Monroe Doctrine or no. It has been extended far beyond its natural limits and far beyond its natural time. To revoke it is almost an impossibility and would very likely prove useless, for it is not President Monroe’s declaration which to-day constitutes the real Monroe Doctrine, but the posture of events and the conditions of a modem world. The political supervision which we exercise in our part of the world differs neither in kind nor in degree from the supervision of Oriental affairs by Great Britain, Japan, and the United States. Without the Monroe Doc- trine, our attitude toward Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and the other Caribbean countries would be exactly what it is at the present time. The Monroe Doctrine is, in fact, nothing more to-day than an antiquated term for a more 142 The Monroe Doctrine modern situation than its creator had in mind. From the linguistic point of view, it is an obsolete expression, like “horseless carriage,” or “erstwhile,” or “ preterlapsed, ” or “nephalism.” All discussion, then, as to the right or wrong of the Monroe Doctrine, is aimless. The only valid question is whether or not the United States is assuming too much in its contemporary Latin American policy or policies: “policies,” perhaps, rather than “policy,” because our actions do not flow from a single, immutable standard — a fact which sometimes bewilders foreigners, but is unavoidable in such a complex, vital, and ever-changing field as political and social relations. For the sake of simplicity, however, the term “Latin American policy” may here be substituted for “Monroe Doctrine” in order to obviate the prejudiced connotation which surrounds the latter phrase. JUSTIFIABLE POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES TOWARD THE CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES Our Latin American policy with respect to the Carib- bean countries can be defended from both the political and the economic standpoints. A turbulent Mexico, Cuba, Central America, Venezuela, or Colombia touches our in- terests too closely to be viewed with passive scientific curiosity. Marauding and filibustering committed at our doors may have the same effect as if committed within our doors; for a perfectly self-contained nuisance is as rare in private or public life as an absolute void. Through long dealings we have built up a mutually beneficial com- merce which is far more important to the Caribbean countries than their commerce with any other nation, and is of much more value to us than the general public imagines. The Panama Canal route gives us the same interests along the Caribbean that Great Britain has in the vicinity of the Suez Canal. Internal disturbances in the Caribbean republics are infallibly translated into ex- ternal disturbances, and therefore affect us intimately and immediately. American capital is dominant within The Monroe Doctrine 143 the Caribbean area and, as the most significant factor in stimulating material progress, wields a decisive economic and political influence. In 1911, for example, Nicaragua found itself in sad straits because American bankers with- drew their help in the way of loans as a result of the rejection by the United States Senate of the treaties negotiated by Senator Knox; and the unsettled political conditions led to intervention by force of arms to pro- tect American property and lives. Thus far, at any rate, our Latin American policy in the Caribbean countries, though never entirely satisfac- tory to those republics or to ourselves, has been more than ordinarily forbearing and just. It is useless to deny that financial and commercial considerations, as well as the feeling of preponderance, have in the majority of cases determined particular action on the part of the United States. Those are the motives which mold politics everywhere, and are not peculiar to the relations of the United States with Latin America. But the United States has not deprived any Latin American country of its independence, its self-government, its language, its religion, or its opportunities for self-development. It has not established preferential tariffs along the Caribbean nor secured any trade monopoly. Whatever success American business-men have obtained has been won in a fair field against their competitors, their only advan- tages being proximity and the ability to play upon local sentiment in Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia and upon the favors of the home administration through such power as their wealth or their personal position bestows upon them — advantages coveted by their competitors and used by them to the full, if they have them, whenever and wherever possible. In general, too, material and social advancement has attended the establishment of American business men have obtained has been won in improvement in business methods, transportation, sanita- tion, and education. The legend of the American business ogre in Latin America is a pure figment invented by local and foreign competitors and politicians. 144 The Monroe Doctrine The tradition of American greed for Caribbean terri- tory and of the systematic pursuit of a policy of absorp- tion, though apparently less imaginary than other super- stitions infecting the minds of Latin Americans, loses much of its air of solidity and implacability if confronted with the facts. There has been no “master mind” behind our Carib- bean policy. Republican and democratic presidents, par- ties, and Secretaries of State have differed in their attitude toward Latin America and have expressed their varying opinions both verbally and in deeds. Under one administration, American citizenship was withheld from Porto Rico ; under another, it was granted : one administration refused to compensate Colombia for the loss of Panama ; another ordered the payment of the $25,000,000 involved : under one and the same administra- tion, one de facto government of Mexico, that of Huerta, was refused recognition and was flatly informed that it would never be recognized, and another government, that of Carranza, was recognized a few months after Carranza had taken the reins into his own hands, though his efforts at protecting the lives and property of Americans seemed only lukewarm : under President Roosevelt and President Taft, the revolutionists of Cuba and Nicaragua came into power partly as the result of the attitude of our executives ; under President Wilson, the revolutionary factions which had overturned the existing governments in Cuba and Costa Rica in 1917 were given scant courtesy. The purpose may have been the same in all these cases, namely, the maintenance of peace and the protection of American interests, but the methods were different, the results were different, and none of the Latin American republics was placed in jeopardy of its independent existence. president roosevelt’s interpretation of the monroe DOCTRINE Seventeen years have passed since President Roosevelt, in his annual message of 1904, when about to arrange The Monroe Doctrine 145 for the taking over of the custom-houses of the Dominican Republic, expressed his interpretation of the policy of the United States in unmistakable language : Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrong- doing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ulti- mately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exer- cise of an international police power. Clearly, the two propositions contained in this declara- tion are part and parcel of our Latin American policy, but only the second, relating to the possibility of foreign intervention, can be said to have any connection with the Monroe Doctrine. The first concerns itself in truth only with the neigh- borly character of the Latin American republics and with the desire of the United States to be free from the annoyances which unruly neighbors may cause. The transition from the express tenets of the Monroe Doctrine to that broader line of conduct which we may term the Latin American policy of the United States had, of course, been in operation and thoroughly understood long before, but President Roosevelt by his words made it evident that the transition period had terminated and that the Latin American policy had supplanted definitively the purely European phase outlined in President Monroe’s message. In the interval which has elapsed since President Roosevelt’s administration, his amendment to the Monroe Doctrine to the effect that the United States must “exer- cise an international police power” over nations which do not show reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters has been the norm of succeeding administrations, even to the inclusion of the sentiment 146 The Monroe Doctrine that “Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship.” It is the Roosevelt amendment which arouses the fear and the hostility of the Latin American countries, and not now the Monroe Doctrine as such. The extent to which action under the revised Latin American policy may, in the minds of Latin American political thinkers, be carried, is indicated by Dr. Raul de Cardenas, who though a Cuban, nevertheless appears to regard the Platt amendment as a guarantee of the independence of Cuba : What reason exists, it will be asked, for the interventionist policy of the United States to extend to the republics of Cuba, Haiti, Santo Domingo, Panama and Nicaragua alone, and not to all those of Central America? The reason is obvious: the cases in which the United States has exercised a protectorate and su- pervision have not arisen systematically. They have been estab- lished as the interests of that nation have called for them. In the case of the islands of Cuba and Santo Domingo, the North American government was affected by their position, inasmuch as they are situated off the southern coast of the United States, and by their dominating, besides, the routes that lead to the canal; and, in respect of Panama and Nicaragua, the need to command and control interoceanic communication was what led to the assumption of supervision over these countries. The day in which any interest, be it what it may, shall counsel the United States to subject to her control the other Central American re- publics, there is no doubt that she will take steps to that end. To this idea the Caribbean republics will undoubtedly accommodate themselves in the course of time, however trying to truly patriotic souls the position may be. It is one of those unfortunate impasses in which small nations often find themselves everywhere in the world and at every period of the world’s history. But there is nothing to suggest that it means a loss of independence or of local autonomy. The United States has demon- strated by her repeated withdrawals from Cuba, her with- drawal from Santo Domingo, her abstention from aggres- sion in Mexico, her reparations to Colombia, her attitude of non-interference with the Central American Union, and her entire neglect of opportunities for offensive action in the Caribbean region during the European War and The Monroe Doctrine 147 immediately after it, when her army and navy were mobilized and Europe was too much occupied with its own troubles to offer effective objection, that she has not been seeking territorial nor even commercial advan- tages, but only that political oversight which all great industrial nations deem it necessary to wield in the inter- ests of their expanding commerce and investments and of international trade in general. THE MONROE DOCTRINE AND THE TRANS-CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES To the republics south of the Caribbean territory the supervisory Latin American policy of the United States cannot apply in any real fashion, and the Monroe Doc- trine applies only in so far as we cannot view, according to President Monroe’s words, “any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.” The “future colonization by any European powers,” mentioned in the Monroe Doctrine, is not to be feared in the sense in which it was feared in 1823. Colonization now is synonymous with immigration. Governments do not to-day send colonizing expeditions to foreign lands, with the intention of placing such colonies under home rule. Individuals and groups of individuals settle in foreign countries and at once render themselves amenable to the laws, customs, and usages of those countries. As in the United States, Germans, Italians, Spaniards become denationalized shortly after their arrival in Latin America, learn the language of their adopted country, and if they do not, see to it that their children do, and are soon almost indistinguishable from the mass of the population. This is particularly true of the Spaniards and Italians; and to think of the millions of Spaniards or Italians in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile as in any way colonies or dependencies of Spain or Italy is about as close to the actual fact as would be that view 148 The Monroe Doctrine of our American Italians or Spaniards who have come to stay. The German colonies of Latin America, which number hundreds of thousands of persons, appear exceptional in this respect for they have in many instances kept their own language and customs and seem to resist assimi- lation. Because of this condition the German govern- ment relied on very substantial assistance from Brazilian Germans in particular, and may even have had dreams of annexing the former vast empire of the Portuguese, or at least, of dominating it politically. The event proved how vain it is for European governments to reckon on more than a sentimental relationship with their transat- lantic offshoots en masse, even though they may secure some help and depend on individuals for propaganda. Brazil, the great hope in Latin America of the Pan Germanists, was one of the two Latin American republics which took an active part in the war, and that, like Cuba, against Germany. It seized the forty-two German vessels interned in Brazilian waters, declared war against Ger- many by the unanimous vote of its Senate and by a vote of 149 to 1 in its Chamber of Deputies — in both of which bodies there were delegates of German extraction — sent two cruisers and four destroyers to cooperate with the British navy, and was represented at the front by aviators, physicians, and Red Cross units. Here, as throughout Latin America and in the United States, whenever a critical division occurs between national feeling and the feeling of foreign elements bound by tradi- tional ties to the Fatherland, there are no two choices. Never, in fact, in the history of Latin America has any republic consented to foreign rule or to foreign rulers. The eviction of the English from Buenos Aires and the execution of Maximilian of Hapsburg in Mexico eloquently attest the vitality of the national spirit. Nor has any foreign government ever yet been able to establish in the Latin American republics a number of settlers sufficient to submerge the national population. The two million or more Italians of Argentina have easily been swallowed The Monroe Doctrine 149 up by the existing population in whatever locality they have settled, partly because they entered the country dur- ing a long course of years, and not all at once, and partly because they soon became Argentinians themselves. Pro- fessor Coolidge’s prediction with regard to the Germans of Brazil, made in 1908, has been borne out to the letter, in spite of the conditions precipitated by the European War: If matters go on quietly, as they are doing at present, it ap- pears probable that, in spite of the influence of consuls and merchants, of teachers and preachers and patriotic literature from the Fatherland, sooner or later here too the Germans will end by being lost in the surrounding population. If Latin America is unalterably opposed to foreign rule, whether it be European or North American, and if the possibility of foreign colonization in the old meaning is practically nil, why the unending discussion of the Monroe Doctrine with regard to Latin America as a whole, and why the treatment of it as an imminent danger and a loathsome fetter by Argentinians, Chileans, Bolivians, Peruvians ? In order to comprehend the real attitude of the non- Caribbean South American republics toward the Monroe Doctrine or toward what has been denominated in this chapter the Latin American policy of the United States, it is necessary to distinguish between public feeling and the feeling of trained thinkers or political experts. Public feeling, as represented by the “man on the street,” the press, demagogues, and mobs is likely, as in all countries, to be highly sensitive, ultra nationalistic, and unconcerned with the inner philosophy of isolated facts or happenings, though it should be said to the credit of the highest type of Latin American journalism, such as is displayed in La Prensa and La Nacion of Argentina, El Mer curio of Chile, and O Jornal do Commercio of Brazil, that it is far superior to this description and not below the sound, well-reasoned, and self-controlled jour- nalism of the United States, England, or France. To the general public of Latin America, the Latin Amer- 150 The Monroe Doctrine ican policy of the United States seems arrogant, inter- meddling, oppressive, and insulting, and to this public are addressed the oratorical fireworks of professional poli- ticians and sensational newspapers. Intellectually, this section of society is of minor importance, but, since its cumulative power is so great and since its sentiments are most quickly and spontaneously converted into action, its verdicts can never be overlooked, no matter how extrava- gant they may be. Usually, too, by some process which requires psychological analysis, its intuitions are sane, especially in matters that affect national integrity. Most of the protests which we hear with regard to our Latin American policy emanate from the general Latin American public : and who shall say that its views are less wise than those of the general public of the United States, which often “demands” things on sentimental rather than on national grounds? On the other hand, to the intellectual elite of Latin America, our Latin American policy appears to contain much that is good and noble as well as much that is bad and selfish. Dr. Alejandro Alvarez of Chile, docteur en droit de la Faculte de Paris, counselor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, a member of the Hague Court of Arbitration, and the author of one of the most brilliant and erudite volumes on international law entitled Le Droit International Americain (Paris, 1910) may be selected as the spokesman for the educated opinion of Latin America respecting the Latin American policy of the United States. According to Dr. Alvarez, the Monroe Doctrine repre- sents the will and the interests of the entire Western Hemisphere, and not merely of the United States. By a combination of circumstances, it fell to the lot of the United States to enunciate its principles, but those princi- ples would sooner or later have been declared in some other part of the American continents if the United States had not taken the lead. The Monroe Doctrine 151 THE MONROE DOCTRINE IN REALITY A PAN AMERICAN DOCTRINE All the American republics are in accord as to the neces- sity of maintaining the essential articles of the Monroe Doctrine, and “although the United States has thus far been its sole defender, there could now be found Latin American States powerful enough to maintain it if the United States should refuse to do so.” The Monroe Doc- trine is, then, not simply a North American doctrine: it is, in so far as President Monroe’s declaration is concerned, an all-American pronouncement, and the Three Americas would vigorously protest any violation of its precepts. Nothing could be more logical than Dr. Alvarez’s state- ment of the cordial acceptance by Latin America of Presi- dent Monroe’s basic principles. Whatever misunderstand- ing has existed has been due to our belief that some of the Latin American republics would not have been above selling themselves to European powers, or would not have been intelligent enough to withstand the blandishments or the machinations of foreign governments. Cases in point are the offer of the crown of Mexico to Maximilian by a deputation of Mexicans in 1863, and the occasional reports that Mexico and one or two other republics seemed willing to relinquish extensive public rights to Japanese companies which had the support of the Japanese Gov- ernment. The entire history of Latin America, nevertheless, dis- proves that the countries as a whole were in sympathy with the treachery of a few of their leaders ; and the vengeance which the Mexican people took on Maximilian and his adherents may well have served as a warning to other ambitious or misguided European princes. Latin America has had a few Benedict Arnolds, but they have never escaped punishment from an incensed people as strongly intrenched in love of country as any nation of the world. The surest road to popularity in Latin America has been the course taken by Francia, Artigas, Rosas, Castro, Carranza, who defied foreign encroachment and consoli- 152 Tlie Monroe Doctrine dated public sentiment by the mere fact that they stood forth as champions of the national dignity. With the original Monroe Doctrine per se, Latin Amer- icans of the stamp of Dr. Alvarez have no quarrel. Their criticism is directed almost exclusively against the con- ceptions of imperialism and hegemony which have grown out of the exercise of the Monroe Doctrine and of the increase in population, wealth, and power of the United States. The imperialistic aims of the United States have noth- ing to do with the Monroe Doctrine. They are a conse- quence of the historical and economic development of the country, and gave visible signs of their presence long be- fore the Spanish- American War of 1898. The annexation of Texas in 1845, the attitude of Presi- dent Polk with regard to the boundaries of Oregon in 1845 and the project for the annexation of Yucatan in 1848, President Buchanan’s plan for the annexation of the northern part of Mexico, President Grant’s project for the annexation of Santo Domingo in 1870 are all evi- dence of the imperialistic policy of the United States, and bear no relation to the principles of the Monroe Doctrine, though these principles were invoked as a justification in each case. It is necessary [observes Dr. Alvarez,] to call attention to the fact that the United States has often exercised its imperialistic policy by means of armed force. From 1836 to 1861, it thus intervened twenty-five different times, not only in America, hut also in Asia, notably in China and Japan. These interventions were sometimes motivated by the desire for territorial expansion, and sometimes by the desire for commercial development. They were so numerous, particularly between 1850 and 1860, that it was possible to say then that they constituted the ordinary course of action of American diplomacy. These military expeditions pre- sent also the peculiarity of having taken place without a declara- tion of war, except those between 1775 and 1779 and between 1803 and 1804, and except the war against England from 1812 to 1814, the war against Mexico in 1846, and the war against Spain in 1898. That this imperialistic tendency might give rise to fears on the part of the non-Caribbean territories of Latin The Monroe Doctrine 153 America is a natural assumption. Nevertheless, intelligent observers in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil entertain no such fears for their own countries. They are fully convinced that too great a distance separates them from the United States, that the immediate political interests of the United States touch them only slightly — an idea implicitly corroborated by Professor John H. Latane’s The United States and Latin America, which has surprisingly little to say about the political relations between the United States and the non-Caribbean territory of Latin America — that they are too well established for the United States to be able to allege the necessity of applying to them the Monroe Doctrine in its various ramifications, and that too many and too large European factors are interwoven in their economic and social fabric to permit the United States to attempt to rend it. What they do protest against is the insistence of the United States in extending its hegemonic aspirations south of the Caribbean region. Its purpose in doing so is undoubtedly a laudable one in many respects. Certain weak republics, relying on the protection given them by the true Monroe Doctrine, may wish to relax their inter- national obligations, and feel that they can conduct them- selves with impunity toward their creditors unless there is some power above them to coerce them into keeping their contracts inviolate. One republic may desire to cross the boundary of its neighbor with armed forces. Chile and Peru, because of their outstanding dispute over the possession of Tacna and Arica, may endanger the peace of the entire continent of South America and even of all Latin America if permitted to have their own way. “Who,” the United States inquires, in effect, “is going to protect the still impotent Latin American republics against themselves, one another, and foreign nations if not the United States, which has been their traditional friend and is strong enough to bring antagonists to terms? The vast territories of Latin America have incited attack from abroad on several occasions. The possible consequences of recourse to armed intervention with the object of collect- 154 The Monroe Doctrine ing public debts have already led to the formulation of the Drago Doctrine by Dr. Drago of Argentina, and the risks attendant on civil wars in Latin America have given rise to the Tobar Doctrine, formulated by Dr. Tobar of Ecuador, which seeks to bind the Latin American republics against recognizing any government originating in a revo- lution. Who is to see to it that European arbitrators, whom Latin American republics prefer to choose, do not use to their own advantage the powers conferred upon them ? Who, if not the United States, can prevent revolu- tionary parties, absorbed in their desire to overthrow the existing government, from surrendering vital rights to predatory foreign interests or nations in Europe or Asia? Has not the United States been obliged at times to investi- gate the terms under which certain concessions have been made to foreign companies, such as the recent arrangement between the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of London and Peru — whereby that concern was granted the privilege of operating the wireless, postal, and telegraphic services of the republic for a period of twenty-five years — in order that a monopoly prejudicial to international trade and comity might not be established?” THE TRANS-CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES ABLE TO SOLVE THEIR OWN POLITICAL PROBLEMS The answer of the republics of the non-Caribbean region of Latin America is simple. They must guard their in- terests to the same extent that the United States wishes to guard its own interests. They do not relish any tutelage imposed upon them without their consent. They have not stood still while the rest of the world has moved forward. They are free agents, and entitled to take any political, social, or economic measures which they deem suitable. There is no such connection between them and the United States as there is between the Caribbean republics and the United States. They have developed their institutions independently of any suggestion from the United States, and have maintained dignified relations with the rest of the world through their own foresight and power of adap- The Monroe Doctrine 155 tation. Among themselves, as nations, they have preserved the peace in a way that puts European international rela- tions to shame, for in the hundred years since their inde- pendence, they have fought only two international wars, namely, the war of Paraguay against Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina (1865—1870) and the war of Chile against Bolivia and Peru (1879-1884). They have in most cases settled their own troubles. They have found the solution for most of their difficulties with one another through the medium of arbitration, and have actually abided by the decisions rendered by ai’bitral bodies. The boundary liti- gation between Colombia and Costa Rica was terminated by the arbitral decision of the French Republic in 1900 : President Cleveland’s decision in 1895 regarding contested points between Argentina and Brazil relative to the Terri- tory of Misiones, favorable to Brazil, was accepted by both sides : the conflict between Argentina and Chile con- cerning the frontier between the two countries was brought to an end by the decision of His Britannic Majesty in 1902: the contested Puna region of Atacama, which aroused great feeling between Chile and Argentina, was awarded almost in its entirety to Argentina by a commis- sion composed of a Chilean representative, an Argentine representative, and the United States minister to Argentina. Differences not compounded by arbitration have been settled by voluntary agreements among the Latin American republics themselves. Thus, Bolivia and Brazil in 1903 concluded the Treaty of Petropolis by which the Territory of Acre, which had been leased to the Bolivian Syndicate, a United States corporation, was ceded to Brazil on the payment of two million pounds sterling to Bolivia, with the understanding that this sum should be expended in the construction of means of transportation and communi- cation between the two countries. Similarly, the pact of 1902 between Argentina and Chile on the limitation of naval armaments was voluntarily entered into, and termi- nated a disastrous rivalry — and that momentous pact, anticipating by a score of years the world conference on 156 The Monroe Doctrine the limitation of naval armaments (1921) at Washington, cannot fail to raise the two republics in question in foreign public esteem as far-sighted nations capable of pointing the way to international improvement to other larger nations usually considered so superior in political sagacity. Reviewing the Monroe Doctrine or the Latin American policy of the United States in its triple aspect of protec- tion, imperialism, and hegemony from any just angle it is difficult, indeed, to see where, in its relation to the non-Caribbean countries of Latin America, it has a leg to stand upon. It is not necessary to the comfort or well-being of the United States, it is not now necessary as a “hand held up in warning,” in President Wilson’s words, to European powers, and it is not necessary to the peace and progress of trans-Caribbean Latin America. Even from the point of view of the exercise of hegemony, it represents a needless assumption and is inimical to true Pan Americanism. The only satisfactory hegemony must come from within Latin America itself, and the principal factor in such hegemony already exists in the A.B.C. alliance (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile) of South America. These three nations [Senor F. Garcia Calderon reminds us], wealthy, military powers, situated in distinct zones, are seeking confederation ; their ambition is to exercise in America a tutelage which they consider indispensable. — The statesmen of Buenos- Ayres, Rio de Janeiro, and Santiago are labouring to effect the realisation of an alliance between the three most highly civilised and organised and most advanced nations of the continent. Once this union is accomplished, to the indisputable influence of the United States will be added the moderative influence of the three great States of the South, and the equilibrium between Latins and Anglo-Saxons would be its immediate result. The future will undoubtedly witness the growth of the A.B.C. alliance as the spokesman for Latin America and an increased tendency on the part of Latin American countries to seek its good offices rather than to have re- course to European governments or to the government of the United States. The Monroe Doctrine 157 I BROADENING OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE The political wisdom manifested in 1914 in the accep- tance by the United States of the cooperation of the A.B.C. powers for the solution of the Mexican conflict between Victoriano Huerta and the United States cannot but merit the approval of all true friends of Latin America and inspires the hope that a significant precedent has been set for the treatment of Latin American problems affect- ing the United States. Such cooperation should at least be invoked in those questions arising south of the Carib- bean region in which we may be vitally interested. Many a public measure adopted to meet a special situa- tion at a particular moment has been retained long after it has outlived its usefulness, principally because no way has been discovered of dropping it in graceful and unosten- tatious fashion. The Monroe Doctrine is particularly hard to drop in this manner on account of its age, the world- wide comment which it has aroused for nearly a hundred years, and the tenacious belief of many sincere Americans in its efficacy. Even those who, like Professor Bingham, are most desirous of seeing it done away with would have difficulty in suggesting a neat and swift method for apply- ing the coup de grace. Nonetheless, it is possible to mitigate the real evils caused us in Latin America nearly every four years at least, and Professor Bingham has indicated, in an address entitled “Should We Abandon the Monroe Doctrine?” and de- livered at Clark University in 1913, the most simple immediate steps to be taken : Finally, let us stop using the words “Monroe Doctrine.” It would be well if a formal resolution of Congress could be passed, but since Congress has never formally approved of the Monroe Doctrine in so many words, it is probable that it would be suffi- cient if our great parties in their next platforms should avoid the repetition of those phrases supporting the doctrine which have been customary for so many years. CHAPTER VII INTERNATIONAL RAPPROCHEMENT The logical alternative to the hegemony of the United States is a broad Pan Americanism which shall allow full play to the Latin and the Anglo-Saxon civilizations in the New World and at the same time draw them together through the bonds of social, economic, and intellectual interests. Much has been accomplished in that direction through many agencies, among which may be noted the following: the visits of Secretaries of State Root, Knox, and Colby to Latin America; President Roosevelt’s expedition to Brazil; the interchange of professors between Chile and Brazil and the United States; the numerous congresses held in Washington, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires; the labors of the Pan American Union; the publication of numerous periodicals in this country presenting the Latin American republics in a favorable light; the appearance of excellent studies of Latin American literature; the Spanish edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association; the special page devoted to Latin America in several of our newspapers ; the visits of Latin American statesmen and editors to our cities ; our arbitration treaties with practically all the Latin American countries; the groups of Latin American students attending our schools and universities; the unveiling of the statue of Bolivar in Central Park, New York, of the statue of Washington in Caracas, Venezuela, and of the portrait of Washington in Buenos Aires; the presentation of the portrait of the Liberator by the Venezuelan Government to the town of Bolivar, Missouri; the establishment of courses in Latin American history, literature, and current affairs in our universities; and the efforts of scores of individuals and 158 International Rapprochement 159 associations desirous of bringing about a real rapproche- ment between the United States and Latin America. Most of these advances, as is apparent, have come from the United States: and many European observers have drawn the conclusion that they but thinly veil aggressive political and commercial aims. However, leaving aside the ultimate purpose of Pan Americanism from our standpoint, it is only just that we should take + he first steps and the greater number of steps toward some sort of friendly association. For one thing, we have the Monroe Doctrine and its unfavorable interpretation and our supervision of several Latin American countries to live down, and for another, common courtesy demands that we should go more than half-way in endeavors toward closer friendship with still undeveloped, but proud republics. The chief obstacles which stand in the way of Pan Amer- icanism are not, as most writers have sought to make out, the divergence in temperament and traditions between the Latin American peoples and the people of the United States, nor the considerable distance between the United States and the southern half of the neighboring continent, nor the difference in culture. None of these causes has pre- vented a high degree of comity between England and Japan or between the United States and France. The real obstacles are suspicion of our motives on the part of Latin America, political sabotage by European officials, writers, newspapers, and commercial interests, and indifference among all but a limited group of Americans. The first of these causes has been dealt with in the pre- ceding chapter and needs no further discussion here. FOREIGN ANTAGONISM TO PAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP OF THE UNITED STATES By the second is meant the whole paraphernalia of jealousies, conflicting interests, and public and private fear of the loss of prestige or profit now enjoyed. It is inevi- table that our progress in Latin America should put the influential European countries on the defensive and that they should try, by all the devices that are fair in either 160 International Rapprochement love or war, to belittle the attentions and distort the in- tentions of the United States toward Latin America. The tactics may not be open and above-board — such tactics in such cases usually are not — but they operate none the less persistently. Already in 1826, on the occasion of the earliest Pan American conference of all, initiated by Bolivar, the British Foreign Secretary, George Canning, whose boast it was that he “called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old,” declared, as Professor Latane shows, in private instructions to the special British envoy who was to place himself in com- munication with the delegates to the Panama Congress, that Any project for putting the U. S. of North America at the head of an American Confederacy, as against Europe, would be highly displeasing to your Government. It would be felt as an ill return for the service which has been rendered to those States, and the dangers which have been averted from them, by the countenance and friendship, and public declarations of Great Britain; and it would probably, at no distant period, endanger the peace both of America and of Europe. The third reason, which seems to contradict the state- ment at the beginning of this chapter of the multifarious means taken in the United States to bring about Pan Americanism, requires some explanation. Much has, indeed, been done in the United States during the past few years to strengthen the bonds of friendly in- terest with Latin America, but it has been done mainly through government patronage, through the universities, through small bodies of social and scientific students, and through some of the Women’s Clubs. The larger public still knows very little about Latin America. It will con- tinue to know little until Latin America is put in the public schools, until the social treatment accorded Amer- ican students in foreign countries is accorded Latin American students in our country, until eminent Latin American men and women and noteworthy Latin American works are recognized and appreciated here, until our news- papers devote as much attention to Latin American affairs International Rapprochement 161 as to European or Asiatic affairs and have as good a Latin American cable service as their present European or Japa- nese service, and until the Spanish or Portuguese taught with higher aims than the purely commonplace one of in our schools with reference to Latin America is taught enabling our young men to sell goods to Latin America or to carry on Latin American commercial correspondence. ‘ ‘ Does such a programme seem exacting or extravagant ? ’ ’ the Latin American may ask. “If it does, then the situa- tion is as we have thought it. You are not really anxious to know us, or to be on close terms with us, or to be able to appreciate us. You are really not interested in us, but only in those things belonging to us which you can use to your own advantage.” Judged impartially, this retort would seem the only logical answer to our protestations of friendship backed by nothing stronger than scholarly conferences or commercial advertising of Latin America. Intimacy between peoples is won either by stressing the traditional ties which bind them — and these ties we have not with Latin America — or by the development of intelligent friendship. We have found it possible on various occasions, through our schools and our newspapers, to arouse in a short time an extraor- dinary amount of sympathy among the mass of our people for particular nations, such as the French. The cultivation of Latin American friendship is readily pos- sible through the same agencies. All this is essential if we are proposing a genuine Pan American solidarity. It is the more necessary, since we must start at the very bottom and build up about Latin America that common knowledge which every schoolboy has about Greece and Rome, England and France. In the past, most Americans became fairly familiar with certain phases of Latin American civilization and romance through the labors of one man — Prescott, the American historian of the Incas and the Aztecs. To Prescott belongs the title of the greatest teacher in this country of Latin American civilization and history. But Prescott is no longer read as widely as a generation or two ago, and, besides, it is 162 International Rapprochement not so much in primitive Latin America as in the whole extent of Lathi American evolution down to our own days that we are, or should be, interested. What material is there not available for writers of genius or for those with a popular style in the historical and romantic works of Spanish American and Spanish authors, in the folk-lore of Ricardo Palma of Peru and Manuel Fernandez Juncos of Porto Rico, in the mythology and folk-lore of Professor Hartley Burr Alexander’s Latin American Mythology, in the lives of Latin American heroes as told in Professor William Spence Robertson’s Rise of the Spanish- American Republics, in the accurate and clearly arranged data in the Encyclopedia of Latin America edited by Mr. Marrion Wilcox and Mr. George Edwin Rines, in the varied and interesting narratives and descriptions of the Pan American Bulletin! Truly, the American schoolboy is kept in ignorance of a whole world which should be as important to him as Greece, Rome, Assyria, or France! But perhaps such broad knowledge of Latin America and such close connection with its peoples is more than we want. Perhaps, after all, we are satisfied with the same kind of understanding that characterizes our relations with China or Japan. In that case, we are doing all that is humanly possible: and the Pan American diplomatic conferences initiated by Secretary Blaine in 1881, and continued in the conferences of 1889, 1901-2, 1906, 1910, the Pan American scientific congresses held in 1908 and 1916, the Pan American finan- cial conferences of 1915 and 1920, the general meeting of the International High Commission in 1916, and the sessions of the American Institute of International Law in 1916, some of which have taken place in Washington and the rest in the City of Mexico, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, together with such subsidiary gatherings as the Pan American Child Welfare Congresses held at Buenos Aires in 1916 and at Montevideo in 1919, are bringing together our leaders in politics, finance, sanitation, law, education, International Rapprochement 163 and social welfare and through them slowly disseminating a proper appreciation of Latin America. Judging, however, from the expressions of opinion by thoughtful Americans and Latin Americans, diplomatic and intellectual relations will never be able to achieve Pan American solidarity in its best and most lasting form until bonds of sympathetic understanding have been created among the peoples themselves — bonds similar to those which subsist between the United States and Great Britain or France in spite of wide temperamental differences and occasional friction. Those bonds are not the work of diplomatists or financiers — who, moreover, often jeopard- ize those already in existence — but of something much subtler which emanates from the mass of the people. Notwithstanding the effort of many European writers to persuade themselves and their constituencies that the United States and Latin America are farther apart in every way than Latin America and Europe, and that all the methods invoked to remove the distance partake of artificial stimulation, something like an American con- sciousness and a sense of confraternity does, after all, animate the republics in the Western Hemisphere. The marked similarity in history, constitutions, freedom from the caste system, extent of territory and consequent emphasis on extensive rather than intensive treatment in agriculture and commerce, vast landscapes and illimitable skies, early pioneering experience, long suspicion of Europe, and New World ambitions has, in reality, given the American nations a homogeneity which is just as effective as the blood and traditions inherited from Europe • — and possibly, in this day and age, more so. With reason does Sarmiento’s Facundo, treating of early Argentina, savor strongly of the life on our great western plains before they became the populous states of to-day, and with reason does the Honorable Charles H. Sherrill, our Minister to Argentina from 1909 to 1911, speak of “subtly Americanizing surroundings” in the following lively parallel. 164 International Rapprochement I am an enthusiastic Pan-American, and an earnest believer in the high ideals of Pan-Americanism, and one of those ideals is respect for the viewpoint of our fellow Americans. The peoples of our hemisphere have been allowed to develop naturally in an atmosphere of liberty and of ample oppor- tunity, amid surroundings that in Europe the trammels of an older civilization would have rendered either difficult or im- possible. This very freedom of the Americas has worked strange and radical changes in the European races that came to it and have become Americanized by its influence. It has accelerated the mentality of the Anglo-Saxon of North America, and it has steadied and broadened the vitality and energy of the Latin of South America, and it is insensibly bringing them nearer together. An interesting ethnological parallel could be drawn between the change effected in an Irishman by moving him from Ireland to New York, and that in a Spanish emigrant before he leaves his home and after he arrives in the subtly Americanizing surroundings of Buenos Aires. If it isn’t the new environment that works the trans- formation, what is it? — and if the same effect is produced at points six thousand miles apart, isn’t it fair to call that effect Pan-American ! ... We hear much of the steadiness and self-control of the Anglo-Saxon, and of the importance that lends to his opinions — when I was in Buenos Aires an anarchist bomb exploded in the great opera house in the midst of an audience of Pan-American Latins. What happened? First, ask yourself what would have happened if a bomb had exploded in the Metropolitan Opera House among us Anglo- Saxons; — I fear that all of us who are honest minded will reluctantly agree as to the probable results. What happened in Buenos Aires? A remarkable scene, which is a glory to Argentine citizenship. No tumult, no undue excitement. The injured were removed while the orchestra played the national anthem. Announcement was made from the stage that the performance was discontinued, and the audience filed quietly out. If you had been there you would have been as proud of those people as I was — as proud of their poise, and of their reserve strength of character, and furthermore as respectful of their viewpoint, as the most enthusiastic believer in the future of our hemisphere could wish. Rapprochement, whether called Pan Americanism or by any other name denoting the close association of the Amer- ican peoples, does not appear visionary nor uncongenial when one has seen a section of Latin American society in circumstances like those described by Mr. Sherrill: nor does it appear so to Americans who have lived day in and International Rapprochement 165 day out in Latin American circles comparable to his own at home. Naturally, rapproachement may seem difficult to educated Americans who visit Latin America hastily and judge whole nations by the laborers in the mines, in the cane-fields, or on the docks. RAPPROCHEMENT BETWEEN LATIN AMERICA AND EUROPEAN LATIN COUNTRIES Other countries, too, are seeking a closer rapprochement with Latin America by the same means employed by the United States, but with the initial advantage of that senti- mental and racial sympathy which is denied us. Our rela- tions are at present limited to the intellectual and com- mercial spheres, whereas a country like Spain can count on the benefits of identity .in traditions, customs, manners, and social intimacy. As Spain progresses along the path of modern evolution, her stake in Latin America is sure to grow. The days of tension have disappeared, and Spain appeals once more to the Latin American heart as the glorious mother-country, often mistaken in the past, but seeking to atone in the present for her errors. Remarkable efforts are therefore being made by Spanish statesmen and intellectual and social leaders to gain an increasing place in the sun that shines on Latin America. Treaties of arbitration have been concluded between Spain and her former colonies: sociological, economic, and jurid- ical congresses have united Spanish and Latin American thinkers at frequent intervals : Latin Americans are elected to positions of honor in Spanish societies and academies: a tone of benevolence characterizes the Spanish criticism of Latin American literature and arts: the Infanta Isabel visited Argentina and Chile on the occasion of the cen- tennial anniversary of their independence and was accorded triumphal ovations: the King of Spain has for some time been planning a tour to South America: and Spanish-American social and cultural centers are being established in various Spanish cities to foment a spirit of fraternal cordiality. This species of Hispanic union should eventually lead 166 International Rapprochement to the sentimental and, possibly, artistic preponderance of Spain in Latin America, and need not be looked at askance by the United States so long as a sense of fair play and truth, often absent in the Spanish discussions of the atti- tude of the United States toward Latin America, is pre- served by Spanish publicists. It should prove complemen- tary in a valuable way to the present intellectual and artistic preponderance wielded by France and to the com- mercial and political preponderance exercised by the United States and Great Britain. To Spain it may ulti- mately mean economic salvation: and to Latin America, in conjunction with the other influences mentioned, an ethnic renovation in which the fundamental traits of an old civilization are allied to the more vigorous character- istics of a technological age. The significant fact is that while modern conditions are driving Latin America farther and farther away from the world in which the mother-country still exists, the attrac- tion of blood, or even more truly, of sentimental re- membrance is drawing it closer to Spain than it has ever been in the past. It is probable, also, that the antagonistic Spanish and conservative elements in the Latin American population are using the sentimental appeal as a counter- poise to the feelings of the more progressive younger gen- eration, which cannot resist the lure of the energy, prompt- ness, decisiveness, and the less traditional methods and thought of the United States. RAPPROCHEMENT AMONG THE LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES THEMSELVES International rapprochement , however, is not restricted to the creation of bonds of interest between Latin America and the United States, Spain, France, or the rest of the outside world, but is at this moment exceedingly active among the Latin American republics themselves. Its effects are visible in the magnanimous utterance (August, 1921) of President Tamayo of Ecuador concerning the boundary dispute between his country and Peru: “I believe that by the exercise of good will, serene judgment, and a spirit International Rapprochement 167 of sincere Americanism an equitable and reciprocally bene- ficial arrangement can be effected, particularly since the prosperity of one of the countries will tend to contribute to the progress of the other”; in the peaceful measures recently taken to settle questions relating to frontiers and doubtful territory between Bolivia and Paraguay and be- tween Uruguay and Brazil; in Chile’s support of the Argentine amendments before the League of Nations, followed by expressions of sympathy from nearly all the Latin American republics; in the rules adopted by the A.B.C. Treaty, which was signed at Buenos Aires on May 25, 1915, “for proceeding to facilitate the friendly solution of questions that were formerly excluded from arbitra- tion”; and in the visit of the Argentine battleship Sarmiento to Mexico during the present year (1921), which gave rise to expressions of cordial friendship. - Above all, the resurrection of the idea of free trade among the Latin American republics, the feeling that the Confederation of Greater Colombia may some day be re- vived, and the actual reestablishment of the Central American Union demonstrate that a Latin American con- sciousness is gradually developing and that the separatism of the past, which has been concerned primarily with the demarcation of nationalistic lines, is being modified by the necessity of cohesion forced on Latin America by its geographical position and by its treatment abroad as one large family. It almost inevitably follows, when foreign countries view Latin America as a unit rather than as separate countries, that a sense of unity, originally absent, will finally make itself felt. The interchange of products, as a writer in the South 'American shows, is still in an embryonic state in Latin America. With some exceptions, such as Peruvian sugar to Chile, Paraguayan tea to Argentina, Brazilian coffee and bananas to Argentina and some Argentine wheat to Brazil, there is prac- tically no interchange of produce between them. The excellent Chilean wine and coal are never found in other South Ameri- can countries; Argentine meat was never eaten in Brazil, even in the days before the war when fresh Brazilian meat was 168 International Rapprochement very bad; and even to-day the mutton consumed in Rio de Janeiro comes from New Zealand in preference to Punta Arenas. Ecuador sells no cacao or Panama hats to her neigh- bors, Brazil no rubber, and the emeralds of Colombia find their way to Buenos Aires only via London or Paris. FREE TRADE AND RAPPROCHEMENT High tariffs for revenue and the influence of the pro- prietors of certain large industries in the various countries have maintained a situation due in part, no doubt, to the ancient Spanish monopolistic system. But the greater ease with which many of the products could be sold at the sea- board to foreign nations, the active demand of these nations for the great staples, and the control of many of the latter by foreign companies were likewise determining factors in retarding the interchange of commodities among the Latin American republics. To these causes must also be added the home demand for the manufactured articles of Europe and the United States. The notion of free trade was, nevertheless, broached as early as 1856, and was stipulated in the treaty of that year between Argentina and Chile. Revived recently by statesmen, businessmen, and newspapers, and especially by La Prensa of Buenos Aires, the movement for free trade, or at least, for freer trade appears to be gaining ground not only in southern but in northern Latin America as well. A removal of the intolerable imposts which stifle inter-American trade and keep the cost of living high would unquestionably prove an economic advantage and might for some republics, as Mr. Roger Babson predicts for Panama, result in cities rivaling the noteworthy com- mercial centers of Europe or the United States. More than that, it would prove a blessing to the Latin American republics which have entered the industrial era. But far superior to all other considerations is the effect which it would have in stimulating Latin American inter- national unity and strength. So long as Latin America is dependent on foreign markets for the disposal of its agricultural and mineral wealth and for the manufactured goods which it consumes, just so long will it be subject International Rapprochement 169 to the preponderance of one foreign nation or another, and just so long will its internal politics be determined largely from the outside. Let it, however, rely generously on its own capacity for attending to its own wants — its abstention from doing so having proved thus far the great reason for its abnormally extensive commerce with Europe and the United States — and closer and more friendly relations follow among its members, accompanied by an added sense of dignity and independence. If the career of other countries can be taken as an index, the Latin American republics must in the near future embark on that general reciprocal exchange of products which the construction of interstate railroads, automobile highways, telegraph lines, and coastal vessels, now under way, is sure to stimulate to a high pitch. Already the cry “Latin America for Latin Americans” has been raised in some quarters, and the corollary, “Latin American prod- ucts for Latin Americans,” may be expected to become a watchword of economic and political unification — and a warning to the outside world. POLITICAL CONFEDERATION The most direct means of unification, namely, political confederation, will, however, continue to appeal to a fair share of Latin Americans as the ultimate goal to be sought. Whether or not the confederation of all Latin America or of some of the republics lying in the same geographical zone is possible or even desirable is a debatable question. The history of the Central American Confederation, which has been revived as the Central American Union, or, as it is entitled in the covenant adopted by Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica on January 19, 1921, the Federation of Central America, is illuminating as to both the ideals professed and the results thus far observ- able. The ideals are those held by Bolivar when, in 1826, he convoked at Panama the first congress of the nations of the New World for the purpose of establishing a new “equilibrium of the universe” to offset the political 170 International Rapprochement equilibrium maintained by Europe. But already in 1814 the thought was dear to him, and the place of meeting for the nations had been determined upon by him: How beautiful it would be if the isthmus of Panama were for us what the isthmus of Corinth was for the Greeks! Would that we might have some day the good fortune to inaugurate there an august congress of the representatives of the re- publics, kingdoms and empires, to treat of and to discuss the high concerns of peace and war, with the nations of the other parts of the world! A corporation of this kind might come into being in some happy period of our regeneration. Bolivar’s generous hope was frustrated, though it has in our days appeared elsewhere, in the League of Nations, in the Conference for the Limitation of Naval Armaments, and in President Harding’s project for an Association of Nations. The failure of the Panama Congress was due in part to the political conditions existing in some of the Latin American republics and to the inability of some of them to send delegates to the Isthmus. In part, also, the failure was due to the desire of the United States to have a free hand in its political action, though one of the main objects of the Conference, as outlined in its programme, was: To take into consideration the means of rendering effective the declaration of the president of the United States [Monroe] in respect to the ulterior designs of any foreign power to colonize any part of the continent, and the means of resisting any decided interference in the domestic affairs of the Ameri- can governments. As the first proponent of genuine Pan Americanism, Bolivar suffered the fate of the proverbial prophet. His ideas or portions of his ideas were later taken up by Mexico, by Peru, and by combinations of various republics, but always with the same result. Unanimity of action was lacking, signatures could not be obtained from all govern- ments represented, some republics abstained from partici- pating in the congresses, or some of the principles put forth were characterized as contrary to the law of nations or to the obligations of one or more of the members. STATUE OE BOLIVAR, LIMA, International Rapprochement 171 Especially persistent have been the attempts of the Cen- tral American republics to combine their forces and their resources under a united administration, and especially disconcerting have been their repeated failures to arrive at concrete results. That the project for unification is logical and beautiful, cannot be gainsaid, and that it has had sincere and ardent advocates since its inception in the early days of independence is patent to every reader of Central American history. Yet the newly created Federa- tion of Central America begins its life this year with a most discouraging past to live down. What can seem more practical or more necessary to the mind of a citizen of the United States than a union of the five States or republics of Central America? United, they form a territory of 179,916 square miles — exceeding that of the United Kingdom by more than 58,000 square miles — and possess a total population of over 5,000,000 inhabitants: divided, the largest of them, Nicaragua, com- prises an area of 49,000 square miles, and Salvador, the smallest, of only 13,176 square miles; and the individual populations run from about half a million in Costa Rica to something like 2,000,000 in Guatemala. 1 United, their total annual commerce amounts to about $150,000,000: divided, it is parceled out in relatively insignificant sums among the five republics. As separate States, they main- tain five armies, five navies, five complete departments of public administration, and five varying systems for the collection of customs duties. As one State, they could either have defensive forces of some size or do away with the majority of those now in existence; they could unify their external and internal procedure, economize in hun- dreds of different ways, command excellent foreign credit, build up their means of communication and transporta- tion in accordance with a definite plan, and vastly increase educational facilities ; and, above all, they could rid them- selves of the constant dangers and losses incident to the ambitions and quarrels of at least ten sets of opposing 1 The above figures are based on the latest data issued by the Pan American Union. 172 International Rapprochement political leaders by reducing the number of candidates to the supreme power to little more than two. United, as an editorial in the New York Evening Post suggests, “the little states can gain the same benefits in governmental integrity and efficiency, in the facilitation of trade and industry, and in prestige abroad that the thirteen Amer- ican States gained from their more perfect union in 1787.” The advantages of union are so many and those of con- tinued division so few that anything less than consolidation seems preposterous and a severe reflection on the intellec- tual capacity of the people of the five republics. Never- theless, Central America has produced its quota of really great minds, has made notable progress both economically and politically, and is no more backward than the numerous small States of Europe which insist on individual existence and fight for it. The reasons for division in Central America are also, in the main, the same reasons, even to racial and temperamental differences, which have kept all Scandinavia or all of southern Europe between the Adriatic and the Black Sea from combining into one corporate body. RECENT ESTABLISHMENT OP THE REPUBLIC OP CENTRAL AMERICA Perhaps, however, all such discussion is now beside the mark, since a Federation of Central America has actually been constituted, Honduras, Guatemala, and Salvador have lost their sovereign power (October, 1921), a Federal Council has assumed the supreme authority, and a dis- tinguished diplomatist of Guatemala has been mentioned for the honor of occupying for the first time the presiden- tial chair of the new republic. That Nicaragua and Costa Rica have not yet actually joined the association is not of the highest significance, for Article XVIII of the Covenant of January 19, 1921, expressly stipulates the following : The ratification of this treaty by three of the contracting states shall be sufficient to cause it to be considered binding International Rapprochement 173 and obligatory among them and to cause them to proceed to its fulfilment. Any state that shall not approve this covenant may, however, enter the federation at any time when it shall make solicita- tion, and the federation shall admit it without the necessity of other steps than the presentation of the law approbatory of this treaty and of the federal constitution and constituent laws. In such an event, the federal council and the two legis- lative chambers shall be increased accordingly. Nicaragua is presumed to have abstained from becoming a member of the Federation on account of the Bryan- Chamorro Treaty, by virtue of which the United States has obtained the right in perpetuity to construct, operate, and maintain an interoceanic canal “via the San Juan River and the Great Lake of Nicaragua, or through any route on the territory of Nicaragua”; and the Government of Nicaragua has leased to the United States for a period of 99 years Great Corn Island and Little Corn Island and given the United States the right to a naval base on the Gulf of Fonseca, in consideration of which stipulations the United States pays Nicaragua the sum of $3,000,000 gold, to be applied on the Nicaragua debt. Why this trans- action should stand in the way of Nicaragua’s adherence to the Federation is, nevertheless, not clear, since Article IV of the Covenant of January 19, 1921, specifically states that Until the federal government shall have secured, by means of diplomatic procedure, the modification, derogation or re- placement of the existing treaties between the states of the federation and foreign nations, each state shall respect, and continue to comply faithfully with, the treaties that obtain between it and any foreign nation or nations, to the full extent involved in the existing engagements. Without doubt, other motives underlie Nicaragua’s present attitude toward the Federation. As for Costa Rica’s refusal to join her sister republics, many reasons have been alleged, any one of which may have proved to be the determining factor. Her geograph- ical position, which cuts her off from all the other republics except Nicaragua; her disputes with the latter country; 174 International Rapprochement her feeling of superiority, born of her purer Spanish strain, uninterrupted prosperity, freedom from revolutions, greater educational advancement ; her weaker military status; her fear that she may lose her present excellent prestige if swallowed up by the Union; her dependence on American capital; and her traditional policy, demon- strated on numerous occasions, of abstaining from taking the final step in projects for the unification of Central America — all or any of these causes may have influenced her in declining finally to enter the Federation, though she was a party to the Covenant of January 19, 1921, and a signatory to it through her delegates, Don Alejandro Alvarado Quiros and Don Cleto Gonzalez Viquez. To the Covenant or the Constitution evolved from it, objection is almost impossible by any of the States. It is a most liberal and conciliatory document. It stresses throughout the federative character of the Union. Each state is to “preserve its autonomy and inde- pendence for the management and direction of its internal affairs”; the executive power is vested in a federal council of five proprietary delegates and five alternates, one of each to be elected from each state by popular vote for a term of four years; and the president and vice-president of the Federation are to be chosen by the Federal Council from among the proprietary delegates for a period of one year and are to act always in the name and by the vote or instruction of the Federal Council. The resemblance here to the commission form of government of some of our cities is striking. Foreign countries are protected in their rights, since the states “shall continue to meet the payments on their present internal and foreign debts,” to which the Federal Government pledges itself to pay par- ticular attention. None of the states, as is to be expected, may contract foreign loans without the ratification of a federal law. Similarly, no state may enter into contracts “that shall in any way compromise its sovereignty or inde- pendence or the integrity of its territory.” Dissatisfaction with such terms can come only from foreign nations which might hope to accomplish more for themselves through International Rapprochement 175 dealings with the separate states than with the Federation as a whole. Theoretically, scarcely a flaw can be found with the idea of the Federation or with the political or economic founda- dations on which it is based. The project deserves the support of everybody who has the advancement of Central America at heart. Yet, for two capital reasons, serious doubt arises as to the permanence of the union. In the first place, two states, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, have, at the very outset, seen fit to remain outside the Federation. In the second place, a long career of failure has dogged the Federation from the past, though the circumstances leading to the attempts at union and the advantages of such union have always been very like the circumstances and the advantages of the present endeavor. ANTECEDENTS In 1821, exactly one hundred years ago, the different countries of Central America constituted themselves into the Central American Federation. The federation was short-lived, for Iturbide, Emperor of Mexico, promptly annexed it to his own domains in 1822. The downfall of Iturbide was followed by a renewal of the Federation, which lasted from 1823 to 1838. After a period of separa- tion beginning with the latter year, the five states repeatedly attempted either complete or partial union in 1842, 1845, 1847, 1849, 1852, Costa Rica preferring almost always to stand off by itself, and Guatemala usually mak- ing war on the Federation. In connection with the Con- federation of 1847, the three member states, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador, exasperated by the attitude of Guatemala, undertook a war for the purpose of obliging her to join them, but were themselves defeated by General Carrera. Between 1870 and 1890, the feeling for con- federation in Latin America slackened, as Dr. Alejandro Alvarez demonstrates, and was replaced in Central America, as elsewhere, by a fondness for congresses of a more or less technical nature, the change being due principally to the greater stability attained and the disappearance of 176 International Rapprochement fears of aggression by Spain. Central American Congresses met in Guatemala in 1876 and in 1887, in Costa Rica in 1888, and in Salvador in 1889, treaties of peace and friend- ship were signed, and a Republic of Central America was projected, but definite results in the way of federation were never arrived at. The friends of confederation, however, refused to yield to the difficulties which they encountered at every turn. Treaties looking toward union were signed in 1894 and 1895 between Honduras and each of the other republics except Costa Rica. On June 20, 1895, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador decreed the creation of The Greater Republic of Central America, but Guatemala and Costa Rica remained refractory, and nothing came of the proposed union. Again, in 1902, 1906 and 1907, con- ferences were held, partly at the instigation of the United States, treaties of peace and friendship were once more signed, a Central American Court of Justice, a Central American Bureau, and a Central American Pedagogical Institute were established, and views were exchanged on the amalgamation of the five republics into a single State. Finally, in 1917, the president of Honduras convoked an- other conference, and high hopes were entertained for the success of unification, but conditions in the world at large during the European War proved unfavorable, and the idea of union was again allowed to slumber until the present year. To the unprejudiced observer, the historical record must seem the darkest of omens for the new Federation of Cen- tral America. If, after so many different attempts, noth- ing tangible has resulted, what prospects are there that the year 1921 will change what may be regarded as settled habits of separatism? Boundary conflicts still trouble the tranquillity of several of the republics: economic difficulties still exist: the polit- ical machinery within each state is what it has always been : and the spirit of individual nationalism is, after a hundred years, a much more formidable obstacle to federa- tion than it was at any time during the first half of the International Rapprochement 177 nineteenth century, when so many attempts at union were made. Prophecies of political and social changes made far in advance of the predicted happening are, of course, extra hazardous : and conditions to-day in many parts of the globe are such as have discredited numberless prophets who enjoyed a good reputation for clairvoyance in their day. Yet a prophet who should say that the Federation of Central America will not be an accomplished fact until a tremendous exterior calamity, such as attack or intoler- able oppression by a foreign power, or the rise of a “man of destiny” capable of forcing cohesion for a long period welds the five republics together would at least have history and psychology on his side. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Latin America, after shaking oft the fetters which bound it to Spain, gave itself over to a particularistic development detrimental to its latent power as a homogeneous section of the globe. It missed that larger unity which has placed the United States in the vanguard of nations. At that time, Latin America recked little of solid plans for the future, for it felt safe from aggression, thanks to the Monroe Doctrine, and was unconscious of its own pos- sibilities. To-day, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Latin America realizes that it has a future before it, and is try- ing, by all the means of modern rapprochement, to work back to the homogeneity which it carelessly cast aside in its first flush of strength after its victory over Spain. The map of its international relations has been completely re- made in the course of one hundred years, and forces within itself, as well as beyond its boundaries, which it considered unimportant at the moment of independence, are now the forces which are molding its policies and its sentiments. PART II CHAPTER VIII THE GROWTH OF NATIONALISM Any study of the Latin American countries which, like the present one, surveys the entire region from the Rio Grande del Norte to Cape Horn and includes the words “Latin America” in its title, irremediably contributes to the perpetuation of a false and harmful conception of the status of the individual republics. The use of any other term as general as this, such as “Hispanic America,” advocated for many years by Pro- fessor Aurelio M. Espinosa and Don Juan C. Cebrian with a wealth of excellent reasoning and recently adopted by the Second Spanish-American Congress of History and Geography at Seville, has the same effect. It enforces the impression of a large Latin American unity and minimizes the existence and the rapid growth of an individual national consciousness in each Latin American nation. ‘ ‘ What ! ’ ’ the casual reader may exclaim. ‘ ‘ Do you mean to say that there are nineteen distinct nationalities of Hispanic speech on our hemisphere? This is confusion worse confounded than in Europe!” Unfortunately, the fact cannot be denied. Separate nationalism constitutes to-day the most significant and in- teresting transformation in the political, social, and cul- tural ideals of Latin America, and those ideals are largely conditioned on the rapidity or slowness with which the national consciousness takes concrete form in the various countries. Republics there are, like Argentina, Chile, and Brazil, which must be reckoned full-fledged nations by all the criteria applied to such European countries as Italy, Spain, and France: and the rest can not be refused the 178 The Growth of Nationalism 179 dignity of nationality any more than can Sweden, Norway and Denmark. It is necessary to an understanding of Latin America to bear this circumstance in mind, for “Latin America” will, as the result of force of habit, continue indefinitely to serve as a group name and consequently to paint in our imagination with a uniform color even republics so divergent in every way as Argentina and Nicaragua or Chile and Brazil. Not that the phrase “Latin America” fails entirely to serve useful purposes. It has undoubtedly the same prac- tical advantages as the term “the Orient.” It classes to- gether peoples having originally an identical or nearly identical historical and social background and a great similarity in tempei’ament and aspirations. It also carries on the thought uppermost in the minds of some of the leaders in the struggle for independence that all the newly liberated colonies would ultimately take the coherent form of a single confederation. But, as has already been intimated, the various projects for confederation have come no nearer fruition after a hundred years than the Abbe de Saint-Pierre’s Pro jet de paix perpetuclle, proposed before the middle of the eighteenth century, or the League of Nations, though none of these humanitarian plans can yet be said to have suffered final failure. The project for perpetual peace and the League of Nations figure at the present moment among the most vital topics under general discussion : and the Federa- tion of the Central American Republics appears actually to give substance to the hopes of many advocates of Latin American union. It is, nevertheless, fairly evident over Latin America as a whole, and even in Central America itself, that the idea of political confederation represents to-day a poetic longing rather than a feasible programme, that it is opposed to the genuine historical evolution of the Latin American republics, and that it has almost every- where been supplanted by the more modern and less vision- ary desire for inter-American rapprochement of an eco- nomic and social character. 180 The Growth of Nationalism SEPARATISTS TENDENCIES For the main current of Latin American thought has, ever since the days of independence, been swinging stead- fastly and inexorably in the direction of separate and local nationality. Each republic aspires to the status of distinct, individual nationality: and few practical states- men of Latin America, however much in sympathy they may be with the magnanimous notion of a united Latin America, allow the broader and, perhaps, more altruistic sentiment to interfere with their activities in behalf of the particular country in which they were born or have taken up residence. All the agencies, in fact, instrumental to the creation of sectional patriotism have been invoked in each of the republics, and a national consciousness encouraged by both natural and artificial means. The degree of success attained in this particularistic movement has varied in the different countries, due to racial, political, social, geographical, and educational causes: but that each republic is intent on instilling a fervid nationalistic enthusiasm in its residents, and especially in its children, becomes more evident as Latin America widens its interest in world affairs and emerges from the isolation to which the colonial system and the dearth of communications constrained it. Isolation in itself, it is true, had much to do with creating sectional patriotism through the distrust of outsiders engendered by racial, social, and intellectual inbreeding: but the re- moval of isolation is having precisely the same effect in exalting sectionalism at the expense of foreign intrusions or in opposition to surrounding nations. In the veins of no human being [recites the Argentine school- boy in his catechism] does there flow more generous blood than in our own ; in the annals of the world the origin of no nationality is more resplendent with a more brilliant aureole than that which encircles the brow of the Argentine Republic. I am proud of my origin, of my race, of my country. This may sound dangerously like chauvinism: but it is merely the primitive chauvinism which underlies all The Growth of Nationalism 181 patriotism taught as a matter of faith. The first patriotic teachings in all new countries have been of the same tenor, above all when, as in the Americas, the necessity of fusing different races and different civilizations has been imperative. The chances that Latin America would early develop high sectional feeling have been especially strong in view of the origin of the colonizers and the existence of estab- lished native races in various parts of the Latin American territories. The settlement of most of the present republics by the Spaniards and of Brazil by the Portuguese immediately created a division more effective than chains of mountains or mighty rivers. The reasons which have kept Spain and Portugal separate kingdoms except when artificially united, as under Philip II of Spain, by force, obtain in the New World. The sense of individual national integrity has in the process of time acquired a strength which may be regarded as permanent. The Portuguese of Brazil would scarcely be likely to brook Spanish domination, and the Spanish-speaking popu- lation of all the republics on which Brazil has frontiers — Ecuador and Chile being the only two republics of South America which Brazil does not touch — would be as little likely to tolerate Brazilian rule. The difference in lan- guage, though not linguistically great, is more than suffi- cient, because of the traditions and sentiments behind each, to act as a barrier against a sympathetic common under- standing. Indeed, the realization of the superficial similarity of Spanish and Portuguese, together with a knowledge of their intimate dissimilarities, militates more powerfully against the conception of either as an equivalent for the other than if they were frankly antipodean. The Spaniard or the Portuguese is more acutely sensitive to the garbling of his language by his nearest neighbor and kins- man than to its manhandling by an Englishman or a Frenchman. Other racial and social feelings tend to accen- tuate rather than to diminish the disparity between the Spanish-American and the Portuguese-American nations, 182 The Growth of Nationalism and Dr. Manoel de Oliveira Lima’s acknowledgement, somewhat regretfully made, to the effect that “The filiation and evolution of Portuguese America are separate from those of Spanish America, not infrequently, nay frequently rather was this evolution hostile to that of Spanish America,” may be accepted as very close to the truth. Brazil remained an empire while Spanish America was fighting for its freedom, and did not declare its inde- pendence until 1889. The Spanish-American heroes are not its heroes, the Spanish-American struggles, which are being elevated to the dignity of Titanic combats, were not its struggles, the Spanish conquist adores were not its fore- bears, the Spanish-American social and political festivals and celebrations are not its great dates, Spanish and Spanish-American literature is not its literature, and Spanish-American political friends and allies are not its most cherished friends and allies, Brazil having ever in- clined to take lessons from the United States, whereas the Spanish-American countries have most frequently sought counsel from European governments. The converse of all this, of course, holds true for Spanish America. BRAZIL AS A DISTINCT NATION Whatever tests of nationality may be applied to it, and in spite of many essential similarities, Brazil cannot help appearing even to-day, when confronted with the rest of Latin America, as a clearcut nation. Its geographical posi- tion and immense size will probably always be a prolific source of fear and agitation on the part of the bordering Spanish-American republics, and its strenuous endeavors to instill the same fervent patriotism which is rife in Argen- tina and Chile will widen the social breach already so distinctly marked. The Brazilian child, like the Argentine child, has been taught to regard his fatherland as the greatest and the best country in the world, and the much quoted anecdote about the diminutive Italian immigrant of Buenos Aires, whose apologetic answer to the charge of having been born in Genoa was, “But I was so little,” The Growth of Nationalism 183 has been used also to illustrate the rapidity with which Brazil inspires its population with a stanch and lively Brazilianism. Since Brazil is almost certain to occupy more and more as time goes on the position of a distant member of the Latin American family in relation to its Spanish neighbors, its diplomatic role naturally consists in strengthening the bonds of commercial and intellectual friendship, rather than in attempting to rely on the sympathy of blood— which, moreover, as political history amply proves, is often little thicker than water. Thus far, Brazil, like the United States and Canada, has had to keep no army on any of its frontiers, and has solved most of its South American problems by diplomatic means. In spite of its opportunities for promoting fric- tion, it has exhibited a thoroughly generous spirit in arbi- trating questions in dispute and in seeking to mediate in controversies between Spanish America and foreign powers. Its leaders, like Dr. Ruy Barbosa, have been large-minded patriots, conscious that the well-being of Brazil depends on the well-being of South America; and their example cannot fail to serve as a wholesome inspiration to the grow- ing generations. Since the European War, and as an out- growth of the war, those leaders and the educational authorities of Brazil have become convinced of the neces- sity of assimilating more completely the foreign elements of the population, and have made added efforts, by pro- hibiting the teaching of foreign languages in the public elementary schools and emphasizing patriotism in the schools and in text-books, to create what may be called a 100 per cent Brazilianism. That they will guard against the inculcation of an aggressive nationalism cannot be questioned. Already many prophets in the Spanish-American republics see in the future an acutely nationalistic, imperial- istic Brazil and Argentina at grips for the control of the entire South American continent: and it cannot be denied that the actual “powers” in Latin America, because of the anxiety of each for a homogeneous people with a blind 184 The Growth of Nationalism and intransigent confidence in its destiny, are ru nn ing great risks in the grandiose patriotism which they are erecting into a creed admitting of no discussion. The case of Spanish-American nationalities is not quite as simple and definite as that of Brazilian nationality. Cuba and Argentina, Costa Rica and Chile, Mexico and Bolivia have the same European political and social antecedents and have never lost the sense of a common relationship. They were all subjected to the same Spanish experience, passed through practically the same struggles in securing independence, and were, most of them, until the middle of the nineteenth century, dominated by the same type of dictator, caudillo, or cacique. Apparently it should be the chief ambition of each to amalgamate with its sister-republics from whom mountains, rivers and oceans, now practically meaningless or soon to be so, and the downfall of the Spanish colonial system separated it less than one hundred years ago. If the longing for solidarity has not always actuated the Latin American republics, why the resurrection of Bolivar’s idea in the Congress at Lima in 1847-8, in the Continental Treaty signed by Chile, Peru, and Ecuador at Santiago, September 15, 1856, and a similar treaty signed in November of the same year by Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Salvador, New Granada (Colombia), Venezuela, and Peru, and in the second Congress at Lima in 1864-5, at which Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Salvador, and Argentina were represented? Why have Eugenio Maria de Hostos and Jose de Diego, of Porto Rico, ardently advocated a Confederation of the Antilles? Why, too, has that distinguished Latin American publicist, Senor F. Garcia Calderon, urged as late as 1911 the estab- lishment of five regional federations, namely, the Confed- eration of La Plata (Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay), the Confederation of the Pacific (Peru, Bolivia, and Chile), Greater Colombia (Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela), the Confederation of Central America, and the Confed- eration of the Antilles? Why, finally, have the Central The Growth oi Nationalism 185 American republics cast the die and formed the Federation of Latin America in this year of grace, 1921? Is the desire for the complete or partial union of the Latin American republics genuine and feasible, or is it only a beautiful aspiration impossible of realization because of the depth to which individual, separatist nationality has struck its roots? HISTORICAL REASONS FOR LACK OF SOLIDARITY AMONG THE SPANISH COUNTRIES OF LATIN AMERICA The only guides for a judicious appreciation of the prob- lem of nationality in general, as well as of the problem of solidarity, are to be found in the past of the different republics and in the history of other colonies existing at a distance from the mother-country. An examination of the latter point would probably force us to draw the conclusion that distant colonies of con- siderable size inevitably result in distinct nationalities. The Roman colonies became separate nations, especially where natural barriers divided the territory, and the English colonies of to-day — Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa — are, in the words of Mr. Richard Jebb, “travelling the same road — the road from the colonial to the national status. ’ ’ That, however, a huge colonial territory need not perforce break up into a num- ber of nationalities or nations is evident from the career of the United States and Brazil. It is quite possible that, if Bolivar’s Congress of Panama had been successful, Latin America might now consist of only a few national divisions or even of only one great nation with a single nationality. Yet the presumption was, from the very beginning, be- cause of the characteristics of the colonizers and the natives and because of the topography of Latin America, that a unified Latin America could not maintain itself. The physical, climatic, and racial reasons for some degree of differentation have been plainly shown by Viscount Bryce in his South America, which is the most thoughtful and sanely philosophical book thus far written on the polit- ical and social evolution of Latin America, though, perhaps, 186 The Growth of Nationalism as critics have intimated, not at all equal to his American Commonwealth. Cuba and Santo Domingo, as insular terri- tory, Chile, Argentina, and Peru, through lofty mountain ranges almost impassable in the days preceding the rail- road and the telegraph, and Mexico as a portion of an- other continent, were predestined to a separate develop- ment and to a separate national existence. The establish- ment of viceroyalties and captaincies general by the Spanish Government, too, contributed to the growth of political divisions which often corresponded to the natural topographical divisions. Climate and distance, in all likeli- hood, were extremely influential in partitioning the terri- tory and people of the temperate zone from the territory and people of the tropical and subtropical zones. The variable progress of the original races worked against amalgamation on a large scale, the Aztecs and the subjects of the Incas proving refractory to the immediate imposi- tion of an all-Spanish culture, though capable of absorb- ing such culture, the warlike Ai’aucanians of Chile proving violently opposed to it, and the scattered uncivilized tribes proving neither susceptible to that style of culture nor qualified to evolve any other from their inner conscious- ness. The practical task of dealing with these divergent ethnic groups was a vital factor in the creation of separate nationalities from the very start. The resultant nationali- ties might, indeed, have been broader, if the Spaniards had wished to make them so, but they could have been welded into a single unit only through the implanting of a much more extensive administrative system than Spain was able to furnish for its colonies. Moreover, the Spanish rulers were utterly impervious to any notion of founding a coherent empire. Administrative tracts were parceled out from time to time and then neglected, in so far as the Home Office was concerned, provided that the Crown imposts were paid in and the monopoly of trade retained. Spain was never, in reality, an empire builder. It never succeeded in arousing the imperial cooperation and loyalty which England has con- The Growth of Nationalism 187 sidered its first duty to inspire. Therein lies the difference in unity between Spanish America and Portuguese America. Brazil became, before it was too late, the Por- tuguese Empire and even, during the Napoleonic campaign, the shelter and the residence of the Court of Portugal. The presence of the Portuguese king and of the princes of the House of Braganza brought centralization to Brazil, and centralization broke down separatist barriers which might have become permanent. To be sure, it later con- verted the Empire into a republic, but into a republic of united states. No Spanish king or princes of the royal blood came to Spanish America to act as a focus for unified patriotic sentiment. No common ideal, except that of religion, was set up for Spanish immigrants and native Indians to worship. On the contrary, the naturally centrifugal bent of the Spaniards from the different provinces of the mother- country was allowed full sway. The Spaniard, as has been demonstrated clearly in the history of the Spanish nation, rarely harbors a truly national loyalty. Napoleon may drive the inhabitants of Madrid to such desperation that his grenadiers cannot any better withstand the rabble armed with homely weapons quickly caught up than the trained British soldiers could resist the onset of the raw farmers of Lexington and Con- cord : but the surrounding provinces come to the assistance of their hard-pressed compatriots chiefly to protect them- selves or as a special favor, and not through the sense of duty born of national solidarity. Spain has rarely risen as a whole country to oppose invaders or to conquer new territory. Each province has fought the enemy as a separate unit, and has expelled him into the adjacent province, which has in turn passed him on, to be dealt with as seemed best to the inhabitants of the next district : and precisely that method was followed in Latin America in the eviction of Spain. The Conquerors never recruited a national army. They gathered together small bands and carried on their exploration and conquest separately, though sometimes, as in the case of Cortes, Pizarro, Balboa, 188 The Growth of Nationalism and Hernando de Soto, learning from the trials of one another and exchanging counsel. The effect on the early political structure of the New World was inevitable. The Pizarros lorded it over Peru, and molded the early political organization of the con- quered country. Cortes and Valdivia left the impress of their personality on the political structure of Mexico and Chile. The communistic experiments of the Jesuits in Paraguay beginning in the later years of the sixteenth century foreshadowed the communistic dictatorship of Dr. Francia, El Supremo, in the first half of the nineteenth century. The democratic colonists of Argentina — where the democratic spirit has, since the foundation of the city of Santa Maria de Buenos Aires, been more noticeable than elsewhere in Latin America — elected their own governor, Arias de Saavedra, in 1591 : and nothing was left for the Spanish Crown but to confirm this popular election. The special flavor given at the start to political and social life in Latin America by groups of Spaniards of varying tem- perament and ideals persists long after those groups them- selves have become extinct. The method by which the colonies were originally gov- erned led through easy steps to political divisions which were practically preserved after the victories of inde- pendence. In colonial days, the principal territorial divisions, or viceroyalties, were made up of subdivisions called “ audiencias” or “presidencies.” The viceroyalty of New Spain included all the present countries of Spanish North America, and the viceroyalty of Peru, embracing all the possessions of South America, was, in the eighteenth cen- tury, separated into the viceroyalties of Peru (Peru and Chile), New Granada (Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador), and La Plata (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uru- guay). The War of Independence perpetuated, almost without change, the limits of the “ audiencias ” in the new republics of Mexico, Central America, Greater Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and the United Provinces The Growth of Nationalism 189 of La Plata. Some further subdivision was later made, notably in Central America. For the greater part of their history, then, the Latin American republics have existed as territorial units with established traditions and practices, which, while similar in many respects, have undergone marked differentiation. The administration of the Americas, embodied in the Council of the Indies and the Casa de Contratacion (House of Trade), kept these units definitely in mind in the appointment of officials and in the formulation of trade regulations, and consequently encouraged the growth of local or departmental sentiment as opposed to a feeling of solidarity. As “native sons” entered more fully into the departmental life, the distinction between Mexicans, Peruvians, Chileans, Argentinians, Bolivians, became so sharp that the sense of a general Spanish nationality was almost obliterated. Spaniards away from the mother- country were more likely than not to transfer their allegiance to their immediate locality, in accordance with their inveterate regionalistic inclinations. LATIN AMERICANS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH EUROPEAN SPANIARDS The subsequent history of the Latin American countries has strengthened and made more prominent their indi- viduality. None of them can now be confused with Spain nor with any of the provinces of Spain. The Spanish Andalusian and the Spanish- American Cuban, the Spanish Castilian and the Spanish-American Costa Rican, the Spanish Catalonian and the Spanish-American Argentinian differ as much, and in as many ways, as the Englishman and the American of the United States. To deny the Latin American republics a definite nationality of their own is equivalent to denying the rise of new species in the social organization of mankind. To the Englishman, the American is sui generis, in spite of a practical identity in language and literature. The Cuban, the Costa Rican, the Argentinian, the Peruvian, the Mexican are likewise ‘ ‘ outsiders ’ ’ to Spaniards, though 190 The Growth of Nationalism the Spaniards who have not traveled may be unable readily to distinguish among them, just as the sedentary English- man may be unable to distinguish among Australians, Canadians, and British South Africans. But the Costa Rican never mistakes a Chilean for one of his own people, nor the Mexican a Uruguayan, nor the Colombian a Bolivian — at least, after a few moments of conversation. The question of nationality is particularly important because of our increased relations with Latin America and the necessity of understanding each nation by itself. It is not enough to classify Latin Americans under the gen- eric category of “Latin Americans.” The attempt to do so results in friction and untold misconceptions. Bolivar means little to Brazilians, Dom Pedro II means nothing to Mexicans, and Artigas, the national hero of Uruguay, is scarcely even a name to Guatemalans. Hard though it may be for the American traveler or businessman, he must, if he wishes to be on intimate terms with the people of the several republics, know what are the national ambi- tions, the national episodes, the national conflicts, and who, the national heroes and personages. The mention of Captain Prat, of the Chilean man-of-war Esmeralda, is no more grateful to Peruvian ears than the mention of John Paul Jones to English ears. The definition and the conclusions of Viscount Bryce with respect to Latin American nationality may be accepted without reserve. It is dangerous to offer a definition which may not cor- respond to usage, for usage is the only true master and inter- preter of words; and usage is in this case loose and varying. But it might not be far wide of the mark to say that while a nationality is a population held together by certain ties, as, for example, language and literature, ideas, customs, and traditions, in such wise as to feel itself a coherent unity, distinct from other populations similarly held together by like ties of their own, a Nation is a nationality, or a subdivision of a nationality, which has organized itself into a political body, either independent or desiring to be independent. This description would encounter some doubtful cases. . . . With- out multiplying doubtful cases, however, the description pre- sented above, and any description which tries to represent The Growth of Nationalism 191 current usage, would recognize the fact, that wherever a com- munity has both political independence and a distinctive char- acter recognizable in its numbers, as well as in the whole body, we call it a nation. Applying such a test to the Spanish- American republics, some of them, such as Mexico, Argentina, and Chile, are undeniably nations, while even some at least of the smaller, such as Cuba, Ecuador, and Paraguay, have attained sufficient individuality and consciousness of corporate unity to make them feel and act together and desire to pre- serve their independence. If they maintain that consciousness and that independence for another fifty years, their nation- hood will be indisputable. The bud is opening, even if the form and colors of the petals are not yet fully visible. This sound conclusion Viscount Bryce qualifies slightly in a footnote: “Whether the same can be said of some of the Central American republics may be doubted.” The present organization of the Central America Union appears to bear out Mr. Bryce’s qualifying statement: but much depends on the outcome of the Union, and final judgment had, perhaps, better be postponed. Probably nobody to-day will refuse to admit the larger Latin American republics into the concert of nations. Their diplomatic standing is of the first class, their deal- ings with foreign countries are on the plane of political equality, the treaties negotiated by them have complete international validity, and their standing in the League of Nations has not been exposed to the uncertainties which have hedged about some of the dubious “nations” of the rest of the world. Argentina, Brazil, and Chile have, in fact, through their delegations, taken a leading part in the discussions of that Assembly, and have shown them- selves to be not a whit behind the United States, Great Britain, or France in their grasp of international problems. It is significant that the League’s committee on the admission of new members was composed of members of the Chilean and Uruguayan delegations, that the vice- chairman of the committee having to do with mandates, armaments, and the economic weapon was a Cuban rep- resentative, that the vice-chairman of the committee on finance was Dr. Restrepo of Colombia, and that two of the 192 The Growth of Nationalism six vice-presidents of the League were Senor Pueyrredon of Argentina and Senhor Octavio of Brazil. The status of a few of the smaller republics may still be called into question, in the opinion of some students. Is Paraguay a nation, or is it simply an extension of Brazil on the one side and Argentina on the other? Does it exist in a lifelike manner, or does it remain a buffer state by courtesy of its powerful neighbors, who will try to swallow it up as they tried to do in one of the most sanguinary wars (1865-1870) of which there is historical record, when Paraguay, having entered the conflict with 1,337,439 inhabitants, emerged independent, but reduced to a popu- lation of 28,746 men and 106,254 women — a loss of 90 per cent of its total population? Is Cuba safely a nation under the overshadowing wing of the United States? Is Santo Domingo, or more properly, the Dominican Republic, to be regarded as a genuine nation when the United States can establish a supervisory government on its soil at any moment? Are the Central American republics, once annexed to Mexico by Iturbide and constantly feeling the pressure of foreign capital in their political evolution, entitled to consideration as nations? In reality, the doubt thrown on the individual nationality of some of the smaller republics is purely academic. All of them have maintained themselves as separate states for half a century or more, and all of them are thoroughly imbued with a nationalistic spirit. The formation of fed- erations of several of the republics does not signify the surrender of national integrity, but only the cultivation of friendly relations and uniform action in all the problems affecting them singly or as a whole. CHIEF FACTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL SPIRIT The principal factors in the growth of Latin American nationalism in the past have been the War of Independence, the wars between republics, and the rule of the dictators. The principal factors at present are the rise of a literature of intense regionalism, the popular appeal of the press, the The Growth of Nationalism 193 teachings of the public schools, the celebration of national expositions and congresses, economic and, to a certain ex- tent, political expansion, the progress of the United States southward, and the present-day doctrine of self-determina- tion resulting from the European War. Each set of causes has been perfectly appropriate to the times. As in the United States, first wars, then education and pride in na- tional advancement have united the Latin American peoples into corporate bodies with a single mass consciousness. The story of Latin American independence and the events immediately following it is one of extreme individ- ualism, and as such, highly conducive to the establishment of separate states. Three leaders in different sections shared the honors of wresting control from Spain, — Itur- bide in Mexico, Bolivar in the northern half of Spanish America, and San Martin in the southern half. Cuba and Porto Rico remained Spanish colonies until the Spanish American war of 1898, the Dominican Republic, attached to the Haitian Republic until 1843, became an independent state in 1844 ; and Brazil, after the bloodless revolution of 1889 ending in the amicable abdication of Dom Pedro II, — an emperor beloved by his people during a reign of neary half a century, and respected at home and abroad for his learning and his protection of the arts and sciences, - — began to function as a federal republic in 1891. The Central American republics gained their freedom in conse- quence of the Spanish defeats in Mexico and South Amer- ica, and not as the result of hard-fought campaigns, joined their fortunes to those of Mexico for a brief space, bound themselves shortly afterwards into a confederation called the Provincias Unidas del Centro de America (United Provinces of Central America), and in 1838 separated into the five republics of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Panama had elected in 1821 to cast its lot with the newly created republic of Colombia, and did not finally resume its independent and individual existence until 1903. Unconfined to a single leadership, the whole Spanish- American area of South America quickly broke up into 194 The Growth of Nationalism separate units immediately after the initiation of the strug- gle for independence. Paraguay, incited by the Argentine general, Belgrano, threw off Spanish rule and placed itself under the dictatorship of Dr. Francia, whom Carlyle has termed one of the most remarkable characters in history. Chile owed its freedom to the combined exertions of Ber- nardo O’Higgins and San Martin. Uruguay was absorbed by Brazil in its first attempt at independence from Spain under Artigas, but ultimately tore itself loose from Brazil- ian domination with the aid of Argentina. The Confedera- tion of the North divided after the death of Bolivar and was partitioned among the lieutenants of the Liberator, Venezuela falling to Paez and Ecuador to Juan Jose Flores. General Sucre, the right-hand man of Bolivar, was chosen in 1S26 the first president of the republic of Bolivia, created by Bolivar and named after him. Colombia withdrew from the confederation the year following Bolivar’s death. Peru became the prize of various military commanders who had fought at Ayacucho. Subsequently (1836-1844) Peru and Bolivia were joined together under Santa Cruz, but the union did not endure. Yet, throughout all the vicissitudes of rapid dictator- ships, kaleidoscopic revolutions, American intervention in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico, and Nica- ragua, and foreign propaganda of various kinds, the Latin American republics have kept substantially the form given to them within the first decade of independence. Paraguay was almost annihilated, but not destroyed. Peru was con- quered by the military and naval forces of Chile, which occupied Lima from 1881 to 1884, but Chile, instead of carrying its advantage as far as it might have done, assisted the distracted Peruvians in reestablishing their own govern- ment. Bolivia, as has been mentioned, was temporarily assimilated by Peru, but soon regained its individuality. The countries which have known the tramping of American soldiers or marines on their soil have lost no territory and suffered no loss in political organization through American supervision, despite general alarm, suspicion, and fear, and the prognostications of “friendly” foreign observers. IGUAZU FALLS, WHERE BRAZIL, PARAGUAY, AND ARGENTINA MEET. The Growth of Nationalism 195 The possibility of aggression, either by outside powers or by some of the Latin American nations against their weaker brethren, is much less now than at any period since the enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. The influence of war on the solidification of a national spirit is so general and so sure that special discussion of it with regard to Latin America would be supererogatory. Some few peoples in the world there ma v be which have risen above the obvious impetus given to patriotism by the dangers of attack from others or the enthusiasm of attack upon others, but Latin America has not yet reached that altruistic height. War and the concomitants of war electri- fied the people of Buenos Aires into a positive ardor of nationalism by the double defeat of the English invaders under Beresford and Whitelock in 1806, Paraguay lost nearly all its men but grew in national spirit through its unparalleled struggle with Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, Cuba emerged nationalistic from the final conflict with Spain, and Chile and Peru have for a generation been filled with a feverish patriotism as a result of the War of the Pacific from 1879 to 1883. The baptism of fire has in many instances aroused in Latin America a dormant or subdued sense of national unity. LATIN AMERICAN DICTATORS AS CONTRIBUTORS TO PATRIOTISM This ready response to the stimuli of combat constituted one of the strongest weapons of the dictators who ruled the Latin American republics from the period of Inde- pendence to 1852, when the most astounding of them all, Juan Manuel Ortiz de Rosas, of Argentina, fled to England to spend the remainder of his days quietly cultivating flowers near Southampton. It was always a simple matter for a dictator to raise the standard of war and the cry of Fatherland, — though his opponent might simultaneously be doing the same thing. Undoubtedly the dictators as a rule pursued selfish ends and thirsted for the pomp and glory which have encircled the name of the Venezuelan caudillo, Guzman-Bianco, or 196 The Growth of Nationalism the power for good or ill which was the guiding motive of Rosas, variously termed benefactor and monster. But given the turbulent epoch in which the dictatorship de- veloped into both an art and a science, it is difficult to see how even well-intentioned leaders, like Ramon Castilla of Peru or Juan Antonio Lavalleja of Uruguay, could refrain from making hasty and, perhaps, disastrous decisions or avoid the appearance of tyranny. In a true democracy, many of them, men of fine intellect and splendid energy, would have earned the title of beneficent centralizers, car- rying through to a successful conclusion admirable projects of public improvement. History, as it is usually written, has been conspicuously unfair to them as a class. The chief legacy which the dictators left to their sev- eral countries was an intense and aggressive spirit of na- tionalism. An unprogressive and disunited public saw them accomplish what may well be termed wonders in ad- ministration, in economic development, in educational progress, if the comparatively short period of their terms and the condition of the newly founded republics are taken into account. Guzman-Bianco in Venezuela did much for education, reformed the civil and penal codes, opposed the plots of foreign governments, stimulated industry, pro- tected the arts, and upheld the rights of the Venezuelan nation; Lavalleja of Uruguay, with his band of “Thirty- Three” and the cry “Liberty or Death,” stood for “an orderly independence, a disciplined liberty”; and Rosas, now a bloodthirsty tyrant, now a benevolent despot, built up Argentina, introduced practical methods in industry, developed a constructive financial policy, and gave the common people, especially his favorite gauchos, of whom he was one, a political and social equality with the upper classes. The work of Rosas [comments Senor F. Garda Calderon] was profoundly Argentine. It presents a triple civilising sig- nificance; it overcame the partial caudillos, conquered the wilder- ness, and founded an organic confederation. Traditional, for it respected ancient liberties; opportunist, adapted at the critical moment of national evolution, for it prevented the disaggrega- tion of the provinces by the labours of unconscious leaders. Like The Growth of Nationalism 197 Porfirio Diaz, Rosas destroyed the provincial caudillos; he was a Machiavelli of the pampas. . . . “Rosas is the Louis XI. of Argentine history,” said Ernesto Quesada, with justice; for over the heads of the feudal barons he raised a magnificent Unitarian structure; he was the creator of Argentine nationality. As much may be urged for many another dictator. Most of them, for the very reason that they wished to represent themselves as saviors of their countries, gave an epic tone to their opposition to foreign interests and by unceasing iteration drummed into the heads of their ‘ ‘ fellow-citizens ’ ’ a national consciousness of which they were the highest representatives. The process was artificial in the extreme and based on principles of elementary psychology, but it served its purpose and lost none of its effectiveness simply because it was artificial. And unquestionably a few of them were sincere patriots who worked against foreign perils not because they risked nothing more than the prosperity and the lives of their countrymen, but because they believed in the dangers and were willing to risk their own fortunes and heads in combating them. Even a belated dictator like Cipriano Castro of Venezuela, whose international squabbles provoked a storm of wrathful ridicule, had a high, if exaggerated, spirit of patriotism and stoutly in- sisted on the treatment due a regularly constituted nation. MODERN METHODS OF INSPIRING PATRIOTISM The nationalistic education of the public has now re- placed the violent methods of the dictators. Patriotism and nationalism are taught in the schools either openly or by indirection. The national songs of Latin America, — many of which surpass in beauty of thought and music those of far more prominent nations, — are sung daily with fire and fervor throughout the length and breadth of Latin American lands. The adoration of the flag as the symbol of the na- tion is invested with a religious solemnity : and the children of immigrants, as well as the native-born children, quickly become infected, as Mr. J. O. P. Bland points out, with 198 The Growth of Nationalism that love of the flag which all nations most aspire to im- plant in the breasts of the growing generations: . . . All this flotsam and jetsam from the shores of Europe is being rapidly and consciously amalgamated into a new and sturdy generation of Argentinos. The sons of an Englishman, born here of a native woman, will grow up without knowledge of the English tongue and not desire to learn it. In the colonists’ school attached to the factory [there is a separate one for Indians] the cult of the flag is a very sincere and serious ceremony, in which the children take intense pride. From Cuba and Mexico down to the nethermost tip of the South American continent, the national history of each republic is taught by means of nationally adopted text- books setting forth the glories of the Fatherland and dis- counting its defects, though often, as in Francisco Valdes Vergara’s Historia de Chile, treating with surprising im- partiality both the good and the bad. Many of the repub- lics have introduced into their schools books of the nature of the Argentine Espora’s Episodios nacionales (National Episodes), which are a challenge to young readers of all classes to emulate the patriotic self-sacrifice and unques- tioning loyalty of the men, women and children of low and high rank whose exploits are narrated in a ringing, melo- dramatic style. Recently, the Minister of Public Instruc- tion of Venezuela issued an order to the inspectors of schools requesting them to substitute patriotic readings dealing with the life of Bolivar and other heroes of the War of Independence for many of the less significant books now in use. The larger and more mature public is similarly induced to patriotic ardor by the broader educational agencies of public discussion, newspaper, panegyrics, national exposi- tions and congresses, literary contests, political oratory, and regionalistic poems, novels, plays and operas. REGIONALISTIC LITERATURE AND PATRIOTISM The regionalistic phase of Latin American literature has, in fact, resulted in the strongest and best works which Latin American writers have thus far produced: The Growth of Nationalism 199 and regionalism is, of course, in the final analysis, synony- mous with patriotism and nationalism. A whole literature with a deeply regionalistic and na- tionalistic substratum of feeling has grown up about the gaucho, or cowboy, of the southern plains of South Amer- ica. The gaucho typifies, particularly for Argentina, the independent spirit, the hardihood, the naive sentimentality, the quick presence of mind, and the promptness to action which all effete countries, or those on the road to becoming effete, are fond of recalling as a sign of what their virile manhood once was. The gaucho is to Argentine writers what our trappers, our Daniel Boones, our cowboys, apotheosized in the tales of James Fenimore Cooper and 0. Henry, are to our story- tellers. Though nearly extinct, the gaucho survives as a national hero. He is the most characteristically epic figure wrought by Latin American civilization, and Sarmiento has aptly chosen him in Facundo for the protagonist in his half- romantic, half-philosophical treatise on Argentine evolu- tion and the pernicious policies of Juan Manuel de Rosas. The gaucho’ s home, the pampas, his inner life, his taking of the law in his hands, his simple, poetic improvisation, his devotion to his horse, his melancholy, his fondness for the guitar have been the theme of the Argentine writers Echeverrta, J. M. Gutierrez ( Amoves del Payador, The Loves of the Minstrel), Bartolome Mitre, Ricardo Gutierrez ( Fausto , Faust: The impressions of the gaucho, Anastasio el Polio, at the performance of the opera deal- ing with Goethe’s hero), Jose Hernandez ( Martin Fierro: the story of a gaucho driven to outlawry by his misfor- tunes), and many other poets, novelists, and playwrights, among whom should be mentioned Francisco Bauza of Uruguay. Everywhere the gaucho is represented as the primeval Argentinian or Uruguayan out of whom grew the rich and complicated civilization of to-day. The gaucho is, too, a tribute to the ability of Latin Amer- ican writers to create a genuinely original literary species. That the gaucho literature, either from its national or its 200 The Growth of Nationalism esthetic qualities, is peculiarly attractive even in transla- tion may be gathered from the comment of a wide reader of Latin American literature: “The most interesting trans- lation from South America, according to my tastes, is ‘Three Plays from the Argentine’ . . . gaucho — cowboy or outlaw — dramas, naive and vigorous, as they are given in the traveling theatres, a curious local development.” Throughout Latin America, in fact, national customs and manners and national history now occupy the first place in the repertory of both popular and scholarly writers. Maria by Jorge Isaacs, the Colombian — the favorite novel of Latin America, and an idyl that recalls Chateaubriand, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, and Edgar Allan Poe’s Raven — has been known in English for nearly half a century, and Marroquin’s Pax, Marmot's Amalia, Alberto Blest Gana’s Martin Rivas, and a few regionalistic works by Rufino Blanco-Fombona and other Latin Amer- ican authors have recently been made available in English translations. But these works by no means complete the tale of the tremendous output of regionalistic literature during the past half century. Pastor Obligado, Carlos Maria Ocantos, and Emma B. de la Barra of Argentina, Luis Orrego Luco, Enrique del Solar, and Alberto Blest Gana of Chile, Rufino Blanco-Fombona and Manuel Diaz Rodriquez of Venezuela, Ricardo Palma of Peru, Justo Sierra and Jose Maria Roa Barcena of Mexico, Carlos Reyles and Eduardo Acevedo Dias of Uruguay, Fernandez Guardia and Aquiles Echeverria of Costa Rica, Federico Garcia Godoy of the Dominican Republic, Manuel Zeno Gandia and Manuel Fernandez Juneos of Porto Rico, Jesus Castellanos of Cuba, besides a whole school of regionalists in Brazil, are only a handful out of the great multitude of Latin American men and women of letters who are finding inspiration in the national life of their countries and giving the national life a more elevated status in the eyes of their fellow-citizens. Out of this plethora of regionalism a few classics may be expected with confidence. The Growth of Nationalism 201 FEAR OF THE UNITED STATES AND LATIN AMERICAN patriotism; The internal incitements to the growth of nationalism, detailed in the preceding paragraphs, are supplemented by an ever-present external factor — the southward pres- sure of the United States. The fears felt by the Latin American republics are in every way identical with the feelings of the countries surrounding ante-bellum Ger- many. The United States looms up as a huge avalanche, gathering momentum year by year, cutting oft a corner of Latin America at periodic intervals, and certain in the end, unless superhuman efforts are made, to engulf every- thing below the Rio Grande — at least, so reason many other- wise sane and enlightened Latin Americans. The convic- tion is firmly rooted that a malevolent plan of absorption is being carried out with implacable conscientiousness, and that Latin American nationality is under present condi- tions totally unable to withstand annihilation. The United States is to Latin America, in many quarters, what the “Bear that walks like a man” has been to European states- men since the days of Peter the Great : and Latin America is helpless, because it cannot help itself nor, on account of the Monroe Doctrine, enter into entangling alliances. Always behind the growing cordiality between Latin America and the United States lurk the fears appealed to with some virulence by Senor Rufino Blanco-Fombona, perhaps the most distinguished contemporary litterateur of Venezuela, but harbored in secret by thinking Latin Americans of more moderate temperament: The United States was until the first war with Mexico a people without militaristic or imperialistic ambitions, the model and the home of civic liberty. All South America ad- mired it with the same ardor with which to-day it detests it for its fraudulent elections, its trusts, its Tammany Hall . . . its shirt-sleeve diplomacy, its university professors who write about Spanish America with supine ignorance, its explosion of the Maine, its Panama secession, its seizure of the finances of Honduras, its control of the custom-houses of Santo Domingo, the blood which it spilled and the independence which it de- The Growth of Nationalism 202 stroyed in Nicaragua, tlie revolutions which it foments in Mexico and its landing at Vera Cruz, its claim of 81,500,000 bolivares against Venezuela when in reality only 2,182,253 were due it, according to the verdict of a foreign arbitrator, its Alsop claim against Chile, its ill-concealed views on the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador and the Chinchas Islands of Peru, its daily affirmation that Argentine statistics are not worth believing, its pretensions of hindering Brazil from valorizing its coffee as seems best to it, its knocking in the head of Porto Rico, its Platt amendment to the Cuban Constitution, its purposeful conversion of its cables and newspapers into a discrediting bureau against all and each of the American republics, its aggressive imperialism, its entire conduct, with respect to Latin America for the past half-century. Convictions like these, though discredited by the diplo- matic activities of the United States since the beginning of this century, by the friendly reception by the newspapers of any material favorable to Latin America, by the tre- mendous circulation of the Pan American Bulletin, the South American, the Pan American Magazine, and other periodicals consistently devoted to the presentation of laudatory and appreciative articles on Latin America, by the earnest efforts of teachers to dispel antiquated notions about the Latin American republics, by the publication of innumerable books which make a point of emphasizing the merits and passing over the defects of those countries, by our withdrawal from Cuba and Santo Domingo and our abstention from positive political interference in Mexico, naturally carry weight in Latin America when uttered by men of standing. They reinforce the nationalistic senti- ments of the countries on our frontiers, such as Cuba, Mexico, Central America, Santo Domingo, Venezuela, and Colombia, foster the ambitions of Argentina, Chile, and the more distant republics to try to attain to a development which will enable them to shake off our influence on their destiny, and cause Latin America as a whole to rise up in indignation whenever the United States appears to in- fringe the rights or wound the feelings of any one of the republics by military, political, or commercial means. The double effect of the heightening of the national spirit from within by the instrumentality of education, social and The Growth of Nationalism 203 commercial expansion, and newspaper and political indoc- trination, and of the stiffening of the national backbone by pressure from without has already led to a species of jingoism in Argentina and Chile. The preponderance of Argentina, Chile, and Brazil has caused some tremors among their smaller neighbors, and, consequently, a more emphatic nationalism. THE “ENTENTE” IDEA SUPPLANTING THE IDEA OF CONFEDERATION Everything, indeed, portends in Latin American a dupli- cation of European conditions, with notions of strongly marked individuality, and the necessity for evolving some form of “balance of power.” The age of alliance and ententes has already dawned in Latin America, because the republics have developed into genuine nations. Such confederations as the Central American Union are ana- chronistic if construed under the old meaning of “federa- tion” or “confederation” : but as an entente among nations, the Central American Union may thrive. If it has really been projected as an ordinary “confederation,” it is fore- doomed, like previous similar combinations, to failure. The rise of nationalism in Latin America is one of the most significant political and social phenomena of this present-day modern world, and deserves much closer study than has as yet been accorded to it. “As to what may happen,” observes Viscount Bryce in concluding his chapter on “The Rise of New Nations” in South America, “when one or two of the South American countries have reached the population and wealth of France or Italy, it is vain to speculate. Those who live to see that day will see a world wholly unlike ours.” Speculation on this score is, nevertheless, highly allur^ ing, particularly in view of the certainty that not one or two, but at least a dozen nations with the population and wealth of France and Italy will one day, through natural growth alone, share the Western Hemisphere with the United States. Brazil already has a population of 30,000,- 000 people as compared with the 41,500,000 of France and the 40,000,000 of Italy. CHAPTER IX SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Political stability, peace, increasing affluence, the removal of isolation, and the growth of a national consciousness have so modified our national characteristics that we can now read with equanimity the criticism of Harriet Mar- tineau, Mrs. Trollope, Captain Basil Hall, Dickens, or Captain Marryat. EARLY EUROPEAN CRITICISM Returning home [relates Mr. John Graham Brooks in that delectable volume, As Others See Us, which every American and every visitor to America should read], I at once reread Dickens’s “American Notes” and the parts of “Martin Chuz- zlewit” which refer to the United States. I had forgotten the lively resentment roused by their first reading. What had happened that thirty years later the smart of his grossest caricatures had utterly disappeared? It was partly because one recognized so much truth in the picture. The critic of Latin American social and personal habits may well reflect on the state of our customs and manners as they appeared to English, French, and German observers down to a recent date before condemning too sweepingly the Latin American customs and manners which irritate him; and the Latin American may peruse with tranquil philosophy strictures on his countries which time and acquaintance will quickly modify. Already the tone of American travelers and observers is changing for the better. In an illuminating chapter on 1 1 Certain South American Traits,” Professor Hiram Bingham, in Across South America, compares many of the every-day habits of Latin Americans with those of our social customs and practices wdiich were satirized by Dickens something over seventy^ five years ago : 204 Social Development 205 Although it is true that the historical and geographical back- ground of the South Americans is radically different from ours, it is also true that they have many social and superficial characteristics very like those which European travellers found in the United States fifty years ago. The period of time is not accidental. The South American Republics secured their independence nearly fifty years later than we did. Moreover, they have been hampered in their advancement by natural diffi- culties and racial antipathies much more than we have. Al- though the conditions of life in the United States, as depicted by foreign critics seventy-five years after the battle of York- towu, were decidedly worse than the conditions of life seventy- five years after the battle of Ayacucho, the resemblances be- tween the faults that were found with us fifty years ago and those that are noticeable among the South Americans of to-day, are too striking to be merely coincidences. It is surely not for us to say that there is anything inherently wrong with our Southern neighbors if their shortcomings are such as we ourselves had not long ago, and possibly have to-day. Our habits were undoubtedly what Dickens reported, but they were not our only habits nor our best ones. In the new and pioneer surroundings which Dickens described, our table-manners most certainly left much to be desired. That any good came to Englishmen or to ourselves from the humorous and not altogether kindly portrayal of the way we ate, of what we ate, of how we handled our knives, of what our social etiquette in general was, may seriously be questioned. Dickens wrote to batten the pride of his countrymen, to put us in our place, and to simulate the impartial observer of strange lower races. Not far different in purpose are the caustic American criticisms of Latin American manners and mannerisms. But they lead to nothing — except animosity. They are not valuable contributions to sociology, nor are they usually even humorous. A much more profitable study is that which concerns itself with the broader social and cultural movements inevitably altering individual and group customs and man- ners. The progressive development of antiseptic measures has done more to refine our manners than any comments by foreign or native cavilers, and the unfolding of the arts and the teachings of the schools have made intolerable 206 Social Development the idiosyncrasies of nations wholly immersed in the be- ginnings in the acquisition of the means of subsistence. Judged by our highest standards, the ways of many of our immigrants, laborers, farmers, and negroes must seem deplorable: but those ways are being constantly improved by forces outside the homes and beyond the personal initiative of the lower strata of our society. The same thing is true in Latin America. So long as the upper and the lower castes remained separated by a world of tradition, the difference in habits was striking, and sometimes shock- ing. The new era of industrial, educational, and cultural advancement is, however, effectually raising the standard of living of the less fortunate members of society and slowly, yet perceptibly, eliminating those crude public mannerisms which prove offensive to fastidious tourists. The basic elements of Latin American character are such as to preserve it from gross vulgarity. It is inherently sociable and imitative, and abnormally sensitive to criti- cism. The individual does not often dare to go counter to established good usage. The desire to keep up appearances is universal. As soon as changes in customs are sanctioned by that respectable, anonymous segment of society which decrees what is socially right or wrong, their acceptance at large is assured. FOREIGN INFLUENCES ON LATIN AMERICAN SOCIAL USAGE The makers of customs and manners, once entirely under the sway of Spanish ideals, are now looking to France, England, and the United States for social guidance. French art, feminine fashions, mental concepts, and, to a certain degree, social usage, hold a dictatorial position in most of the republics. In men’s attire, sports, industrial or commercial equipment or forms, and, here and there, architectural arrangements, England and the United States are the more recent arbiters, though, of course, the style in houses is predominantly of the old Spanish type, with the French structure serving as the model in such cities as Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. In many cities, the cuisine is French, and in many commercial houses, the Social Development 207 business practice is English or American. Advanced or “radical” ideas are introduced by foreigners from Europe, with an especially noticeable influence in the industrial centers. The progressive social movements of Latin America originate either in Europe or the United States. Such facts as these point to an inevitable alteration in customs and manners. It is possible to see foreign habits visibly attaching themselves to traditional native habits and gradually obliterating them. The fondness for foot- ball and the turf in the South has already driven out bull- fights and is sharing the honors with the chasse a la femme in the minds of Latin American adolescents. Italian, Ger- man, and Russian laboriousness have changed the former leisurely, sociable life of Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. Instead of putting off all personal activity until manana the modern Porteno or inhabitant of Buenos Aires, and tbe modern Paulista hustle like Americans, forget some of the age-old street courtesies, and reveal themselves in a new light as frenzied seekers after Mammon. It will, to be sure, be a great pity if the Latin American loses in the transition to modern ways that Latin polite- ness which to us seems excessive and somewhat hypocritical. His courteous address is almost always to be preferred to our brusqueness and apparently frank, but often deceptive, directness. There is no particular virtue in manners stripped of gentility and urbanity. The Latin American verbiage may signify no more than our curtness, and his ceremoniousness may be no more cordial than our blunt- ness : but they do, however, probably signify as much. Any American who has lived long in Latin America comes to have a warm spot in his heart for the courtly manners which forbid mockery of the execrable Spanish so frequently assaulting Latin American ears — a broken language which, if duplicated in Anglo-Saxon countries, excites guffaws and crude ridicule — and for the considera- tion which requires that the head shall be uncovered when a funeral procession passes. The early age at which boys and girls assume the dignity and the savoir-faire of their elders is not to be deplored nor regarded as shallow. The 208 Social Development long childhood and boisterous ways of the average Amer- ican boy and girl, while suggestive, perhaps, of exuberant animal spirits and a normal development toward an age of reason, are not always the most highly pleasant feature of our social life. If the Latin Americans appear to make their young people prematurely old, we on the other hand tend to keep our adolescents needlessly noisy and childlike : and they are no more priggish in their point of view than we are in ours. Surveying the Latin American social, spiritual, and mental characteristics impartially, we find, in fact, that they are not in any fundamental detail different from the common characteristics of any of the Latin races of Europe, the French, for example. In spite of the long connection with the Roman Catholic Church and in spite of the position of that church as the official representative of the national religion, tolerance of creed is as general and as sincere in Latin America as in the United States or England. The Protestant churches in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico are as well protected and as little disturbed as they are in France. Racial tolerance, too, is treated as in France : and though the color line is drawn in some of the upper circles much more rigidly than we have any conception of, the attitude toward the negro is, on the whole, of the French type, and not at all the sentiment of repugnance and hostility usually exhibited in the United States. Notwithstanding the lack of discrimination against the negro, and perhaps because of it, the major crimes such as rape, for which the negroes are mainly responsible in the United States, are practically unknown in Latin America. In any case, whether that racial tolerance is commendable or not, Latin America has thus far avoided a negro problem in the north, and can- not have any in the south because of the almost total absence of the negro. On the more positive side, too, the Latin American character has many affiliations with the character of the Latin races of Europe. It is artistic to a pronounced degree, free from intellectual dogmatism, and naturally Social Development 209 well-bred. This does not mean, of course, that the Latin Americans are any less superstitious than the rest of man- kind, or intellectually superior, or kinder or better at heart. Travelers have brought back enough instances of their peculiar and unattractive traditions, their slowness to join the forces of progress, and the discords in their architec- ture, dress, and adornments to dispel any such notion. But comparing like strata and like environments, it would be unjust to refuse to recognize that the Latin American tem- perament, customs, and manners are identical with the French, Italian, or Spanish. The wealthier, educated classes have the European Latin culture and charm, and the working people that quietness of bearing and that naturally simple and equable philosophy which mark the Latin working people of Europe. PHYSICAL CULTURE AND ATHLETICS Among the newer influences which are bringing a breath of fresh air into Latin American community life and dis- sipating the staleness of traditional indoor diversions, none offers more positive benefits than calisthenics in the schools, athletics, or sports in general. England and the United States, from whom the fondness for athletics is taken, are thus remodeling in one most important direction the scheme of Latin American exist- ence. The growing generation in several of the Latin American republics is thereby divesting itself of its less useful antiquated Latinity and acquiring a taste for phys- ical energy which has not been a distinguishing trait of previous generations. It is substituting an outdoor excite- ment for indoor excitement. Some writers explain that the love for gambling, which has always been one of the plagues of Latin America, is traceable chiefly to the instincts of the aboriginal Indians, as are alcoholism and petty thievery. The southern European, who constitutes the largest element in immigra- tion, is represented as naturally abstemious and, though given to gambling, not dominated, like the Indians, by an 210 Social Development unreasoning passion for it. The truth is probably to be found between the two extremes. That the Indian has never learned self-control is undoubted : but it is also certain that the southern European, even at home, is not nearly as sober as conven- tional opinion paints him. Zola’s L’Assommoir is a faith- ful description of the dregs of society in Paris, and the dramshop and the Americanized bar, if not of long stand- ing in France, Italy, and Spain, have of late years become recognized institutions. Moreover, the evil influence of the brandy and soda of the English should not be over- looked. The gambling propensities, too, of the southern Europeans are as highly developed as are those of the Indians, and were not acquired by contamination. It is, in fact, only in the countries with a large Indian popula- tion, such as Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, that the inclination for heavy gambling and drinking may be ascribed to the Indians, and then, only in the rural districts. In the cities, those failings have resulted almost entirely from the prac- tices of Europeans. The governmental protection given to the lotteries, by which many American visitors are scandalized, is simply an adoption of a European custom: and such “plunging” as the betting of between $25,000,000 and $30,000,000 annually on horse-racing in Buenos Aires is the consequence of a distinctly European fever for excitement and “easy money,” comparable with the giddy speculation in land in Argentina. The Indian, in truth, has had as little to do with the ruling passions of the white man in Latin America as in North America. Public and private agencies are actively engaged in breaking down these sedentary, enervating, and impoverish- ing habits. Physical culture has become one of the fixed requirements of the school system in every Latin American country. In the Caribbean republics, base-ball, stimulated by its popularity in the United States and by the support of the teachers, has almost become the national sport. In the southern republics, the English game of football i* JOCKEY CLUBS GRANDSTAND AT THE RACE TRACK. Social Development 211 played with enthusiasm, and the results chronicled daily in the newspapers. Target-practice, bicycling, and boating are common. The boat-clubs on the Rio Tigre, near Bueno* Aires, are numerous, are generally composed of members of the same nationality, and in some cases are of unusual size, the British rowing club being considered one of the largest, if not the largest, organization of the kind in the world. The international athletic tournaments of Latin America have become important social events. The Fourth South American Championship Athletic Contest, held in Santiago, Chile, in April, 1920, aroused great public in- terest, and resulted in the award of first place to Chile, second place to Uruguay, and third place to Argentina. Apropos of the Central American Olympic Games, held in 1921 in Guatemala, the Diario del Comercio, one of the newspapers of San Jose, Costa Rica, comments as follows: Sports are daily assuming larger proportions. Baseball, foot- ball, tennis, golf, boxing, and many others have fervent de- votees, among whom figure the most distinguished personages in the political, social, and financial world. The Central Ameri- can people is becoming thoroughly convinced of the great value of physical culture and of the high place which it occupies in the development of nations. The governments of the southern countries of South America, especially, appear anxious to encoui’age outdoor sport as an innocent outlet for the animal spirits of the young. In 1920 the municipality of Buenos Aires made over to the Mariano Moreno National College an extensive athletic field, to be provided with the most modern equip- ment and ample bathing facilities: and the State Congress of Sao Paulo now has under consideration a petition for the construction of an amusement center in the city of Sao Paulo, which is to include pavilions and bathrooms for sea-baths — the water for which will be piped from Santos — and a large field for athletic events. The school authorities of Peru hold physical tests of school children in running, jumping, and chinning, and in one of these, according to Professor Edward A. Ross, made on 1500 212 Social Development children of Lima, the comparative race performance was as follows: negroes 50, whites 35, cholos (mestizos) 28, Indians 14. Industrial concerns, such as the Guggenheim Company, now consider it a part of their duty to maintain play- grounds, recreation centers, and supervisors of physical education for their employees and the children of the lat- ter ; wealthy individuals donate prizes for athletic prowess ; the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A., as is to be expected, make athletics an important item in their programmes; and the boy-scout movement has spread all over Latin America. The intense interest in automobiling and aviation is likewise a strong contributing factor in carrying to the Latin Americans the call of the great out-doors and the joy of physical exercise. In the course of a few generations, the physical results of such cooperation by public and private agencies should become visible even to the casual onlooker. That beneficial social changes will ensue as a logical consequence goes without saying. In all such movements, the outstanding and important fact is that they are becoming socialized. Individuals have always had their favorite diversions, but there has been no unified endeavor to inculcate the habit of wholesome physical exercise in the social classes which need it most. Even in sanitation and personal hygiene, the principle of laissez-faire has predominated to a deplorable degree. NEW CONCEPTION OF SANITATION The veritable army of physicians — of whom there are over 2500 in Buenos Aires alone, 400 in Montevideo, 100 in Caracas, about 1000 in Mexico City, and nearly 3000 in the island of Cuba — and the excellent and surprisingly numerous hospitals and clinics, equal to the best in any other part of the world, have carried on their healing labors time out of mind in the most efficient manner, but with regard principally for the cases actually in hand, and not in the broader, more modern sense of public survey, prevention, and eradication. To-day, the neces- Social Development 213 sary connection between the medical profession and the public authorities has been established, and public health projects have been undertaken through concerted action and in many instances already brought to successful com- pletion. At the present time, Cuba, as the following table demon- strates, ranks as the most healthful country in the world : Country Cuba Australia . . , Uruguay United States England .... S'pain Deaths per thousand 12.54 12.60 13.40 15.00 17.70 29.70 Unable, until the American occupation, to cope with it« perennial scourges, in spite of its expert physicians, trained in the best schools of Europe and the United States, and its splendid hospitals, clinics, and sanatoriums, Cuba then learned what might be accomplished by genuine public cooperation, and has taken the lesson to heart. It owes its superior standing in health to the socializing sanitary methods of the United States, though its debt to one of its own physicians, Dr. Carlos Juan Finlay, the discoverer of the cause of yellow fever, should never be forgotten. What Cuba has done for the prevention of yellow fever, tuberculosis, and other ravaging diseases, has since been duplicated in several Latin American republics, sometimes, as at Guayaquil, Ecuador, with the assistance of the Rocke- feller Foundation, and at other times, as at Rio de Janeiro, through the efforts of their own medical men and scientists. Besides the admirable medical work in Latin America done under ordinary conditions, which has been described in some detail and heartily praised by Dr. William J. Mayo after a personal inspection, the general tendency to consider sanitary and hygienic conditions as subjects of public interest and concern deserves special attention. It marks clearly the break between the old, individualistic viewpoint and the modern, social attitude, and indicates 214 Social Development the effect of health regulations on personal habits and social conduct. The ports of the West Coast and Brazil, which have always borne a bad reputation among travelers and sea- men because of the ravages of yellow fever, are now per- fectly safe, thanks to the stringent measures adopted and enforced with regard to stagnant water. In Chile 3,000,000 pesos (at normal exchange $.3650) have been voted recently for sanitary improvements in the cities, particularly in the north. The Department of Health of Paraguay has started a campaign against the hook-worm, with which a large percentage of the suburban population is infected, and has promulgated rules of personal hygiene in the endeavor to diminish the number of deaths, now amount- ing to 20 per cent, due to this disease. The tropical diseases of Brazil were vigorously combated by a group of bacteriologists under the guidance of the celebrated Dr. Oswaldo Cruz, during his lifetime, and the attack is being carried forward by his assistants, an essential feature of the work consisting in the dissemination of knowledge con- cerning the ailments under treatment. An executive decree of February 18, 1921, prohibiting the importation of narcotics in Chile except for medicinal and pharmaceutical purposes, constitutes a vigorous attempt to control the drug habit which, as in our metropolitan cities, has left indelible marks of physical and mental deterioration on the large numbers of “addicts.” In these and many other ways, such as the organization of the Latin American branches of the Red Cross, sanitary and dental conferences, the increasing employment of American nurses and the consequent acceptance of Amer- ican methods in Peru, Argentina, Central America, and elsewhere, the teaching of hygiene in the schools and by means of public lectures and demonstrations, and the appointment of specialists to investigate the progress made in public sanitation and hygiene in the United States and the different European countries, the progressive Latin America of to-day is becoming differentiated from the Social Development 215 proverbial Latin America and is fully entitled to the words of commendation uttered by M. Clemeneeau : Argentine officials, like their French brethren, are both fallible and zealous, and while it was impossible that in so many visits there should be no ground for criticism, yet I am anxious to declare publicly how admirably kept were the schools of what- ever degree, the hospitals, asylums, refuges, and prisons; they were not only adapted to all the requirements of therapeutics, hygiene, and the canons of modem European science, but they showed a genuine effort to do better than the best. I should have been glad to have there some of those who make a practice of disdaining these countries that started very long after us, but that can already give us some salutary lessons through institutions such as those I have named, which are here brought to a pitch of perfection that is in many cases unknown with us. SOCIAL “MOVEMENTS” The testimony of shrewd observers like M. Clemeneeau as to social improvement in Latin America is uncommonly valuable. The impression that practically nothing of the kind really exists is so often taken for granted that evi- dence to the contrary by noted men and women is of inter- national educational import. Even friendly students of Latin America are sometimes mistaken, and the statement of Mr. Clayton S. Cooper that South America, is not a region known for its social move- ments, and apart from what is done by the charities of the Catholic Church, the country as a whole is poor in activities aimed at the betterment of society as such. In this also the South American is as unlike the North American with his multitudinous ‘‘causes” and movements for social betterment, as he is like the Oriental in his emphasis upon individualism and family devotion, needs restriction. Indeed, what is peculiarly characteristic of the Latin America of the twentieth century is that it is taking up every foreign “cause” and movement with avidity, par- ticularly in the South and on the West Coast, and giving them an enthusiastic trial. In some cases, exceedingly original experiments of a social nature have been made in 216 Social Development Latin America which will undoubtedly be tried in other countries. One of these innovations is the socialization of newspaper plants, as instanced in the multifarious activities carried on in the building of La Prensa, the Buenos Aires daily. Another is the furnishing of the correct time each evening in Montevideo by the dimming of all the electric lights in the city for a brief moment, followed by the flash back to normal brilliancy. Everybody, whether at home, on the streets, in the tramcars, or in the restaurants thus gets absolutely correct time once a day, and the tremendous variations in time which are generally found in any city are simply and easily done away with. It is possible, too, that an interesting feature noted by Dr. William J. Mayo in one of the hospitals of Montevideo may have a wider social application than has so far been given to it. In this hospital, “to prevent flies from entering the operating rooms, persons pass from the main corridor through a small anteroom with blue glass ceiling, sides, and door. It has been demonstrated that flies will not pass through this blue-lighted space.” PROHIBITION IN LATIN AMERICA The temperance movement is one of the live social issues in many Latin American countri^ It preoccupies the minds of government officials, educators, public-spirited citizens, and businessmen. /In Peru the means taken to combat alcoholism are directed primarily at the Indian, who appears totally in- capable of resisting the allurement of strong drink — the only panacea easily obtainable for the assuagement of an existence sometimes hard and grinding and generally in- credibly monotonous Private companies have made a special study of the problems and introduced many of the remedial measures employed in the United States. The Grace Company has, on one of its great sugar estates, at Cartavia, provided a church, a schoolhouse, and a motion picture theater not merely for the resulting spiritual and intellectual benefits, but quite as much for the opposition Social Development 217 offered by these institutions to the natives’ propensity for spending their spare time at the shops where chicha is sold : and the returns in sobriety have amply repaid the finan- cial investment. Since 1913 the teaching of the evil effects of alcoholic drink has been obligatory in the public schools of Peru, following a campaign dating back to 1896, and fomented by at least three influential societies, the League for Anti- Alcoholic Propaganda, the National Temperance League, founded by the Rev. Ruperto Algorta, and the Children’s League of Temperance. Finding that the government tax on liquor, first imposed in 1885, has scarcely diminished the consumption of alcoholic beverages and simply in- creased “bootlegging” and other forms of evasion, The temperance forces have finally, after years of pressure, succeeded in having a law passed which prohibits the sale of alcoholic drink on Saturdays and Sundays, the period of greatest temptation to the Indians^, and, according to recent reports, has been extended so as to make illegal the use of beverages containing even a low percentage of alcohol. Bolivia, likewise, has promulgated a law for the closing of saloons on Sundays, with summary treatment for offenders : and a constitutional amendment has been presented to the Congress of Colombia for restriction in the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The temperance question in Chile is an even more serious matter than in the other republics. There, it is the white man, as well as the descendants of the Indians, who must be protected against himself: and the power of the grape- growers has been so strong as to resist all attempts to disrupt the liquor traffic. Various organizations are now at work arousing a spirit of protest against the most flagrant abuses connected with intemperance, and some of the large industrial firms, including the Braden Copper Company, are enforcing prohibition among their employees. The leader in the temperance cause is Don Carlos Fernandez Pena, whose pioneer activities have had much to do with the creation of the Anti-Alcoholic League and the Commission of Temperance and Social Study. The 218 Social Development aid of the women of Chile has been invoked as the most potent instrumentality for controlling what has developed into a national vice. Whether rigid prohibition can ever be attained in Chile may be a matter of debate: but that some limitations will be placed on alcoholism, particularly among the working classes, can hardly be disputed. A law is now before the Chilean Congress for the establishment of “dry zones” in the industrial districts, and the recent riots in the Lota coal fields, said to be due almost entirely to liquor, will unquestionably aid in the passage of the projected bill. The industrial ambitions of Chile, if nothing else, will bring about some scheme of regulation, for without steady labor, industrial development runs too many hazards. We may expect, in fact, the same sharp conflict between the vineyardists and the vested liquor interests and the pro- prietors of manufacturing and other industrial establish- ments as arose between the liquor purveyors and the owners of industrial plants in the United States. The first honors in our battle for prohibition belong without question to the women of our country : but the credit belonging to our “captains of industry,” whether because of their modesty or their diplomacy, has never been acknowledged in a sufficiently public manner. Few of the Latin American countries, from Mexico south- ward, are without prohibition societies and leaders. The movement is naturally sponsored mainly by the women of the educated classes, but counts among its faithful adherents men of the most prominent positions in the political, social, and intellectual life of the republics. The desire to save from extinction the native races which have been slaves to alcohol since the days of the Conquest has been the principal motive of the temperance propaganda in many of the countries: in others, where the Indian population is small, the endeavor is made to stem the brutalization of the working classes, which, because of the racial mixture in the large cities and the presence of so many Europeans without family connections, have taken Social Development 219 to drink much more generally than should be supposed possible for southern Europeans. For the Indians and mestizos of Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile, pulque, chicha, and their congeners have been an undeniable curse, and nobody can fail to sympathize with the attempts made to lessen the serious- ness of that phase of the liquor problem, whatever may be his individual opinions about the merits of prohibition in general. The destruction caused by alcohol would, as the Rev. Dr. Zahm suggests, be much more formidable if a large part of South America had not been preserved from its debasing influence by the popularity of mate (Paraguay tea) as a stimulating beverage. As in the campaign against intoxicants, so in other social- izing enterprises, the quiet but penetrating influence of the United States is manifest. The northern half of Latin America, of course, because of its proximity to the United States, quickly absorbs, by a species of social osmosis, the fluid contents of all the processes of amelioration, select- ing those elements best adapted to its own special environ- ment. The material contact is so close that absorption is almost as inevitable as a law of nature. But in the southern half of Latin America, also, in spite of the local attitude toward the Monroe Doctrine and the feeling of suspicion kept alive by national sensitiveness and the insinuations of European political and industrial interests, American social measures, like American scien- tific and commercial improvements, find a ready acceptance and the flattery of imitation. The benefits resulting from our conferences of mayors and governors have been appreciated in Peru, where a Congress of the mayors of the country is to be held during the centennial celebration. Our study of housing condi- tions, together with the investigations proceeding in England and Germany, has in all probability inspired the First Habitation Congress which met in Buenos Aires in September, 1920, and considered the relief of the housing problem, new legislation concerning dwellings, the record- ing of leases, local rent tariffs, the inspection of dwellings, 220 Social Development financial measures tending to facilitate the construction of buildings, and the betterment of rural homes. HOUSING AND PRISON REFORM Improvements, too, are frequently made on the ideas brought in from abroad. Thus, the working population of the Bangu weaving mills at Rio de Janeiro has been provided with pretty chalets of the most perfect sanitary construction; the employees of the Fray Bentos factory of beef extract live in a model city in which agreeable homes, recreation grounds, and medical inspection are pro- vided by the company ; the miners and administrative force of the Chuquicamata plant, Chile, enjoy living quarters and social conveniences not excelled in our most “up-to- date” industrial towns; and the Widows' Asylum of Buenos Aires, arranged in a series of small apartments, is rented at an extremely low figure, and contains in the courtyard, as an additional convenience, an open-air com- munity kitchen. The proper protection of minors, prison reform — concerning which the governor of the Central Prison of Buenos Aires remarked to M. Clemenceau, “I have seen most of the prisons of Europe. Do you notice amongst our inmates that expression of the tracked beast which you find on all your prisoners? No. Our inmates have one idea only — to begin life again and to prepare, this time, for success” — the founding of agricultural penal colonies, such as that of “Ulloa” in Colombia, the Sunday “blue laws” recently enacted in Bolivia, typify social movements running parallel to our own, prosecuted with as much earnestness, and frequently an improvement on our methods and results. Nor are our own institutions, carried bodily to Latin America, to be judged insignificant factors in the social evolution of the various republics. Our missionary organizations and those of Europe have their representatives everywhere. In 1911, for example, there were 19 such societies in Argentina, 199 foreign missionaries, 189 ordained and unordained native workers, and 4800 communicants; in Chile 6 societies, 97 foreign Social Development 221 missionaries, 124 native workers, and 5616 communicants; in Brazil 19 societies, 244 foreign missionaries, 364 native workers, and 28,093 communicants. The religious instruc- tion given by these agencies is scarcely more important than the educational and social benefits conferred by them : and it may well be said that the torch which they bear is not simply that of Christianity, but that of modern Western civilization. The missionary hospitals, which form one of the most humanitarian adjuncts of the missionary settlements, bring new conceptions of sanitation and hygiene into the towns and homes of Latin America. SALVATION ARMY, THE Y. M. C. A., AND THE Y. W. C. A. IN LATIN AMERICA Salvation Army stations are located in several of the populous centers, and, as at Valparaiso, Chile, manage popular restaurants for the purpose of furnishing meals at the lowest cost possible, and maintain homes for indigent men and women. The Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. are becoming as solidly established as in the United States. Rio de Janeiro subscribed last year $120,000 (477 contos de reis ) toward a site and new headquarters for the local branch of the Y. M. C. A., which already has about 2000 members, and will soon have more. The Y. W. C. A. of Buenos Aires is progressing so well that it has moved into a new building and is extending its services in all direc- tions, offering practical classes, setting up a cafeteria, pro- viding sleeping accommodations, assisting travelers, and seeking employment for applicants. Since, in harmony with the American or British genius, each institution erected abroad is nothing more than a transplantation of a home institution, or, even more truly, of a piece of the native land impregnated with American or British customs, manners, and methods, and not a new entity created out of the foreign environment in which it is placed, it follows that those who come in contact with the institution are infallibly Americanized or European- ized in the* course of time. The younger generation which frequents the Y, M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. cannot 222 Social Development help imbibing a fondness for athletics, regular bathing, wholesome living, and decent speech, and in some measure introducing those tastes into its home and neighborhood circle. Fortunately, neither the Y. M. C. A. nor the Y. W. C. A. can be charged with political motives, such as are some- times — erroneously and unjustly, in the opinion of the present writer — attributed to the Pan American Union; and its progress is wholly dependent on the social services which it can render. Granted that these and similar social improvements and reforms are current in Latin America, grave doubts never- theless beset the investigator. How sincere are the states- men in their programmes? How capable are the people of conforming to new standards? Is the talk of controlling the social vices, uplifting the poorer classes, protecting the children, “cleaning up” in general mere oratory, or, what is just as bad, hallucination? Is the pointed comment of Mr. J. 0. P. Bland, an experienced English traveler with a style and a criticism of life which lift his Men, Man- ners and Morals in South America high above the great majority of works on Latin America, to be taken as gospel? While the Legislature [of Uruguay, remarks Mr. Bland] with its noble head in the clouds and its hands (some of them, at all events) in the public till, produces model statutes concerning the eight-hour day, old age pensions, the repos liebdomadaire, com- pulsory education, and benefits of all kinds for organised labour, the fundamental business of stimulating agricultural production, and of protecting the peon and the cliacreros, producers of the nation’s wealth, advances but seldom beyond the region of sterile academics and the appointment of ever-increasing inspectors, commissions and battening bureaucrats. Englishmen writing about Latin America, that immense field for British investments, are not wont to be so skeptical and blunt concerning Latin American idiosyncrasies. At first blush, an attitude of Yoltairean doubt appears to be the only safe procedure for the unfamiliar way- farer in Latin American affairs. The social programmes, like the constitutions, of the Latin American republics seem too perfect, too complete. The reforms agreed to by Social Development 223 the Constitutional Convention of Mexico, which met at Queretaro during December, 1916, and January, 1917, afford a beautiful illustration of the all-embracing charac- ter of some Latin American social movements. Under the terms of the constitutional reforms of 1917, numerous changes of the most vital consequence have been enacted in the social and political life of Mexico. Only Mexican citizens may acquire landed properties or secure mining concessions. Education is compulsory up to the age of 15 years. The church schools are abolished. Industrial companies situated at a distance from towns must maintain on their own grounds schools for the chil- dren of their employees. The large landed estates are to be subdivided, and purchasers are to be enabled to acquire land by long-term installments. All mineral resources be- long to the nation. No religious organization can hold title to landed or other property. Ministers other than native-born Mexicans cannot exercise their calling. The working-day shall be of eight hours duration, and there shall be one day of rest during the week. Children may not be employed for more than six hours a day. A minimum wage is fixed. The right to strike is recognized, but only after 10 days’ notice has been given to the Com- mission of Conciliation and Arbitration. Free municipal employment bureaus are provided for. Compensation for accidents in industrial establishments is obligatory. The social welfare of the workingman must be looked after by the provision of sanitary living quarters, hospitals, com- munity centers, and abstention from the sale of liquors in buildings or on grounds devoted to recreation. The general public in the United States will quite naturally laugh at this idealistic programme. Not that any item in it is impossible of execution, however, for practically every one of the measures mentioned has been made an accomplished fact in the United States. But that Mexico, of all nations, should believe itself capable of effect- ing these far-reaching changes seems absolutely pre- posterous. The spoils system, in the minds of most Amer- icans, is too deep-rooted and the people too ignorant ever 224 Social Development to permit even an approximation to the fulfillment of this really admirable and progressive social programme. Nevertheless, at least once in the history of Mexico, just such steps were taken to draw the country out of the slough of medievalism, and they were highly successful. During the thirty years’ rule of Porfirio Diaz (1877- 1880 and 1884-1911), sanitation became an article of the political creed, the Valley of Mexico was drained, and plague-stricken towns were transformed into thriving, healthful cities. Industry was fostered, foreign investments encouraged, and the wonderful national resources opened up. Railroads multiplied. Mills were constructed. A strong police force for the cities and the rural districts was recruited and trained in discipline and efficiency. The Indians and mestizos, to whom Diaz was bound by ties of blood, became prominent in government and industry. Honesty of a high quality actually marked the operations of public servants, due to the modern system of accounting introduced by Diaz and to the responsibility placed on heads of departments. The public school attendance had risen from 160,003 in 1876 for schools of all classes to nearly 800,000 in 1907 for the public primary schools alone. Normal and higher schools were created in large numbers and in accordance with the most modern ideas. Mexico enjoyed an international respect which had never before been vouchsafed to it. The Diaz regime finally fell before the attacks of Madero, who demanded more radical social reforms, but it had proved over a long course of years that the supposedly impossible was possible under strong leadership. The improvements more recently contemplated are not inherently of such a nature as to preclude success, given adequate leadership or a genuine public opinion. Many of them have been translated into such thorough actualities that foreign interests, whose former advantages have been jeopardized by the national reforms, are viewing with considerable alarm the spread of these social tendencies, called progressive or radical, depending on the point of view of the speaker. Social Development 225 THE TRANSITION FROM INDIVIDUALISM TO SOCIAL REGULATION The history of the assuredly stable governments in Latin America, such as those of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil has been, indeed, a steady transformation from indi- vidual, arbitrary power toward democracy and social ref- ormation. In those countries, the age of dictators is over. The real danger now is in the opposite extreme — demagogic democracy and radical socialism. The president of Uruguay has been elected by the direct vote of the people: the president of Argentina, by the radical elements of the population. Voting is both com- pulsory and secret in Argentina, and a fine is imposed for non-compliance with this civic duty. Labor and capital are opposed to each other in a way not understood by that old centaur, Madariaga, in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Where formerly the politicians and states- men of Uruguay paid scant heed to the wishes or needs of the workingman, now there is the greatest alacrity in insisting on the forty-eight hour week — a significant change of front. President Alfredo Gonzalez of Costa Rica sincerely tried to assign to the large landholders a more equitable share in the public burdens by a revised system of taxa- tion, and, of course, was ousted from his position by the still powerful conservatives. Each year sees a larger num- ber of popular representatives seated in most of the Latin American legislatures and a larger number of bills affect- ing the mass of the people introduced at legislative assemblies. To deny that social and political progress can thrive in Latin America is to arrogate wisdom to ourselves, to refuse to believe that earnest thinkers can exist below the Rio Grande, and to be blind to the vicissitudes to which some of our most cherished social measures are subject. On one of these points, the testimony of M. Clemenceau is again exceedingly valuable. Discussing the Pan American Congress which met at Buenos Aires during the Argentine centenary, he observes : 226 Social Development With the sole exception of Bolivia, every republic of South America sent a representative to the palace of the Congress to discuss their common interests— an imposing assembly, which in the dignity of its debates can bear comparison with any Upper Chamber of the Continent of Europe. For my part, I sought in vain for one of those excitable natures, ever ripe for explo- sion — the fruit, according to tradition, of equatorial soil. I found only jurisconsults, historians, men of letters or of science, giving their opinions in courteous language, whose example might with advantage be followed by many an orator in the Old Continent. Some of our own social reforms, such as equal suffrage rights for negroes, liquor prohibition, the adjustment be- tween capital and labor, the enforcement of child-labor laws, pension provisions, are neither so universally nor so perfectly applied in the United States as to justify us in belittling the efforts of nations to whom independence has been known for less than a hundred years, and democracy not more than fifty. Before ridiculing the framing of beautiful, idealistic laws and regulations which seem impossible of accomplish- ment, it would not be out of place for us to glance at some of the thousands of laws and measures annually or biennially proposed in our State legislatures for the better- ment of society, and, fortunately, never getting any further than the paper they are written on or the wasteful debates to which they give rise. Real social progress, at best, is slow everywhere: but it is slower in agricultural districts than in urban centers. We may expect it to be reasonably rapid in Latin American cities and dilatory in the vast agricultural regions, which make up the greater part of Latin American territory. CHAPTER X PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT AND EDUCATION Under Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule, the advan- tages of a truly enlightened public seemed more than doubt- ful. The principle that a large proportion of the taxes of each community should be employed in eradicating ignorance and stimulating intellectual development was practically unknown. The cost of colonial administration was high, and the revenues collected through the ingenious and complicated system of taxes in vogue scarcely sufficed for local needs and for the share appertaining to the Spanish or Portuguese crown. The first centuries of Spanish and Portuguese domination in Latin America frankly constituted an age of exploitation of natural and human resources. Education was not, to be sure, entirely neglected. The Jesuits were indefatigable in their efforts to raise the native Indians from the low plane of ignorance and superstition on which most of them lived. They founded schools in the populated districts and in the isolated, remote spaces, taught, as in Paraguay, many of the accomplishments of civilization to their untutored wards, and, in America, as elsewhere, earned that reputation for superior skill in teach- ing which they still maintain in their admirable colleges not only of Brazil and other Latin American republics, but also of the United States. Yet neither the Jesuits nor the Church as a whole con- ceived of public enlightment in its multiple phases from the point of view which obtains to-day among most nations. The existence of a genuine public opinion and the prospect of the settlement of the fate of nations by an appeal to the public intelligence never entered their minds, nor could have done so at that time. They, and, to a higher degree 227 228 Public Enlightenment and Education than is usually admitted, the Government, felt it a moral and religious obligation to overcome the brutish character- istics of the Indians by some education and to try to fashion the natives into the semblance of civilized human beings : but for that work, the rudiments sufficed. HIGHER EDUCATION UNDER THE ANCIENT REGIME As was natural in an aristocratic age, the higher insti- tutions of learning long overshadowed in importance any- thing that was done for the common people. Eight universities had been established in Latin America before the foundation of Harvard College in 1636. Two of them, the University of Shu Pablo in Mexico and that of San Marcos in Lima, were created in 1551 and the University of Santo Domingo in 1558. Mexico, as the center of Spanish influence and culture, could pride itself on seven institutions of higher education by the end of the sixteenth century, in which chairs or schools of divinity, medicine, and surgery were included : and these institutions followed as their models the European universities of the day. The members of the upper classes of society, when unable or unwilling to send their children to the mother-country to complete their education, had good educational facilities of a general character at hand in the principal cities of the New World, though the course of study was, it is scarcely necessary to say, strongly marked by theological tendencies. Throughout the eighteenth century, the universities in- creased in number, but with little change in aims and ideals. The modern notion of the higher education made no per- ceptible progress until well into the first half of the nine- teenth century. Even in the smaller countries like Porto Rico, the more pretentious institutos and colcgios multiplied at the expense of popular education, but were supported by the parents of the students. The children of poor parents had to depend on benevolent men and women, such as the celebrated cigar-maker and teacher, Rafael Cordero, for their instruction, and it was only toward Public Enlightenment and Education 229 1880 that General Despujol formulated his plan of elemen- tary education, as the result of which 25,000 pupils were within a few years enjoying the benefits of public schools maintained by the municipalities. PUBLIC EDUCATION OF RECENT DATE That date (1880) corresponds nearly with the effective beginnings of common school education in Latin America. Practically no Latin American public school system goes back further than fifty years from the present time. What- ever has been accomplished is extremely recent : and so much has been accomplished that our traditional belief in the apathy of the Latin American character needs to be modified in one more direction. The causes of the delay in joining the modern educational world are many and include systematic neglect by the Spanish government, the unfavorable attitude of the Church toward purely secular education, a medieval con- ception of the social worth of the masses, economic and political conditions following independence, lack of means of communication and the consequent isolation, and the large Indian population in several republics slow to habituate itself to school training. The significant point is that the American and European regard for popular education has at length triumphed in Latin America and that the change is coincident with the entrance of most of the republics on a new era in com- mercial, industrial, political, and social evolution. The educational transformation is being achieved mainly through the application of the two great principles which impose equal duties on the state and the individual : namely, that education shall be free and that attendance at school shall be compulsory. These principles have been incor- porated into the laws of practically all the Latin American countries, though in a few, as in Colombia, primary educa- tion is free, but not obligatory. From our own early experience in enforcing the laws for compulsory attendance, we may assume that only in the most favored republics is the compulsory regulation applied with strictness and 230 Public Enlightenment and Education that, perhaps, it would be almost impossible to carry out the law with rigor on account of topographical conditions and the agricultural pursuits of the majority of the in- habitants. The establishment and functioning of schools in cities offer little difficulty: in the rural districts any- where in the world they become a real problem. The development of education from the top downwards was the fundamental defect of all the Latin American republics — as it was in all the Latin countries of Europe, and indeed, of all the countries of the world — with the possible exception of Argentina, where much attention was paid to primary instruction from comparatively early days. Accompanying that vicious course was the perfectly natural tendency to concentrate all educational effort on the cities or larger towns, since the returns from a given expenditure of money could be more readily noticed, since some education was essential for persons exposed to foreign contact and living a community life requiring a knowledge of reading, writing, and simple arithmetical operations, and since the demand for education in the more densely populated centers is not easily denied. The growth of democracy in Latin America during the past fifty years and the example of the United States, England, France, and Germany have reversed the process of development, placing the foundation of public education among the people, applying to it the largest share of the money used for educational ends, and relegating the uni- versities to the position of a subsidiary branch, and not the main artery through which governmental educational effort is directed. Between 1894 and 1914, the primary school attendance in Argentina increased from 280,000 to 900,000. In 1918 the Province of Buenos Aires alone had 1720 primary schools, with a total enrollment of 214,233 pupils, of whom 113,790 were boys and 100,433 girls, and a corps of 5624 teachers, 5148 of whom were women. The number of private schools in the Province was over 300, and the matriculation nearly 30,000. By the end of 1913, 318,000 children were attending the primary public schools of Public Enlightenment and Education 231 Chile, and 61,000, private schools of the same grade. Ecuador, in 1916, furnished elementary public instruction to 98,400 pupils; in 1917 Uruguay had about 100,000 in its public schools; from 1876 to 1891, under President Diaz, the total school attendance of Mexico had risen from 160,- 000 to 649,771; in three years (1916-1919), largely due to the interest taken in public education by the Military Government instituted by the United States, the public school enrollment of the Dominican Republic has grown from 18,000 to nearly 100,000 ; in 1916 the school attend- ance of Peru was close to 175,000. Considering the small population of most of the coun- tries mentioned, the brief period in which public education has acquired significance, and the difficulties which the spread of education must overcome in the vast agricultural regions of Latin America, the results obtained may be regarded as nothing short of remarkable, and exceedingly promising for the future. Travelers will continue, to be sure, to return with highly colored accounts of the benighted condition of the “natives,” just as American businessmen, in utter ignorance of the facts, are deploring a great falling off in our trade with Latin America, whereas in reality it has, at least down to 1920, inclusive, actually increased both in exports and imports ; but the educational progress of Latin America will not on that account come to a halt, nor the fact that Argentina, for example, has during the past generation spent more per capita in the education of her children than any country in the world except Australia, as the Rev. Dr. Zahm points out, lose importance. EDUCATIONAL ZONES The educational field in Latin America may readily be divided into zones, according to the amount of progress achieved or realizable in the near future. Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay merit a rank not much below that of the more advanced countries of Europe or the United States, and above that of Spain, Portugal, Greece, and most of the Slavic countries. Near them may 232 Public Enlightenment and Education be placed several Brazilian states, and in particular the State of Sao Paulo, though other states do not as yet fall within this first zone on account of the keen conflict be- tween States’ rights and Federal control and the slower advancement of modern thought in the sparsely settled interior districts. The Caribbean republics, because of their proximity to the United States, form a second zone, in which Cuba and Costa Rica stand out educationally above Mexico, the other Central American and West Indian coun- tries, Colombia, and Venezuela. The rest of South America constitutes a third zone of uneven character, depending on distance from the coast, extent of territory, and racial admixture. In all three zones, the influence of the educational system of the United States on the public schools is stronger than that of any other country, though the higher education generally patterns after the secondary schools and uni- versities of one or another of the European countries. The public school system of Argentina is a direct out- growth of contact with American institutions and Amer- ican educators. It was inaugurated by President Domingo Sarmiento, who, as the Argentine minister at Washington, became an enthusiastic partisan of the democratic nature of the American public school and, between 1868 and 1874, while chief magistrate of his own country, introduced the salient features of American instruction into Argentina. Sarmiento ’s personal admiration for Horace Mann and his friendship with that great educator undoubtedly strengthened his belief in the American common school system. During his presidency, the foundation of public education in Argentina was laid, and the most important principles evolved. The changes made later have affected only details. Educational Progressiveness of Argentina As planned by Sarmiento and as carried out in subse- quent reforms, the school system of Argentina contains all the elements to which we are accustomed in the United Public Enlightenment and Education 233 States, including primary, secondary, and normal schools and institutions for professional and technical studies. Education is compulsory between the ages of six and four- teen, free, and universal. All the common branches are taught, the texts are prepared by expert teachers and, wherever possible, emphasize the spirit of patriotism, the tone of the instruction given is liberal, and none of the experiments carried on in foreign countries is refused a trial. A special endeavor is made to provide for the ade- quate instruction of defective and abnormal children, the children of immigrants, and weak children who need the benefits of the open air and more individual attention than can be allowed in the ordinary class-room. Elementary night-schools for adults and for working people are to be found in most of the industrial centers. Personal hygiene receives careful treatment, thrift is encouraged, campaigns are carried on against the use of intoxicating liquors. At the noon hour, each school child is given a glass of milk, and the practice has developed into a fixed tradition. All that remains to Argentina now is to extend the ad- vantages of public education to every illiterate person in the republic: and this it is doing with the same zeal that marks the educational policy of the United States. Its educational budget is heavy, the primary schools being maintained out of the provincial treasuries, with Federal aid, when necessary, its personnel well-trained and zealous, and its leaders, such as Dr. Ernesto Nelson, thoroughly conversant with the best educational theory and practice of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany. The highest tribute paid to public education in Argen- tina is found in the readiness with which even the children of the higher classes attend the public schools. Though private schools are numerous, practically no feelings of invidious distinction militate against the public schools. Parents who prefer the private schools are moved by the same considerations which induce many parents in the United States to send their children to private institutions. Chile is proverbially known among the Latin American republics as the country most deeply imbued with aristo- 234 Public Enlightenment and Education cratic preoccupations and most completely ruled by a powerful group of families which is in possession of the great landed estates and of many of the most important industries. A rigid sense of caste, the coherence of junk- erdom, and an unfailing bent toward centralization have kept Chile conservative and “Tory” in spite of the efforts of an occasional president like Balmaceda to break down the walls of tradition and let in liberal political and re- ligious ideas. In educational affairs, the customary Chilean traits of opposition to a genuinely democratic system — “customary traits” in the sense, of course, that they represent the inclinations of the dominant oligarchy — have often been commented upon. Mr. Robert E. Speer, representing con- ditions some years back (1912), declares that “The Chilean educational system in all its branches is national in scope and organization — that is to say, is maintained by the national treasury. No local taxes are levied for educational purposes, and the local authorities have no voice in the administration of or control over the system. ” Theoret- ically, this has been true in the past : but it has not been true in significant details of late. To-day, the provincial governments are providing nearly all the funds for public instruction, the budget passed by the Chilean Congress for the year 1915-16 carrying less than one per cent of the sum devoted to public education in that period. The local authorities, far from being mere figureheads, have, by the law promulgated August 26, 1920, been invested with the duty of fulfilling compliance with the terms of that law, which, by action of the Congress and the President, establishes compulsory primary instruc- tion in very definite terms and in a spirit of thoroughly modern liberalism. If consistently enforced, these regula- tions should soon put Chile beyond the stigma of having only two classes — the upper and middle educated class and the lower, uneducated class. Obviously, in any democratic country, there must be an educated lower class, also. Public Enlightenment and Education 235 CHANGING IDEALS IN CHILEAN EDUCATION Hitherto, primary instruction has been free, but not compulsory, in Chile. The law of 1920 prescribes that elementary education provided by the State and the municipalities shall be free; that all education, whether given in public or in private schools shall be compulsory up to the age of thirteen; that “minors who have reached the age of 13 without passing the first two grades of primary instruction must continue at school until after approval in the regular annual examinations, or up to the age of 15 years”; that poverty does not exempt minors from attending school; that no minors under 16 years of age shall be employed in the industries unless they have complied with the law of compulsory education; and that boards of education shall be established in each commune to enforce these and other measures decreed in behalf of public education. Coeducation, while not common in Chile above the first two grades of the primary scllool, tends to become the rule rather than the exception in the schools of higher instruction. The ambition to have a school system as good as that of its Spanish neighbors and similar in most respects to the educational organization of its admired and respected friend in the North, the United States, has led the central government of Brazil to take steps putting it sometimes at variance with the State governments and their strong sense of States’ rights. Thus, in 1911, a Federal Board of Education was granted authority to establish elementary schools in the different states: and such action, though appearing to give the national government a power which does not constitu- tionally belong to it, is scarcely likely to be seriously con- tested in the States which have themselves been unable to provide sufficient educational facilities. The progressive States, such as Sao Paulo, show a most commendable eagerness to align themselves with the most wide-awake countries, and display unusual generosity in their educational budgets and their provisions for build- 236 Public Enlightenment and Education ings, equipment, and teachers. Other states, which must lag behind for a time and can neither compel attendance nor make instruction free in all respects, may now count on assistance from the national government, particularly in matters pertaining to agricultural and technical schools. As immigration increases and the force of the example set by the more advanced states acquires strength, these back- ward regions will indubitably approximate the educational ideals held by the leading states. In all large countries in which local autonomy is a recog- nized principle, great divergences are sure to be noted : but the attractive power of the most energetic and advanced districts inevitably raises the standards of the weaker dis- tricts. As the statistical charts prepared by the Russell Sage Foundation show, our southern states have, in almost every item of school progress, remained much below the efficiency of the northern and western states. The con- sciousness of this inferiority, aroused by comparative statistics, while not precisely palatable to southern citizens, has proved one of the keenest spurs to educational improve- ment in the South. Intersectional rivalry has been one of our most valuable instruments of progress and is likely to be particularly effective in countries of Spanish and Portuguese origin, where the feeling of regional patriotism runs high without the slightest need of stimulation. Situated between the United States, whose educational influence is extending southward with rapidity, and the advanced republics of South America, few of the inter- vening countries can long remain deaf to the voice of modern educational practice. Even the sleepiest and most doctrinaire among them are dropping the theoretical edu- cation of the past and laying stress on the practical phases of education developed in the United States and Europe. The typical course of study in Latin America closely approaches our own. The Three R’s, history, geography, singing, drawing, the rudiments of the sciences, and calisthenics make up the curriculum. Uruguay emphasizes the inculcation of morality and requires of its public school children a knowledge of the Constitution of the republic. Public Enlightenment and Education 237 Ecuador, likewise, believes in the teaching of morality and an acquaintanceship with the Constitution, and adds the domestic sciences and sewing for the girls. In Costa Rica the teaching of agriculture has been made an integral part of the curriculum of the rural schools, which are furnished with land and the necessary implements for practical work. Medical and dental inspection is a regular feature of the school work of Sao Paulo. The importance of sanitation has been strongly impressed on the school children of Guayaquil, Ecuador, through the successful campaign recently waged on yellow fever under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation, and the public feeling for a gen- eral “clean-up” was kept at a high pitch through the splendid cooperation offered by teachers and children alike. The Government of Guatemala had, before the war, made the study of English and French obligatory in the educa- tional centers, while in Brazil the Governor of Sao Paulo has this year (1921) recommended that the teaching of foreign languages in the public schools to children less than ten years of age be prohibited — a measure evidently inspired by the same notives which caused drastic action in the State of Nebraska against the teaching of foreign languages in any public school below the high school. Virtually every educational innovation which has been the subject of experiment in the United States and Europe finds its way into some of the Latin American schools. AN IMPORTANT EXPERIMENT IN MEXICO Influenced, perhaps, by the means used in the United States during the war to train soldiers rapidly and gen- erally in the practical use of French, the Mexican Govern- ment has lately carried on a campaign against illiteracy which contains several novel and valuable features. A corps of honorary teachers has been created by the National University on a volunteer basis to carry a knowledge of the two principal tests of literacy to the thousands of people who have thus far enjoyed no instruction whatsoever. In the course of four months, these teachers, now numbering 2000 and serving the cause of education with a splendid 238 Public Enlightenment and Education spirit of self-sacrifice, have taught over 10,000 illiterates the rudiments of reading and writing: and it is to be presumed that the efforts of the Government and of the volunteer instructing staff will be bent toward strengthen- ing the grasp of the written word so acquired by this large number, as well as to extend further the benefits of the system. Though practically no discussion of the experiment has taken place, it will readily be seen by educators that the plan is feasible, inexpensive, and efficient. The teaching of reading and writing, if prosecuted intensively, can in a remarkably short time convert a whole country from illiteracy to literacy: and the advance made can be con- firmed by the establishment of fixed local libraries, circulat- ing libraries under the supervision of the National Uni- versity or of the Government, and the dissemination of newspapers. Other strikingly progressive activities may be noted in the educational system of many of the Latin American republics, and especially in the field of agricultural and technical training. The most marked difference between our own educational programme and that of the Latin American countries re- sides in the treatment of secondary education. The tend- ency in the United States is to make high school education compulsory by raising the age-limit at which students may consider that they have completed their public school edu- cation. By requiring that pupils shall attend school until they have reached the age of 16, many states have made a high school education practically obligatory : and such secondary instruction is, of course, free. The spirit of the American nation is against closing the instructional period until pupils have reached a fair degree of mental maturity and have had an opportunity to secure the foundation of a liberal or a vocational education. That ideal has made no headway in Latin America, partly because the govern- ments believe that their oversight of public instruction must end with the completion of the primary school course, and partly because the organization of the secondary schools Public Enlightenment and Education 239 implies a curriculum which, in the last two years, is equivalent to our university studies. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA Secondary education in Latin America is, therefore, not completely democratic, since it is not entirely gratuitous and is restricted to students who are likely to enter the university. The colegio or liceo, as the secondary school is called, performs the function of the American high school in addi- tion to about the first two years in our universities. Its course of study requires six years, and is preparatory to the professional schools. In American school terms, this means that the colegio or liceo covers the ground of our high school and, besides, that of the junior colleges, which are becoming common in American universities. It rep- resents far more than the high school, and carries the student about half way through what corresponds to our college of arts and sciences, but with less emphasis, as yet, on the analytical laboratory method of the exact sciences, as pursued in our colleges, and greater emphasis on the humanities, logic, and some of the political and social sciences. The modern languages receive special attention, and the classical languages, almost none. For reasons of practicality and because of the tacit antagonism to Church instruction, the language of which has been Latin, the study of the ancient languages has long since dropped out of the curricula of most of the Latin American secondary schools: and the campaign recently waged against the classics in our high schools, as purely traditional subjects, surprises many Latin American educators, because the movement has been so tardy. A SUGGESTION CONCERNING THE ADMISSION OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDENTS TO OUR UNIVERSITIES The Latin American graduate of a good colegio or liceo should be entitled to enter the senior college of any Amer- ican university, with, perhaps, the proviso that he elect some laboratory work in addition to what he has done in 240 Public Enlightenment and Education his own school. The narrow insistence with which most of our universities require that a foreigner of excellent educational antecedents shall meet our freshman-sophomore requirements to the letter, or forfeit his chances of securing our university degree, is unworthy of our spirit of fair play and destructive of that comity and cooperation which should exist above all in academic circles. In general, secondary education in Latin America is directed and supported by the national governments, and not by the municipalities. A matriculation fee varying from a few dollars to fifteen dollars must in most countries be paid by the student, though the instruction given in the liceos is free. As in our high schools of former years, the principal raison d’etre of the secondary schools is to pre- pare students for the universities. Latin America has yet to develop self-contained secondary schools of general education which shall have no necessary connection with the universities and shall make laws for themselves instead of accepting them from the higher institutions. The enrollment in the secondary schools of Latin America, though increasing steadily, is only a fractional part of the enrollment in the elementary schools. The eighty cole- gios of Argentina have at present a total registration of less than 20,000 students as compared with the number of pupils in the common schools, which amounts approxi- mately to 1,000,000: the colegios or liceos of Bolivia had about 2100 students in 1918 : those of Ecuador furnished instruction to 4500 students in 1916. The disproportion between the enrollment in the elemen- tary schools and the enrollment in the secondary schools is evidence, not of indifference to education, but of the natural effect of an aristocratic educational tradition. On account of the rather advanced age (about 18) at which the student leaves the colegio or liceo, the early maturity of the Latin American youth, and the economic pressure on the less well-to-do families, it may be predicted that secondary education will not become genuinely popular Public Enlightenment and Education 241 until the school system is subdivided on a radically different plan and pointed in an entirely different direction. The greatest needs in Latin American secondary educa- tion are a broader democratic leaning and greater emphasis on scientific experimental methods. EUROPEAN CHARACTERISTICS OF LATIN AMERICAN UNI- VERSITIES After the primary schools, education in Latin America follows European rather than American precedents. The universities are combinations of professional “faculties,” the consolidating influence of the college of arts and sciences is absent, “school spirit” in the American sense is unknown, centrifugal rather than centripetal tendencies mark the administrative organization and the location of buildings, university teachers are primarily professional men and only secondarily instructors, devoting but a portion of their time to university work, and the administrative heads are chosen not so much for their eminent qualifications as educational leaders as for their prominence in other respects. The rector [as Professor Edgar E. Brandon explains] is a lawyer, a physician, or a publicist, as are the professors, and the direction of the university is secondary to the practice of his profession. As he usually occupies the office but for a short term and then becomes simply one professor among many, he seldom acquires during his term as rector any additional prestige. Moreover, he is not expected to become an educational leader. He merely stands at the head of his colleagues for a short time and represents them before the State and the public. In many different ways the absence of a university president is a distinct loss in Spanish-American higher education, but in no respect more than in the unifying influence he might exert in the uni- versity organization. Concentrating their efforts on the technical skill required in the professions — and doing this with a thoroughness worthy of the best European traditions — the Latin Amer- ican universities have thus far had little concern with the formation of an educated popular opinion. The general courses in history, economics, sociology, political science, literature, philosophy, which are the basis of the first two 242 Public Enlightenment and Education years’ work in our colleges and universities and give Amer- ican students a knowledge of the trend of affairs and encourage them to evolve individual opinions, are not offered in the universities, but are left to the colegios or liceos, with the exception of the reorganized University of La Plata and a few others, which include a college of philosophy or of philosophy and arts and try to avoid the specialized professional character of the typical Latin American university. It is necessary to bear these facts in mind, since the multiplication of universities in the Spanish American re- publics, and of professional schools or “faculties” in Brazil, where no distinct university has as yet been established owing to the jealous regard for States’ rights, is likely to leave the impression that the Latin American universities, because they are becoming populous, are ipso facto popular, also. The chief progress made in the direction of academic democracy lies in the free admission of women to the universities on equal terms with the men. On the other hand, if the colegios and universities of Latin America, still dominated by continental European ideals, continue their exclusive policy and the scholastic pedagogical methods of a by-gone age in the higher learn- ing and appear to shun the benefits and disadvantages of the opening of the doors to everybody, with the resultant increase in enrollment and the patent lowering of standards observable in so many instances among us, the assumption must not be made that popular education in the higher branches has not advanced. In reality, the higher educa- tion has, in the more progressive countries, received the full impact of the democratic movement, and is evolving in an- other direction, closely resembling the turn taken by popular education in America and Germany during the past generation. Three classes of institutions aim at a thoroughly modern, practical education calculated to enable their students to care for their economic needs and to help the State in developing its citizenship and its natural resources. These are the normal schools, the agricultural and technical Public Enlightenment and Education 243 schools, and the “people’s universities” — the latter exist- ing only in Argentina, but susceptible of adoption in the other republics. DEVELOPMENT OP NORMAL SCHOOLS The normal schools have become one of the most signifi- cant divisions of the Latin American school system. They date back no further than the past fifty years, and owe their existence mainly to the endeavors of Sarmiento, the “school-master president” of Argentina, who took his cue from the United States and France, and to the innovations more recently made in the training of teachers in the United States, France and Germany. They are proving, in particular, the educational and economic salvation of Latin American womanhood, and may be said to have encouraged women to enter other gainful walks of life. The progress of the Latin American woman is bound up with the extension of normal schools, since normal school graduates undeniably constitute a working-class and tend to dignify woman’s work in general. Seventy normal schools for primary teachers were in operation in Argentina in 1914, with an enrollment of 8970 men and women. Some of the schools are for men, some for women, and others for both sexes, though, as might bo expected, the fair sex predominates. As everywhere else, the chief purpose of the normal schools in Argentina is to train teachers for the elementary schools. The require- ments are moderate, the length of the course is 4 years, as contrasted with 3 years in Salvador, 5 in Chile, and 7 in Costa Rica, and the entering age is 14 years. These normal schools of Argentina and the rest of Latin America correspond roughly to the teacher training courses recently established in our high schools, but are of a more advanced character. From them, all over Latin America, issue most of the primary school teachers. Chile provides 16 training colleges for teachers, ten for women and six for men, in which teaching by means of object lessons is the favorite method, and English the favorite foreign language. Their graduates obligate them- 244 Public Enlightenment and Education selves to teach in the national schools for a minimum period of seven years, in return for which all their expenses, in- cluding board and lodging, while at school are defrayed by the Government. For some years past, the National Educational Association of Chile has urged the Government to extend its liberal policy further, by sending normal school teachers at its expense to foreign countries to per- fect themselves in practical and sociological subjects — a plan already in vogue in Cuba in connection with its normal school teachers. The encouragement given to the training of teachers by this State aid is, of course, extremely impor- tant, and the plan in general may well recommend itself to educational authorities in the United States. Like Argentina and Chile, Uruguay possesses excellent normal schools for primary teachers. The interest in such pedagogical institutions extends throughout the length and breadth of Latin America, characterizing Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba, and the other Central American and West Indian countries as well as Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Brazil. So thoroughly convinced, indeed, is the Venezuelan Gov- ernment of the dependence of proper teaching on the normal schools that it is stimulating the award of scholar- ships in the primary normal schools by the various States and Territories and is contemplating the establishment of a series of boarding departments for younger students to serve, as Mr. Walter A. Montgomery terms them, as "feeders” to the regular normal school system. Besides the primary normal schools, many of the Latin American republics, notably Argentina and Chile, support higher normal schools for the training of secondary school teachers, Argentina appears to be evolving in the University of Buenos Aires and the University of La Plata teachers’ colleges resembling those of the United States, and the Escuela Normal de Lenguas Vivas (Normal School of Modern Languages) of Buenos Aires offers a distinctive and highly efficient training, involving the teaching of all the subjects of the curriculum and the handling of all classroom work in the foreign languages, which might be. Public Enlightenment and Education 245 copied in the United States to the advantage of modern language instruction. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION The most important educational instrumentality, how- ever, employed in Latin America for public enlightenment and the teaching of genuine democracy is the system of agricultural, trade, and technical schools on which the Latin American governments are expending an unusual amount of energy and money. The hey-day of serfdom has passed, wages have increased, industrial development is bringing about a new conception of the necessity and dignity of labor, and those who expect to work the natural resources in the modern competitive world must have adequate scientific preparation, a knowl- edge of technical operations, and the ability either to handle the necessary tools and implements or to show others how to handle them. Prudent statesmen and social students in Latin America are convinced that their countries, of which much is ex- pected in the way of contribution to the food supply of the world and in the direction of the fostering of home industries, must now make the transition between the ancien regime and the new technological order. Industrial expansion presupposes skilled labor and trained administrators, and agricultural and mineral de- velopment requires advanced scientific experience. In the more progressive countries, the great proprietors and in- dustrials recognize the need of technical experts, efficient office staffs, and capable workmen, and are lending the weight of their influence to all the technical educational enterprises undertaken by their governments. One of them, Don Felix Berasconi, of Buenos Aires, bequeathed in 1915 the considerable sum of three and a half million dollars for the foundation, under State control, of an institution to be devoted to the educational and technical betterment of the working classes of the capital. In like manner, though with a different aim, the Instituto Ward of Buenos Aires, established by Mr. George F. Ward of New York, 246 Public Enlightenment and Education provides a practical education for Argentine boys and young men who will some day be called upon to administer or to assist in the administration of the large properties belonging to their families. Americans who have lived or traveled in some of the Latin American countries are likely to feel skeptical about the interest of Latin Americans in anything that pertains to the manual trades or crafts and about the possibility of changing the traditional Spanish or Portuguese sentiment concerning the ignominy of woi’k. They forget that the great mass of people is now engaged in manual labor of some sort and that the large European immigration in several of the republics is establishing the European code of living, in which industry for the majority is an accepted habit. The millions of Italians, Germans, Swiss, Russians, Syrians, Greeks have come to Latin America, as they have come to the United States, principally for the working opportunities offered by the New World, and with no idea that economic independence can be won with folded arms. Thej r , if not the old Spanish and Portuguese settlers or the native Indians, are sure to demand practical education with a definite bearing on their economic situation: and they are numerous enough in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, and a few other republics to exert strong polit- ical pressure. Moreover, in all the Latin American countries, the power of foreign industrial corporations, which are never satis- fied with the manana philosophy, because they want maxi- mum present returns, and the lessons learned abroad by diplomatic officials, students, and travelers, taken together ■with the daily newspaper reports of foreign activities, create movements for practical improvement which end in a complete transformation of social and economic principles. The changes which occur under our eyes do not, of course, seem of unusual significance: and many a foreign official residing in Latin America is undoubtedly firm in his belief that no change is going on. But the cumulative evidence taken over a large area is convincing. None of the Latin American countries is what it was fifty years Public Enlightenment and Education 247 ago : and nowhere is this truer than in the field of practical education. Since 1917, technical instruction has been the absorbing educational subject in Chile, due in a measure to the in- fluence of teachers brought in from Europe, and in no small degree to the conviction of leaders like President Sanfuentes that Chile must provide more substantially for the demands of everyday life and prepare for the industrial progress which is the next step in the national evolution. A Council of Industrial Education was recommended in 1917, with thirteen members, four of whom should be pro- fessors of technical branches, and one, a woman inspector of vocational training for women: and the work under- taken by this or some similar body will undoubtedly seek to incorporate into the Chilean educational system the most advanced practices of the United States and Europe. At a recent date there were in Chile nearly 300 primary schools offering vocational training, 29 technical coleyios for women, 6 agricultural coleyios at Chilian, Concepcion, Ancud, and other cities, 11 public and 10 private com- mercial schools with a registration of nearly 6000 students, besides evening commercial classes in the largest cities, schools of mining at Santiago, Copiapo, and La Serena, various special schools of arts and crafts and special schools in separate agricultural branches such as dairying, lately put into operation, and an Industrial University at Val- paraiso. The commercial schools are not only objects of distinct solicitude on the part of the government, but have also enlisted the zealous support of chambers of commerce and private citizens. A like interest in practical education is shown by the government of Argentina, by the provincial authorities, and by individuals. The Federal Government maintains national Schools of Commerce in Buenos Aires, Tucuman, Concordia, and these have evidently proved satisfactory to a high degree, since the students of the School of Commerce of Mendoza have petitioned in 1921 that their institution also should be nationalized. National industrial schools, similar to the 248 Public Enlightenment and Education manual training high schools of the United States, offer six- year courses, with special instruction in engineering, chemistry, and mechanics ; and trade schools for girls, con- trolled either by the Federal Government or the Provincial governments, give a thorough technical education in the various arts and crafts, such as millinery, dress-making, glove-making, and telegraphy, which women are likely to take up. At Tucuman, there is a special school for the study of the sugar industry; at Mendoza, a school in viti- culture ; at San Juan, a school in fruit growing ; at Misiones, a school in lumbering. The Engineering School of the University of Buenos Aires now enrolls in the neighboi’hood of 1000 students. To stimulate the interest in industrial education, many of the Provinces offer scholarships to defray the living expenses of non-resident students who do not have an opportunity to attend technical schools in their own locality. Also, in order to keep in touch with the course of practical education in other countries, the Argentine Government sends from time to time educational experts and commissions to observe foreign systems, to report on them, and to make recommendations, invites advice from foreign specialists, and engages the services of eminent technical teachers of the United States and Europe. The transcendent value of industrial and technical train- ing for a population striving to develop the resources of its vast territories has not been minimized by the progres- sive educational leaders of Brazil. The tradition of the necessity and the dignity of work must be firmly grounded in a republic so fruitful in possibilities and so certain to attract multitudes of immigrants from all over the world. The scientific teaching of agriculture has, of course, seemed of the first importance. In 1914 practical schools of agriculture, with annexed experiment stations, were established under the control of the Central Government throughout the various States. Sao Paulo, always eager to multiply its educational advantages, has four such schools. A higher institution of agriculture and veterinary medicine was inaugurated at Rio de Janeiro in 1913. Public Enlightenment and Education 249 For technical training in engineering and allied studies, schools or “faculties” of engineering exist in most of the large cities. The Polytechnic College of Sao Paulo gives instruction in the usual scientific subjects, and enjoys a well-deserved reputation for its admirable curriculum and the skill of its teachers. To Sao Paulo, also, belongs Mac- kenzie College, with a corps of instructors from the United States, Canada, and England, and now affiliated with the University of the State of New York, which, in addition to the regular work of its College of Liberal Arts, provides instruction in the general sciences, civil engineering, and agriculture. The Lyceo de Artes e Officios, directed by the Sociedade Propagadora das Bellas Artes and subsidized by the Government, furnishes an unusually complete course in the applied sciences and in art to nearly 3000 students of both sexes annually, though it is not in the ordinary sense of the term a trade school. Students obtain in its classes the fundamentals for any vocational work, and are expected to supplement them by serving an apprenticeship in their chosen art or craft as regular workmen. Similarly aided by the Federal Government are other State, municipal, or private schools supplying industrial or technical education, which attain to certain fixed standards. At present, the entire problem of technical education, in which the Brazilian Government is intensely interested, is undergoing revision and reform, in accordance with the findings of a report presented in 1919 by a special com- mission appointed to make a survey and to map out courses for the State schools in the Federal District. This report, which contains vital recommendations, looks toward a carefully coordinated system of primary voca- tional schools, secondary vocational institutes, secondary agricultural schools, vocational finishing courses, and a normal school of arts and crafts, the cooperation of Brazil- ian industrial firms, and the granting of daylight hours to employees for specific technical instruction. The suc- cessful application of the system in the Federal District will undoubtedly be followed by its adoption or an adapt a- 250 Public Enlightenment and Education tion of it in the various States and Territories, and most certainly in the State of Sao Paulo, whose schools were studied with especial care before the report was formulated. Not only in the southern republics of South America, but also in every other Latin American republic, practical, technical education sharply distinguishes the modern era from everything that has preceded it. The habits and customs of contemporary Latin America were, in general, implanted by foreign influence; they are not the habits and customs of the aborigines. They have undergone slow change, and are now being subjected to rapid variation, due to the larger number of forces affect- ing them. The practical education of to-day is one of the most potent of these forces. Uruguay is well supplied with agricultural, commercial, and trade schools, and possesses a notable institution in the High School of Commerce of Montevideo. In Caracas, Venezuela, commercial and trade schools for boys and for girls teach typewriting, lithographing, bookbinding, auto- mobile management, forging, the commercial subjects, and the domestic arts. A government school in naval construc- tion is located at Puerto Cabello. Ecuador has schools of arts and crafts at Pichincha, Leon, Azuay, Loja, Guayas, and Chimborazo, and a school of commerce at Bahia. Both Peru and Mexico pay particular attention to manual train- ing. In Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, industrial schools permitting students to devote half of their class- room time to the common branches and half to practical work are in successful operation. Salvador maintains a School of Graphic Arts, aiming at the teaching of useful trades and specializing in mechanics, bookbinding, telegraphy, telephoning, printing, carving, drawing, as well as a Technical-Practical Colegio for Girls. In Costa Rica, the manual arts and the domestic sciences are indis- pensable adjuncts to the regular curricula of the secondary schools. Nicaragua and Guatemala have schools for in- struction in telegraphing and telephoning. Tegucigalpa, Honduras, possesses a national automobile school controlled by the Government. The vocational school for girls in Public Enlightenment arid Education 251 Panama offers, among other subjects, courses in cooking, flower-work, and laundry work. THE people’s UNIVERSITY OF BUENOS AIRES Perhaps the most interesting experiment in purely popular industrial education is being carried on in the Universidad Popular (People’s University) of Buenos Aires. Two courses are offered, one in farm-industries, the other, in commercial branches. The former treats in a thoroughly practical manner agricultural mechanics, stock-raising, dairying, fruit growing, poultry raising, veterinary medi- cine: the latter, accounting, stenography and typewriting, English, Spanish, and commercial arithmetic. A technical division now in the process of formation will include courses in mechanical drawing, electricity, and the handling of tractors and automobiles. During the first year (1917) in which this unusual institution was in operation, 1500 students registered for work ; in 1918 the number increased to 2100; and in 1919 to 2995. The school is what its name implies, a people’s university, open to everybody who can carry on the courses which he elects, without any of the distinct requirements common in academic institutions, and the instruction is absolutely free. The resemblance between this People’s University and the popular schools organized by the Young Men’s Christian Association or the Cooper Union in New York is evident. It constitutes a most valuable addition to the formal technical schools, puts practical education within the reach of the persons most in need of it and least likely to secure it in any other way, and should exert a wide influence in the countries desirous of making technical education truly democratic. The completeness with which Latin America is putting its soul into the practical education of the people is further evinced by the numerous scholarships offered by the various national and provincial governments to enable worthy young men and women to study in the best schools of the United States and Europe. 252 Public Enlightenment and Education Paraguay maintains 50 such students, Brazil, Argentina, and Costa Rica varying numbers, from a few up to 40 or 50, and Mexico has lately provided for an exchange of scholarships with the United States. Since the Latin American student plays a much more significant role in society than the American student, and commands much greater political and social influence, whether as an individual or as a member of student organ- izations, the broadening of his outlook upon the world by foreign study naturally results in a laudable desire to introduce salutary changes into his home environment after his return. Students who have enjoyed the advantages of the best training in the excellently equipped technical schools of the United States and Europe and return home to teach are not likely to rest content with the theoretical courses or the meager equipment of the earlier technical schools in their countries. LIBRARIES, NEWSPAPERS, AND MOTION-PICTURES AS EDUCA- TIONAL AGENCIES Among the subsidiary factors employed in the fostering of public enlightenment and education in Latin America, the libraries and reading-rooms, the public museums, the botanical gardens, the public lectures, and, of course, the newspapers and the motion-pictures should not be for- gotten. Public libraries of the kind to which we are accustomed are as rare in Latin America as they are in England or France: yet in 1913, Mexico had 151 public libraries or reading-rooms, and Cuba has within the past few years instituted a system of circulating libraries similar to those in vogue in the United States. The national libraries located in the capitals are, however, comparable with the best in our country or Europe, the National Library of Mexico having over 400,000 volumes, some of them of priceless value, and the National Library of Argentina, under the direction of M. Groussac, now enjoying an international reputation. La Prensa, the great Argentine daily, whose owners have always worked for public enlightenment, in- Public Enlightenment and Education 253 eludes in the magnificent building in which it is housed a public reading-room and an auditorium in which lectures open to the public are regularly given. The education afforded by the admirable newspapers of Latin America, such as La Prensa and La Nation of Argentina, El Mercurio of Chile, the Jornal do Commercio of Brazil, El Impartial of Mexico, La Prensa of Cuba, El Dia of Uruguay, El Comercio of Peru, which a well- informed Spanish writer, Senor Beltran y Rozpide, regards as superior to the newspapers published in Spain, would alone be sufficient to destroy medievalism and implant a modern civilization in a relatively short space. The num- ber of them, both in Spanish and in innumerable foreign languages, is extraordinarily large, over 500 publications regularly issuing from the presses of Buenos Aires and more than 200 from the publishing establishments of the State of Sao Paulo. As for the motion-picture, whatever its pernicious effect when used only for mercenary purposes, nobody can doubt its far-reaching educational influence in countries where the picture-palace is the prevalent place of entertainment and the people’s clubhouse. Whether in the city or in the remote “camp,” it is insensibly remolding the mental ideas of entire nations regarding the world in which we all live, changing fashions and architecture, and unosten- tatiously, but skillfully, teaching history, current events, and art. At present the American film reigns supreme, and our motion-picture dramas and actors are as eagerly discussed in Latin American homes as they are in the United States. If the purveyors of motion pictures but realized their power for good, they might easily aspire to honor as genuine benefactors of multitudes only too ready to accept what they see at its face value. The use, too, of purely educational films is growing in Latin America, and instruction is given by means of them in dairying, furniture making, iron and steel manufactur- ing, the management of farm machinery, and kindred processes. 254 Public Enlightenment and Education Fifty years ago, Latin America was practically without any of the great educational instruments enumerated in this chapter. The Latin American division of the New World was still the Old World of the backward countries of Europe. Much, indeed, has been accomplished in a short time: and much more may be expected in the next half- century. Those who continue to see Latin America at a standstill in public enlightenment and education either close their eyes to the most patent facts or allow their prejudices to restrict or to misinterpret their observation. CHAPTER XI CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT The greatest Spanish poet of recent times has been Ruben Dario, of Nicaragua. One of the most perfect of all French poets was Jose Maria de Heredia, of Cuba. Dona Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, of Cuba, startled and enthralled the Spanish world in the third quarter of the nineteenth century with her lyric poetry, her humani- tarian novels, and her forceful dramas. Andres Bello, of Venezuela, the teacher of Bolivar, occupies an exalted posi- tion among Spanish scholars. Jose Gautier Benitez, of Porto Rico, who died in 1880 at the age of thirty-two years, revealed during his lifetime a truly poetic gift entitling him to a permanent place in the history of Spanish letters. The splendid statue of The Last of the Mohicans in Central Park, New York, is a replica of the bronze statue of the Araucanian chief, Caupolican, by Don Nicanor Plaza, the Chilean sculptor. Some of the latest “finds” in opera are Chief Caupolican, the Araucanian Indian who has this year (1921) enthused New York audiences as Mathis, in “The Polish Jew,” presented by the Metropolitan Opera Company : Guiomar Novaes, of Brazil, acclaimed a musical prodigy in the musical centers of the United States ; Senhorita Vera Zanacopulos, the Brazilian soprano; and Senora Ada Navarrete de Carrasco, of Mexico, who has been with the Metropolitan Opera Company. Francisco Bernareggi, of Argentina, has lately, in the words of a Spanish art critic, “been able at last, by means of only a dozen paintings, to set a whole people marveling,” and, what may seem more significant to some American readers, has sold these first productions of his brush at fourteen, twenty, and thirty thousand pesetas, or francs, each. Notwithstanding the common belief that Latin America, 255 256 Cultural Development because of the conditions of life supposedly obtaining in most of the republics and above all because of the fre- quency of their revolutions, contains neither actually nor potentially the germs of a great cultural evolution, scarcely a moment in its history can be singled out in which it has failed to produce remarkable talents, striking esthetic Avorks, and minds sincerely devoted to the arts, learning, and science, or to inspire masterpieces of art and literature in foreign countries. Its situation has differed in no wise from that of the United States, except in the circumstance that its brightest intellects, when not immersed in politics and war, have shown a decided preference for the humane arts and only a lukewarm attraction for the glory bestowed by com- mercial pursuits. Climate has seemingly had nothing to do with the creative power of its highest cultural representatives, nor with their individual qualities. The northern tropical or subtropical section of Latin America, including Mexico, has furnished no more impassioned poetry or prose and no less cool, impersonal, carefully reasoned scholarship and scientific study than the southern section. Cuba, Mexico, and Venezuela have been the equals of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay in cultural production; Nicaragua has sent forth the strongest and most versatile poet of all the Spains, Ruben Dario, during the latter part of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century; Ecuador gave birth to the most majestic singer of Spanish American independence, Jose Joaquin Olemdo (1780-1847) ; and Peru has produced in Don Jose S. Chocano (1867- ) the acknowledged bard of Americanism in Latin America. COMPARISON WITH THE PROGRESS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE Latin America, like the United States, is the off-shoot of an old European civilization in all that pertains to spiritual and intellectual development. It has passed through identical national vicissitudes, and has enjoyed the advantages and suffered the disadvantages of connec- tion with an old world. SOLIS THEATER, MONTEVIDEO. CAGANCHA PLAZA, MONTEVIDEO. Cultural Development 257 The words of Professor Walter C. Bronson regarding the status of letters in the United States during the colonial and revolutionary periods (1607-1789) may be applied to it almost without alteration : The development of American literature during the first two centuries presents a peculiar phenomenon. The literature is not that of a people slowly emerging from barbarism and creating their own civilization through the long toil of ages. On the contrary, it is the literature of a people already highly civilized, but transplanted to another continent, where they set up in the wilderness the institutions of the Old World modifying them to meet changed conditions and taking on in time a somewhat new spirit, yet on the whole clinging tenaciously to the substance of the old, and imitating with the provincial’s feeling of dependence the current life and fashions of the mother country. A colonial literature has the advantage of inheriting the riches of an old civilization ; it has the disadvantage of crude surroundings and lack of originality. Such was the case of American literature for two hundred years. To this should be added, respecting Latin America, that certain centers, such as Mexico City, Bogota, Colombia, and Lima, Peru, became the seats of learning and literary activity in the New World at a very early date, and that France, through its books, especially beginning with the eighteenth century, captivated the cultured spheres of society and grafted many of the Gallic traits on the basic Spanish or Portuguese qualities. Generally speaking, facility in writing, as well as facility in oral expression, is an inherent characteristic of the edu- cated Latin American. Writers, then, there have been a-plenty : masterpieces, as in every new country, few. Nevertheless, Latin America has always had a rich, exuberant literature of considerable merit and of acute sociological interest. The mere fact that for three hundred years the Latin American colonies were held in a state of bondage by Spain and the Church explains the lack of works of superior caliber during the larger part of their history. The turmoil of the War for Independence, too, was responsible for the delay in the evolution of artistic, national literatures. 258 Cultural Development Down to the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Latin American literature followed closely in the footsteps of the literature of the mother countries. Literary events in Spain and Portugal had a far-off echo in the New World. The quarrels of Lope de Vega and Gongora created a literary schism in Peru, where the euphuistic, involved style of Gongora had ardent admirers toward the begin- ning of the seventeenth century, and earned for their maker the title of “the prince of poets.” The greatest epic dealing with Latin America, Ercilla y Zuniga’s Araucana, composed on the ground, between battles with the Araucanian Indians and written on scraps of paper and leather, found ready imitators, including the Chilean poet, Pedro de Oiia’s, Arauco Domado, which attempted to set forth in more brilliant guise the feats of valor of Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, the son of the Viceroy of Peru, than Ercilla y Zuniga had seen fit to rep- resent them in the Araucana. Numerous other lengthy, and generally monotonous, narrations in the epic style, such as El Per eg vino Indiano (1599), by Saavedra de Guzman, copied the prevailing mode in the “old country.” Lyric poetry was fashioned after Peninsular models, often in the pompous manner of literary parvenus anxious to make good their pretensions by added floridity or grandiloquence — a defect not always avoided even by that admirable “Tenth Muse,” Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz of Mexico (1651-1695), the American reincarnation of the great Santa Teresa de Jesus. Chronicles, rhymed and in prose, the history of saints, a meager amount of lyric poetry of mediocre quality, stray comedies, autos (religious dramatic compositions), and here and there some literary criticism conclude the literary out- put of the first two centuries of Spanish dominion in the Americas. The printing press, first set up in the New World in Mexico in 1535, published spiritual tracts, primi- tive news leaflets, and catechisms in the native Indian tongues. The most entertaining literature was written in Lima, Peru, where the viceregal court held sway with Cultural Development 259 almost European splendor, and verse was practiced as a social accomplishment. The noteworthy cultural differences between the English and the Spanish colonists in the New World before the eighteenth century lay in the spirit with which they ac- cepted the strange environment to which they had been transplanted. In Virginia, along with the ordinary toil of home-build- ing and clearing land for the plantations, there reigned a good-humored, imaginative outlook on life which occasion- ally found expression in writing. For want of a sufficient audience and because of the interdiction of the king against the establishment of printing-presses, literature deserving of the name can scarcely be said to have flourished : and the cavaliers lacked, besides, that love of book-learning which was rather common among the Puritans. But such writing as was actually done by men like Captain John Smith, George Sandys, and William Strachey, showed promise in its vigor and untrammeled, naive frankness. The Puritans were men of sterner stuff, and much more convinced of the necessity and the value of learning. They believed in education largely as an aid to the knowledge ot the Bible, and gave a certain encouragement to writing for the purpose of eternalizing their religious ideas and spread- ing their controversial opinions. Public instruction was made compulsory as early as 1649. The founding of Harvard College in 1636 promoted the growth of a serious, though small, reading and writing public of advanced cul- ture. Graduates from the English universities occupied many of the pulpits. Oratory of an energetic, if somber, style was much in evidence. Translations of the Psalms secured great respect for their writers. Prosaic but ear- nest histories of the establishment of the colonies were early undertaken by such men as William Bradford and John Winthrop. Occasionally works of a lighter vein appeared, notably The Four Ages of Man, The Four Seasons, and the like, of Mrs. Anne Bradstreet (1613-1672), whose volume of poems published in London in 1650 bore the title “The Tenth Muse lately sprung up in America” — 260 Cultural Development curiously enough, a nearly literal anticipation of the title given toward the end of the century to Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz of Mexico, “la Musa Decima mexicana ” (“the Tenth Muse sprung up in Mexico”). The Latin American culture of the period under dis- cussion, however poor it may seem in comparison with that of Europe or of later epochs, was rich, varied, and mature as contrasted with the culture of the English colonies. Universities existed in the principal capitals, the print- ing-press functioned more than a hundred years before it was introduced into the North American colonies, great men of letters — Spanish historians, poets, priests — com- posed many of their works in Latin America, at least one famous dramatist, Juan Ruiz de Alarcon (1581-1639) was born on Latin American soil, poetical contests were held in Mexico before the end of the seventeenth century, the viceroys were men of distinction and education, dabbled in letters and the arts, and were surrounded by some of the best Spanish society, a poetess of Lima, under the nom de plume of “Amarilis” corresponded in rhyme with the marvelous Lope de Vega, erudite investigations were made into the history, customs, and manners of the Indians, Garcilaso de la Vega (1540-1616), of royal Inca blood, demonstrated in his Comentarios reales (Royal Commen- taries) that the native-born sons of Latin America might in the future contribute powerfully to the development of Spanish culture, and scientists and scholars like Sigiienza y Gongora of Mexico wrote learnedly on mathe- matics, philosophy, archaeology, and astronomy. The essential characteristic of the beginning of culture in Latin America was its restriction to a select class, whereas in New England, because of the paramount desire to improve the common lot, the salient feature was the instruction of the people as a whole in the learning and the arts which overcome ignorance and promote the acquisi- tion of practical knowledge. The eighteenth century in the English colonies counted such conspicuous names as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Samuel Adams — • Cultural Development 261 names that stand for political sagacity, cogent invective, and practical common sense, unmatched in Latin America during this period. But in other directions, the fire oi genius still slumbered. With the possible exception of Philip Freneau, the author of The Wild Honeysuckle and The Indian Burying Ground , American writers slavishly imitated the manner of the English poets and essayists, though showing in their mediocre and often bombastic adaptations a commendable ambition to nationalize their subject matter. Not until the question of nationality had been satisfactorily settled did American literature expand freely and independently and stand forth as a worthy aspirant for artistic laurels. As in every other way, Latin America remained a step behind us. Its independence came later, and the prelimi- naries to that step were slower in taking concrete shape. The paucity of its literature may be accounted for also by the evil days on which Spain had fallen. Great con- temporary models in Spain and Portugal were wanting. Nevertheless, the progress toward dignified self-expres- sion became more and more evident as the eighteenth cen- tury moved onward, and the spirit of scientific inquiry, stimulated by French example, burst the hobbles which the Church had placed on intellectual curiosity. Journals dealing with the sciences and education became current, among the leading ones being El Semanario de la Nueva Granada (The New Granada Weekly) and El Mer curio peruano (The Peruvian Mercury). Francisco Jose Caldas of New Granada (now Colombia) founded the first-men- tioned periodical, which obtained the honor of reprinting in Paris in 1849, added much to the botanical knowledge of South America, made various astronomical studies of scientific value, and met his death nobly in 1816, at the hands of Morillo, the Spanish general, for his espousal of the cause of liberty. The inherent Spanish taste for history led to national undertakings in historical research, and the Historia geografica, natural y civil de Chile (1779) by Juan Ignacio Molina served as the precursor of a long line of 262 Cultural Development works rivaling in volume and wealth of detail the most monumental histories of Greece and Rome. Serious and burlesque epics, occasional verse, and descriptive poetry and prose, however, chiefly occupied those who wielded the pen. Rafael Landivar, a priest, imitated the Georgies of Virgil in his Latin poem, Rusti- eatio mexicana, and was declared by the erudite Spanish scholar and remarkable critic, Menendez y Pelayo, “one of the most excellent poets to be met with in modern Latinity.” In Argentina Manuel Jose de Labarden pro- duced a play, Siripo (1789), thus characterized by Dr. Alfred Coester in his Literary History of Spanish America, the first general history of Spanish America published in any country, and, be it said to the credit of American scholarship, produced in this country: The verses descriptive of the great river penetrating far to the interior were the first about the landscape from which so many later poets drew their inspiration. Siripo is a play treating the relations of the white men and the aborigines. It breathes of the pampa. The life of the pampa in the form of gaucho poetry makes the originality of Argentine verses and plays. The quickening political and social events of the end of the eighteenth century wrought an even more profound change in the intellectual and spiritual life of Latin America than in the countries where the occurrences them- selves took place. Distance and the idealistic, not to say visionary, temperament of the Latin Americans invested the French Revolution, French liberal thought, and the American Revolution with a supernatural grandeur. The ferment of upheaval stirred all Latin America from the fatalistic quiescence into which political and religious repression had sunk it. Young men went abroad, became infected with the virus of unrest, and returned to spread the contagion among their countrymen. Some of them, like Francisco de Miranda, the fire-brand of South American independence, fought under Washington and with the French revolu- tionary' forces, and came back with golden dreams. Others, like Bolivar, beheld the star of destiny which lured Cultural Development 263 Napoleon onward and saw that same star beckoning them from their own heavens. French books circulated freely, and the theories of the French philosophers became the breviary of the growing generation. Everything tradi- tional and conventional was denied: nothing was taken for granted unless it squared with the ultimate truth recently discovered. The Latin American soul became emancipated. It realized for the first time that it had wings. Our Revolutionary poetry, admirably suited as it prob- ably was for popular consumption by Americans then in formation, is disappointingly scant in elevated conceptions and dignified expression. We do not take our solemn moments solemnly — as our songs and exhortations during the late European War amply demonstrate. Outside of our Revolutionary oratory and political essays, little that was written in that momentous epoch can be classified as literature. In Latin America nearly every patriotic outburst might lay claim to praiseworthy artistic qualities. Poetry in general took on a depth of feeling and a nobility of rhythm which were noticeably lacking in previous centuries. Whether fulminating against Spain or echoing the roar of the “down rushing waters” of Niagara, Jose Maria de Heredia, the greatest of Cuban poets — not to be confused with his namesake and fellow countryman, the impeccable French sonneteer — wrote in the grand style, on a perfect level with the best strain of his American translator, the author of “Thanatopsis.” Jose Joaquin Olmedo, of Ecuador, immortalized Bolivar in the majestic cadences of his Victoria de Junin, and held through life the conviction that he had been destined to scale the topmost peaks of poesy. The bard deemed himself fully worthy of his lyre. Gregorio Funes, the learned Argentine scholar, adopted the language of Tacitus in his historical writings, inspired by the desire to encourage the patriotic struggle in which the southern portion of the continent was engaged. Bolivar’s speeches and messages are instinct with Napo- leonic eloquence. 264 Cultural Development Independence once gained, a natural division of literary labor took place. The lovers of liberty could not lay down the martial pen simply because the tyrant had been driven across the sea: they found abundant material for their ardent talents at home, in the aftermath of war, in the strife among the victors, in the persons of the dictators. Jose Marmol, the life-long enemy of Juan Manuel Rosas, the Argentine dictator, continued his Philippics in the prison into which he had been thrown and afterwards, in exile, drew that terrible portrait of the tyrant in Amalia which, despite its high color and melodramatic episodes, is wonderfully lifelike and fascinating. Probably no other historical novel written in either of the Americas presents such a vivid description of an epoch or a more exciting romance carrying the reader headlong with a nervous, energetic style and an unfailing resourcefulness of incident. Heraclio C. Fajardo, of Uruguay, attacked the memory of the dictator in a drama entitled Camila O’Gorman, four years after the defeat of Rosas and his flight to England (1852). Manuel Segura of Peru, Eduardo Acevedo Diaz of Uruguay, and Juan Diaz Covarrubias of Mexico revert to themes of the Revolutionary wars or to the disasters of the subsequent civil wars in which they have been involved; and in Cuba, Jose Antonio Saco, in Porto Rico, Roman Baldorioty de Castro and Eugenio Maria de Hostos, in Guatemala, Antonio Jose de Irisarri, and a host of others in every newly founded republic and in the few colonies still controlled by Spain devoted their unusual gifts largely to the exigencies of political polemics. But gradually from the welter of factional strife a genuinely artistic and thoughtful Latin American litera- ture has been disengaging itself, with a marked note of nationalism. “SCHOOLS” IN LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE The rise of literary “schools” in France is invariably followed by the initiation of similar schools in Latin America. The romantic, naturalistic, realistic, regionalistic, and symbolistic schools of France have Latin American Cultural Development 265 counterparts: and the only serious objection to Dr. Coester’s Literary History of Spanish America is that it has not in its later chapters been arranged to correspond to these well defined groupings. Literature is becoming a distinct profession, and is often, to its advantage, allied with journalism. Scientific study is resulting in the appearance of scholarly works on the natural sciences, his- tory, sociology, international law, and education couched in clear, straightforward language. The list of literary personalities is growing with rapidity, and since the middle of the nineteenth century it has been possible to say that Latin American literature must be accorded a place among the literatures of the modern world. Its “golden age” has not yet arrived, but that it is fast on its way is scarcely open to doubt by those who have any familiarity at all with its present rate of progress. It is a common custom, particularly in France, to narrate the history of belles lettres in terms of literary nuclei, grouped either about individuals or about movements. Corneille and his school, Moliere and his school, Voltaire and his school, Chateaubriand and his school, Victor Hugo and his school, Leconte de Lisle and his school, Zola and his school, Paul Verlaine and his school sum up French literary evolution during the past two hundred and fifty or three hundred years. The same procedure is not always feasible in Latin America, since the numerous territorial divisions represent to a certain extent divisions in tastes, tendencies, and styles. Nevertheless, accompanying the increasing sectional separa- tion due to the growth of nationalism in each republic runs a strand of intellectual attraction which often bridges polit- ical or material chasms. Personalities annihilate geography, and intellectual currents arising in one corner of the globe have the faculty of coursing almost instantaneously in the most distant regions. Thus, Andres Bello, though a Venezuelan, was called to organize higher instruction in Chile, and created a “school”: and Ruben Dario — who is less known by his real name, Felix Ruben Garcia Sarmiento — has welded into the coherent modernista school the dis- 266 Cultural Development erete literary and artistic elements of the present genera- tion in the different Latin American countries. As standard bearers in the arts and letters, whether surrounded by partisans or exerting a broad free-lance in- fluence, may be mentioned Andres Bello (Venezuela), Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (Argentina), Francisco Bilbao (Chile), Jorge Isaacs (Colombia), Manuel Acuna (Mexico), Juan de Dios Peza (Mexico), Carlos Reyles (Uruguay), Jose Enrique Rodo (Uruguay), Ricardo Palma (Peru), Manuel Ugarte (Argentina), Ruben Dario (Nicaragua), Rufino Blanco-Fombona (Venezuela), Ben- jamin Vicuna Mackenna (Chile). A glance at the work of Andres Bello, Sarmiento, and Ruben Dario will suggest the prevailing interests of Latin American writers and the general bent of Latin American culture. ANDRES BELLO, SCHOLAR AND POET Andres Bello (1781-1865) stands for the academic Latin American scholar, intensely devoted to learning at the cost of personal sacrifices, laborious, high-minded, an ardent patriot, and conversant with scholarly progress in the rest of the world. The political situation in Venezuela and his position as teacher threw him into close contact with Bolivar, whom he accompanied to London in search of aid for the revolution. There he remained nearly a score of years, teaching Spanish, enjoying the society of men like James Mill, perfecting his knowledge of English and French, making critical studies of masterpieces of Spanish literature, founding a periodical for the purpose of spread- ing useful cultural information among his compatriots and defending the cause of independence, discussing literature through the medium of a sound and liberal critical gift, and composing some of his poetry, which included a vast epic dedicated to America, but never finished. Diplomatic offers from Chile resulted in his becoming secretary of the Chilean legation, after which he was called to Chile itself to aid in certain literary work and to es- tablish the University of Chile. Installed as rector, his Cultural Development 267 Oracion por Todos or “Prayer for All” (1843) — superior to Victor Hugo’s poem, to which he is indebted, and now recited by school-children throughout Latin America— prac- tically closed his poetic labors, and the rest of his life was given over to scientific investigation and the preparation of text-books. Bello was at the same time an encyclopedic scholar, a true poet, without the bombast which we are too much in the habit of associating with Latin American names, and a highly successful teacher, capable of imparting solid in- struction, holding the affection of his students, and arousing a pure and unselfish love of learning. He combined to a singular degree the attributes of James Russell Lowell, whom in a more than casual manner he strongly resembles in sincerity, imaginative power, and scholarly inclinations. Though born in a tropical country, Bello was free from rodomontade, rather classic than romantic in temperament, and equal to the minute investigation which is commonly considered a proprietary right in the north temperate zone. His Principios de derecho internacional (Principles of In- ternational Law) is a forerunner of the profound studies in that subject made in several of the Latin American countries, and his Gramatica de la lengua castellana (Grammar of the Spanish Language), published in 1847, is still the supreme authority for Spanish grammarians, even in Spain. A historian, lexicographer, mathematician, astronomer, poet, and teacher, Bello will compare favorably with the most lucid intellects of other countries. SARMIENTO, THE “SCHOOLMASTER PRESIDENT” The career of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888) is another contradiction to the supposed effect of climate on temperament. A citizen of the temperate zone, in Argentina, Sarmiento had the impetuousness and the fiery reactions of a tropical. He opposed the dictator, Rosas, with pen and sword, ac- cepted every controversial challenge cast at him and threw down the gauntlet to those who wielded the power of life and death, went into exile in Chile, joined every reform 268 Cultural Development which appealed to him, including the reformation of Spanish spelling, established new methods of teaching, in- troduced normal schools into Argentina, supported his Chilean friends in countless polemical articles, visited Europe and the United States, became governor of his own province of San Juan, from which he had set out almost penniless to seek his fortune, was sent to the United States as minister plenipotentiary of Argentina, and finally was raised to the presidency of the Republic. In the midst of this whirlwind of activity, Sarmiento managed to leave fifty printed volumes of his writings, not a few of w T hieh, like Facundo, ostensibly the biography of one of the lieutenants of Rosas — but in reality a masterful account of the evolution of civilization in Argentina — Via- jes por Europa (Travels through Europe), and Recuerdos de Provincia (Provincial Recollections) are brilliant in color, romantic or quietly pastoral in tone, crowded with original reflections, and eloquent and rhythmic in style. Among the noted writers of the United States during the period in which Sarmiento lived — Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Bryant, Poe, Longfellow, Emer- son, Hawthorne, Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Whittier — none exhibits Sarmiento’s combination of activity and reflection, romanticism and practicality, brilliance and warmth. With the exception of Emerson, it is doubtful if any of these paladins of our golden age of literature was his superior, and it is certain that none did more to uplift his country and to raise the general level of culture. Sarmiento’s most valuable gift to his country was the establishment of the modern system of education. This he based on his acquaintanceship with public instruction in the United States and on the inspiration which he drew from his conversations with Horace Mann. His confidence in the United States was unbounded, not only in educa- tional matters, but also in everything that might be quali- fied as progressive. The guide, philosopher, and friend whom, in his works, he consulted in the formation of his own career and revered as above all mythical gods was Benjamin Franklin. His sympathy and respect for Cultural Development 269 'Abraham Lincoln were profound, and impelled him to write a biography of the martyred president. Senor Rufino Blanco-Fombona does him justice in this regard and at the same time displays baldly his own anti-Americanism : But in Sarmiento’s day, the liberals of America and many conservatives were turning their eyes toward the North, with a candor, a lack of comprehension, a myopia which exhibit more enthusiasm than justice. The Argentine educator was of this number. He was without the genius to plumb the future and to recognize the Yankee danger. He did not understand the hatred of that race for ours. He read and quoted much that was Anglo-American. In 1883 he was even accused of agreeing more heartily than was desirable with a work by an author of the United States. He died a frenzied Yankee-sympaihizer \_yan quizante furibundo ]. In Sarmiento’s opinion, the United States was the coming country of the world. Sarmiento has been called “the representative man of the South American intellect.” If the characterization is apt, much may be expected from his successors. The keynote of his philosophy was incessant enlightenment and progress. To the agriculturists he recommended the use of the latest discoveries and inventions for replenishing and tilling the soil : to the cattle-ranchers, the breeding of pedi- greed stock ; to the teachers, a knowledge of the most scien- tific pedagogical methods ; to public officials, strict honesty in administration and a kindly interest in the working classes. For the encouragement of progress he looked prin- cipally to the United States and France, in the achieve- ments of which he was well read. But he lost thereby not a jot or tittle of that ardent patriotism with which every Argentinian is born into the world. Nobody loved more the traditions of his country nor appreciated more keenly the poetry of the Argentine landscape or of the life of the gaucho — a race now nearly extinct, but the inspiration of the popular and most distinctive literature of Argentina. Given an incentive, the Latin American, like the Spaniard of the days of the indefatigable Lope de Vega or of the modern Perez Galdos, Emilia Pardo Bazan, or Benavente, is amazing in his industry and resourcefulness. Bello, Sar- 270 Cultural Development miento, Benjamin Vicuna Maekenna (1831-1886) — whose historical works aggregate one hundred and sixty volumes — are a few among many dynamic, unwearying Latin American personalities. But in the midst of activities which would be sufficient to overwhelm the ordinary mortal, these men of the larger Latin American mold, who are representative of the Latin American spirit at its best, manage to cherish and to keep alive the divine spark of artistic perfection. They are not merely quantitative producers. They know the principles of art through study and contact with master minds. Their sense of esthetic appreciation is oftentimes developed to a degree uncommon among us. They learn to dominate the instrumentalities of their art, as may be gathered from this unstinted, though perhaps somewhat over-enthusiastic, praise of the Uruguayan, Jose Enrique Rodo, by Andres Gonzalez-Bianco, a Peninsular Spanish critic quoted by Dr. Goldberg : I have called him, and I will repeat it once more, the magician of Spanish prose, the publicist who writes the best Spanish in all the globe, he who has best known to play the instrument of our language in all its mastery, surpassing Valera in flexibility, Perez Galdos in elegance, Pardo Bazan in modernity, Valle-Inclan in erudition, Azorin in critical spirit. . . . He lacks certain quali- ties and subtleties of one and the other: Galdos’s creative art, Valera's bland, aristocratic skepticism, Pardo Bazan’s spirit of observation, Valle-Inelan’s dazzling poetry, Azorin’s assiduous application . . . but who could have imagined that beyond the sea there was to flourish, at the very end of the nineteenth century, the greatest prose writer of the Castilian language? RUBEN DAldo, THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF MODERN SPANISH POETS Not less, in the province of poetry, may be said of Ruben Dario (1867-1916), the Nicaraguan, who has been acknowl- edged the leading poet in recent times of the Spanish world. Dario’s life was an Odyssey of travel, adventure, and feminine enchantment and disenchantment. From Ni- caragua to Chile, to Salvador, to Guatemala, to the United States, to Spain, to Cuba, back to Nicaragua, thence to Cultural Development 271 Paris, to Buenos Aires, to Brazil, meeting Castelar, the great Spanish tribune, Campoamor, Menendez y Pelayo, Oscar Wilde, Verlaine, representing various of the Latin American countries, writing for the newspapers, composing poetry and poetic prose, Dario reminds one somewhat of the intermittently gay and sad wandering troubadours of the Middle Ages. His Azul (1888) marks an epoch and the foundation of a new school in Spanish poetry. He became the law- giver and the sacred model of the modernistas, acquiring disciples in every Spanish land and leaving behind him countless imitators. His omnivorous reading, his extensive traveling, his celebrated friendships gave him a breadth of vision denied to most poets; the small size and relative unimportance of his own country made of him a citizen of the world; and his innate poetic genius, coupled with his adoration of France, kept his art pure and genuine. To Latin Americans timorous of the might of the United States, Ruben Dario will always be dear because of his much quoted challenge in his ode To Roosevelt, thus rendered by Professor E. C. Hills : But our America, which since the ancient times Has had its native poets; which lives on tire and light, On perfumes and on love; our vast America, The land of Montezuma, the Inca’s mighty realm, Of Christopher Columbus the fair America, America the Spanish, the Roman Catholic, 0 men of Saxon eyes and fierce barbaric soul, This land still lives and dreams, and loves and stirs! Take care! The daughter of the Sun, the Spanish land doth live ! And from the Spanish lion a thousand whelps have sprung ! To lovers of true poetry, he will remain one of the most gifted singers of modern times and, though a Central American, one of the half dozen poets of the beginning of the twentieth century worthy of a place among the classics of the future. That such men as Bello, Sarmiento, Rodo, and Ruben Dario are not less common in Latin America than men like James Russell Lowell, Benjamin Franklin, and Emerson 272 Cultural Development among us will seem an astonishing fact to the general public. Why they should be fewer is not at all clear : but that we expect them to be so is certain. Their frequent presence cannot be too highly emphasized. They are indicative of an artistic and intellectual strength in the Latin American public commonly unrecognized by foreign nations. They were, besides, men of the people, blessed with no special advantages over their neighbors, partly self-edu- cated, and, in the case of Sarmiento, wholly and admirably self-made. By competent judges in the mother-country, these leading spirits and others like them are accounted Spanish notabilities fit to rank with the flower of Spanish art and thought. Lately, they have been among the fore- most in bearing the Spanish standard. With the immense variety of genius possible in Latin America because of the character of the land, the differ- ences in climate, the mixture of races, and that buoyant sense of growth and of freedom to expand which will mark each Latin American republic for ages yet to come, why should the Spanish and Portuguese scepter not pass ul- timately to Latin America, as the English scepter will unquestionably pass to us? Indeed, the forward-looking historian already recognizes by many signs that the process of transition is far advanced, and that the Old World of English or Spanish speech is renewing itself in the New World. Ordinarily, the course of cultural evolution appears to keep to a fixed path. Material development and political power, especially since the invention of printing, are accom- panied or followed by literary artistry, in which the written word precedes the spoken word or drama, the plastic and graphic arts, and music. The creation of a high type of drama, painting, sculpture, or music evidently presupposes an older artistic background than poetry, the novel, or general prose. Latin America cannot as yet point to any first-class dramatic genius except Juan Ruiz de Alarcon (1581-1639), born in Mexico, but composing and presenting his plays in the Spain of the Golden Age. In the other arts there are Cultural Development 273 probably few down to the present time of the relative rank of Bello, Sarmiento, Rodo, or Ruben Dario. Nevertheless, the foundations for an artistic unfolding in several of the Latin American countries have been firmly laid, and many Latin American painters, sculptors, and musicians have won distinction in Europe. LATIN AMERICAN PAINTERS The chief centers of art are Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, and Brazil. All have national academies of art and conservatories of music in which excellent training is given, often by renowned foreign teachers. The Palace of Fine Arts of Santiago, Chile, is by many considered the finest art building in the Western Hemisphere, and exhibits work by Chilean painters and sculptors which is a perpetual sur- prise to foreign travelers and students. At the Tenth National Salon of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires about six. hundred pictures, by nearly two hundred painters, were hung — a circumstance which elicited the not altogether flattering comment of the art critic, Jose Leon Pagano : The European nations, however, do not offer similar collections. We do not mention Paris. No one is unaware that that metropolis is the market of Europe; but no one is ignorant, either, that France does not possess two hundred painters that represent her national culture. When France participates with a pavilion in an international exhibition, she does not send six hundred pictures. We have seen that it was so in five exhibitions in Venice, and we saw the same in Rome, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniver- sary of Italian unification. On the other hand, none of the pictures accepted for the salon is without merit, and the large number is convincing evidence of the widespread interest in art, and particularly in painting, which is in harmony with the predominantly Spanish and Italian complexion of the population of Argen- tina. The canvases of the principal exhibitors — Emilio Centurion, Alfredo Guido, Gaston Jarry, Jorge Bermudez, Alberto M. Rossi — and the sculptures of Rogelio Irurtia, whose name and works have been familiar for many years in France and Spain, where he has gained signal honors, 274 Cultural Development of Jose Fioravanti, of Cesar Sforza, and of many more Argentinians with Italian surnames are not below the Euro- pean or American average of excellence, and often reveal a coming master, or one already recognized as such by connoisseurs. Venezuela, underrated because of its checkered career since the triumph of Latin American independence, has in reality produced more than its share of genius or con- spicuous talent. Bolivar, Miranda, Paez, and the noble- minded Sucre form a group of ardent patriots and inspiring leaders superior, perhaps, to any group of that period in any Latin American country. Andres Bello, Rafael Maria Baralt, and Rufino Blanco-Fombona tower high in Latin American scholarship, poetry, fiction, criticism, and political writing. With the passage of time, the reputation of four Vene- zuelan painters appears to be growing steadily. Cristobal Rojas, Michelena, Tovar y Tovar, and Tito Salas are ranked with the best artists of Latin America, have been accepted on an equality with native artists in Europe, where many of their canvases may be seen in the company of the finest works of modern European masters, and have awakened unusual interest in the salons of Paris. The Pentesilea, Miranda en la Carraca (Miranda in the Dungeon of La Carraca), and La TJltima Cena (The Last Supper) of Michelena, the Pnrgatorio (Purgatory) and La Taberna (The Tavern) of Rojas, the heroic, historic battle-scenes of Tovar y Tovar, which crystallize the Latin American spirit of worship toward Bolivar, and the Triptico boliviano (The Triptych to Bolivar), and the Emigracion (The Emi- gration) of Tito Salas, demonstrate the inheritance of the Spanish brilliance in coloring, the correctness of French training, untrammelcd originality, and a glowing patriotic pride extremely propitious to the development of a genuinely national school of painting. The attention to landscape painting, of which Pedro Zerpa and Manuel Cabre are the most prominent representatives, promises likewise to intensify the love of the criollo, or things of Cultural Development 275 the fatherland, which is becoming the dominant mood of Latin American writers and artists. Left to themselves, Mexico and Peru would most cer- tainly have evolved new arts instinct with the traditions of the ancient Aztec and Inca civilizations. The feeling that the indigenous artistic talent of these old races was never justly appraised by Europeans has lately gained ground among patriotic Mexicans and Peruvians, and a movement is on foot to resurrect the principles which re- sulted in the finished and oftentimes gorgeous pottery, woven work, and metal work, and the majestic temples of the ill-starred contemporaries of Montezuma and Ata- hualpa. But the main current of artistic endeavor, par- ticularly in Mexico, is distinctly European. , MODERN ART IN MEXICO Leandro Izaguirre, Alberto Fuster, Manuel Ocaranza, and Luis Monroy, of Mexico, seek their subjects in Euro- pean history or in the realms of fancy which appealed to the old Italian masters or to the French romantic paint- ers: Salomon Pina and Juan Urruchi treat Biblical themes with sympathetic talent: and Jose Velasco, among others, depicts landscapes in a style equal to that of significant modern European painters. In sculpture and architecture, too, the Spanish and French conceptions predominate. On the other hand, the regionalistic school has grown with the heightening of the spirit of nationalism, and national subjects command especial admiration. Jose Ob- regon’s “Queen Xochitl” — a rich and masterly painting, historically accurate and ennobled by a reverential pride in Mexico’s past — Manuel Ramirez’s “Aztec Baptism,’’ and Rodrigo Entierrez’s “The Senate of Tlaxcala” exemplify the patriotic ideals of the most influential Mexican artists, while demonstrating that there is nothing incompatible be- tween fidelity to ancient racial sentiment and close adher- ence to all the details of advanced European technique. Several Mexican artists, notably Ramirez, have exhibited their work with striking success in Paris, and many promis- 276 Cultural Development ing young painters and sculptors are now in the French capital, partly at government expense. The Mexican people, in fact, has always shown a com- mendable fondness for the arts ; and the government, even when passing through its frequent crises, has never failed to encourage artists and writers. The latest official innova- tion has been the establishment of an art school at Coyoacan, one of the most beautiful suburbs of Mexico City, where students can carry on part of their work in inspiring out- door surroundings. In view of the erroneous ideas prevailing in the United States concerning modern Latin American literature and art, there is room for a series of volumes on those topics in relation to Latin America as a whole and to many of the individual countries. Dr. Alfred Coester, in his Literary History of Spanish America — which does not deal with Brazil — has already done the chief piece of pioneer work with regard to the Spanish republics, and Dr. Isaac Gold- berg, in his Studies in Spanish- American Literature, has pointed the way to specialization in periods and authors. Brazil, thus far, has had no American or English literary or artistic historian, though Dr. Goldberg has announced that he expects to take up later such recent Brazilian authors of note as Machado de Assis, Olavo Bilac, Coelho Netto, and Jose Verissimo. Indeed, a volume showing the cultural evolution of Brazil should prove particularly use- ful and valuable because of Brazil’s steadfast friendship for the United States and because of the remarkably gifted writers and artists who are rapidly creating those condi- tions in which art may thrive — poets like Thomaz Antonio Gonzaga, Bernardo Gumaraes, Gonsalves Dias, novelists like Jose M. de Alenear and Julia Lopez de Almeida, dramatists like Manoel de Macedo and Machado de Assis, historians like Francisco Adolpho Varnliagen, painters like Pedro Americo, sculptors like Rodolpho Bernardelli. MUSIC AND DRAMA Such volumes might well treat also of the development of music, which now reckons scores of gifted virtuosi and Cultural Development 277 a number of genuine operas, like Carlos Gomez’s Brazilian composition, II Guarani, produced in Europe, and the Peru- vian opera, Ollanta, performed amidst frenzied applause in Lima, in 1920 ; of the literary contests held by the Liceo de Veracruz and other cultural societies of Mexico for the purpose of glorifying the national past and present ; and of the progress in dramatic interpretation made by Leopoldo Beristain and Esperanza Iris and their Latin American colleagues. Music, it goes without saying, is the adored art in Latin America, open-air concerts are regularly given in every town of any size at all, and the great artists, like Caruso and Tetrazzini, have been welcomed in Buenos Aires, Monte- video, Santiago de Chile, Havana, Mexico City, with an enthusiasm bordering on idolatry, and paid stupendous sal- aries with which our most flourishing opera houses cannot compete. The State or municipal theaters throughout Latin America are splendid edifices, the Colon of Buenos Aires, the Solis of Montevideo, and the National Theater of Mexico surpassing the theaters of the United States in cost, size, seating capacity, and appointments, and the best companies of Europe are engaged. Native actors and actresses have already begun to make enviable records for themselves, though only rarely have their names reached American ears. SCIENCE AND SCHOLARSHIP Of equal, if not greater importance to us, should be an adequate knowledge of the scientific achievements of Latin American naturalists, chemists, physicists, social scientists. The universities of Latin America are graduating thousands of young men and women thoroughly grounded in the main scientific branches and hundreds more are added by the schools of higher learning in the United States and Europe. As government specialists, teachers, industrial technicians, and private investigators, a goodly portion of these recent students will inevitably contribute to knowledge in their own countries. From year to year, the list of those who 278 Cultural Development have performed conspicuous scientific service grows longer. The late Dr. Oswaldo Cruz, the expert in municipal sani- tation after whom the admirable Instituto de Manguinhos has been renamed the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Dr. Manoel de Oliveira Lima, the political scientist, who has lectured at Leland Stanford Junior University and been exchange professor at Harvard, Joao Barbosa Rodrigues, the botanist, Joao Baptista Lacerda, the biologist — all of whom are Brazilians — Dr. Alejandro Alvarez, of Chile, one of the world’s most learned authorities on international law, Dr. Luis Drago, of Argentina, the author of the famous Drago Doctrine relative to the collection of debts in Latin America by foreign governments, Dr. Carlos Juan Finlay, of Cuba, the discoverer of the cause of yellow fever, Jose Gil Fortoul and Delgado Palacios of Venezuela, experimentalists and theorists in the natural sciences, Dr. Pedro Belou, professor of anatomy at the University of La Plata, Argentina, and numberless other earnest and brilliant scholars and scien- tists, many of whom enjoy an international reputation, are actively participating in the cultural and scientific activi- ties of Latin America and making definite contributions to science and learning. That we know little of them argues nothing against them. Some of them are familiar names in European scientific centers. The Rev. Dr. Zahm’s observation regarding Andres Bello, the Venezuelan, is pertinent: And yet he, like his illustrious contemporary, Dean Funes, is practically unknown outside of South America. Cyclopedias that give long accounts of comparative nonentities do not even mention his name. And to think that a man who has rendered such great services to humanity — a man about whom a literature is already beginning to form in Spanish America, as one began to form about the illustrious Goethe a century ago — should be ignored in a country like ours, which should be in closer rapport with the scholarship of Latin America than any other nation in the world 1 COLON THEATER, BUENOS AIRES. FEDERAL CAPITOL, BUENOS AIRES. CHAPTER XII THE POSITION OF WOMAN On no topic is there greater agreement among American writers than on the inferior and old-time Oriental position of woman in every country of Latin America to-day, as always. Consequently, to practically all of us the Latin American woman, even of the better classes, is still medieval or Asiatic femininity. We contemplate her through the mist of our preconceptions as a submissive, sedentary, domesti- cated creature, generally too early matured, and, if of mixed strain, usually fated to menial labors, in many coun- tries primitive in the extreme, tamely yielding to male caprice, quietly enduring infidelity and neglect, and only too willing to vegetate. We assume that, if all the laws made for the convenience of man still prevail in Latin America, it is because the Latin American woman is satis- fied with her present status and finds it, like a habit, more comfortable than any conceivable change. What, then, are we to make of this forthright declaration of Dona Laura Beatriz Madueno, of Peru, concerning the transformation of womanhood in her country? Taking as a point of departure a survey of Peru in its three clearly marked epochs, the Empire of the Incas, the colonial period, and the Republic, we can follow the exceedingly slow progress in the evolution of feminism until it becomes accentuated, or rather, indeed, begins at the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury, when woman suddenly . . . invades the universities, the press, commerce, founds feminist societies, takes positions in offices, and by these means brings to the mind of man absolute conviction of her capacity, not merely as a natural companion for man, but as a true intellectual and volitional entity. Instead of astonishing us, this statement should seem perfectly natural, for the Latin American woman of any 279 280 The Position of Woman standing at all is but the southern European woman, and not the product of a purely indigenous Latin American environment. Her progress may be measured by the prog- ress of womanhood in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France, and that it entails the uplifting of her Indian and negro sisters in those countries where the Indian and negro popu- lation is heavy cannot be doubted. The Latin American woman is what southern European tradition has made woman. In the higher social circles she possesses that charm, dignity, leadership, and ambition which are found among the educated women of France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. In the lower social strata she is receiving no w r orse treatment than is accorded the women of the poorer classes in Belgium, rural France, or the United States. Our scrubwomen, washerwomen, and rag- sorters are leading no softer, more fragrant existence, and it may be questioned whether the wives and daughters of many of our down-trodden farmers are any better off. If the women laborers of Latin America are performing rude, heavy tasks which require physical endurance, it is quite possible that this is the consequence of an agricultural environment in which mechanical appliances have not yet made their appearance. Much of our chivalry has grown out of our machines. Similarly, the influx of women into the industries in the United States is as much due to mechanical develop- ments as to our willingness to admit them as economic partners. Had the United States remained an agricultural country, the opportunities for women, outside of teaching and nursing, w T ould now be little greater than in many of the Latin American republics, and the position of woman would presumably be what it still is in the agricultural regions of France, Russia, China, and India. The American woman has, however, no matter what the reasons, fought her way to a height of legal and economic equality and social independence which is the admiration and amazement of less favored women of other nations. How much of this progress she owes to her own initiative and to the sense of justice on the part of the men, and The Position of Woman 281 how much to the creation of new professions, such as stenography and telephony, to the remarkable extension of teaching and nursing, or to the readiness of business con- cerns to take advantage of her more cheaply paid services, might be hard to determine, though extremely interesting to know: but it would not alter the concrete fact of her advancement. Legally and politically — and, therefore, morally — the American woman is a recognized social entity. Every woman, it may be thought, should aspire to that status. If the Latin American woman has no such longings, we may take it for granted that she either lives in an unchang- ing environment or that she is undeserving of self-expres- sion. We are loath to admit that liberty is not an imperious natural craving — even in women. Any improvement in woman’s position in Latin America naturally presupposes a change in her domestic condition. Most of the chapters in Latin American discussions by American writers which treat of woman at all pay special attention to her household duties and to the careless con- jugal views of her lord and master. The Latin American wife is commonly represented as the plaything of a mass of conventionalities degrading to her individuality and in- jurious to her personal habits. She is not free to move about, is surrounded by a host of servants, nourishes a vain pride concerning petty trifles, is negligent on the score of neatness, spoils her children by too much petting and lax discipline, and accepts with resignation her husband ’s polygamous tendencies. She is said to be ignorant of buying, cooking, the preparation of meals, sew- ing, and nearly everything that constitutes woman ’s sphere among us. Though generally praised for her fidelity and excellent moral qualities, she appears, in the minds of many observers, to be lacking in will-power and to accept too quietly the flagrant indiscretions of her husband. To the average American traveler or writer, all this is peculiarly Latin American, and the result of Latin Amer- ican tradition, environment, transplanted Spanish custom, and, in part, Latin American racial characteristics. 282 The Position of Woman SOUTHERN EUROPEAN ANTECEDENTS OP THE LATIN AMERICAN WOMAN Nevertheless, as has been suggested, the Latin American woman is nothing more than the European Latin woman as a class, and Professor E. A. Ross’s explanation of her traits is the only one broad and accurate enough to stand the test of analysis: In South America the position of woman reflects not only the South- European or Latin tradition, which is less liberal than the Celtic-Teutonic tradition, but as well that imperious Oriental male jealousy which the Spaniards seem to have caught from the Moors. The Latin American woman has been molded by a society in which the Latin male has been dominant, servants numerous and cheap, the Church all-powerful, divorce impossible, and feminine economic independence a social anomaly. Her family life has been the same in nearly every respect as that of the typical French, Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese woman, and the few differences observable have resulted from the lack of economic pressure, the smaller degree of social coherence in countries of vast, extent,, and the relatively short period in which the cultural relations have had a chance to develop. The new ideas to which the American and French revo- lutions gave rise transformed the political complexion and many of the social usages of Latin America : and the late economic and industrial phase of European and American civilization is effecting a profound alteration in the Latin American scheme of existence. Coincidentally, the modifi- cation of the status of woman which has taken place m Europe and America as a result of the economic situation and the emancipation of woman from her accustomed atti- tude of dependence, is finding its counterpart in the feminine circles of Latin America where, as in Japan and Turkey, woman has heretofore been regarded as personal property and treated as a minor. The Position of Woman 283 EFFECT OF THE EXAMPLE SET BY AMERICAN WOMEN The initiative of American womanhood, particularly, has lately, however, awakened ambitions in Latin American thinking women. We have yet a long way to go [declared Senora Carmen Torres Calderon de Pinillos at the recent Women’s Auxiliary Conference in Washington] before we can reach the admirable results at- tained in this country due to feminine initiative and the mar- velously organized labor of women. We must make the echo of this labor reach the ears of our sisters in Central and South America, up to the higher classes, which are those destined to be the patrons of the movement. We must make them understand that the most distinguished and most intellectual women of North America have unquestioningly placed in the balance their knowl- edge, their education, and their personal and social influence, and that, notwithstanding they continue to be excellent wives and mothers, they have a place of honor in all branches of science, of industry, and of knowledge. In no country is woman more respected than in the United States, due to the place she has acquired through the force of her initiative. LEGAL STATUS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN WOMAN The first desideratum in the emancipation of the Latin American woman is, naturally, equal rights before the law. Her present legal status gives her, in most countries, few rights, and her religious doctrine affords her only the dubious consolation of a sense of laudable self-sacrifice and a prospect of heavenly protection. Once married, she surrenders her individuality and her liberty of action. Be- fore the law, she is helpless. She cannot of her own accord invoke the process of law, make decisions with regard to property, have an equal voice in the upbringing or control of her children, nor effectually compel the fulfillment of her husband’s marriage vows. No matter what the situa- tion of her family may be, she cannot, against her husband ’s will, take up any work, nor, however incapable her husband may be, undertake any measures looking to her children’s relief. In a word, before the law, she is the perfect nonentity. The American public, when informed of this medieval £84 The Position of Woman status of the Latin American woman, is almost certain to attribute it to the continuance of those old Indian customs which, among other practices, required the immolation of the wife on the death of her spouse. But it is not in con- nection with the average Indian woman that the woman’s movement in Latin America is concerned. For the present, it has to do almost exclusively with the liberation of the women of the better classes. The fate of all the women i3 necessarily bound up in it: but those who suffer most from present conditions are the women of some intellectual development, whether of European extraction or of native origin. Though carried over principally from southern Europe, and therefore practically identical with the Spanish, Italian, and French conception of woman’s place in the world, the Latin American feminine tradition really differs in no essential features from northern European usage. What lies before the leaders of the woman’s movement in the Latin American republics is a programme as elemen- tary and thorough-going as faced the General Woman’s Union of Germany as late as 1905, when that association issued the most notable of feministic manifestos based on German and Scandinavian aspiration. To be effective, the movement must aim simultaneously at improvement in the marriage relationship and its obligations, increased eco- nomic opportunities, a large share in public life and offi- cially recognized participation in all matters of public welfare, and the diffusion of adequate educational advan- tages for all classes of women. The subject standing in need of the most radical reform is, of course, the question of legal recognition, which involves the destruction of the double standard of morality, the concession of personal responsibility equal to that laid upon the men, and the right to a voice and a vote in property and family con- cerns of any nature whatsoever. Not all Latin American women, it is true, feel a sense of dependence in the lives they now lead, and comparatively few are able to formulate clear opinions as to future amelioration. Most of them would view with trepidation The Position of Woman 285 any change which should break the current of their placid' domestic existence. They see no special virtue in the broadening of woman ’s economic activities, and agree quite generally with the highly flattering and chivalrous declara- tion of one of their most eminent men, Senhor Souza- Queiroz, of Brazil, to Mr. Clayton S. Cooper : We do not understand the customs of your women. ... We are amazed at their independence of their husbands and their departure from their homes and their children to compete with men in business and in world affairs. With us our women are our home-keepers. We like them for their feminine charm, their softness, their beauty, and those qualities which are the opposite to the masculine characteristics. I have been astonished in Eng- land, for example, to see the women working and competing with men in offices and in purely mercantile affairs. I have wondered at the lack of chivalry towards women on the part of European men. It seems to us to be a condition contrary to nature. Not otherwise would one of our genial southern planters have spoken forty or fifty years ago: and he would have earned the warm praise of all well-bora southern women. To-day, such statements do not seem so inspired, even in our southern states, and might be subjected to considerable banter. Industrial progress and woman’s pertinacious in- sistence on her dignity as an intelligent human being have made them as much out of date as slavery. In the indus- trial centers of Brazil, also, away from the spacious fazendas (plantations), they sound like an anachronism. ORGANIZED FEMINISM In order to encompass their aims, the feminist leaders in Latin America realize that they must organize. Organ- ization, however, is difficult because the various countries are not strictly homogeneous, and social distinctions, hard to overcome, are apt to separate for instance, the Mexican champion of woman’s rights from the Argentinian, the Bolivian from the Brazilian, the Nicaraguan from the Peruvian. Yet, somewhere there exists a bond of union. Perhaps it lies in the fundamental unity of all women as a persecuted or neglected sex ; perhaps in the lack of inter- national and commercial rivalry, which permits sincere 286 The Position of Woman sympathy; perhaps in the justice of the cause; perhaps in the prestige of American and English spokesmen for feminism. At all events, there is now evident in Latin America something like a guiding spirit which is conducting a con- certed and simultaneous assault against the citadel of man’s injustice to women. Ready as the Latin American nations are— contrary to the common belief — to join universal cur- rents and to adopt new viewpoints from abroad, and especially from England, France, and the United States, an enthusiastic welcome has been given in most of the republics to modern ideas affecting the status of women. WOMEN VOTERS IN LATIN AMERICA Concrete results are already visible in the field of woman suffrage. The number of suffrage associations in Latin America is considerable and is increasing. Three societies on an established footing in Argentina — the Union Feminista Nacional (the National Feminist Union), the Asociacion de Derechos de la Mujer (the Association for Woman’s Rights), and the Comite de Sufragio Femenino (the Woman’s Suffrage Committee)— have for some time past been molding public opinion, bringing to the attention of the various political parties the arguments for suffrage, and demanding favorable action. That they will finally be successful, nobody can doubt. Women have voted, as Miss Ida Clyde Clarke points out, in municipal affairs in the Provinces of San Juan and La Rioja, petitions have been presented by Dr. Araya and Senor Mario Bravo to the National Chamber of Deputies asking that women be given the vote and that they be privileged to take an active political part in local matters, and the members of the suffrage associations have advocated numerous measures for social improvement, and are putting some of them into effect. The Providence of Corrientes has an energetic Fed- eration of Working Women which publishes its own paper and is conducting a campaign for woman suffrage. The Paraguayan Feminist Center, formed this year in The Position of Woman 287 Asuncion, is composed of influential women and some men favorable to equal rights for women. In Uruguay a brother of President Brum offered, not long since, a bill for the granting of votes to women on municipal questions, received the whole-hearted support of the National Women’s Council, and in 1919 saw his efforts crowned with success. One of the laws passed by the Costa Rican Congress in 1920 bestows the right of suffrage on all citizens, including women, and makes all citizens eligible to state, municipal, and congressional office. The State of Guanajuato, Mexico, in 1917, accorded to women the right to vote on provincial affairs. These incipient indications of a desire for political stand- ing may be taken as the preliminary to a real woman’s movement in Latin America. As a whole, the Latin Amer- ican feminist programme will probably be modeled closely on developments in the United States, and the more so, since American guidance is eagerly sought. The recent Women’s Conference in Washington has brought about personal contact between the best Latin American and American thought on the subject, many American women living in Latin American countries are encouraging their Latin sisters, and the prospective visit this year of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, the President of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association, to Latin America is sure to stimulate feminist endeavor and to weld the different feminist interests into a more united and more thoroughly cooperative body. But, for the time being, the woman’s movement in Latin America is to be distinguished in many respects from its American congener. DIFFERENT MEANS EMPLOYED BY THE AMERICAN AND THE LATIN AMERICAN WOMAN Like the American businessman, the American feminist has concentrated her efforts from the very beginning on her main objective. “Votes for Women’’ has been her goal. Having won that, she is fully confident that all the subsidiary benefits to woman will naturally follow : and &88 The Position of Woman she is scarcely likely to be disappointed. Through her voting power she can force proper legislation for women and children, purify the social atmosphere, command edu- cational advantages, share in the control of public affairs, and help elect officials in whose platforms she sees distinct public advantages. She has acquired power first, and now can apply it in any direction that may seem best to her. Not suffering from burdensome legal disqualifications at all comparable with the shackles of the southern European or Latin American woman, she has been able to husband her strength and to deliver the coup de grace with dispatch and finish. The Latin American feminist, on the other hand, has chosen the slower path of the gradual assumption of duties and privileges suitable to her sex. With the exception of those advanced spirits mentioned above — to whom must be added the influential Club de Sefioras (Women’s Club) of Chile — the Latin American feminist is less concerned for the moment with the acquisition of the vote than with the acquisition of the power to befriend the helpless, protect the mothers, watch over the children, guide the wayward, further the education of womanhood, and uproot the most harmful of the social vices. The Latin American feminine temperament, which is sympathetic to a fault and drawn to works of charitable- ness, explains the present method of approach to the solu- tion of the main problem. In a way, it appears more attractive and, perhaps, more womanly, than the American procedure of compulsion by indignation and the applica- tion of public pressure. If, by her deeds, the Latin Amer- ican woman can demonstrate her capabilities in the handling of public questions of great moment she may then with justice, in the opinion of some of her leaders, claim the rights which have already been granted to 100,000,000 women in the United States, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Great Britain, Poland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Holland, Serbia. Time alone can tell whether that course will bring the desired results in the way of legal and political consider- The Position of Woman 289 ation. From the experience of other countries, it may be surmised that the group of social leaders and working- women now demanding the vote in the southern portion of South America will accomplish more, and with greater speed. In the meantime, the feminine sphere of public action has been vastly expanded. Progress in feminism in the United States has been achieved by a combination of laboring, social, and intel- lectual forces. It has moved, not from the top downward, but in both directions, the working women and the labor organizations having had an equal share in its accomplish- ment with the professional social workers, the women of wealth and high social position, and the thoughtful men and women who have wished to right an immemorial wrong. SOCIAL FACTORS IN THE WOMAN’S MOVEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA The woman’s movement in Latin America has enlisted primarily the traveled and well-read world — society women, writers, the wives and daughters of statesmen, and, in general, the classes free from economic worry. Men of influence, also, as has been indicated, are lending both moral and material support: and it is no longer true — if it ever was true — to say that there is absolute opposition between the aspirations of the women and the convictions of the men. There are in Latin America ardent masculine adherents to the feminine cause, through whom much of the practical work has been done. The exhortation of one of these, Don Ricardo Salas Edwards, of Chile, to the Club de Senoras of Santiago outlines in brief the scope of women’s activities in Latin America and rightly lays the main stress on the social amelioration which women, far better than anybody else, can bring to pass: How, without the cooperation of the public authorities, can we foster the rapid improvement of dwellings and the general health, and how can we honestly apply the existing restrictions upon alcohol, which our mayors do not enforce, if there be not felt in our municipalities, as in other countries, the direct action 290 The Position of Woman of the woman citizen who keeps guard over the family and the race; and how shall we succeed in securing, without her decided political activity, the just regulation of labor and the establish- ment of a system for the participation of the working man in the benefits of industry, which is the true and only solution of this artificial antagonism of interests? The hour for doing something presses, although the political leaders of the present day are not aware of its passage. You, who feel and comprehend the sufferings of this people, are the ones who can best contribute to this undertaking, before the Chilean masses give themselves up in desperation to the agitators, and before the industrials, beaten by exorbitant demands, close their workshops. THE EDUCATION OF WOMAN The education of girls has, of course, appealed with especial force to everybody who has the advancement of women at heart. Without education, the Latin American woman remains virtually a peon, and a dead-weight in any scheme of regeneration. She cannot properly bring up her family, develop her own latent abilities, communi- cate further than the sound of her voice will carry, have any sort of inner life beyond that implanted in her by the Church, nor prepare herself for any higher type of work than falls to the lot of the servant or the farm-hand. Since her influence in the home is paramount, her education, because of its transmitted effect on the growing generation, becomes a most vital social question. Natural isolation in Latin America, due to the great distances, the topography of the country, and the insuffi- ciency of means of communication, accentuates the common Latin tendency to neglect schooling and to pay practically no attention to the education of the women of the poorer classes, especially when they are withdrawn from urban contact. Any era pretending to be modern must remedy this defect. It is precisely in this regard that the twentieth century in Latin America shows admirable signs of promise: and the prominent women of Latin America, through private means and the arousing of public sentiment, are rapidly directing the education of women into the main channel The Position of Woman 291 already established in the more progressive countries of the world. The illiteracy figures for some of the Latin American countries, though unfair to some of them in any comparison with the figures for other countries on account of the different bases employed, demonstrate that the girls as well as the boys are receiving an increasing measure of instruction, and that several of the republics are even ahead of some of the southern European countries. Illiteracy in some European Countries Illiterates Country Per Cent Basis Year Italy 37.0 Population over 10 years 1911 Greece 57.2 “ “ 10 “ 1907 Spain 58.7 “ “ 10 “ 1900 Portugal 68.9 “ “ 10 “ 1911 Illiteracy in some Latin American Republics Uruguay 39.8 Population over 5 years 1908 Cuba 43.4 “ “ 10 “ 1907 Chile 49.9 “ “ 10 “ 1907 Argentina 54.4 “ “ 6 “ 1895 The four countries just mentioned maintain school- systems resembling our own, Cuba having inherited the system founded by American educators during the Amer- ican occupation, Argentina having developed its scheme of instruction from the plans formulated by President Sarmiento, and Chile and Uruguay showing constantly in their public school work the effect of proximity to Argen- tina. Coeducation is common in many of the republics in the smaller schools, and appears to be gaining in favor, chiefly as the result of the example set in the United States. The higher education in the southern republics is gen- erally open to women, who are now taking advantage of their opportunities in large numbers ; normal schools pro- vide instruction for thousands of women preparing for the teaching profession ; and in Colombia a University for Women has lately been founded. Private schools for girls are common in all the Latin American countries, one of 292 The Position of Woman them, the Santiago College of Chile, having an enrollment of over four hundred young women, to whom all the sub- jects in the curriculum are taught in English. That the women have come to stay in the institutions of higher learning is evidenced by the opening this year (1921) of a women’s dormitory in Santiago, in connection with the University of Chile. The public school system of Bolivia is in process of reformation under American guidance, and many of its gifted women teachers are com- ing to the United States for inspiration. Throughout Latin America as a whole, American educa- tional methods are in great favor, American private schools are highly successful and influential, and the ideas brought back by the hundreds of Latin American students in our schools are being put into practice in various localities. The attendance of Latin American women in our colleges and universities is particularly significant for feminine edu- cation in Latin America, since each student, on her return to her country, regards herself as a missionary and, by reason of her added prestige, exerts an unusual amount «f power. TOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR GIRLS Aside from the more general aspects of feminine educa- tion, the most notable innovation, with a decidely demo- cratic cast, lies in the establishment of professional and trade schools for girls, often directly controlled by women ’s associations. This new trend, if unaccompanied by any other modern manifestation, would be sufficient to set the present age in the instruction of woman apart from any preceding age. The distaste for manual labor has been one of the dis- tinguishing traits of Latin American psychology, and has often been accepted as an inherent characteristic. Degrad- ing as it has been regarded for men of any social preten- sions, it has been considered absolutely unthinkable for women. The American, who has been brought up to look upon work as noble, dignified, and necessary in itself, can The Position of Woman 293 have no sympathy with the Latin American attitude, and cannot appreciate in the slightest degree the revulsion of feeling which the prospect of having to earn one’s living by the sweat of the brow awakens in the soul of the Latin American boy or girl of good family. Only southerners who grew up in our country while slavery was in vogue can understand the horror attendant on any social change which obliges men to work in the fields, to lay bricks, to toil at the forge, to wield the tools of any manual trade, and compels women to soil their dainty fingers in any gainful occupation, or even to earn their daily bread as teachers or nurses. The thing simply was not done. It was against the instincts of the race. Rather a crust and a glass of cold water, a desolate room and threadbare clothes than the unspeakable social crime of servile labor. Hence, on the part of the men, the ambi- tion for “white collar” positions, the competition for gov- ernment clerkships, and the almost incredible extension of such immaculate sinecures as a result of insistence with ruling political administrations. A considerable portion of the spoils system .in Latin America may, in truth, be ascribed to the Latin American’s traditional dread of honest physical work. As for the women, they could, in such circumstances, do nothing — unless the obsession for a novio (fiance) and the use of the most subtle and refined arts for ensnaring him may be accounted something of a laborious nature. Many so-called “inherent” characteristics have, in „ne evolution of modern civilization, had to give way before the stress of economic or social necessity : and one of them in Latin America which may be observed to be yielding visibly before changed conditions is the superstition about what women may or may not do in order to secure the means of subsistence. The leaders of the woman’s move- ment are now convinced that public opinion must encour- age, rather than deride, the woman who has to earn her living by honorable work, and that governments must supply the training requisite for enabling woman to make a place for herself in the industrial world. 294 The Position of Woman THE PERUVIAN SOCIETY OF FEMININE INDUSTRY In accordance with this feeling, the society of Industria Femenil (Feminine Industry) of Peru has acquired offices in one of the main streets of Lima for the purpose of exhibiting and offering for sale the handiwork of women of the higher classes who, through reverses of fortune or because of insufficient income, must toil in order that they may live. Women who wish to take advantage of offering for sale articles which they have made — and Peruvian women are adepts, as are most Latin American women, in the production of embroidery, drawn-work, laces, certain delicate toys, purses, hats, fragile trinkets — are not re- quired to give their names to the society, but are assigned a number, thus preserving their incognito, and are paid the profits of their labor after a very small commission for the expenses of the society has been deducted. In addition to this, the Industria Femenil has been given charge of the national workshops in which military and police uniforms are manufactured, has entirely ousted the private contractors who formerly exploited the women operatives, and has increased the pay in the various branches of the work. To-day the Industria Femenil employs hundreds of women in its own shops, besides enabling large numbers to earn money for their needs with- out sacrificing their sentiments — keen, indeed, though undoubtedly false and foolish in our eyes — of conventional respectability. That very desire for anonymity shielded by the Industria Femenil of Lima is, however, a quality which other thought- ful women leaders in Latin America are most anxious to do away with. So long as manual labor is considered dis- graceful, the economic situation of women can hardly improve. The antidote, of course, is training in schools and the creation of a belief in the dignity of all work through the respect shown for it officially and by persons of social rank. The Latin American is particularly sus- ceptible to suggestion through the schools: and what the The Position of Woman 295 schools stamp as honorable will, in the long run, be accepted as honorable in ordinary life. Something of the sort has taken place in our country in heightening the respect for farming by making schools of agriculture an integral part of our universities : so much so in fact, that there often appears to be no appreciable' difference between culture and agriculture. Chile has paid special attention to this psychological phase of practical education and has established trade schools for girls in most of the larger towns. Argentina and Brazil are likewise doing much in this direction, Argen- tina now having about a score of trade schools in which instruction is given in dressmaking, lace-making, glove- making, metal work, telegraphy, millinery, embroidery, drawing, and painting, and Brazil possessing numerous technical schools for girls. The association known as the Obra Conservation de la Fe, of Buenos Aires, maintains classes in the domestic sciences for girls, teaches the design- ing, cutting, and making of garments and the operation of electric sewing-machines, and not only offers instruction free of charge, but also remunerates students from the profits obtained from the sale of articles, thereby making it possible for the young women to earn fair wages while learning the trade. A Department School of Arts and Trades for girls has recently been founded in Bogota, Colombia, and a Profes- sional Institute for young women in La Paz, Bolivia. In the city of Santa Ana, Salvador, a feminine society called El Porvenir de la Mujer (the Future of Woman) is occupied in looking after the physical and intellectual edu- cation of women, assisting the needy, and establishing night schools, savings banks, and mutual benefit associations. The Government of Peru, in 1920, decreed the establishment of a professional and trade school for women in Lima, in which the commercial branches, fine arts, domestic science, and dressmaking, hat-making, embroidery, and the like will ]be taught. 296 The Position of Woman THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING AND THE DIGNITY OF WORK As in the United States, the profession which is proving most attractive to the women of Latin America is teach- ing. Though nowhere overpaid, and almost everywhere sadly underpaid, teaching offers, particularly to women, certain advantages, such as social standing and the forma- tion of the character of the young, which make up in a great measure for the poor pay and the physical and mental strain. The army of women teachers in the United States now numbers almost 550,000 and is steadily increasing. The influence of this vast body of women of education and intellect, permeating the whole country and shaping the thought of even the most retired localities, is well-nigh incalculable. The teacher, as a class, is rarely satisfied with obsolete shibboleths, is obliged to keep up with current topics, is usually to be found in the vanguard of social progress, and cannot, however, hard he may try to divorce his private opinions from his class-room work, keep from imbuing his students with some of his ideals. The woman teacher, above all, catches ideals and spreads them. If those ideals have to do with the improvement of her own sex, it is easy to see what a force for the dissemination of thought about the position of woman any considerable corps of women teachers must constitute. Argentina has now between 20,000 and 25,000 women teachers in the public schools, or about eighty per cent of the entire teaching force: and any doubt as to the growth of a wholesome feminine spirit in Argentina may be set at rest by the mere statement of a fact of such magnitude. The same principle holds good for all the Latin American countries. Where the staff of women teachers has been largest, there woman has made her most notable advance- ment, not alone in the profession of teaching or in her general education, but in other professions and trades, too. For, as Dona Elvira Garcia y Garcia, of Cuzco, Peru, the distinguished teacher and proponent of the improvement The Position of Woman 297 of women, has aptly said in a recent letter to the present writer : It was in teaching that woman [in Peru] took her first steps toward independence. From there, her horizon broadened. She found her way into the workshops, the factories, and into every branch of activity, and is now hammering out her fate, on equal terms with man, in every field of endeavor. The normal school, therefore, has become in Latin America one of the strongest divisions of the educational system. Its preponderating enrollment of women signifies that, as in the United States, its ideals, curriculum, and methods must largely reflect feminine needs and feminine psychology. Because of the solidarity of school life, the agitation and discussion of problems relating to the educa- tion of women cannot help becoming prominent in these feminine centers, and as the most advanced normal schools contain courses devoted to handwork and the domestic arts, the questions which arise are likely to be practical rather than purely theoretical. In other words, the training received by normal school students is such as to encourage them to emphasize in their own teaching the modern view of home and of the relation of woman to society. This is the more probable, since the Latin American governments are now particularly solicitous regarding the training of women for life, and since, even in the universities, women show a surprising tendency to take up the vocational subjects. Professor Edgar Ewing Brandon, in his thorough and succinct monograph on Latin- American Universities and Special Schools, calls special attention to this aspect of the higher education of women: The large number of woman students in certain departments of the universities is astonishing, considering the long tradition and pronounced prejudice against coeducation in general in Latin countries and the comparative rarity of the practice in higher elementary schools even to-day in Latin America. It should be noticed that the movement is, in one respect, quite different from that in North America. In the United States it is in the college of liberal arts that the enrollment of women has grown prodigiously during the last generation. The motive on the part of the major- 298 The Position of Woman ity is a desire for a higher general education without reference to its application to any particular vocation. In Latin America, on the other hand, it is the vocational departments that women have invaded. They study to be teachers, physicians, pharmacists, or dentists. If they were seeking a general literary education, they would enroll in the faculty of social and political sciences, which offers more cultural studies than any other department of the university, but this is precisely where none are found. Their presence in such large numbers in the faculty of letters and philosophy in Santiago, Buenos Aires, and in the correspond- ing department of La Plata is because they can there prepare for teaching. In Peru and others of the Latin American republics, as a result of the professional specialization of women — a development which the conservative Latin American would, a quarter of a century ago, have pronounced impossible — not a few of the distinguished names in medicine, den- tistry, and law are those of women. As never before in the history of the Latin American republics, women are trying hard, in the face of social, legal, and economic obstacles, to work out that salvation of which they stand sorely in need in modern civilization. Their progress is necessarily slow, and, if the words of some travelers and writers are to be taken implicitly, so little has been done as to put any serious mention of it on a par with the inflated propaganda which extols the Latin Americans above all other nations and suppresses every detail of a critical or derogatory nature. The latter point of view is undoubtedly that referred to and flatly answered by Professor Ross in the preface to South of Panama: “In writing about the South Americans,” said one of our Con- suls, “no doubt you will always bear in mind that it is the tradi- tional policy of the United States to cultivate their friendship.” I have done nothing of the sort. My first obligation is not to National Policy but to Truth. The naked truth, to be sure, may often be disagreeable, of no special value to anybody, and prolific in injury, unless indulged in from sincere sociological or scientific motives. But truth, if it is to deserve the name at all, must represent the facts in their genuine relations and preserve The Position of Woman 299 correct proportions in the presentation of new evidence. A traveler may learn that, in many Latin American coun- tries, “even women teachers have little standing,” and create an entirely erroneous impression unless he hastens to add that, in most of them, the woman teacher has already become a great power and the object of universal esteem, and is transforming the social and intellectual environment of Latin America in an irrevocable manner. Similarly, if he has not seen everything in Latin America — which is more than probable — and declares that woman is not enter- ing into competition with men, he is misrepresenting actual conditions, though it may be unwittingly, for he is leaving entirely out of account the factory girls, women clerks, shop girls, stenographers, of the more cosmopolitan coun- tries, the women butchers of Bogota, Colombia, and the women street-car conductors of Santiago, Chile. Social transformations such as these come slowly, with- out doubt, but once the start has been made, the limits to which they may be extended should be calculated by the foresighted student on a generous rather than on a niggardly scale. It is safer for us to predict, because of the sweep of the feminine reform around the world and the considerable progress which has been made in several Latin American countries in the status of woman, that Latin American women will not long oe behind our own women in securing political, legal, and economic rights than it was at the beginning of the nineteenth century, that all Latin America would gain its independence and adopt a republican form of government within twenty-five years. The progressive women of Latin America are to be ad- mired for what they have already accomplished in improv- ing their political and economic situation, but they are deserving of more than ordinary admiration for what they have done and are doing for their less fortunate and more helpless sisters. “Charity” is too trite a term to apply to their works of helpfulness: “loving kindness” would be much more appropriate. The rather cold, statistical, scientific methods 300 The Position of Woman of our professional social workers have, fortunately, not yet invaded the Latin American countries, though, as “cases” multiply, the card-catalogue type of philanthropy may be expected to force its way into Latin American benevolence as a matter of necessity. The most remarkable benevolent organization in Latin America in many respects is the Sociedad de Beneficencia of Buenos Aires, to which the Government has entrusted the care of most of the public philanthropic activities of the capital. Composed of sixty prominent women, the society carries on financial operations in the distribution of its benefits on a truly stupendous scale, and its judg- ments have rarely been at fault. Whatever may be thought in general of the practical ability of Latin American women, the present instance should give pause to the makers of facile and uncomplimentary generalizations. For almost a century, groups of women belonging to this organization have handled the increasingly large sums of money put into their hands and have used them so wisely that the utmost confidence is felt by all parties and denomi- nations in their sound business sense, their integrity, their impartiality, and their sympathetic spirit of helpfulness. The annual income of the society now exceeds four million dollars. What it means to receive this great sum from the most varied sources and to expend it in a manner above criticism, some of our large benevolent associations will understand. That a simple group of Argentine ladies is capable of administering funds of this size should cause hasty critics of the Latin American feminine temperament to revise their opinions based on hearsay or on the notion of what women ought to be able to do who apparently have never enjoyed the training and experience of the modern American or European woman. Perhaps our college or business trained woman might even get new light on what constitutes real administrative ability and experience by watching an Argentine, Brazilian, or Mexican lady in her multiple responsibilities on the vast estancias or fazendas over which she exercises moral, spiritual, and domestic control! The Position of Woman 301 WOMEN AND THE ERADICATION OF SOCIAL EVILS The social activities of Latin American women are not restricted to financial aid to the needy, but embrace nearly all the problems which affect modern society. The regu- lation of the social evil, though not discussed with the free- dom characteristic of our most prominent writers and lecturers, is very present in the minds of Latin American women leaders and will undoubtedly be agitated publicly within the next decade. The topic requires guarded treat- ment and unusual diplomacy, partly because of the extreme care taken in keeping pure the atmosphere in which the Latin American girl grows up, or at least in preventing her from learning that the world beyond her secluded ken is vile with pollution, and partly because what Mr. J. O. P. Bland felicitously terms “morganatic attachments” are one of the traditional bases of Latin society, whether Chilean, Peruvian, Porto Rican — or French, Spanish, or Italian. Where the married woman alone has social standing and the pressing need and overruling ambition of every woman is to secure a husband, male delinquencies are necessarily condoned, even if not pardoned. But Latin American women of the better classes travel much, acquire foreign views, learn of the diseases and degeneration caused by the social evil, and find that what was formerly taboo in one’s private thoughts can now bo discussed in general conversation without loss of caste, and, indeed, with distinction. As feminine independence in- creases and the sense of individual dignity becomes stronger, a problem that so nearly touches the home and the wel- fare of adolescent boys cannot remain unsolved indefinitely. Other social vices, such as addiction to the lottery — which is fostered by many of the governments and is not an absolutely unmixed evil, since a large part of the earn- ings is devoted to charitable purposes — gambling in other forms, petty thievery, cruelty to animals, and alcoholism are handled without gloves. The intemperance of the Indians, comparable with that of our Indians, has always 302 The Position of Woman been a source of anxiety, not only on account of the social and moral harm involved, but also on account of the disastrous economic consequences. Latterly, the question has become much more complicated by the increase in alcoholism among the working classes of the southern part of South America, and both govern- mental and private agencies have undertaken to combat the scourge. The women of Argentina and Chile have displayed especial energy in attempting to stem the rising tide of intemperance, have organized on the American plan, and are carrying the campaign into the schools. An instructive method for educating the children on the score of temperance was recently employed in Buenos Aires by the National Board of Women of the Temperance League and consisted of a comprehensive anti-alcoholic school exhibit of unique interest. In Porto Rico prohibi- tion was voted on July 16, 1917, or five months before the United States Congress submitted the eighteenth amend- ment to the state legislatures, carried by a majority of 38,000 in a total vote of 160,000, and took effect March 2, 1918, or nearly two years before the amendment was pro- claimed effective in the United States. The assistance lent by the women of the island was one of the most important factors in the victory. THE CHILD-WELFARE WORK OF LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN The favorite social service of Latin American women, however, in which all participate with the most heartfelt sincerity, is the culto del nifio (worship of the child) or child-welfare. As a rule, Latin American children are treated affectionately, often too leniently for their own good, and given an exaggerated sense of self-sufficiency. Their importance in the social scheme is much greater than that of our children. They constitute the one firm bond in a marriage relationship which too frequently is not even honored with the semblance of legality. To the mother, they are a real protection : to the father, they furnish gen- erally the only means for the expression of simple, natural affections and sentiments in a type of social intercourse 30 $ The Position of Woman which is commonly highly sophisticated. Were it not for the mother, the average Latin American child would be a most forlorn little creature, lacking that genuine playful comradeship which is one of the chief features of Anglo- Saxon or Teutonic family life. But aside from his domestic role, the Latin American child represents, among nations brought up in an affec- tionate adoration of the Christ-Child, an ideal which per- sists in the Latin home-circle as a result of religious worship and the observance of children’s holidays. The child is, in fact, the center of family interest, and is invested with a religious significance totally foreign among other peoples : the culto del nino is becoming, as has been stated by several writers, a national religion, or rather, if we bear in mind that the same feeling is prevalent in all the Latin Amer- ican countries, an international religion. The tender, idyllic emotions of both women and men cluster about the child as much as about love itself, and often, it would seem, in an even greater degree. To shelter the child, innumerable societies have sprung up all over Latin America, one of the most notable being the Cuna Maternal (Mother’s Nursery or creche), founded by Dona Juana Alarco de Dammert, which cares for the children of working women, trains nurses, instructs mothers, and labors to create a wholesome environment for children of the poorer classes; laws are promoted for pro- hibiting factory owners from exploiting the young; school authorities are persuaded to provide a lunch, or at least a glass of milk, to school children ; orphanages receive spe- cial attention ; private reform schools for girls, such as the casa coreccional de nihas of Antofagasta, Chile, which the League of Chilean Women is constructing, are founded; and means are sought, and are never difficult to obtain, for furnishing to poor and sick children those innocent pleasures without which childhood is a sad and dreary existence. Of all the social activities of Latin American women, none is inspired by a more beautiful sentiment than the culto del niho, and none offers greater hopes of widespread 304 The Position of Woman good. The solicitude for child welfare is one of the most affecting indications of social improvement in Latin America. GREATER FREEDOM NOW PERMITTED WOMEN IN THE LARGER CITIES Any examination of the position of woman in Latin America, however superficial, shows that there is a wide difference between to-day and yesterday. Organization is the watchword, and the freedom enjoyed by women in England and the United States is the ultimate aim. The day of the duena is almost over in the metropolitan cities. Co-education and the popularity of English or American schools in Latin America are breaking down the barriers of segregation. The Rua Ouvidor in Rio de Janeiro now sees women shopping or attending the motion picture houses unaccom- panied by a relative. The carriages in Buenos Aires are no longer closed, the young ladies dress in the full Parisian style, using no mantillas to hide their charms, and women of all ages pass in and out of Harrods, making their own purchases and driving their own automobiles. In Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santiago, the athletic girl, after the Anglo-Saxon style, is beginning to engage in health-giving sports. Occasionally, as in Chile, a woman’s club may be found, which, though at present looked at askance by the great body of domesticated women, will probably have plenty of followers as English and American customs con- tinue to give the tone in Latin American society. The Young Women’s Christian Association, implanted in many Latin American cities by American and English headquar- ters, and often administered by American and English women, are drawing girls from their seclusion and giving them ideals of self-reliance and cooperation. Women like Teresa Carreno, Dona Mercedes Gailbrois de Ballesteros, of Colombia, who was awarded this year the Duque de Alba prize by the Spanish Royal Academy of History, the Senora da Costa, president of the Christian Mothers’ Association of Buenos Aires and the inspirer of The Position of Woman 305 the erection of the Christ of the Andes — a massive statue made from cannon abandoned by the Spaniards and bear- ing the inscription “Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than the people of Argentina and Chile break the peace to which they have pledged themselves at the feet of Christ, the Redeemer” — the Senora de Menocal, of Cuba, Angelica Palma, Rebeca Oquendo de Subercaseaux, Dora Mayer, of Peru, young girls like Guiomar Novaes, of Brazil, and innumerable others of great talent in music, painting, writing, and the social sciences should effectually convince an earnest investigator that the woman of tradition has given way to women of a new order. Without a fixed point for comparison, there may appear to be only an almost imperceptible motion in the woman’s movement in Latin America, but if any previous century is taken as a norm, the progress of recent years will be seen to be truly remarkable. Whether through choice or through compulsion, the Latin American woman has begun to live in a new world — for the first time her new world — the resources of which she cannot now keep herself from ex- ploring. PART 111 CHAPTER XIII THE FIELD OF OPPORTUNITY IN LATIN AMERICA Writers on Latin America have learned to be cautious in representing the opportunities offered to Americans in the neighboring Spanish and Portuguese republics. They show no hesitancy in extolling the incalculable undeveloped riches of Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, or Peru, but speak slowly and in measured terms when the moment comes for what so many of their readers are waiting — specific information as to the best method for securing a livelihood or a competency in Latin America. So long as the book or article deals in general description, no harm, of course, can result to the reader : and the prob- abilities are that his mind has been enriched by new knowledge and his spirit refreshed by the thrills provoked by strange sights and customs and the romantic appeal, particularly strong upon northerners, of tropical or far southern lands. But as soon as the book or article is likely to influence personal action, which may possibly lead to unrealizable hopes or to unconsidered expense, the author for the first time feels a heavy responsibility weighing upon him. He limits, modifies, restricts, and otherwise hedges his statements about with guarded qualifications. Perhaps he expects to be bombarded — as is sometimes actually the case — by impatient young college graduates or clerks with requests or demands for a definite route to a Latin Ameri- can fortune or for the names of companies in need of enter- prising assistants. In such case, what is there left for the writer to do but to emphasize the need of some capital, a knowledge of the country and of the language, patience, hard work, and 306 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 307 moderate expectations? The prospects for large concerns with plenty of financial backing are always admitted to be excellent : and with reason, for they can easily take care of themselves. But who can have the heart to send buoyant youth, eager for immediate success, on what may be the wildest of wild goose chases? Hence the conservative atti- tude of writers on Latin America with regard to oppor- tunities for the individual American. The moral implications of the question are, perhaps, over- estimated by the writers themselves. Instead of throwing cold water on the enthusiasm of young America, they might do more good by stimulating the spirit of adventure and the inherent energy of the thousands of Americans cramped by the close confinement of our predominantly industrial life and anxious for broader prospects. Instead of stressing the discomforts which may be suffered at a distance from prepared breakfast-foods, the electric button, the delivery truck, and asphalt pavements, they might render a real national service in minimizing the essential value of so many features in our civilization which are leading to fatty degeneration of the spirit and to the decadence of enter- prise. Our robust young men and our athletic and efficient young women cannot forever remain tied to the apron strings of the sheltered, monotonous city or of the unevent- ful small town in their own country. Precisely what the young American to-day needs most is the will to try new environments. We have seen ourselves forced to adventure far into exporting, and it is commonly conceded that our whole prosperity, like that of Great Bri- tain, now rests on the amount of business which we can do with the outside world. But can our exporting business long be done entirely from the home office? Can we suc- cessfully compete with Europeans and Orientals who have established outposts and extensions of their own nationality in Latin America? Can we expect our business catalogues to do for us what the personal influence of millions of Latin American Spaniards and Italians, hundreds of thousands of Germans, and thousands of French can do for Spain, Italy, Germany, and France? 308 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America CAN WE HOLD THIS TRADE? The marvel is that we seem to be getting the trade, even in the southern part of Latin America and in spite of disturbing post-war factors. Our exports to the principal countries have been steadily rising since 1914, as can be seen at a glance: Exports to 1914 1919 1920 Argentina $45,179,000 $155,899,390 $213,725,984 Brazil 29,964,000 114,696,309 156,740,365 Chile 17,432,000 53,121,087 55,310,465 Uruguay 5,641,000 31,419,669 33,720,550 Mexico 38,749,000 131,455,101 207,854,197 Cuba 68,884,000 278,391,222 515,082,549 The question is, “Can we hold this trade in the face of the strenuous efforts being made by the European countries to influence the flow of commerce in their direction by all the varied appeals of modern business ? ’ ’ Once before, we were favored with a goodly share of the commerce of the southern republics. In the Caribbean region, no fear need be entertained. We have there our own outposts; and the short distance between the Caribbean republics and the United States is a sufficient guarantee of our commercial preponderance. But, toward the middle of the nineteenth century, we were preponderant, too, in the southern half of Latin America, due largely to the indefatigable efforts of William Wheelright of Newbury- port, Massachusetts. In 1852 there were, as Mr. Harry W. Van Dyke shows, six hundred vessels flying the American flag in the harbor of Buenos Aires alone, or “more than double the number from all other nations combined.” Later, absorbed in our internal development and handi- capped by the disappearance of our merchant marine, we lost our privileged position and were content, until the advent of the European War, to play a secondary commer- cial role in the more distant section of the South American continent. It is now high time that we adopted some of the features of the European commercial and social policy to which we The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 309 have thus far paid scant attention. All that can be done in the ordinary way of business we are doing with marked success, and such an item as the sale of $27,000,000 worth of automobiles by one American company in 1920 to the Argentine market, which formerly meant practically noth- ing to our automobile manufacturers, is eloquent testimony to the value of our wares and the effectiveness of our sales- manship. Our shipping facilities have increased, our banks have widely extended their service, our business men in Latin America have organized flourishing chambers of com- merce, and our purchase of Latin American products has augmented in proportion to our need of raw materials. From the two republics of Argentina and Cuba alone we imported in 1920 supplies to the amount of nearly' a billion dollars — $929,472,773, to be exact — or almost the equivalent of the amount which we imported from all Europe in the ten months ending with October of that year ($1,078,373,- 197). REMARKABLE EXPANSION OF AMERICAN INVESTMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA American investments of capital, too, which formerly lagged far behind those of European countries, have begun to assume the importance in Latin America which has been advocated by innumerable writers and statesmen. The investment of American capital in South America under the direction of American experts [declared Secretary Root in 190G] should he promoted, not merely upon simple investment grounds, but as a means of creating and enlarging trade. . . . I believe that there is a vast number of enterprises awaiting capital in the more advanced countries of South America, capable of yielding great prolits, and in whicli the property and the profits will be as safe as in the United States or Canada. A good many such enterprises are already begun. I have found a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a graduate of the Columbia School of Mines, and a graduate of Colonel Roosevelt’s Rough Riders smelting copper close under the snow line of the Andes; I have ridden in an American car upon an American electric road, built by a New York engineer, in the heart of the coffee region of Brazil ; and I have seen the waters of that river along which Pizarro established his line 310 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America of communication in the conquest of Peru, harnessed to American machinery to make light and power for the city of Lima. Every such point is the nucleus of American trade — the source of orders for American goods. Advice of this kind has been taken to heart by American investors. Within the past half dozen years, such consider- able loans as the following, in addition to many smaller loans, have been secured in the United States for Latin American governments, states, cities, and industrial under- takings : Country Floated Amount Argentina : Central Argentina R.R 1, 1917 $15,000,000 Chile : Gold bonds for liquidation. . . . , Feb. 1, 1921 24,000,000 Braden Copper Mines Co 1, 1916 20,000,000 35,000,000 Chile Copper Co May, 1917 Peru : Cerro de Pasco Copper Co. ... , 1921 8,000,000 Brazil : United States of Brazil 1, 1921 25,000,000 State of Sao Paulo 1, 1921 10,000,000 City of Rio de Janeiro May 1, 1919 10,000,000 City of Sao Paulo 1, 1919 8,500,000 City of Rio de Janeiro 1, 1921 50,000,000 Over a quarter of a billion dollars of American money is invested in Chilean iron, copper, and nitrate; over a hundred million dollars are distributed among Argentine government and industrial loans; heavy investments have recently been made in Venezuelan and Colombian gold mine and oil deposits; down to 1918, one billion fifty-seven million dollars had been invested in Mexican properties; and about one billion dollars have been placed in Cuban enterprises. The total investment of American money in Latin America aggregates at the present moment some- thing like three billion dollars — an almost incredible im- provement on the conditions obtaining at the time of Secretary Root ’s address before the Trans-Mississippi Com- mercial Congress. As confidence in the wealth and stability of Latin America grows, this alliance of American money with Latin The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 311 American resources is certain to reach huge proportions. American money cannot stay at home any longer. FINANCIAL, INVESTMENTS ACCOMPANIED BY INVESTMENT IN PERSONNEL As investments of capital seek the Latin American field, the establishment of businesses on Latin American soil receives a perceptible acceleration : and this step is naturally accompanied by the formation of groups of American ad- ministrators and employees in the places where the indus- tries are located. The American packing plants of Argen- tina, Uruguay, and Brazil, the Colombian Products Com- pany of Colombia, the Dupont and the Grace nitrate oficinas in Chile, the Guggenheim, Morgan, and Bethlehem Steel Company properties in Chile and Bolivia, the great asphalt works in the State of Bermudez, Venezuela, operated by an American company, the vast American sugar estates of Cuba and Santo Domingo, the International Railways of Central America, the United Fruit Company and the other undertakings sponsored by the Keith interests, the Far- quhar projects of Brazil, the Grace steamship lines, ware- houses, and offices, and the Doheny, Tropical, Standard and other oil companies of Mexico and South America, em- ploy regiments, if not veritable armies, of American execu- tives, experts, salesmen, and office help in their Latin Ameri- can and United States establishments. The network of enterprises in which some of these con- cerns are engaged, the immense amount of capital involved, and the number and kinds of employees required may be comprehended from a few examples. The Guggenheim interests control the Braden Copper Company, the Chile Exploration Company, the Chile Cop- per Company, and mining and smelting works in Mexico, besides the extensive steamship and other transportation facilities connected with these mammoth properties. Their mining, smelting, and electrification problems necessitate the services of highly trained technical experts, the social organization of their establishments involves the employ- ment of sanitary inspectors, teachers, directors of physical 312 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America education, physicians, and nurses, and their office force in- cludes large numbers of accountants, auditors, and all classes of clerical assistants. The Chuquicamata plant is, from the point of view of health service, a Panama Canal Zone in little ; its sanitation was planned by a member of the staff of Colonel Gorgas; and various officials devote their time to looking after the social welfare and entertain- ment of the hundreds of American and European employees and the thousands of Chilean workmen. W. R. Grace and Company, the merchant princes par excellence, do an enormous purchasing and selling business in Latin America and are one of the most powerful influ- ences on the West Coast of South America. Some of their engineering enterprises, too, such as the construction of the Trans-Andean Railroad in 1910, between Buenos Aires and Santiago through the Andes, are stupendous in their com- plexity and vast in their demands in personnel and equip- ment. In certain articles, such as coffee and nitrates, they are the largest individual shippers in South America. Their aggregate business totaled $250,000,000 in 1917, and re- quired the services of 25,000 employees, a tonnage of 140,- 000 in ships constructed by the company itself, and a considerable additional tonnage in chartered vessels. The head of the Brazil Railway Company is Mr. Percival Farquhar of New York, of whom Mr. J. O. P. Bland observes : . . . the ideas which radiated from him in such profusion whether financially profitable or not, have left their mark upon the continent. Farquhar’s follies, they call them sometimes — for example, that Palace in the wilderness, the hotel and gambling casino at Guaruja — but the impression that one forms of his meteoric career, even when other company promoters and finan- ciers discuss it, suggests something of the conquistador quality, something of the superman capacity for seeing and seizing oppor- tunities which, with a little luck, makes a Cecil Rhodes or a Pierpont Morgan. The company of which Mr. Farquhar is the guiding spirit is capitalized at 900,000.000 francs (normal exchange), subscribed in France, London, and Brussels, controls im- mense land and lumber properties — the area owned by the The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 313 cattle company alone, according to Miss L. E. Elliott in her unexcelled Brazil To-day and To-morrow, running above 8,000,000 acres — maintains a steamship service on the Amazon River, operates thousands of miles of railroads, and is interested in an incredible number of private and public undertakings. Its colonization work in Southern Brazil is epic in scope and of extreme importance to the future of Brazil, the government of which is cooperating in various ways to its complete success, especially in the direction of furnishing educational facilities to the settlers, who have been coming in the main from Austria, Poland, and Italy. Though originating in French capital, the Brazil Railway Company is registered under the laws of the State of Maine. Its various activities and units are commonly spoken of in Brazil simply as “Farquhar, ” and to Mr. Farquhar appear principally due the energy and imagination which are peopling illimitable expanses of arable land in Brazil, making use of the magnificent forests of the interior of the country, and promoting the improve- ment of the cattle on which a great deal of the future prosperity of Brazil will depend. The ambitious young American is periodically stimulated to increased effort by anecdotes and biographical details centering about the lives of such magnates and potentates as Mr. Rockefeller, Carnegie, Harriman, the Vanderbilts, the Goulds, AVoolworth, the AVeyerhaeusers, Mr. Theodore Vail, Mr. Frank Vanderlip, Frick, Russell Sage, whose fortunes have been built on the opportunities offered at home. AMERICANS WHO OWE THEIR FORTUNES TO LATIN AMERICA There is another group of multimillionaires or men who have made multimillionaires, whose names may well be called to the attention of aspiring Americans — Henry Meiggs, born at Catskill, New York, who constructed the railroad between Valparaiso and Santiago, erected a marvelous monument to himself in the shape of the railroads from Mollendo to Arequipa and from Lima to Oroya, the latter the highest railway in the world and one of the most 314 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America romantic projects of practical engineering, and was one of the notable figures of Santiago, Chile, where he and his Chilean wife welcomed society in sumptuous style; William Wheelwright, who constructed the docks at Valparaiso, Chile, built the railroad from Rosario to Cordoba in Argen- tina, and organized the great Pacific Steam Navigation Company; the late Fred Stark Pearson of New York, re- garded by many as the world’s foremost engineer, who was president of A Luz (Light) Company, capitalized at $100,- 000,000 and employing some 10,000 men and women, to which Rio de Janeiro looks for its light, power, telephone, and street-car service; Mr. Minor C. Keith, of Brooklyn, New York, the organizer of the United Fruit Company, president of the South American Electric Smelting Com- pany, of the Abangarez Gold Fields of Costa Rica, of the Guatemala Central Railroad Company, and of the Inter- national Railway of Central America, who married the daughter of Jose Maria Castro, ex-president of Costa Rica; Mr. Edward L. Doheny, whose connection with Latin American oil syndicates lias made him the latter-day oil king; James Lick, the donor of the Lick Observatory, who was for a long time a manufacturer of pianos in Buenos Aires and Valparaiso; the six Guggenheim brothers and their father, Meyer Guggenheim, whose unerring talent for the discovery of valuable mining properties has un- covered veritable mountains of the precious metals in South America and Mexico; Mr. Charles Schwab, the genius of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, w T ho has acquired one of the most valuable deposits of the best iron ore in the world near Coquimbo, Chile, manufactured many of the huge coast defense guns of Chile, and built the two super- dreadnoughts, the Moreno and the Rivadavia, for Argentina at a cost of $22,000,000 to the government of that republic ; and George Peter Ernest Tornquist of Baltimore, whose son, Ernesto Tornquist, established the great banking house of Ernesto Tornquist and Company, which is to Argentina what J. P. Morgan and Company is to us, and whose grand- son, Don Carlos A. Tornquist, an ardent Argentinian, is perhaps the most eminent banker of South America. The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 315 These men, like the captains of local American industries, have taken advantage of outstanding opportunities with plenty of room for expansion. They have had the gift of vision and realized that Latin America is a yet unexploited territory. They have benefited themselves, their associates, the Latin American republics, and American business in general. They recall the age of the conquistador es, and their amazing deeds are worthy of that type of chronicle of success to which young America is referred for inspira- tion and for rules of conduct. The number of Americans who owe their power and place to Latin America is already large: and many of these men started from exceedingly small beginnings. That the number will increase immeas- urably is scarcely to be doubted, for the surface of Latin American riches has but been scratched. RECENT SUCCESSES OF LARGE AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL CONCERNS IN LATIN AMERICA In the present state of world finances, American money and business acumen should have no difficulty in carrying through the multiple immense projects in engineering, elec- trification, railroad construction, the building of docks, the establishment of public utilities, factories, and industrial colonies, and the development of agricultural and mining resources of which Latin American stands to-day in greater need than ever. Daily items from Latin America prove how effectively American interests are taking advantage of their unique opportunities and how surely commerce is following in the wake of their enterprise. The Westinghouse Company and allied interests have just been awarded the contract for the electrification of the Chilean State Railroad between Valparaiso and Santiago and of the Los Andes branch of the trans-continental line to Buenos Aires. The amount involved is more than $10,- 000,000, and the contract is the largest for railway elec- trification ever placed with an American firm for work outside the United States. The equipment required, which includes locomotives and everything necessary to complete electrification, will naturally be obtained from the United 316 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America States. The Westinghouse Company secured the contract in the face of keen competition from Germany and other European countries. The order, while of considerable size, is but a hint of later possibilities, since Chile is bent on electrifying all its railroads, on account of the abundance of water power and the high price of fuel. The recent purchase of an immense oil field of 5,320,000 acres in Bolivia by Mr. Spruille Braden and his associates was likewise brought to a successful conclusion in the teeth of sharp competition from Germany and England, and implies heavy requirements in American equipment and personnel. Mr. Braden regards this new petroleum area in southeastern Bolivia as one of the most promising oil fields in the world and reports that it contains one of the highest grades of oil ever found. These are but two of the many important contracts and concessions won by United States firms and individuals during the current year. A few others which may be men- tioned are the contract between the Bolivian Government and an American company for the completion of the rail- road between Atocha, Bolivia, and La Quiaca, Argentina, which forms part of the trunk line between Buenos Aires and La Paz, at a cost of $8,500,000 ; the concession by the Government of Costa Rica to American interests for the construction and operation of a railway “from the Bay of Culebra on the Pacific coast of the Nicoya Peninsula past the head of the Gulf of Nicoya to a junction with the Pacific Railway at or near the port of Puntarenas”; the concession by the Peruvian Government to Mr. M. A. Matthews for the construction of a port in the Bay of Matarani, which will include the building of a railroad to Mollendo, waterworks, and the erection of a customs-house and other edifices; the concession by the Mexican Govern- ment of oil rights in Lower California to the Marland Oil Company, which expects to invest several million dollars in the enterprise ; and the granting of options to the Ameri- can Smelting and Refining Company, controlled by the Guggenheim interests, on several silver and copper proper- ties in Peru, which will undoubtedly lead to the opening The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 317 up of extensive anthracite coal regions in the immediate neighborhood. All such undertakings mean American equipment, office supplies, automobiles and motor trucks, and certain kinds of food and clothing. They mean, also, something more vital which has been proved time and again : the acquisition by Latin Americans of a taste and a desire for American products. The American era in railroad building in Latin America, which has followed a British and German era, has resulted lately in the purchase by Costa Rica of several locomotives and 30 freight cars, by Mexico of 90 locomotives with a prospective additional order of 20 more, by the Paulista Railway Company of a number of freight and passenger locomotives, which, as the South American states, “marks a milestone in the electrification of one of the most important lines in all South America.” Two American companies have, in the last few months of 1921, arranged for a five-year credit of $10,000,000 with the Argentine State Railways, and are to deliver 75 locomotives valued at $3,500,000, 2000 freight cars valued at $5,000,000, and spare parts and appliances to the extent of $1,500,000. Fully as admirable, and perhaps a more remarkable, example of the wisdom of inculcating a habit for American goods may be found in the work of such firms as the Singer Sewing Machine Company, the National Cash Register Company, the United Shoe Machinery Company, some of our shoe manufacturers, and several of our manufacturers of fountain-pens, typewriters, printing machinery, and phonographs. These companies, by means of their highly efficient organization and their persevering advertising, have made their wares household names in the cities, towns, and, in the case of several, in even the remotest districts of all Latin America: and it is improbable that they need to worry greatly about foreign rivalry. It may be true, as has often been stated, that most of these concerns hold the field because they exercise a monopoly resting on patents or exclusive features : but, in reality, in practically no instance do they deal in such peculiar products as to preclude imitation, and in no in- 318 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America stance are they the only manufacturers in the world of the articles which they have to offer to their Latin American customers. Good and sufficient practical business reasons explain the declaration of the manager of La Prensa of Buenos Aires to Mr. Nevin 0. Winter: “All of our printing machinery is of North American make, as is almost everything in the establishment, except the type. . . . We have found those goods to be the best. Furthermore, our presses, as you will see, are the North American make; and not from the branch factory in England.” And so [continues Mr. Winter] I found as we went through these offices, being taken from one floor to another on an American elevator, that the “copy” was being written up on typewriters, set up on linotype machines, and printed upon presses, all of United States manu- facture; the cheeks to the reporters were signed by fountain-pens and the cash received over the counters was rung up on cash registers from the same land. Good and sufficient reasons, too, based on excellence of quality and on perfect organization, and not on monopolistic domination, explain the universal use of American farm machinery and of some kinds of industrial machinery in Latin America. OUTSTANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEN WITH SOME CAPITAL “Big business” of the kind described above has little difficulty in making its way in Latin America. It is gener- ally influential enough to command a hearing from the highest governmental officials, is able to investigate the field carefully, can engage the services of the best experts, and has the resources for a long campaign of education and advertising, whenever these factors must be brought into play. But several other species of business still largely undeveloped by L T nited States entrepreneurs offer excellent prospects and should soon attract American capital. It is not long since the interests represented by Mr. John McE. Bowman, which operate the Commodore, Belmont, Manhattan, and other hotels in New York and the Hotel Belleview at Belleair, Florida, projected their activities into Latin America by acquiring important hotel property in The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 319 Cuba. Whether or not this company goes further toward erecting a chain of American hotels in Latin America, it is certain that splendid opportunities exist already in the metropolitan cities and may be foreseen in some of the smaller cities, especially in those along the line of the growing tourist travel and at the fashionable summer re- sorts. If British hotel promotors can put up splendid hotels in Buenos Aires comparable with the most sumptuous caravansaries in the United States, why cannot Americans do likewise? Buenos Aires and some of the smaller, but much frequented, cities of Argentina, Santiago, Montevideo, Sao Paulo, and, above all, Rio de Janeiro, are thriving cities and not oversupplied with modern hotel accommodations. Mar del Plata, Vina del Mar, and Los Pocitos, in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, respectively, are the Bar Harbor or Newport of their countries, and are so located that they serve highly populous urban centers. If one may judge from the past, the demand for hotels there cannot help increasing. Mr. Winter, who has already been quoted in this chapter, gives a graphic description of the congestion at Mar del Plata at the time of his visit. With all the increase in hotel accommodation that has been provided in recent years, the hotels were full for weeks the past season, and it was almost impossible to secure accommodation unless one had friends, or arranged for it weeks ahead. The Hotel Bristol is the largest hotel in South America. There is a main building, which contains a spacious dining and ball room, and two annexes, each of which is as large as the average city block. The prices correspond with the magnificence of the fur- nishings. It is a night’s run from Buenos Aires, and a day train is run on Saturdays and Tuesdays, which makes the trip in about seven hours. The night that I went there were five trains, each carrying fourteen sleepers, and all of them were full. The traffic has been just as great for almost a month. . . . Arrived at Mar del Plata, there was a close line of carriages almost a mile long waiting for “fares.” As soon as one carriage was filled another moved up and took its place. Good hotels are, in fact, needed all over Latin America. They should prove a satisfactory investment not only in the large cities and at the summer-resorts, but also in the 320 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America lake district of Chile and, possibly, in some of the historic regions of Peru. Other enterprises which require capital and should suc- ceed in many of the Latin American republics are depart- ment stores, “chain” stores for the sale of drugs and chemicals, stores dealing in office supplies and filing devices, photographic supply shops, “five and ten cent” stores, and various kinds of manufacturing businesses, such as the manufacture of paints and varnishes and of palm oil for soap or margarine purposes. Concerning the latter, the weekly Commerce Report of the United States Department of Commerce says, in its issue of November 28, 1921 : Outside capital is needed to develop the industry, and there is apparently a good opportunity for an American company to install a factory and control the trade [in Paraguay]. The Gov- ernment is favorably inclined toward capital, and at the present time labor is plentiful and cheap. To be sure, nearly every form of business and industry offers opportunities to the right man at the right time, and there is no special reason for ruling out some branches and emphasizing others. If Americans can give better prices, better quality, or better service, or all three com- bined, than native shopkeepers, they stand excellent chances of building up their trade. On the other hand, Latin American merchants are extremely capable, and have the advantage of familiarity with the market and with the people, and a certain social contact: and because of these facts, Americans are generally warned against entering into competition in these branches unless heavily supplied with capital. The advice is, in general, good, though it need not be taken too literally. EUROPEAN DEPARTMENT STORES IN LATIN AMERICA Large and small businesses have always existed in Latin America : yet Harrods of London and several of the French houses, including the Au Bon Marche, Au Printemps, Aux Galeries Lafayette, have already established flourishing de- partment stores in South America, and immigrants from Italy, Germany, France, and England have built up The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 321 businesses of importance. If the dread of competing with native or foreign firms had seemed an insuperable obstacle to American manufacturers and merchants, they would never have made any appreciable headway, and the 700 or 800 new export commission houses which, acording to Mr. Ernest B. Filsinger in his Trading with Latin America, have entered the market since 1914, would have refrained from acting at the psychological moment. The world has not yet recuperated from the European War, and the door of opportunity in Latin America is still open. Failures and disappointments there undoubtedly are in the Latin American trade and industries, as elsewhere: but the thousands of considerable failures and the tens of thousands of small failures every year in the United States do not prevent the initiation and operation of new commer- cial and industrial enterprises. The many difficulties connected with Latin American trade are not peculiar to that region alone. They are in- cident to all foreign trading, as those most successful foreign traders, the British and the Germans, well know. The antidote to them is to be found only in the strict training in geography, history, language, and commercial practice, such as has been given in Germany, and in a certain tactful- ness and geniality, often innate, but often, also, acquired through contact and experience. In the era of foreign trad- ing which looms before us, nothing can be more vital to our success than persistent imitation of the German thor- oughness. IMMIGRANTS WHO BUILT UP FORTUNES IN LATIN AMERICA If the man without training, experience, or natural adaptability now stands little chance in the United States, it is logical to suppose that he will not stand a much greater chance in a strange environment. Nevertheless, it is not precisely true to say that the man who does not get ahead in the United States will necessarily fail in Latin America. Innumerable examples can be given of men who, either because of the restricted sphere in which thy moved in their own country or because of the lack of the needed stimula- 322 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America tion to their latent capabilities, have vegetated at home, but made a dazzling success in Latin America. Pedro Luro, a Spanish Basque immigrant into Argentina, reached Buenos Aires, practically penniless. Like most of his countrymen, he was hard-working and thrifty. Com- prehending that the best opportunities in Argentina were offered by agriculture and ranching, he secured from the Government one hundred square leagues of land, or 625,000 acres, at three and one-half cents per acre, with excellent terms for payment, and brought over fifty Basque families to colonize the tract. He became immensely wealthy, be- sides making millionaires of some of his associates. On his death, he left an estate of a million acres, stocked with hundreds of thousands of sheep and cattle and richly pro- ductive in grains. Francisco Schmidt, a poor German immigrant, came to Brazil, intent on improving his financial condition. Coffee naturally appealed to him as the road to fortune in Brazil. Beginning on a small scale, he bought up coffee fazendas and extended his holdings in accordance with the limited means at his disposal. To-day, Francisco Schmidt is the largest individual owner of coffee plantations in the world. There are thirteen million coffee-trees on his lands, which produce from 200,000 to 250,000 sacks of the fragrant berry each year. M. Hilleret, of whom M. Clemenceau speaks several times, landed in Argentina without funds and went to work as a laborer on the l’aifways. Gifted with vision, he watched the growing importance of the sugar industry in Tucuman, and determined to acquire a share in it. To interest others in his plans was no easier than it is to-day to obtain capital for an undertaking proposed by a man outside the charmed circle of professional finance. Cattle and cereals seem to constitute the natural wealth of Argentina, and sugar-cane would seem to present better prospects of sudden wealth further north, in the direction of the equatorial belt. But M. Hilleret foresaw the effect of protection on home-grown sugar and persisted in his project for putting up a sugar factory, which he finally succeeded in erecting at Santa The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 323 Ana. The fortune which he left at his death amounted to 100,000,000 francs, or about $20,000,000. In 1872 an American citizen by the name of Piper es- tablished the town of Gibbon in the Purus region of Bolivia, at the mouth of the Araca River. At the beginning of 1878, the number of inhabitants in this fertile region, ac- cording to Sehor Beltran y Rozpide, was 8,000 and one of the important articles of exportation was rubber, the annual sale of which amounted to $2,000,000. Ten years later, the population of the district had increased to 50,000 souls, rubber was exported to the value of about $4,500,000, and other crops had been developed to a point of importance. It is to Piper, the American, that the foundation of the first agricultural centers along the Purus River is due. Not altogether uncommon in Latin America is the follow- ing picture of hard-won economic independence gained by simple, thrifty folk from Europe, often unlettered and unskilled, whose only aids have been their hands and the ambition to obtain in the New World what would forever have been kept from them in the Old World — land and h competency : Our two nearest estanciero neighbors arc a native and a Basque; small estancias both, of about four thousand acres. Of good sturdy peasant stock is the Basque, hard bitten and thrifty; he began life, they say, as a chacrero in a small way, and is now believed to be worth half a million dollars. A brother and his old mother share his untidy, unpretentious house; they keep no indoor servants (mother does the washing), mind their own busi- ness, and have evidently no desire to cut a figure in any kind of society. Instances of this sort are probably exceptional in Latin America, as they are everywhere in the world to-day; but they are a legitimate offset to the all too prevalent state- ments made to the effect that there is nothing in store for the man who goes to Latin America with but a few hundred dollars, a pair of strong arms, and the determination to make his way. They are proof, too, that the best oppor- tunities are in the land and in the produce of the land. 324 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America SPLENDID AGRICULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE * ‘ AVERAGE man” It is still true that fertile land is cheaper in Latin America than in other portions of the Western Hemisphere, that crops are more abundant, that the climate in many regions is more benignant than in the northern continent outside of the southern and southwestern sections and that many districts in the tropical and subtropical zones, because of their elevation, are really temperate both as to tempera- ture and as to the articles which may be cultivated, and that labor is in general cheaper and more plentiful. The great drawback for the present is insufficient trans- portation. Railroads, nevertheless, are multiplying, the “good roads” movement has invaded Latin America, and new ports are being constructed. Those who take advantage of the present favorable conditions in land in Latin America will probably have cause to congratulate themselves on their foresight. Fifty years from now the notion of Latin America as an area prodigal in land opportunities will have begun to vanish. Heretofore, all the Latin American propaganda in the United States has been devoted to commercial opportuni- ties. This was appropriate in view of the extraordinary conditions brought on by the European War, and our merchants have risen to the heights expected of them. But, as the Latin American countries become more self- sustaining industrially, many of the industrial and com- mercial branches in which we predominate will lose some of their importance, and foreign competition will neces- sarily cut into the volume of our trade. The contingency is not immediate, perhaps: but the measures which must be taken in order to forestall a remote contingency often have to be immediate. The solution for many of our future commercial, social, and political relations with Latin America lies in an extension of our own nationality into the Latin American countries through the medium of immigration. It is quite commonly agreed that, if Mexico enjoyed a The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 325 government capable of inspiring absolute confidence and propitious to foreign colonization, immigration from the United States would assume the aspect of a rapid torrent, so widespread is the conviction that the agricultural and cattle-raising opportunities in Mexico are far superior to those now obtainable in most of our States. Whatever the ideas of men like Mr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the celebrated explorer, may be with regard to the inevitable trend of population and settlement northward, in the United States the trend appears to be westward and south- ward. The simple reason is that we are growing land- hungry and are likely to meet the least resistance in those directions. As a much underpopulated country with a great variety of climates and natural resources, Mexico, lying at our borders, is sure to exert a great attractive power upon us. Practically speaking, it offers unlimited opportunities in the growing of cereals, sugar, coffee, tobacco, fruits, henequen fiber, cotton, the raising of cat- tle, and the exploitation of minerals and oil. There is still room for expansion in the West Indies: and those who believe in Florida as a site for permanent settlement because of its sunny climate would find no diffi- culty in getting along in the neighboring emerald islands of Cuba, the Isle of Pines, Santo Domingo, or Porto Rico. The Isle of Pines is a contented American settlement drawing a competency from its citrus fruits and its truck gardening : and Cuba, Porto Rico, and to a certain extent, Santo Domingo are the home of many Americans who, from a small investment, have developed orange, grape- fruit, pineapple, tobacco, and coffee plantations into a paying business under conditions that impose no greater hardships in the way of personal labor required, capital invested, or length of time demanded before tangible returns may be expected than similar enterprises started in Florida or California. The advice given and the suggestions made by the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor of Cuba indicate the pitfalls and the merits of farming in the sub- 326 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America tropics and apply, in general, to all the West Indies and Central America. Free government lands are rare or entirely non-existent : but “many excellent mountain lands are held in large tracts of from 10,000 to 50,000 acres by non-resident owners,” “can be purchased at prices varying from $5.00 to $10.00 per acre, and if located within a reasonable dis- tance of the sea coast, or good harbors, are really worth many times that amount,” and “are usually well watered and covered Avith soil that is adapted to the groAving of coffee, cacao, citrus fruits, mangos, grapes, and in fact, any fruit known to the tropical Avorld. They Avill also support most of our forage crops and hence can be used adA r antageously as small stock farms and goat ranches.” Much of the sandy land hitherto pronounced Avorthless has been made to yield a profit of from $100 to $200 an acre through the miracle of the Burbank spineless cactus. Though many of the elements of expense in farming in the United States, such as the cost of fuel, the need of heavy clothing, the upkeep of expensively constructed farm buildings capable of Avithstanding the cold and the storms of Avinter, are eliminated in Cuba and the other subtropical countries, farming on a small scale requires the same attention to detail and the same business man- agement Avhich are observable in modern farming in the United States. Under good business management, according to the Cuban bureau referred to, garden truck Avill yield from $100 to $400 per acre, oranges, according to maturity, from $50 to $500 per acre, and sugar cane up to $800 per acre. Cuba, too, is faA T ored by several special circum- stances not found in the subtropical countries as a Avhole. Havana is at no great distance from any part of the island, is the busiest port on the Western Hemisphere except New York, and schedules the sailing of 32 steam- ships a week to the United States. In addition, the island is Avell supplied with transportation facilities, haAdng 2600 miles of railroads, 250 miles of electric railways, and 1246 miles of magnificent automobile higlrways. The average The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 327 January temperature is 70.3 degrees Fahrenheit, and the average July temperature 82.4 degrees. In health sta- tistics, Cuba ranks first among all the countries of the world, showing but 12.54 deaths per thousand. Something of a like nature may be said for most of the West Indies and for certain sections of Central America. The larger agricultural projects and those more re- sembling agricultural undertakings in the United States are, of course, to be found in South America. Until the present, citizens of the United States have occupied them- selves only slightly with the possibilities there. Most of the settlement has been effected by the millions of Spanish, Italian, and German immigrants. The great deterrent to Americans, evidently, has lain in the lack of confidence of United States citizens in the stability of the South American governments, in their reluctance to “rough it,” and in their assumption that titles in Latin America are not adequately protected. Such considerations, however, have not hindered Europeans from taking up the land, and cases of injustice or interference on the part of Latin American governments or individuals have been rare. COLONIZATION CONDITIONS It may now be said confidently that with few exceptions the South American republics are as desirable for coloniza- tion purposes as any countries in the world. The colony reported to have been started recently by Mr. C. Dunbar Smith of Nebraska City, Nebraska, on an extensive grant in Bolivia and the numerous applications received by the Argentine Government this year from United States citizens for allotments in the tract of 16,000,000 acres opened up in different sections of the republic for the establishment of colonies demonstrate that the American attitude toward agricultural settlement in South America is changing — though all too slowly. The terms upon which land may be secured in South America are nearly uniform in all the republics, from Venezuela to Argentina. A few of the stipulations made 328 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America by the various governments may be illustrated by ex- amples taken from the colonization and immigration laws of Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. In Venezuela a colonization company or individual may secure a section of land (20 kilometers, or about 12 miles, square) under certain conditions, among which the following are the more important : that it shall place at least 100 agricultural families on its land within two years ; that it shall give each family a lot of 25 hectares (hectare = 2.471 acres) plus 10 hectares for each child above ten years of age ; that it shall provide free lodging for a year to each family ; that it shall advance implements, cattle, seeds, etc., to an amount not exceeding 1000 bolivar es ( bolivar — about 20 cents), exact not more than 10% simple interest on the advance made, and require repayment only in 5 annual installments beginning with the end of the second year; and that it shall deposit 25,000 bolivares or security for that sum as a guarantee that the contract with the govern- ment will be carried out. The cost of transportation of the immigrants from the port of embarkation will be borne by the Venezuelan Government. Immigrants enjoy all the rights appertaining to strangers, and, if they become naturalized citizens, are exempted from military service during their lifetime except in the case of an international war. In that case, they will not be obliged to bear arms against their original country. The National Land Law (No. 4167) of Argentina stipu- lates the following: Article 2. . . . The area of each agricultural lot shall not exceed one hundred hectares and that of each pastoral lot shall not exceed two thousand five hundred hectares, and not more than two agricultural lots or one pastoral lot shall be granted to one person or corporation. The remaining lands shall be let on lease or disposed of by public sale, such sales not to exceed in the aggregate one thousand kilometric square leagues in each year and to be effected upon such terms as to time for payment and other conditions as the Executive Power may determine, but the sale price shall not be under forty cents gold or one dollar national currency per hectare as a minimum, payable within five years as a maximum, with interest at the rate of six per cent per annum. . . . SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF CAPACABANA, ON BOLIVIAN SHORE OF LAKE TITICACA. TOWN AND MOUNTAIN OF POTOSI, BOLIVIA. The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 329 Article 3. . . . The Executive Power is hereby authorized to deliver the definitive title to purchasers who shall have paid in cash one-sixth of the purchase price and shall have complied with the conditions laid down for settling and stocking, the property being charged on mortgage for the amount of the bill to be signed for the instalments due. . . . Lessees and acquirers are obliged to stock their holdings and to erect building upon them to the value of at least five hundred dollars national currency (one dollar national currency = $.42, normal exchange) per kilometric league. The minimum price for each town lot is to be ten dollars currency and that of agricultural lots ( chacras ) or garden lots ( quintas ) two dollars and fifty cents per hectare, pay- able in six annual instalments. Acquirers of town lots must fence them in and build a dwelling on them within a year : and grantees of chacras or quintas must within two years build a dwelling and cultivate the land according to certain prescriptions. Authorization is vested in the Executive Power to make to first settlers gratuitous grants not exceeding one-fifth part of the town lots and of those intended for agricultural or pastoral colonies. Immigrants are lodged without charge and given free board at the Immigrants Hotel, receive medical attendance free, and are sent to their destination under the care of immigration officials and without cost. Similar provisions are made by the colonization laws of Bolivia and Brazil. Immigrants into Bolivia — namely, any foreign workingmen, agriculturalists, or artisans de- siring to settle in Bolivia — are transported to their des- tination free of charge, allowed free entry for their bag- gage, implements and utensils, and given the free choice of a plot of 124 acres of land at a price equivalent to about 10 cents per acre. The Brazilian Government, which is the most active in fostering colonization and maintains a propaganda service in Europe, likewise furnishes free transportation from Europe or America to the locality in Brazil chosen by the immigrant, provides temporary lodgings and food and medical attendance, supplies the immigrant with 330 The Field, of Opportunity in Latin America necessary implements, animals, and seeds, and offers for sale at long credit “a plot of land properly divided and marked out with one portion of it cleared and prepared for preliminary cultivation, and a house erected with the necessary domestic accommodations.” The Brazil Rail- way Company has for some time been cooperating with the Government in attracting desirable settlers. In this day and age, no intending colonizer of unsettled territory will, it is taken for granted, harbor vain expecta- tions as to the conditions in which he will have to live until he has developed his property. Even in the United States, government lands are often away from the beaten track of transportation and com- munciation, the environment is primitive, and the life is lonesome for those who do not constantly keep busy or find sources of cheerfulness in their domestic circle. In Latin America, this is the rule rather than the exception, and the ordinary inconveniences are aggravated by the fact that the language and customs are foreign to Ameri- cans and that not many Americans have, as yet, taken up land in Latin America. Hence, community colonization of the sort carried on so successfully by the Germans should prove more satisfactory than individual settle- ment. The Latin American governments are, almost with- out exception, favorable to this colonizing method and usually offer special inducements for its encouragement. BENEFICIAL INTERNATIONAL RESULTS OF COLONIZATION The value of foreign settlements represented by emigra- tion has been demonstrated from the commercial and political standpoints by Germany, Spain, and England A benefit not usually taken into account, which, for the United States, surpasses even the commercial and political advantages, is the effect of intimate social contact on our judgment of Latin Americans and on their judgment of us. Wherever there are settlements of Americans in Latin American countries, mutual respect and tolerance have sprung up between the two nationalities. The fear of American hegemony would be much reduced The Field of Opportunity in Latin America 331 if more Americans had home interests in Latin America and if as a nation we seemed less given to merely super- ficial exploitation. The advice given by Mr. Roger Babson to our business- men will apply thoroughly in a more general sense: If the people of the United States hope to do anything per- manent in South America, they must adopt the German apprentice system, under which the best young men go to foreign fields for periods of ten or more years, often marrying native women and sometimes settling down for life. Our hasty methods have already made us looked down upon as “four-flushers and bluffers.” We ought either to stop talking about South America, or send our young men down there to stay and solve the problems seriously as do the young men of Germany and England. Commercial, industrial, and agricultural settlement in Latin America is a step which should logically follow our growing trade and political relations with Latin America and the gradually decreasing opportunities for men of small means in the United States. It should be accompanied by the establishment of American newspapers similar to the English “Express,” the “Uruguay Weekly News,” and the “Times” of Uruguay, the “River Plate Observer” of Buenos Aires, and the “West Coast Leader” of Lima; by an expansion of American scientific research, investigation, and expert advice; and by the establishment of American schools in Latin American cities. The feeling expressed by Dr. Lauro Muller, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, with regard to the location of American schools in Latin America is shared by many prominent Latin Americans : But there is another thing which you people could do that would serve as a wonderful means of bringing us together. It is sort of a pet project of mine. I referred to it when in your country in 1913. It is that some of the business men representing the alumni of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and your other univer- sities, club together and start a real “American” college in Rio de Janeiro. . . . We need a real big affair here in Rio de Janeiro with professors from your country teaching the English language and the North American ways to our boys. Several excellent American schools already established 332 The Field of Opportunity in Latin America and highly popular in various Latin American cities, among which should be mentioned the branch of Boston University at Havana, vouch for the practicability of Dr. Muller’s suggestion. Societies exist in Europe for the benefit of prospective settlers and immigrants who need advice about Latin America. Various bureaus are maintained in the European capitals for the purpose of imparting commercial and gen- eral information and with a view to interesting Europeans in the Latin American republics. A Brazilian journal is published in Paris, and an eminent Italian statesman has recently visited Brazil in order to enlist support for the Italian newspaper “II Mondo,” which proposes to become the mouthpiece of Italians on both sides of the Atlantic. The Argentine Republic commissioned Don Vicente Blasco Ibanez, the author of The Four Horsemen of the Apoca- lypse, to write a volume on the Greatness of Argentina for dissemination in Spain. In one way or another, close contact between Latin America and Europe is kept alive; to many districts in Europe, “America” has come to mean Latin America or South America, and not North America ; and Europeans are encouraged to think of South America as a possible future home. Much work of this nature should be undertaken in the United States. Especially useful would be a central bureau capable of giving definite information and impartial advice on industrial, agricultural, and educational opportunities in Latin America. An ‘ ‘ opportunities bureau ’ ’ would sup- plement in an important way the labors of the Pan Amer- ican Union. CHAPTER XIV AS LATIN AMERICANS SEE US To most Latin Americans we are still “Yankees” ( yanquis ). The European notion of the citizen of the United States, in vogue about the middle of the nineteenth century and represented accurately enough, though subjected to some of the slapstick touches of comedy, by Sardou’s L’Oncle Sam and Les Femmes Fortes, is still in the main the Latin American view of us as people with distinctive racial characteristics or national traits. Our cartoonists and tourists have left in Europe an image of the typical American which is almost indelible. Trans- planted to Latin America under European auspices, this image has become not only a symbol, but a reality. Shrewd “Uncle Sam” in his nondescript, patriotic uniform of the old Yankee Doodle days and brought down to date by the addition of the Rooseveltian “big stick” subsists in the mental vision of Latin Americans as a prejudgment which every individual American can dissipate only through actual, corporal presence and agreeable personal qualities. The persistence of the “Uncle Sam” conception may be explained on several grounds. “Uncle Sam” was accepted by ourselves as a national trade-mark or brand when New England dominated our national life. The features and attitude of “Uncle Sam” therefore reflect the sharp facial characteristics and the spare form of those unmitigated, ingenious traders of our East Coast — the Phoenicians of the New World. Were a composite national trade-mark to be designed now, the picture would have to be quite different. The more stal- wart frame and the broader lineaments of the citizens of the central and western states cannot be compressed within 333 334 As Latin Americans See Us the lines of “Uncle Sam,” and, moreover, the youthfulness, the boldness, and the “breeziness” of our Westerners would ill comport with the elderly and rather pinched expression of the traditional “Uncle Sam.” WHY WE ARE “THE AMERICANS” A Latin American, then, who has never seen an Amer- ican, or has seen only types resembling the national cartoon, will almost necessarily visualize us in the one mold of the New England trader of a past age: and Latin American politicians and writers who wish to perpetuate this image of us, along with the invidious phrase “dollar diplomacy,” will perforce term us yanquis, just as our own unwitting citizens are so often prone to term all Latin Americans “natives,” “spiggotties,” and “greasers.” Chauvinism and jingoism are always ready to generalize their animus in the shape of a derogatory catchword or brand. But a legitimate and innocuous reason also underlies the use of the term yanqui. It is almost impossible to form a euphonious adjective or noun of nationality from the compound “United States” — unless we were to adopt the none too harmonious expression “United Statesian. ” Even that would be open to objection, for there are the United States of Mexico in North America and the United States of Venezuela and the United States of Brazil in South America. The suggestion that we adopt the appellation “Usona” (United States of North America) — which would probably make us “Usonans” or “Usonians” — has met with no popular favor. What, then, is there left for Latin Americans to call us except yanquis, even when no feeling of hostility is insinuated into the term? The attempt is now being made, chiefly, it appears, through the efforts of the Pan American Union, to natural- ize among Spanish-speaking peoples a distinctive name for us which shall not wound the sensibilities of other Amer- icans in the Western Hemisphere and shall still have the flavor of Spanish terminology. Estadunidense or estado- unidense (pertaining to the United States, or an inhabitant of the United States) has received some acceptance in news- As Latin Americans See Us 335 papers, magazines, and text books, and may, it is hoped, finally displace yanqui and even americano. Its use should certainly be encouraged in Latin America, for yanqui is not flattering to us, and americano, apparently arrogated to ourselves, is more distasteful to the other Americans than we can have any idea of. If estadunidense succeeds in becoming a common Spanish word, we shall have the novel experience of being indebted to foreigners for a most valuable term which we have thus far been unable to invent for ourselves. It is inconceivable to most of us that anybody should find fault with our choice of the name “American.” We know, for our own part, that, we did not steal anything belonging to others. “American” came to be applied to us in a perfectly natural historical way. The first country in the New World to evolve a nationality of its own was certain to have the appellation “American” fastened upon it. No deep laid plot was needed for filching the term from just claimants. We happened to constitute the earliest clear-cut nation; “United States” offered difficul- ties to the formation of derivatives; and the practice of the outside world was fully as potent as our own practice in dedicating ‘ ‘ American ’ ’ to our uses. Judging, however, from the almost universal feeling in Latin America, we grabbed “American” without so much as a “ by-your-leave, ” in complete accord with our “well known” grabbing propensities. Many are the pages of burning invective which have been filled with denunciation of our egregious conceit in calling ourselves “Americans,” to the hurt and damage of the other Americans : and many are the shifts used by meticulous Latin Americans and Spaniards to avoid conceding to us the right to the term. “The prestige of the United States,” remarks Senor F. Garcia Calderon in his vigorous book, Latin America: Its Rise and Progress, published in 1913, “their imperialism, and their wealth, have cast a shade over the less orderly Latin republics of the south. The title of America seems to be applied solely to the great imperial democracy of the North.” Throughout his undeniably acute and re- 336 As Latin Americans See Us markable work, therefore, Senor Calderon conscientiously evades “American” wherever possible and substitutes “North American,” “Yankee,” “the Anglo-Saxons of America,” “the people of the United States.” Surely, the feeling of resentment against the restriction of “Amer- ican ” to us must be high when a man of Senor Calderon ’s position and talent finds it incumbent upon him to torture his vocabulary to such an extent merely to escape the use of a commonly accepted term which arouses no special debate outside of Latin American and Spain ! The question at issue, though it may appear insignificant to us, is really important because it represents a typical point of view. If there is something inherently offensive to Latin Americans in the application of “American” to us, we must do something about it. We cannot eradicate the antagonism by simply asserting that we have the name and do not care what the Latin Americans think. If Latin American friendship or Pan Americanism means anything to us, we may at least try to allay ill feeling on this score by undertaking a campaign of education as to the historical origin and growth of the custom of limiting “American” to us. On just such trifles is sentimental hostility between nations often built. An analysis of the Latin American appreciation of American character and social ideals shows that while intelligent opinion has an adequate comprehen- sion of our real virtues and merits, popular opinion, which is only too frequently neither intelligent nor intelligible, misunderstands us because disproportionate emphasis is laid on superficial appearances or on prejudiced impres- sions which have become an integral element of the Latin American criticism of foreign life. To know the common reactions of Latin Americans to American stimuli is to know Latin America better, and, perhaps, to know ourselves a little more impartially. Taking their cue partly from the “Yankee” idea, partly from our intense preoccupation with commerce, our boasted plebeian or democratic origin, mode of life, and political and social habits, the architecture of our metropolitan cities, As Latin Americans See Us 337 our apparent nervous haste in everything that we do, in- cluding eating, and our extensive advertising methods, and partly from the superannuated, but still extant, old-world European conception of us as a nation of somewhat uncouth and blundering Philistines, the Latin Americans have fabri- cated a standard image of us, on the pedestal of which might be carved the all illuminating dollar sign. The average educated Latin American professes to ex- plain our entire psychology and our entire social structure principally by our interest in the dollar. Why do we pursue a certain — or uncertain — political policy? Because of the dollar? Why our sky-scrapers? Because of the dollar? Why the particular forms which our luxuries take ? Because of the dollar. Why our artistic monuments, our great athletic stadiums, our style of clothes, our Pull- man cars, our crowded universities, our literature? Be- cause of the dollar. THE EUROPEAN LEGACY OF DEPRECIATION The science of human behavior, everywhere else so com- plex, becomes wonderfully simplified, in the minds of many Latin Americans, when applied to the people of the United States; for the motives of American action and thought are few and transparent. The dollar, a shrewd naivete, and something like “Yankee luck” explain what we are and what we have become. I cannot think [writes the fictitious Chilean of Serior Tancredo Pinochet’s clever satire] what they do in the schools of this country, since no culture or manners are taught. Their only object appears to be that of preparing the individual to make the dollar : a species of aggressiveness in business. On no account would I consent to have my children educated here. We have heard that, of course, before, and much more besides. It is the echo of the old European appraisal of America and Americans. Lack of culture, lack of manners, lack of an artistic tradition, lack of a historical past, lack of an aristocracy, have made us a multitude of newly rich, of arrant materialists. We simply have no taste for the finer things, and are condemned by our national ideals 338 As Latin Americans See Us to a coarse existence unbrightened by the rainbow of fancy, of delicacy, of poetic romance. Our population is made up chiefly of immigrants who came here to improve their condition: and what can be expected of them? But here, as in so many phases of life, it is necessary to make distinctions. Not all Latin Americans are con- vinced that we are Philistines, and not all believe that our acts of political intervention have had a purely selfish motive or resulted only in exploitation for our own profit or aggrandizement. The number of Latin Americans who come into personal contact with citizens of the United States is increasing steadily and rapidly: and in the vast majority of cases esteem and respect follow any acquaintanceship that is more than cursory. Latin American students who frequent our schools and colleges, if they choose to enter into the social life about them, carry away with them a real admira- tion for our school system, for Americanism in general, and for individuals in particular. Latin American writers and lecturers who have visited us acknowledge that they have been treated with signal hospitality, and admit the scholarly ability and intellectual honesty of our thinkers. Men and women from Latin America who attend the various congresses in which delegates from all the Amer- ican republics take part have nothing but praise for the mental breadth, sincerity, humanitarian spirit, and culture and personal charm of the Americans with whom they dis- cuss matters of common interest and by whom they are entertained. In the main, too, though with numerous dis- heartening exceptions, our businessmen have made a favor- able impression on Latin American businessmen, and the qualities which characterize the best American business dealings are prized in Latin America almost as highly as the proverbial British traits. Rarely has a Latin American serious fault to find with any respectable American whom he has come to know rather intimately. Criticism is usually directed against us as a mass, and not as individuals. The most prolific criticism, naturally, As Latin Americans See Us 339 lias to do with our politics: and yet, excluding men of the past like Sarmiento, who idolatrized everything originating in the United States, many modern Latin Americans, while intimating that our political actions are not wholly altru- istic, are ready to render justice to our real achievements. Don Alfredo Colmo, a gifted Argentine contemporary, demonstrates an earnest desire to see chiefly good in our much discussed supervision of the Dominican Republic. Of the following I have evidence [he states in a curious article entitled Pan Americanism and Company and reprinted in Inter- America] : that the North American occupation has aroused the opposition of the Dominican politicians alone. The rest of the population not only has not regretted its presence, but, in some cases, it has gone so far as to praise it and request that it continue. So it is with the journalists, who have enjoyed a liberty they did not have before for the expression of their opinions. So it is with the merchants and industrials, who have been able to develop in a confidence and security that have resulted from a condition undisturbed by revolts, formerly only too frequent. It is so too with the people in general, who have been brought face to face with progressive educational enterprises that they had not seen thitherto. If the suspicions of the common run of Latin American politicians for the past fifty years had been confirmed by facts, the United States would now be in actual possession of more Latin American territory than Porto Rico and the Panama Canal Zone. That we have not gone further, when it was easily possible for us to do so, has made many Latin Americans wonder if we have not really been sincere in disclaiming any desire for territory not belonging to us. In addition, those who reflect have realized that even Porto Rico and the Canal Zone came beneath the Amer- ican flag under practically unavoidable circumstances and in a not unworthy manner. The Spanish downfall in Cuba meant that Porto Rico would go to some ofher foreign power. What was more logical than that it should be taken under the wing of the United States, which, moreover, paid something for it, has granted its inhabitants American citizenship, and has given it a liberal government? The Canal Zone, though serving the United States, does not be- 340 As Latin Americans See Us long in any legal sense to our government, and the privileges connected with it are being paid for by annual payments to the Republic of Panama. The Danish West Indies, now known as the Virgin Islands, lying within the Latin America area, were bought by the United States at a price acceptable to the former owners. The imperial American bugaboo conjured up so fre- quently by Latin American orators is recognized by fair- minded Latin Americans as a mere phantom : and the fear of the extension of American territory over Latin America has begun to subside among trained observers. Even such episodes as President Wilson’s unfortunate note to Chile and Peru, sent while he was on his way to Paris, are now regarded as but transitory incidents begotten of special circumstances or personal feeling, and not representative of either official or public sentiment. A NEW POLITICAL. VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES It may, indeed, be declared with some assurance that a new political view of the United States is coming into being among thoughtful Latin Americans. Instead of per- sisting in the notion that the United States is avid for new territorial possessions in the lands to the south, the idea is becoming current that the United States, like Great Britain, is intent only on the expansion of its commerce. If this belief should become the popular one in Latin America, and if the integrity of Mexico — the touchstone of our sincerity in Latin American affairs — is left undisturbed, much of the hostility and suspicion hanging over from the past will disappear within a comparatively short time, and our interest in Latin America will be accepted on a par with British, French, Spanish, and German interests. Between our culture and Latin American culture there is, of course, no such material antagonism as there is presumed to be between our political aims and the political aspirations of Latin America. Nevertheless, as the vehemence of political denunciation against the United States wanes, the emphasis on cultural differences appears to become more marked, As Latin Americans See Us 341 To listen to some Latin Americans, one would suppose that the United States is endeavoring to submerge the traditional customs, manners, and tastes of their country- men beneath a superstructure of hated foreign culture or Kultur. Yet no evidence is at hand of any malevolent ambitions on the part of the United States in this direction, in spite of the truth, as Don Luis Pascarella, of Argentina, points out, that in many externals the United States has been supplanting European usages : It may be affirmed that between 1904 and 1910 all our shoe factories — for example — adopted American machinery. Foot wear itself abandoned the traditional Frauco-English last and adopted that of the north. Furniture connected with the several branches of business replaced the old varieties that had been supplied by Europe. Sectional book shelves to meet all requirements were substituted, with evident advantage, for the heavy and incon- venient cabinets. Furthermore, the American business suit for men, the American hat for men and women, American shop arrange- ments, and the American plate-glass store-front have made their way in many countries of Latin America. But always, the acceptance of American innovations has come spon- taneously, and without any other pressure than American salesmanship. AMERICAN “kultur”? It is well to insist on this detail now, for the cry will undoubtedly be raised later of attempts by the United States to cram its Kulture down the throats of the weaker Latin American nations. What, then, is this defective cultural condition in the United States which Latin Americans criticise and Amer- ican writers and travelers often deplore after visiting the Latin American republics ? Is it the result of some inherent incapacity or only of appearances which grate on a Latin American used to the European ways of his own land or of Europe? The Latin American stepping off the ship at New York — unless he comes from Buenos Aires, where the noise and 342 As Latin Americans See Us the bustle of a great metropolis are fully as overpowering as in any world mart — is immediately struck by a lack of respect for persons amounting to irreverence. In his own seaport, where he is known as an individual of consequence — for the traveler is naturally a gentleman of means and social standing, as is proved by the very fact that he is traveling in far places — he never fails to command attention and an almost feudal courtesy. Cus- toms officials harken deferentially to his requests, porters humbly await his orders, coachmen or taxicab drivers watch anxiously for the snap of his fingers or the lifting of his hand. If he is unknown at the Latin American port from which he embarks, his dress and his bearing infallibly disclose his elevated station, and tips well distributed bring him the service to which, in a land full of servants, where every household has more servants than it knows what to do with, he has always been accustomed. Here, in New York, in the midst of a strange jargon, he feels lost. He is jostled about like a nobody. If he does not pay close attention, he may be run over by a truck or an automobile. His conventional European clothes do not single him out for special civility, for the man in incon- spicuous tweeds next to him may be a multimillionaire. If he shows annoyance at any incident, he is answered back in a threatening tone. At the offices, he is shoved along a line without being able to enjoy special privileges or to indulge in a little leisurely sociability. If he manages to secure a taxicab, his feeling of conferring a favor is ruined by the conviction, forced upon him by the manner of the chauffeur, that, for some unaccountable reason and in spite of his unworthiness, he is being favored out of sheer luck. He goes to a hotel — a stupendous, crowded, glaring hotel. “No room,” the clerk may tell him in a quick, aggressive tone. Mine host does not come to bow before him. The atmosphere is not homelike, cheerful — unless he manages to find a hotel devoted to the needs of Latin Americans, of which there are a few in New York. When he does succeed in securing accommodations, the superiority of our modern improvements somehow fails to impress him. It is all very As Latin Americans See Us 343 well to know that he can get what he wants by a series of signals, but the personal element is sadly lacking. He resents the automatic character of American civilization, for he has not been used to it. To him it is as ridiculous as Quentin’s description of it was to French audiences in 1860, when Sardou’s Lcs Femmes Fortes was one of the theatrical hits of the day. “Talk about your Opera tricks!” [exclaims the l.alf-Ameri- canized Quentin in that comedy, who has just returned from the United States] “What a poor exhibition! You are in your room. You touch a button, and a speaking-tube cries at the other end of the hotel : ‘Mr. Lachapelle wants a bootjack !’ The boot- jack pops up instantaneously through the floor ! Or, ‘Mr. Lacha- pelle wants to have his clothes brushed !’ A little brush comes down from the ceiling and lovingly brushes you from head to foot. Do you want a bath? Turn that key! Your bed is transformed into a bath to the sound of delicious music. Tap here, and your lamp is extinguished! Knock there, and your fire is lit ! Pull this cord : here is your newspaper ! Push this plug : here’s your soup ! Finally, touch this spring — your soiled shirt disappears through the chimney and comes back laundered through the bottom of the door!” Accustomed as we are to all our modern contrivances — our electric buttons, our steam radiators, our individual telephones, cur valet service, and the like — we cannot understand how anybody with a grain of efficiency can affect to scorn them or to look on them with indifference. But the Latin American, like the average Frenchman, Italian, or Spaniard, does not pride himself on this par- ticular brand of efficiency. It is too mechanical, too cold, too destructive of human relationships. What, after all, does it contribute to life? How much better is it, either, than the system to which he has been habituated? We push a button: he orders a servant. We turn on the heat: he tells a servant to make a fire or to stir it up. We go down to the barbershop and sit in public in a stiff chair: he, if he wants to, asks the barber to come to his house and is shaved and trimmed in the comfort of his own room or verandah. We take the breath, the movement, and the color of life out of all our domestic arrangements in so 244 As Latin Americans See Us far as we can by the exercise of Yankee ingenuity: he prefers to live in the midst of vivid, vivacious life itself — if the expression may be used. Efficiency! In the opinion of Latin Americans we are obsessed by that mania to the detriment of the best human instincts. Efficiency in our interpretation signifies extreme standardization, mass in place of individuality, and a fac- tory mode of existence. Efficiency makes us build huge edifices towering to the skies, from which air, light, flowers, and trickling fountains are excluded as non-essentials; theaters that are adjudged good or bad according to their seating capacity; eating-houses that can be emptied of their occupants every few minutes; cities that are devoid of personality. Efficiency makes us slaves of the clock ; quickens our step in the false notion that we are doing things more rapidly or getting more work accomplished; spoils the manners of shopmen and clerks ; causes us to eat poorly cooked food; and induces us to convert our pleasures into timed tasks. We have lost the gift of the joy of living because we have supinely surrendered to the Frankenstein of a lock-step civilization. We are the apotheosis of a mechanical age and have allowed ourselves to become thoroughly mechanized, not only in a physical, but in a spiritual sense, as well. LATIN AMERICAN JUDGMENT OF OUR NEWSPAPERS Our ideas, according to Latin Americans, are, like our clothes, too frequently ready-made, or, to use a different, simile, predigested. We do not, as a matter of fact, have individual, but only mass ideas. Therefore we judge en bloc. A few men in newspaper offices decide each evening what the American public shall think the next day and serve us our mental pabulum in the morning with the national proportions of sugar and milk: and those men receive their thoughts ready to serve from a still smaller number of men entrenched in government strongholds. Hence, when any question concerning Latin America, for example, arises, “inspired” opinions circulate with the As Latin Americans See Us 345 rapidity of telegraphic communication, the public has its mind made up for it before it has finished breakfast, and with a sublime confidence in the omniscience of its sources of information stands ready in unison to rebuke Chile, simply because Peru has flattered us by asking us to act as the mediator in the Pacific dispute, to assume a trustee- ship over Dominican, Nicaraguan, and Haitian funds, to enter Mexico, and to condemn Argentine merchants for neglecting to take up at once the American merchandise with which the market has been glutted. The newspapers do not furnish us with facts, but with decisions, and the freedom of the press is a euphemism for the freedom to print what is permitted. Nobody learns through American journalism the truth about Latin America. As Don Carlos Castro Ruiz suggests : With three or four pages dedicated to sports, American news- papers could spare some lines to furnish their readers with somo material regarding South American activities. In Chile, in our newspapers, we have two columns of cabled news from the United States, daily. We are fully acquainted with American political, international and commercial life. Occasionally we find in American newspapers a cable from South America of the high importance of the following article printed in a New York paper: “Uruguay Admits American’s Pet Dog.” . . . Not a word have I seen regarding the new Chile- Argentine Transandean Railway, from Salta to Antofagasta, which will cross the Andes at a height of nine thousand feet. Because our ideas are stereotyped, we maintain an in- flexible attitude in intellectual matters wholly out of keep- ing with our recognized ductility in business affairs. The latest thing in commerce and industry we accept eagerly, even when the cost is considerable: the latest thing in ideas, whether it is free verse, Cubism, the Bergsonian philosophy, or the Einstein theory, we shun as a pest. We prefer to “play safe.” Our intellectual leaders must hide their original thought in the cryptic language of their learned periodicals after the fashion of Roger Bacon and his remarkable cipher. There exist by unwritten law a list of subjects which can publicly be discussed and a list 346 As Latin Americans See Us of subjects which cannot be discussed publicly. “Ver- boten,” though not plastered on barns, on the sides of houses, and on the inartistic sign-boards which deface our streets and landscapes, has become as prevalent a caution in the United States as it was in the palmy days of the German autocracy. Manifestly, such conclusions reached by a Latin Amer- ican visitor are true only up to a certain point and beyond that point are a libel on the American nation and on Amer- ican ideals. OUR METROPOLITAN CITIES NOT A FAIR STANDARD FOR AMERICAN LIFE AS A WHOLE It is true, and perhaps too true, that in our large cities we are no respecters of persons and are unlikely to bother about the quality of the individual with whom we are thrown into contact in our casual dealings; that we seem to exhibit a frantic haste and a brusqueness of manner due to the desire for quick “turnovers” and for instant service; —though Miinsterberg’s comment, “It has often been observed, and especially remarked on by German observers, that in spite of his extraordinary tension, the American never overdoes. The workingman in the factory, for example, seldom perspires at his work. This comes from a knowledge of how to work so as in the end to get out of one’s self the greatest possible amount,” might furnish food for reflection to the Latin American critic ; — that we build gigantic edifices which house whole villages and even cities and dwarf the individual into insignificance. But metropolitan cities the world over are notoriously careless of the individual, more kaleidoscopic and rapid than country towns, bewildering to strangers, and lamentably impersonal and heartless. Babylon, Rome, London, New York, and Buenos Aires, though remote in time or space or both, are essentially the same city, inhabited by the same people, and cursed by the same customs and manners. They stand in the same relation to the smaller cities and towns as overgrown corporations to the ordinary business- man. They are abstractions when taken as a whole, and As Latin Americans See Us 347 everybody who passes through them is but a transient whose place will be taken by another transient. For the Latin American to judge us by our large cities is about as fair as it is for us to judge his country by its small cities, towns, and hamlets: and yet that is what is almost invariably done. We get ideas of abnormal slow- ness and painfully slow progress in Latin America, and the Latin American sees chiefly the rapids and whirlpools of American life. Neither of us is wholly right, and both of us are immeasurably wrong, unless we dwell in the foreign country a considerable length of time and in dif- ferent localities. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMERICAN AND LATIN AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL PERSPECTIVE Concerning our imperviousness to ideas per se, the Latin American is not as much at fault as we might wish him to be. In spite of the wide dissemination of education and the multiplication of public libraries, personal thinking is not startlingly noticeable among us. Perhaps we educate too rapidly : perhaps we read too much and too quickly. The fact is, indeed, that we are as a nation woefully under- educated in many respects and hardly on a level with the European or the Latin American. We lack that broad general training given to Europeans and Latin Americans in the schools of secondary instruction, possess less facts less surely — though exposed to enough facts, Heavens knows ! — and fail to acquire that philosophical breadth of vision which is one of the most lasting benefits of the European style of education. No doubt we surpass in numbers the Europeans or Latin Americans who have a fair knowledge of the rudiments of education : but we are far behind them in the relative proportion of our educated men and women who have a solid and liberal education. The graduate of a secondary school in Europe or Latin America generally seems much more mature, reflective, and scholarly than the graduate of our American secondary schools. 348 As Latin Americans See Us That which grates most on the Latin American is our glorification of bulk as opposed to quality, and the ensuing kind of distinction which we take to ourselves. Every- thing that we do and are is big, bigger, biggest. We are the richest country in the world ; we have the tallest build- ings, the largest locomotives, the longest roster of millionaires, the biggest bridge, the most colossal dams, the greatest varieties of climates, the finest schools, the most expensive sewerage systems, and the most populous uni- versities; we give more, spend more, waste more than any other nation on earth. It is not necessary to present an accumulation of details on this head. We ourselves recog nize our failing — if failing it be. But we do not under, stand why strangers should take offense. What we say is usually true: we have in fact the wealth, the men, the opportunities, the energy, and the confidence which we herald abroad. Furthermore, the insistence on such possessions raises our prestige. There is no reason why America or the Americans should take a back seat. Such a thing as national advertising has a definite value. Germany’s fame and progress depended chiefly on the attention which she secured by national advertising: and Great Britain has owed not a small part of her position to her unceasing, if somewhat subtle, self-display. Undoubtedly the Latin American feels like a “poor rela- tion” when he is among us. It is not always pleasant to “poor relations” to have the affluence and the magnifi- cence of their luckier kinsmen dinned into their ears. Yet fundamentally the Latin American is not disturbed by that difference, for he knows that his own section of the globe lends itself to the same sort of propaganda. His dislike for our boastfulness is really based on his own character- istically Latin, or more precisely, French philosophy: and that philosophy is summed up in the phrase “I’honnete homme ne se pique de rien,” which may be rendered freely, “gentlemen never show off.” Nearly every educated or well-to-do Latin American As Latin Americans See Us 349 epends some years in Paris or hopes to do so. For him Bornier’s splendid line, Every man has two countries, his own and France besides, is a solemn actuality. In France he finds social amenities after his own heart, discussion on intellectual and esthetic topics with commerce and industry playing a minor role, manners, deportment, charm, and scintillating conversa- tion — all, in fact, that he feels himself heir to. The sunny, neo-Greek paganism of Parisian life comes closest to his ideal of Heaven on earth. He is a welcome guest in the select circles usually presided over by some man or woman of distinction, membership in which he covets more than a notice in the Society Column. If a poet, he is listened to with attention, and if, like Kuben Dario, a great poet, he is showered with honors. If a painter, a sculptor, a musi- cian, or a writer, he encounters on every hand congenial spirits eager to share their views with him. The fact that he is a Latin American, a citizen of young, undeveloped countries, does not count against him. MISTAKEN LATIN AMERICAN CRITICISM DUE TO INSUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE In the United States, he finds little of this, and most commonly nothing. All that he can see or hear is business or politics or community gossip. Since his term of com- parison is Paris, he concludes that we are Philistines. Of course, he is unjust in holding us up to the Parisian ideal. No city or country in the world will stand the comparison. But if he could go about freely among us, he would find in Greenwich Village, in some sections of New England, such as Boston and Cape Cod, in the artists’ and writers’ settlements of New Hampshire, Chicago, and California, a.ud in many of our smaller cities and towns and in our university centers groups of men and women as sincerely devoted to the practice and the discussion of the more humane arts as he himself is, and as familiar with foreign lands and with world thought. 350 As Latin Americans See Us DIFFERENCE IN THE GENIUS OF AMERICAN AND LATIN AMERICAN JOURNALISM It is to be feared that he receives too many of his impres- sions from the newspapers rather than from first-hand observation : and his views are consequently one-sided. With the exception of the New York Times, the Sun, the New York Evening Post, the Boston Transcript, the Spring- field Republican, the Kansas City Star, the Christian Science Monitor, and a few other papers, our news journals disappoint him. He is accustomed to newspapers which deal in a large way with international events, give much space to art and literature, almost invariably publish poetry in a conspicuous place, and encourage, instead of eliminat- ing, personal, literary style. Our newspapers, with their stress on the trivial, the gossipy, the local; with their “featuring” of crime; with their policy of emphasizing the advertising on the page rather than the reading-matter; with their matter-of-fact language in which there is not the slightest note of esthetic pleasure; and with their glaring headlines, their verbose and often unintelligible “sport” pages, and their bizarre comic and “feature” supplements, prejudice him even when he is inclined to an indulgent criticism of our civili- zation. Surely the newspapers must be representative! They are the sources of the history of the future. But if the average American newspaper is representative, what a hum- drum thing is this American life which it represents ! How undistinguished, how deficient in originality, how uninspir- ing ! How few of our 2500 or more daily newspapers have “personality”! How curiously addicted, too, to minute details of criminality, in a country which prides itself on a strait-laced morality! Where everybody reads the newspapers, even to the budding young woman and the adolescent boy, no good augury can be divined in the boldly printed and voluminous descriptions of unsavory cases of murder, divorce, rape, and all manner of financial and social crookedness. As Latin Americans See Us 351 The Latin American cannot, unfortunately, appreciate the genius of average American journalism. He is probably correct in his belief that too much space is devoted to lubricity and uninteresting rascality, and he is not far wrong in doubting the advantages of printing all the news because it is news. That our journalists are giving the public what it wants — if that is what they are trying to do — does not speak particularly well for the public : and to give the public only what it wants may be equivalent to the veriest twaddle. Newspapers should not only state facts, in his belief, but also aid in the formation of charac- ter and of intelligent public opinion. As an example of what can be done he points to La Prensa and La Nation of Buenos Aires and to 0 Jornal do Commercio of Rio de Janeiro, of which Miss Elliott says : It is a great paper in all senses of the word, is finely printed — this great sheet, often with thirty-two and sometimes eighty big pages, eight columns wide, printed in a language requiring the “til,” “cedilha,” acute and circumflex accents, constantly employed, coming out day after day almost without any typographical errors. Its reviews of commercial affairs are made with authority; it is remarkable for having no editorials, anything that needs to be said editorially appearing in the “Varias Notieias”; months may pass without this column containing more than chronicles of official acts and movements, but when the Jornal is moved to speak its voice comes in no uncertain tone. Its denunciations and pro- nouncements are discussed like a Papal Edict in the Middle Ages, and of which Mr. Bland observes, He [Dr. Rodrigues, the proprietor and editor of 0 Jornal ] took The Times of Delane and Buckle as his model, and firmly refused to conform to twentieth-century ideals of commercial journalism; it was his boast, for example, that he never allowed advertisements to appear on the same page as reading-matter. Perhaps, after all, the Latin American’s misconception of our newspapers is due to the fact that he does not grasp the essential truth that our newspapers are local, and not national, like his great dailies and some of the journals of Europe, and that, having left behind the period when bigotry and partisanship were furthered under the guise of the formation of public opinion, they have chosen the 352 As Latin Americans See Us saner and safer course of presenting the bare facts, relying on the judgment of the public to use them in an intelligent manner. Moreover, he does not sufficiently keep in his mind’s eye the tawdry, execrable sheets which pass for newspapers in so many of the smaller cities and towns of Latin America. Personal habits and business methods in the United States also come in for some adverse criticism on the part of the Latin American. It is not, however, to be assumed that the Latin American is hypercritical or unduly watch- ful of uncomplimentary details in American life. Usually he is a traveler of considerable experience and recognizes that variety in customs and manners is what chiefly makes foreign countries interesting. Our merits he acknowledges freely. Our democratic spirit, our liberality which leads us to sacrifice money and life in any project, that has earned our enthusiasm, our general cleanliness in private morals, our steadfast belief in popular education, our principles of law and order, our fondness for sanitary surroundings, our practicality, our directness, our philan- thropy, and our Anglo-Saxon sense of fair play — often absent in our dealings with his country, he may think, but never suffering a total eclipse — he appreciates to the full and admires more than he is sometimes disposed to admit. SUSCEPTIBILITY OF LATIN AMERICANS TO ACTS OF COURTESY Such little attentions as the interchange of teachers and students, the erection of the monument to Bolivar, the pub- lic burial at Arlington of the Brazilian soldier, Viriato Claudio de Mello, who fought with the Seventeenth Regi- ment of the United States Field Artillery in the European War, the proposed construction of a half-million dollar memorial to Brazil on the occasion of the celebration of its first century of independence on September 7, 1922, he is profoundly sensitive of : and how easy is the way to his heart and his friendship by sincerely meant courtesies of this kind, to which we are given altogether too infre- quently ! Far rarer would be his criticism of our manners and As Latin Americans See Us 353 mannerisms if we could cultivate him on the sentimental, as well as on the commercial, side. For his estimate of our ways and our qualities is undoubtedly influenced very strongly by the snapshot judgments of our writers and travelers who treat of his own people. CUSTOMS AND MANNERS DISTASTEFUL TO LATIN AMERICANS AND EUROPEANS Our personal manners strike him as they used to strike the European, in general, some fifty or sixty years ago. Many of our practices are distasteful to him in the extreme, but only because they offend his traditional notion of the fitness of things. That an American man can walk down the street in his shirt-sleeves, or that he can allow himself to appear in the company of a woman with his coat slung over his arm ; that a man, a boy, or even a girl may whistle in public; that nearly everybody should be a slave to the gum-chewing habit and that respectable workingmen should chew tobacco; that informal dress should be per- mitted at the opera and at formal occasions on which every- thing ought to be de rigueur ; that we can lower ourselves to sitting on stools in public eating-houses and hastily swallowing pie, ice-cream, and coffee — a horrible combina- tion, in his opinion; that girls should be seen unattended on the streets at all hours of the day and night; that we should fail to remove our hats at a passing funeral proces- sion; that we should indulge in feats of noisy athleticism and raise our voices in roars of applause at baseball and football games; that a young man should take a girl out for a drive ; that a man should help in such menial domestic duties as the washing of dishes; that children should put themselves forward in company; that we should drink ice- water so incessantly, or at all; that we should eat stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce, artichokes cooked in cinnamon, and lettuce or tomatoes seasoned with sugar — highly reprehensible customs, according to Senor Pinochet’s fic- titious, but observant, Chilean — all these are practices which make a disagreeable impression on the educated 354 As Latin Americans See Us Latin American or Latin European, solely because he is not used to them. These manners and mannerisms have all been berated before, especially by British visitors, but they have not prevented us from winning the respect of such men as Viscount Bryce and that most upright, aristocratic French admirer of American democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville. Even the ice-water habit has found converts among Euro- peans, as Mr. John Graham Brooks points out in As Others See Us: We have the new temper of which I speak in Mr. Muirhead’s “Land of Contrasts,” in which he begs to — - “warn the British visitor to suspend his judgment until he has been some time in the country. I certainly was not prejudiced in favor of this chilly draught when I started for the United States, but I soon came to find it natural and even necessary, and as much so from the dry hot air of the stove-heated room in winter as from the natural ambition of the mercury in summer. On the whole, it may be philosophic to conclude that a universal habit in any country has some solid if cryptic reason for its existence, and to surmise that the drinking of ice-water is not so deadly in the States as it might be elsewhere.” But what is to be done about it all? Nothing, of course. For every one of these idiosyncrasies we, from our point of view, find an equivalent in Latin American personal habits. Visitors to our shores must take us for what we are, just as Americans traveling in Latin America must take national conventions as they find them. The only wish that can be uttered in either case is that the proper allowances be made when traveling and that customs dis- tasteful to foreigners or likely to be misunderstood by them be left at home. Our great failing as Americans is to animadvert upon the moral status of the Latin races: the Latin American’s, to see “bluff” and ostentation in every American act. As an eminently successful commercial nation, we have hypnotized ourselves into the belief that our methods are the best methods and that they are applicable to all sections of the globe. The Latin American begs to differ with us on this point. To his way of thinking, our business methods As Latin Americans See Us 3 55 are in many ways the worst that can be imagined. How we manage to extend our business dealings and to increase the volume of our trade, he cannot explain with any pre- cision : but he is sure that we have not created a steady market among his people. Perhaps the reason is to be sought principally in the fact that we have only just begun to be an exporting nation. The General Financial Manager of the American Express Company, who has been visiting the South American offices of his firm, comments as follows in the South American on an article in La Prensa of Buenos Aires La Prensa proceeds to quote from the interesting book of the Argentine ex-Minister to the United States, Dr. Martin Garcia Merou, on the foreign commerce of that country a passage in which he set down the opinions uttered by the U. S. Senator, the Hon. Julius C. Burrows, on discussing the McKinley tariff, accord- ing to whom the total value of the production of the United States in the year previous to that in which he spoke — including the produce from agriculture, manufacture, mining and forestry — - amounted to 21,500 millions of dollars. Of that enormous sum the United States consumed within its own borders 20,000 million dollars and only exported 1,500 million dollars’ worth of goods to foreign markets. The speaker then asserted that great care could need to be exercised over making any alterations in that state of things, as it would be a fatal mistake to diminish in any degree the country’s capacity to satisfy the inland demand just for the sake of the illusory and fleeting advantage of catering to some foreign market. No doubt the opinion expressed in this passage governed the ideas of many of our financial thinkers not long since and accounts for the defects in our business methods noted by Latin Americans. That opinion, however, is not valid to-day, for we have had ocular demonstration in our recent business depression of the importance of export to our national prosperity. Latin American criticism is, there- fore, especially valuable to us now and should be studied with attention. SERIOUSNESS OF OUR IGNORANCE OF LATIN AMERICA Our greatest drawback, declares the Latin American critic, lies in our abysmal ignorance of his country and his 356 As Latin Americans See Us people. Proof of this may be had in simple questions on Latin America addressed to representative business-men, university students, and even college professors. While excusable, perhaps, in the latter two classes, such ignorance, which goes as far as the commission of egregious geograph- ical blunders, is fatal on the part of our merchants. Lack of knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese is another obstacle which must be overcome if we are to be able to do our business ourselves and not through interpreters or through foreign agents who are often likely, because of prejudice or because of friendship for a competing house or nation, to do us as much harm as good. Before we can hope to supply the different Latin American nations with the smaller manufactured articles which constitute so much of the trade of Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, and Japan, we must understand thoroughly the tastes of the people to whom we wish to sell them — a phase of commerce to which we have been notoriously indifferent. These and allied truths are so self-evident that they require little discussion. They have been hammered upon so unceasingly by our writers and lecturers that the Amer- ican public interested in Latin America should now know them by heart. That the Latin American is absolutely correct in his indictment of our ignorance is scarcely open to question. A DEFECT IN OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM If, as is apparent at present, Latin America means more to us commercially and politically than any other section of the world except Europe, we ought at least to arrange our common school education in such a way as to familiarize our growing citizens with the countries with which their future is certain to be inextricably bound up. There can be no doubt that a salutary educational revolution would be accomplished by the inclusion of supplementary reading on Latin America or of Latin American geography and history in the upper grades of our elementary schools and in our high schools. But from an immediately practical standpoint, our As Latin Americans See Us 357 failure to conform to commercial conditions as they are in Latin America appears suicidal to Latin American observers, and predictions are freely made that we cannot possibly maintain our present ascendancy unless we materially change our ways. The Latin American merchant will soon cease to be dependent on us. Great Britain, Germany, and France will not be long in recuperating from the effects of the war. If, in the meantime, we do not back water on our policy of trying to force our customers to accept our business practice; if we do not yield them the courtesy and the deference to which they are accustomed; if we do not give up our habit of rushing in with business propositions before we have laid the customary social foundation, even in a transaction that requires only a day or two ; if we do not alter our credit system ; if we refuse to regard Latin American merchants in general as trust- worthy and solvent; if we insist on making light of the siesta and the regulation holidays because of our impatience to complete negotiations; if we continue to speak from a high elevation as superiors to inferiors; if we do not reciprocate so as to permit Latin American banks to estab- lish themselves in the United States on the same liberal terms that are granted to foreign banks in Latin America f if we erect tariff barriers injurious to the admission of Latin American products ; if we do not improve our methods of shipping, packing, and routing; if we do not fill orders exactly as requested by the purchaser: if, in short, we do not conduct our business relations in accord- ance with the tacit rules of international trade, the standard of which is actually set by Europe, we are doomed to dis- appointment in the larger trans-Caribbean countries. The Latin American conception of American character and social and commercial customs should prove beneficial to us in several ways. As mere invidious appreciation of American peculiarities it may be no more significant than such studies have a habit of being: but as a confession of Latin American likes, dislikes, and traditional thinking and feeling it should possess unusual interest for us. Latin Americans single us out, rightly or wrongly, for critical 358 As Latin Americans See Us comment among the many nations which have considerable dealings with them. We cannot afford to disregard a dis- tinction of this kind. Common sense dictates that we should devote some effort to removing some of the bad impressions created by us as individuals or as a nation. If, however, we can by some lucky combination of cir- cumstances win the sympathy of Latin Americans, as the British and the Germans have done, the criticism now directed against us — which is really European and not specifically Latin American — will vanish as rapidly as the British and French criticism once so popular and the stock- in-trade of travelers, writers, and humorists. For a little sentiment goes a long way with the Latin races. SOUTH AMERICA Greenwich Longitude T~) Ablngton Island Albemarle Island BB Argentina D 8 Barbados El Blndloc Island B4 BlanqulUa . D1 )0 X c SOUTH AMERICA / 8 *«i> Ou^Cu^ of IWrlcnJ / ] Bnull ".''''El British Guiana E3 Buen Ayro — I) 1 Campana Island C 7 Charles Island B 6 Chatham Island Chile C 8 Chlloo Island.. C 7 Chonos Archipelago C7 Clnehn Islands C 1 Clarence Island C 8 Clerko Rocks.. G 8 Colba Island.. B 2 Colombia 0 2 Culpepper Island B 1 Curacao D 1 Desolation Island C8 Devils Island.. E 2 Diego Itamlroz Islands C 8 Dutch Guiana. E 2 East Island.... E 8 Ecuador C3 Falkland Islands E 8 Fernando Noron- ha Island. ...G3 French Guiana E2 Galapagos Islands B 4 Genovcsa C 5 Grenada D 1 Gultecas Islands C7 Hanovcrlsland C8 Hosto Island ..D 8 Indefatigable Island C 5 James Island . . B 5 Lobos Islands . B 3 Los Roques... D1 Mad re do Dios Island C 8 Mnlpclo Island B2 Maraca Island F 2 Marnjo Islond.FS Margarita D 1 Martinique. ...E 1 Mas a Fuera Island DO Mas a Tlerra Island C 6 Mocha Island .CO Narborough Navarln Island D8 Panama B 8 Puna Island ..BS Queen Adelaide Archipelago 0 8 Saint AmbroseCO Saint Felix ...BS Saint Vincent .D 1 Santa Ines Island — C 8 jfosdul‘0 rqu^slmeto- KILOMETERS UALFtLO I KM.) JOUATOR 'VllODj’ , ,S»nLj MirmJ JbooJu Ihj ft lo 4c Coquj SfS*lra4or do B*M«) \ Cochabn GALAPAGOS IS. (TO ECUADOR 1 Same tcale as large map. EQUATOR )ch‘T« a “ *• JoiiouOM I .OtUABLt ' ’ 'S c '* t.qa Santa Lucia. ..E 1 Shag Rocks.... F 8 South Georgia G 8 Staten Island .D8 Tlerra del Fuetro^ Tobago El Toitugn Island D1 Trinidad El Trluldod Island G 5 Uruguay E 0 Venezuela D 2 Wellington Island C 7 Wellman Island West Island .. .D 8 Wollaston Islands D 8 HODE'iii iMHUss del E>l * ,l,n ' Cordoba 1 Ao** P — ^rW : Gt'AYj Valpsrali S^S.B*t»cT\ *^Sb Chile* lC.&.tntonie Concepclo\ Tt\c4b J»*C. of Two Day (uvlfof St. George A c. Trot Punlai I auifo/rk fUranUl Uny "l’ort Stanley plLAIOt AKCH^fflBJ Li Of MngdlaaQ \ OMOIATION \ 6ANTAINE9I a-Tlrolt of Maytllun Li.oaj All f^^lERRA OEL FUEGO ijihiIia Boy rxr** KOCHI f *MAQ KOCHI t ^.WOLLASTON 15. ’ape Norn APPENDIX USEFUL INFOKMATION Argentina Area, 1,153,418 square miles. Population, 9,000,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports Total $828,477,000 $976,596,000 $1,805,073,000 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $322,000,000 $180,000,000 Total $502,000,000 Principal Exports: Meat and dairy products, wheat, corn, linseed, quebracho, tannin, hides, and wool. Principal Imports: Textiles and allied products, manu- factured articles of iron and steel, railway supplies, agricultural implements, electric apparatus, glass and chinaware, together with earths, stones, etc., chemicals, building materials. Transportation Facilities: 22,500 miles of railways: 52,- 800 miles of telegraph lines; steamship connections with all parts of the world, fifty lines having agencies in Buenos Aires alone; over 20 wireless telegraph stations. Currency: Monetary unit, gold peso: value, $.9648. Or- dinary medium of exchange, paper peso , maintained at 44 per cent of the gold peso value: about 42.5 cents in U. S. money at normal exchange. Weights and Measures): The metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6; Feb. 27, 28; March 19; April 13, 14, 15; May 1, 25; June 15, 29; July 9; Aug. 15, 30; Oct. 12; Nov. 1, 11; Dec. 8, 25. Names of the holidays regularly observed, with dates for 1919, as examples: Jan. 1, New Year’s Day; Jan. 6, Epiphany; 359 360 Appendix March 3, Monday, before Lent; March 4, Tuesday before Lent; Apr. 17, Holy Thursday; Apr. 18, Good Friday; Apr. 19, Holy Saturday; May 25, Independence Day; May 29, Ascension Day; June 19, Corpus Christi; June 29, St. Peter and St. Paul; July 9, Proclamation of National Independence; Aug. 15, Assumption; Aug. 30, Santa Rosa de Lima; Oct. 12, Discovery of America; Nov. 1, All Saints' Day; Nov. 11, St. Martin of Tours (Patron Saint of Buenos Aires) ; Dec. 8, Immaculate Conception; Dec. 25, Christmas Day. Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Buenos Aires (capital): Population, 1,692,327: Important Newspapers, La Nacion, La Prensa, La Argentina, La Razon (evening), La Epoca (evening) : La Patria degli Italiani (Italian: (weeklies) Caras y Caretas, El Mundo Argentino, El Hogar, El Grafico, Plus Ultra, Review of the River Plate (Eng- lish) : Hotels, Plaza, Savoy, Majestic, Cecil, Paris. Rosario: Population, 250,000: Important Newspaper, La Capital:. Hotels, Savoy, Italia, Central, Royal, Britannia. Cordoba: Population, 135,000: Important Newspaper, Los Principios: Hotels, Plaza, San Martin, Victoria, Roma. La Plata : Population, 130,000 : Important Newspaper, El Dia: Hotels, Sportsman, El Argentino, Mosquera, Comercio. Tucuman: Population, 100,000: Important Newspaper, El Orden: Hotels, Savoy, Frascati, Artigas. Bahia Blanca: Population, 80,000: Important Newspaper, Bahia Blanca, Nueva Provincia: Hotels, Sud Americano, Ar- gentino, Intemacional. Bolivia Area, 514,595 square miles. Population, 2,820,119. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports $23,000,000 $54,000,000 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $9,000,000 $26,000,000 Total $77,000,000 Total $35,000,000 Principal Exports: Tin ore, rubber, wolfram, silver, copper ore, bismuth, antimony, lead ore, wool, coca, hides. Principal Imports: Textiles (cotton and wool), flour, coal, Appendix 361 sugar, live animals, machinery, iron and steel products, arms and ammunition. Transportation Facilities: 1,100 miles of railways; about 5,000 miles of telegraph lines; several wireless telegraph stations. Bolivia has no coast line, but is connected with the Pacific coast by 3 railway lines. Currency: Monetary unit, gold boliviano: value, about $.39 at normal exchange (12 1 /2 bolivianos are equal to 1 pound). Medium of exchange : gold coin, subsidiary silver, and bank notes on a parity with gold. Weights and Measures: the metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922) : Jan. 1; Feb. 27, 28; March 1; April 13, 14, 15; June 15; Aug. 6; Oct. 12; Nov. 1, 2; Dec. 8, 25. August 6 is Independence Day, and Nov. 2 is All Souls’ Day. The other holidays correspond to those of Argentina, and their names may be found by consulting the list, given for Argentina. Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : La Paz (seat of government): Population, 107,000: Im- portant Newspapers, El Diario, El Norte, El Tiempo, La Ver- dad, La Razon, El Figaro: Hotels, Gran Hotel, Hotel Paris. Cochabamba: Population, 34,000: Important Newspapers, El Ferrocarril, El Republicano, El Heraldo: Hotels, Sucre, Americano, Union. Oruro: Population, 32,000: Important Newspapers, La Nacion, La Prens'a, El Industrial : Hotels, Quintanal, Union, Terminus, Comercio. PotosI: Population, 30,000: Important Newspapers, El Tiempo, La Patria, La Democracia: Hotels, Internacional, Cen- tral, Paris. Sucre (legally the capital): Population, 29,500: Important Newspapers, La Prensa, La Manana, La Industria, La Capital : Hotels, Espafia, Hispano-Americano, Colon. Brazil Area, 3,276,358 square miles. Population, 30,553,509. Language, Portuguese. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports $459,939,186 Exports $385,530,392 Total $845,469,578 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports $193,052,140 Exports $159,541,580 Total $353,193,720 362 Appendix Principal Exports : Coffee, cereals, rubber, hides, sugar, man- ganese ore, cacao, tobacco, herva mate (Paraguay tea), frozen and chilled meats, preserved meats. Principal Imports : Food products (principally wheat and wheat flour, codfish, fruits and nuts, wines and liquors), chemicals and drugs, iron and steel manufactures (the chief items being fence wire, tin plate in sheets, corrugated iron, cutlery, structural iron, steel rails, railway axles and wheels), cotton manufactures (ready made clothing, hosiery, and piece goods), leather manu- factures (boots and shoes, machine belting, trunks and bags), printing paper. Transportation Facilities: In the north, northwest, and southwest, the great river system furnishes the main transporta- tion arteries; 18,500 miles of railways; 25,000 miles of Govern- ment owned telegraph lines and a large number of privately owned lines; extensive coast and river-going steamship service; steamship lines to all parts of the world, about fifty trans-atlantic lines being registered at one or more of the Atlantic ports; an extensive system of wireless telegraph stations, the one at Para having a range of 4,000 miles and being able to communicate with the United States. Currency: Monetary unit, gold milreis: value about $.546. Ordinary medium of exchange, paper milreis: value, about $.324 at normal exchange. Weights and Measures: the metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6; Feb. 2, 24, 27, 28; Apr. 13, 14, 15, 17, 21; May 3, 13, 25; June 15, 24, 29; July 14; Aug. 15; Sept. 7, 8; Oct. 12; Nov. 1, 2, 15, 28; Dec. 8, 25. The national holidays for all Brazil are: Jan. 1, New Year’s Day; Feb. 24, Promulgation of Constitution; Apr. 21, Tiradentes Day; May 3, Discovery of Brazil; May 13, Abolition of Slavery; July 4, Anniversary of American Independence; July 14, Liberty Day; Sept. 7, Independence Day; Oct. 12, Discovery of America; Nov. 2, Memorial Day; Nov. 15, Proclamation of the Republic; Nov. 19, Flag Day. The other holidays are Church holidays, which, though not legal holidays, are generally observed. They correspond in most cases to the holidays named for Argentina, which see. In most of the States, there are local holidays commemorating notable events in State or municipal history. Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Rio de Janeiro (capital) : Population, 1,150,000: Important Newspapers, Jornal do Commercio, O Correio da Manha, O Jornal do Brazil, O Paiz, O Imparcial, A Razao, A Rua, A Noite: (weeklies) Careta, Fon Fon, O Malho, O Tico Tico: (monthly) Eu Sei Tudo : Hotels, Avenida, Central, Estranjeiros, Palacio. Appendix 363 Sao Paulo: Population, 565,000: Important Newspapers, 0 Correio Paulistano, 0 Diario Popular, 0 Estado de Sao Paulo, 0 Jornal do Commercio: Fanfulla (Italian): Hotels, Grande, Majestic, Oeste. Bahia: Population, 350,000: Important Newspapers, O Im- parcial, A Tarde, O Jornal de Noticias: Hotels, Paris, Meridional, Sul Americano, Pensao Harbord. Para (or Belem): Population, 280,000: Important News- papers, A Folha do Norte, O Estado do Para, O Imparcial: Hotels, Paz, America, Universal, Commercio, Madrid. Recife (or Pernambuco): Population, 250,000: Important Newspapers, O Diario do Pernambuco, O Jornal do Recife, A Provincia, O Intransigente, O Jornal do Commercio: Hotels, Hotel do Parque, Hotel do Recife, Sul Americano, Hotel de France, Pension von Landy. Santos: Population, about 80,000: Important Newspapers, A Nota, O Diario de Santos, A Tribuna: Hotels, Sportsman, Bristol, Washington, America. Chile Area, 289,796 square miles'. Population, 3,754,723 Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports Total $166,103,810 $288,905,301 $455,009,111 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports Total $51,198,793 $126,174,920 $177,373,713 Principal Exports: Nitrate of soda, copper, wheat, iodine, silver, borate of lime, beans, wool, frozen meats, barley. Principal Imports: Textiles, iron and steel manufactures, oils, coal, machinery, hardware, vehicles, paper and manufactures. Transportation Facilities: over 5,000 miles of railways; 22,500 miles of telegraph lines; steamship lines from the principal ports to all parts of the world; 8 wireless telegraph stations. Currency: Monetary unit, gold peso: value, about $.365. Ordinary medium of exchange, paper peso : equivalent to about $.2433 at normal exchange, but of fluctuating value. Weights and Measures: the metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1; Apr. 14, 15; May 21, 25; June 15, 29; Aug. 15; Sept. 18, 19; Nov. 1; Dec. 8 , 25 . 364 Appendix May 21 is Army and Navy Day, and Sept. 18 and 19 are the National Independence Days. The other holidays correspond for the most part to those of Argentina, which see. Principal Cities (for list of hanks, see end of appendix) : Santiago (capital): Population, 506,594: Important News- papers, El Mercurio, Las Ultimas Noticias, La Nacion, El Diario Ilustrado, La Union: Ziz-Zag, Sucesos (illustrated weeklies): La Familia (monthly) : Hotels, Grand, Oddo, Savoy. Valparaiso: Population, 183,001: Important Newspapers, El Mercurio, La Union, El Industrial: Los Sucesos (illustrated weekly) : South Pacific Mail (English weekly) : Hotels, Royal, Grand, Colon, Valparaiso, Franeia, Palace. Concepcion: Population, 72,785: Important Newspapers, El Sur, La Union, El Noticiero de la Tarde: Hotels, Franco, Wachter, Bolsa, Cosmopolita. Antofagasta: Population, 64,584: Important Newspapers, El Mercurio, El Industrial, El Norte, La Nacion: Hotels, Hotel de France et d’Angleterre, Londres, Oriental, Belmont. Iquique: Population, 46,941: Important Newspapers, El Tarapaca, El Nacional, La Patria: Hotels, Phoenix, Sud America, Oriental. Punta Arenas: Population, 34,000: Important Newspapers, El Magallanes, La Union, El Comercio: The Magellan Times (English weekly). Colombia Area, 476,916 square miles. Population, 6,300,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports Total $94,225,273 $70,371,746 $164,597,019 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $65,000,000 $60,000,000 Total $125,000,000 Principal Exports : Coffee, platinum, gold, emeralds, hides, bananas, tagua (ivory nuts), Panama hats, rubber, tobacco. Principal Imports : Textiles, foodstuffs and condiments, metals, railway supplies, pharmaceutical products, paper, school and office supplies, agricultural and mining implements, ma- chinery. Transportation Facilities: 777 miles of railways; most of Appendix 365 the commerce in the interior is carried on by the rivers with the railway as auxiliary; steamship connections with all parts of the world; over 12,000 miles of government telegraph lines; large coastwise and river trade; 3 wireless telegraph stations, and an international station at Bogota under contract. Currency : Monetary unit, gold peso : value, $.9733. Much United States currency is in circulation. Weights and Measures: the metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6; Apr. is, 14, 15; May 1, 25; June 28, 29, 30; July 24; Aug. 6, 7; Oct. 12; Nov. 1, 11 ; Dec. 8, 25, 29, 30, 31. July 24, is the Birthday of Bolivar (but not universally observed) ; Aug. 6, Founding of Bogota (at Bogota only) ; Aug. 7, Anniversary of the Battle of Boyaca. The other holidays cor- respond in general to those of Argentina, which see. Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Bogota (capital): Population, 143,994: Important News- papers, El Espeetador, El Nuevo Tiempo, El Diario Oficial, El Tiempo, El Grafico, Cromos (weeklies) : Hotels, Metropolitano, Atlantico, Continental, Iberico. Medellin: Population, 80,000: Important Newspapers, El Correo Liberal, El Espeetador: Antioquia (weekly); Colombia (weekly) : Hotels, Europa, Wilson, America, Victoria. Barranquilla: Population, 65,000: Important Newspapers, El Dia, El Liberal, La Nacion: Hotels, Suiza, Medellin, San Carlos. Cartagena: Population, 51,382: Important Newspapers, La Bpoca, El Porvenir, El Diario de la Costa: Principal Hotel, Hotel Cartagena. Bucaramanga: Population, about 30,000: Important News- papers, El Liberal, El Eco de Santander: Principal Hotel, Hotel Colon. Cali: Population, 28,000: Important Newspaper, Relator. Costa Rica Area, 23,000 square miles. Population, 463,727. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports $22,369,997 $14,933,551 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $11,657,757 $10,615,020 Total $37,303,548 Total $22,272,777 366 Appendix Principal Exports: Bananas, coffee, gold and silver, woods hides and skins, rubber, cacao. Principal Imports: Flour, cotton fabrics, rice, electrical ma- terials, railway material, pharmaceutical products, lard, coal. Transportation Facilities: 430 miles of railways; steamship lines connecting with Limon for the United States and Europe and on the Pacific side at Puntarenas for the United States, Panama, and the south; over 1,500 miles of telegraph lines; wireless telegraph stations at Limon and Colorado. Currency: Monetary unit, gold colon: value about $.465. United States currency passes at par. Weights and Measures: the metric system has been established by law, but the following weights and measures are still used at times: libra— 1.043 pounds: manzana — l s / s acres: centaro — 4.2631 gallons : fanega = 11 bushels. Bank and Public Holidays (1922) : Jan. 1; March 19; Apr. 11, 13, 14, 15; May 1; June 15, 29; July 14, 24; Aug. 15; Sept. 15; Oct. 12; Nov. 1, 11; Dec. 8, 25, 29, 30, 31. March 19 is San Jose (St. Joseph) Day; Apr. 11, Battle of Rivas; May 1, Surrender of General Walker; July 14, Fall of the Bastille; July 24, Birthday of Bolivar; Sept. 15, Anniversary of Independence; Dec. 29, 30, 31, Bank Holidays. The other holidays correspond to those of Argentina, which see. Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : San Jose (capital): Population, 50,765: Important News- papers, La Information, La Prensa, El Diario de Costa Rica, La Tribuna, El Imparcial: Principal Hotel, Washington. Limon: Population, 13,178: Important Newspapers, El Tiempo: El Pais (weekly): Principal Hotel, Lodge. Cuba Area, 44,164 square miles. Population, 2,900,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports Total $524,471,279 $782,551,749 $1,307,023,028 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports Total $321,627,449 $642,148,034 $963,775,483 Principal Exports: Sugar, tobacco, minerals (iron, gold, cop- per, and asphalt), timber, fruits, hides and skins. Appendix 367 Principal Imports : Foodstuffs, textiles, machinery, metals and manufactures, chemicals and drugs, animal products, wood and manufactures. Transportation Facilities: over 2,400 miles of railways, not including 800 miles of private lines on the plantations; steamship lines to the United States and the principal countries of Europe; 652 post and telegraph offices; telephone service in 114 cities and towns. Currency: Monetary unit, gold peso: value $1.00. Money of the United States is legal tender. Weights and Measures: the metric is in general use. Other weights and measures commonly used are: arroba (dry) =25.366 pounds; arroba (liquid) =4.263 gallons; libra = 1.0161 pounds; fanega — 1.599 bushels; vara = 33.384 inches. Bank and Public Holidays (1922) : Jan. 1; Feb. 24; May 20; Oct. 10; Dec. 7, 25. Feb. 24 commemorates the Revolution of Baire ; May 20, Inde- pendence Day; Oct. 10, Revolution of Yara; Dee. 7, Death of Maceo. Due days precede Sunday and legal holidays. Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Havana (Habana), the capital: Population, 400,000: Im- portant Newspapers, La Prensa, Diario de la Marina, Cuba, El Mundo, El Heraldo de Cuba, La Discusion, La Lucha, La Noche: The Havana Post, The Havana Telegram \ English ) : (weeklies) Politica Comica, Bohemia, Confetti, El Figaro: (monthlies) Social, Carteles, Cuba Ilustrada, Times of Cuba (English) : Hotels, Sevilla, Plaza, Inglaterra, Florida, Pasaje, Miramar, Almendares. Santiago: Population, 46,000: Important Newspapers, El Combate, El Cubano Libre, La Prensa, El Diario de Cuba, La Independence, El Liberal, El Nacional, El Derecho, La Re- publica: Principal Hotel, Casa Grand. Matanzas: Population, 37,000: Important Newspapers, El Correo de Mantanzas, El Dia, El Imparcial, El Latigo, El Repub- licano Conservador: Principal Hotel, Hotel Paris. Cienfuegos: Population, 32,000 : Important Newspapers, El Comercio, La Correspondence, El Republicano: Principal Hotel, Gran Union Camagiiey: Population, 31,000: Important Newspapers, El Popular, El Nacional, El Imparcial, El Camagiieyano : Hotels, Hotel Camagiiey, Hotel Plaza. Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo) Area, 19,325 square miles. Population, 800,000. Language, Spanish. 368 Appendix Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports $46,525,876 Exports $58,731,241 Total $105,257,117 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports $38,848,791 Exports $51,113,990 Total $89,962,781 Principal, Exports : Sugar, cacao, tobacco, honey, coffee, bees- wax, molasses, goatskins, hides, cotton, woods. Principal Imports: Cotton manufactures, rice, machinery and apparatus, iron and steel, foodstuffs (excepting rice and wheat flour), vegetable fibers and manufactures, hides and skins and manufactures, mineral oils, wheat flour. Transportation Facilities: 375 miles of railways; steamship lines to the principal ports of the United States and Europe; regular service to Porto Rico and Cuba; over 350 miles of telegraph; 1,175 miles of telephone lines; wireless telegraph sta- tions at Santo Domingo, La Romana, and San Pedro de Macons. Currency: Monetary unit, gold dollar: value, $1.00. The peso is one-fifth of the gold dollar. United States money circulates freely at its face value. Weights and Measures: the metric system prevails. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6, 21; Feb. 27; Apr. 13, 14, 15; June 15, 29; July 6 or 7; Aug. 16; Sept. 24; Oct. 12; Dec. 25. Feb. 27 commemorates the Founding of the Republic; July 6 or 7, Memorial Day; Aug. 16, War for Independence. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Santo Domingo (capital): Population, 31,540: Important Newspapers, Las Noticias, El Listin Diario: El Renacimiento, Pica Pica, Letras, La Epoca (weeklies) : Principal Hotel, Francis. Santiago: Population, 66,891: Important Newspapers, El Diario, La Informacion : Hotels, Garibaldi, Frances, Santiago. La Vega: Population, 59,324: Important Newspapers, El< Dia, El Progreso: Hotels, Frances, Union, Mocano. Ecuador Area, 116,000 square miles'. Population, 2,000,000 (estimated). Language, Spanish. Appendix 369 Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports $21,035,974 Exports $24,181,129 Total $45,217,103 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports $13,500,000 Exports $15,250,000 Total $28,750,000 Principal Exports: Cacao, ivory nuts, Panama hats, rubber, coffee, hides, gold ore, and gold in bars and dust. Principal Imports: Textiles of cotton and wool, foodstuffs, hardware, ready-made clothing, machinery, drugs and medicines. Transportation Facilities : 400 miles of railway lines ; steam- ship lines to the United States and Europe via the Panama Canal: 5,384 miles of telegraph lines; telephone service in the larger cities; 4 wireless telegraph stations at Quito, Guayaquil, on the coast north of Guayaquil, and on the Galapagos Islands; 20 pas- senger steamers ply on the Guayas River, and between Guayaquil and the coast towns; the Amazon River, called in Ecuador the Maranon, is navigable practically over its whole length, and consequently the eastern slope of the Ecuadorian Andes may be reached by way of Brazil and the Amazon. Currency: Monetary unit, the gold sucre: value, about $.487. Weights' and Measures: the metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1; Apr. 13, 14; May 24; Aug. 10; Sept. 18; Oct. 9, 12; Dec. 25. May 24 is a National Holiday (Battle of Pichincha) ; Aug. 10, National Holiday (Independence of Quito) ; Sept. 18, National Holiday (Separation from Chile) ; Oct. 9, National Holiday (Independence of Guayaquil). The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Quito (capital): Population, 90,000: Important News- papers, El Comercio, El Dia, El Ecuatoriano: Juan Verdades (weekly) : Hotels, Gran Hotel Continental, Royal Hotel, Hotel Ecuador, Hotel Metropolitano. Guayaquil: Population, 100,000: Important Newspapers, El Diario Ilustrado, El Ecuatoriano, El Grito del Pueblo, El Guante, El Telegrafo: El Comercio Ecuatoriano (monthly): El Guia Comercial (weekly) : Hotels, Gran Hotel Paris, Victoria, Hotel Guayaquil, Wellington House. Guatemala Area, 48,290 square miles. Population, 2,119,165. Language, Spanish. 370 Appendix Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports $18,344,463 Exports $18,102,906 Total $36,447,369 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports $11,740,456 Exports $14,500,000 Total $26,240,456 Principal Exports': Coffee, bananas, sugar, chicle, woods, cattle hides, rubber, skins. Principal Imports: Cotton textiles and manufactures, iron and steel manufactures, food products, wheat flour, wines and liquors, silk textiles and manufactures, wood textiles and manu- factures, railway material, agricultural and industrial machinery. Transportation Facilities: 600 miles of railways; steamship connections on the Atlantic side with the United States and Europe, and on the Pacific with the United States, other parts of Central America, and Panama; 4,351 miles of telegraph lines; 533 miles of telephone lines. Currency: Monetary unit, silver peso, of fluctuating value, according to the rise and fall in the value of silver: recent value, between $.36 and $.421. Ordinary medium of exchange, paper peso, inconvertible and fluctuating, or United States gold and currency: in 1918 the exchange rate was about 38 paper pesos to $1.00. Weights and Measures: the metric system is in general use. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6; March 19; Apr. 13, 14, 15; May 25; June 15, 29; July 4; Aug. 15; Sept. 15; Oct. 12; Nov. 1; Dec. 8, 25. July 4 is celebrated in honor of the Anniversary of American Independence; Sept. 15, Independence Day. The other holidays correspond in general to those common in the rest of Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Guatemala City (capital): Population, 125,000: Important Newspapers, El Diario de Centro-America, La Tribuna, La Re- publica, El Nacional, La Actualidad: El Guatemalteco (weekly) : Hotels, Continental, Gran, Imperial, Central. Quezaltenango : Population, 35,000 : Important Newspapers, El Bien Publico, El Comercio, El Pais: Hotels, Paris, Union, Centro-Americano. Haiti Area, 10,200 square miles. Population, 2,000,000. Language, French. Appendix 371 Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports $27,398,411 Exports $18,990,032 Total $46,388,443 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports $22,773,762 Exports $9,903,881 Total $32,677,643 Principal Exports: Coffee, logwood, hides and skins, cacao, lignum-vitae, cotton, orange peel, guaiac wood. Principal Imports : Cotton textiles, flour, lard, hardware, sew- ing machines, railway material. Transportation Facilities: 150 miles of railways; principal means of transportation from one part of the Republic to the other is by water; 124 miles of telegraph lines. Currency : Monetary unit, the gold gourde ; value, about $.965. This is a theoretical coin, for no gold coins have been minted. Ordinary medium of exchange, the paper gourde, which fluc- tuates, and has of recent years been worth about one-sixth of its face value. United States currency also circulates. Weights and Measures: the metric system is in general use. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1; Feb. 28; Apr. 13, 14; May 1, 18, 25; June 15; Aug. 15; Nov. 1, 2; Dec. 25. Jan. 1 is New Year’s Day and Independence Day; May 1, Agriculture Day (Labor Day) ; Nov. 2, All Souls’ Day. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal City (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Port au Prince (capital): Population, 101,133: Important Newspapers, Le Matin, Le Courrier du Soir, Le Nouvelliste: Hotels, American, Bellevue, France, Montagne. Honduras Area, 46,250 square miles. Population, 650,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports $12,860,762 Exports $6,944,725 Total $19,805,487 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports $11,246,758 Exports $6,665,675 Total $17,912,433 372 Appendix Principal Exports: Bananas, gold and silver cyanides, coco- nuts, cattle, hides, coffee, rubber, mahogany. Principal Imports: Cotton textiles, foodstuffs, pharmaceutical products, boots and shoes, machinery and implements, iron and steel manufactures. Transportation Facilities : 375 miles of railways ; steamship service on the Atlantic coast to the United States and the prin- cipal European countries, and on the Pacific coast to the United States, other Central American ports, and South America; 4,519 miles of telegraph lines; over 550 miles of telephone lines. Currency: Monetary unit, silver peso, which fluctuates with the rise and fall of silver. In recent years it has been worth something more than $.40. Ordinary medium of exchange, paper bank-notes, fluctuating in value between $.35 and $.40. United States currency circulates freely. Weights and Measures: the metric system is in general use. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 19; Apr. 13, 14, 15; July 14; Sept. 15; Oct. 12; Dec. 25. July 14 commemorates the Fall of the Bastille; Sept. 15, In- dependence Day. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal City (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Tegucigalpa (capital) : Population, 40,000: Important News- papers, El Nuevo Tiempo, El Cronista, La Patria, El Progreso: El Renacimiento (weekly): Hotels, Agurcia, Jockey Club, New York, Progreso. Mexico Area, 767,168 square miles. Population, 17,000,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports $178,396,392 $213,000,000 Trade with the United States (1920): Imports Exports $133,435,163 $195,000,000 Total $391,396,392 Total $328,435,163 Principal Exports: Mineral, — oil, silver, copper, lead, an- timony, zinc, and gold : vegetable, — henequen, coffee, rubber (including guayule), chicle, frijoles, chick peas (garbanzos), ixtle, cabinet woods, zaceton root, tobacco, vanilla, cottonseed, and sugar : animal, — cattle, hides, skins, and tallow. Appendix 373 Principal Imports: Machinery, tools, hardware, automobiles, cars, textiles and clothing, cotton, lumber, coal, vegetable oils, coke, liquors, grains, drugs, and furniture. Transportation Facilities: 16,000 miles of railways; steam- ship lines to all parts of the world; 51,543 miles of telegraph; telephone service in the larger cities; 18 wireless telegraph sta- tions; parcel post and postal money order service between the United States and Mexico. Currency: Theoretical monetary unit, gold peso: value, about $.998. Ordinary medium of exchange, silver peso: value, $.4985. Paper currency issued by the various governments fluctuates violently. United States currency circulates to a large extent. Weights and Measures: the metric system is in general use. Other weights and measures are : libra = 1.01465 pounds ; vara = 33 inches; barril— 20.0787 gallons; carga= 300 pounds; fanega = 1.54728 bushels ; frasco — 2.5 quarts. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6; Feb. 5; March 19; Apr. 13, 14; May 5, 25; June 15, 29; Aug. 15; Sept. 16; Oct. 12; Nov. 1, 2; Dec. 8, 12, 25. Feb. 5 is the Anniversary of the Constitution; March 19, the day of San Jose (St. Joseph) ; May 5, Triumph of 1862; Sept. 16, Anniversary of Independence; Dec. 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe. There are also many local holidays observed in certain States or cities. Due days precede Sunday or legal holidays. Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Mexico City (capital): Population, 800,000: Important Newspapers, El Democrata, El Universal, Excelsior, El Diario Comercial, El Liberal, La Vanguardia, El Mundo, El Tiempo, El Heraldo de Mexico, Las Notieias, El Pueblo: El Mercurio, La Revista de Revistas, El Boletin de Industrias, El Universal Uustrado (weeklies) : The Weekly News Bulletin (English) : Hotels, Iturbide, Isabel, Lascurain, St. Frances, Alameda, Regis, Porter. Guadalajara: Population, 130,000: : Important News- papers, El Informador, La Prensa, La Restauracion, La Bpoca, El Combate, El Derecho: Hotels, Fenix, Frances, Roma, Garcia, Cosmpolita. Puebla: Population, 125,000: Important Newspapers, El Monitor, El Sol, La Cronica, Gil Bias, La Prensa, El Diario, El Progreso: Hotels, Espanol, American, Barcelona, Pasaje, Francia, Ingles. Monterey: Population, 85,000: Important Newspapers, La Yerdad, El Liberal, La Tribuna, El Diario, El Noticiero, El Porvenir, El Progreso, La Nueva Patria : Hotels, Iturbide, In- dependence, Continental, Aurora, Gulf, Monterey, Windsor. 374 Appendix San Luis Potosi : Population, 85,000 : Important Newspapers, La Action, El Pieudo, La Razon, La Juventud (weekly) : Hotels, Progreso, Comereio, Internacional, Jardin. Vera Cruz: Population, about 50,000: Important News- papers, El Dictamen, La Opinion, El Heraldo, El Combate, El Popular: Hotels, Universal, Buena Vista, Mexico, Diligencia, Colon. Chihuahua: Population, about 40,000: Important News- papers, El Correo del Norte, El Diario del Norte, El Mensajero, El Independiente, El Heraldo: Hotels, Francia, Vidal, Colon, Palacio. Nicaragua Area, 49,200 square miles. Population, 600,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports $13,864,389 $10,787,345 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $11,247,589 $9,294,809 Principal Exports: Coffee, rubber, gold and silver, hides, bananas, woods, cacao, sugar. Principal Imports: Textiles, flour, machinery, kerosene, leather, boots and shoes, mining materials, rice. Transportation Facilities : 200 miles of railways ; steamship lines connecting with the United States, Europe, the rest of Central America, and South America; 3,637 miles of telegraph lines ; about 1,000 miles of telephone lines ; a considerable amount of river steamship service on the San Juan and the Coco or Segovia, and on Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua; a wireless telegraph station at Bluefields, and 5 others contracted. Currency : Monetary unit, the gold cordoba: value, $1.00. Paper currency, issued by the National Bank; circulates at a heavy discount. Weights and Measures: the metric system is in general use. Bank and Public Holidays (1922) : Jan. 1; March 1; April 13, 14, 15; July 4; Sept. 14, 15; Oct. 12; Nov. 30; Dec. 25. July 4 is celebrated as the Anniversary of American Inde- pendence; Sept. 15, as the Anniversary of the Independence of Central America. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Total $24,651,734 Total $20,542,398 CENTRAL AMERICA Submarine Cables Railroads Size of type indicates relative importance of places Appendix 375 Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Managua (capital): Population, 60,342: Important News- papers, La Gaceta, El Heraldo, El Comercio, La Tarde, El Diario de Nicaragua, La Republica, La Tribuna: Hotels, Gran, Italia, America, Estrella, Lupone. Leon: Population, 47,234: Important Newspapers, El Cen- tro-Americano, El Independiente, El Eco Nacional: Hotels, Metropolitan, Lupone, Roma. Granada: Population, 21,925: Important Newspapers, El Diario Nicaraguense, El Correo: Hotels, Colon, Ascarate, Los Leones. Panama Area, 33,667 square miles. Population, 401,428. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports $17,161,168 $3,552,271 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $12,995,409 $3,210,615 Total $20,713,439 Total $16,206,024 Principal Exports : Bananas, coconuts, hides and skins, balata and rubber, tagua (ivory nuts), cacao, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shell, nispero, (medlar gum). Principal Imports: Wheat flour, iron and steel, cotton tex- tiles, mineral oils, rice, edible animal products, chemicals and drugs, boots and shoes, rubber manufactures, ready-made clothing. Transportation Facilities: 250 miles of railways; most of the railway mileage is closely associated with transportation to the Panama Canal; 37 telegraph offices; telephone system from Colon to Santa Isabel, along the Atlantic coast; cable service from Panama to North American and South American ports, and from Colon to the United States and Europe; several wireless telegraph stations. Currency: Monetary unit (theoretical), the gold balboa: value, $1.00. No gold coins have as yet been issued. The silver half -balboa, or peso, is in common use. United States currency circulates freely at its nominal value. Weights and Measures: the metric system is in general use. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1; Feb. 22, 28; Apr. 14; May 30; June 30; July 4, 14; Sept. 4; Oct. 12; Nov. 3, 11, 28, 30; Dec. 25. 376 Appendix May 30 is Memorial Day; July 4, American Independence Day; Sept. 4, Labor Day; Nov. 3, Separation from Colombia; Nov. 30, Thanksgiving Day. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Panama (capital): Population, 65,000: Important News- papers, El Diario de Panama, The Star and Herald (in English and Spanish) : El Conservador (weekly) : Hotels, Tivoli (at Ancon), International, Metropole, Central, Continental, Ameri- can, France, Europa. Colon: Population, 25,000: Principal Newspaper, La Es- trella de Colon: Hotels, Washington, Aspinwall, Imperial, Cos- mopolitan, Park. David : Population, 13,500 : Principal Newspaper , El Noticiero: Principal Hotel, Santiago Lombardi. Paraguay Area, 196,000 square miles. Population, 1,000,000 (estimated). Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports $12,724,949 $14,510,400 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $3,035,669 $1,351,453 Total $27,235,349 Total $4,387,122 Principal Exports: Oranges, yerba mate (Paraguay tea), timber, hides, tobacco, dried beef, quebracho wood, lace. Principal Imports: Textiles, foodstuffs, hardware, fancy goods, wines and spirits, pharmaceutical products, ready-made clothing, hats. Transportation Facilities: 232 miles of railways': most of the transportation is carried on by the admirable river system of the Paraguay and the Parana; 2,000 miles of telegraph lines. Currency: Monetary unit, gold peso: value, about $.965, the same as that of the Argentine gold peso. Ordinary medium of exchange, the paper peso, highly depre- ciated and worth only a small fraction of its face value. Argentine paper money circulates extensively in Paraguay. Weights and Measures: the metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1; Feb. 3; Apr. 13, 14; May 14, 15; Aug. 15; Oct. 12; Nov. 1, 25; Dec. 8, 25. Appendix 377 Feb. 3 is San Bias Day; May 14 and 15, Independence Days; Nov. 25, Adoption of the Constitution. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Asuncion (capital): Population, 90,000: Important News- papers, El Diario, La Tribuna, El Liberal, El Nacional, La Manana: Hotels, Cosmos, Hispano-Americano, Italia, Roma, Gran Hotel del Paraguay. Villarrica: Population, 40,000: Hotels, Central, Espanol, Franco-Suizo. Peru Area, 533,916 square miles. Population, 4,620,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports $85,000,000 $155,000,000 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $56,000,000 $75,000,000 Total $240,000,000 Total $131,000,000 Principal Exports : Minerals, sugar, cotton, wool, rubber, hides and skins. Principal Imports: Comestibles and condiments; tools, ships’ stores, machines and vehicles; cotton textiles and manufactures; stones, earths, coal, glass, and chinaware. Transportation Facilities: 1,800 miles of railways, with over 2,000 miles under construction or projected; steamship con- nections with all parts of the world ; ocean-going steamships reach eastern Peru through Brazil via the Amazon; busy coastwise service; steamship navigation on Lake Titicaca; 10,557 miles of telegraph lines; 11,000 miles of telephone lines; 16 wireless telegraph stations. Currency: Monetary unit, the gold libra (pound): value, $4.8665, or the same as the pound sterling. The libra is divided into 10 soles, and the sol has 100 centavos. Peru is on an entirely gold basis, and all calculations are made in soles or libras (ab- breviation for the libra peruana, or Peruvian pound, is “Lp.”). Weights and Measures: the metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6; Feb. 27, 28; March 19; Apr. 13, 14; May 25; June 15, 29; July 28, 29, 30; (Aug. 15, 30; Sept. 24; Oct. 12; Nov. 1, 16; Dec. 8, 25. 378 Appendix March 19 is the day of San Jose (St. Joseph) ; July 28, 29, 30, National Holidays commemorating Independence; Aug. 30, Samta Rosa de Lima; Sept. 24, Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes (Our Lady of Ransom). The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Lima (capital): Population, 176,467: Important News- papers, El Pci’u, El Comercio, La Prensa, El Tiempo, La Cronica, La Nueva Union: West Coast Leader (English weekly): Sud America, El Hogar, Manana, Excelsior, Yariedades, Mundial (weeklies) : Hotels, Maury, Franeia-Inglaterra, Cardinal, Ameri- cano, Gran, Central. Arequipa: Population, 55,000: Important Newspapers, El Pueblo, El Deber, La Federacion, El Heraldo: La Patria (weekly) : Hotels, Central, Panama, Royal, Franeia-Inglaterra, Internacional, Gran. Callao: Population, 47,171: Principal Newspaper, El Callao: Hotels, Bristol, Internacional, Peninsula, Blanco, Gran. Cuzco : Population, 15,000 : Important Newspapers, El Sol, El Nacional El Comercio: Hotels, Angel Gasco, Maury, Pull- man, Central, Europa. Iquitos: Population, about 20,000: Important Newspapers, El Comercio, El Oriente, La Manana : Hotels, Continental, Loro, Bella Vista, Colon, Pinion. Salvador Area, 13,176 square miles. Population, 1,700,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports $18,000,000 $25,000,000 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports $13,200,000 $20,000,000 Principal Exports : Coffee, gold, silver, sugar, indigo, balsam, hides, rubber, tobacco, rice. Principal Imports : Cotton cloth and manufactures, hardware, pharmaceutical supplies, flour, boots and shoes, cotton yarn, machinery. Transportation Facilities : a railway line of 65 miles between the principal port, Acajutla, and the capital, San Salvador; a branch line of 25 miles to Santa Ana; a line of 9 miles from Total $43,000,000 Total $33,200,000 Appendix 379 San Salvador to Santa Teela; the line from Ateos to Santa Ana is now in operation; connection of La Union with ports in Guatemala is now under construction and will give Salvador an outlet to the Atlantic Coast; steamship service to other Central American ports on the Pacific, to the west coast of the United States, Panama, and South America; 2,521 miles of telegraph lines; 2,074 miles of telephone lines. Currency : Monetary unit, the silver peso , fluctuating with the rise and fall of silver: present value, about $.50. The currency used is convertible into silver on demand and has in recent years had an exchange value of about $.365. Weights and Measures: the metric system is in general use. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1; Feb. 23, 24; March 1, 15; June 22, 28; July 14; Aug. 5, 6; Sept. 15; Oct. 4, 12; Nov. 5; Dec. 25. March 1 is a Civic Holiday; March 15, a National Holiday commemorating General Morazan; Sept. 15, Independence Day; Nov. 5, Anniversary commemorating Generals Delgado, Arce, and Rodriguez. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : San Salvador (capital): Population, 80,000: Important Newspapers, El Diario del Salvador, La Prensa, El Diario Latino, La Palabra: El Mundo Ilustrado (weekly): Hotels, Italia, Iberia, Nuevo Mundo, Occidental, Espana, Paris. Santa Ana: Population, 59,817: Principal Newspaper, El Diario de Occidente: Hotels, Oriental, La Florida, Colombia. San Miguel: Population, 30,406: Important Newspapers, El Diario de Occidente; La Noticia: Principal Hotel, Hispano- Americano. Uruguay Area, 72,210 square miles. Population, 1,650,000. Language, Spanish. Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports Exports Total $50,091,508 $83,981,789 $134,073,297 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports Exports Total $15,290,135 $21,017,579 . $36,307,714 Principal Exports: Wool, hides and skins, meats and extracts, grease and tallow, live animals, oil-producing grains, and flour. 380 Appendix Principal Imports : Groceries, textiles, iron and steel and manufactures, stone, glass and chinaware, woods and manufac- tures, beverages, oils, chemical products, and tobacco. Transportation Facilities: Over 1,650 miles of railways; steamship lines to the principal ports of the United States and Europe ; transportation by water is highly important because of the admirable distribution of the river system; the chief inland ports can be reached by vessels of nine feet draft, and in some instances, of fourteen feet draft; over 60 telegraph and telephone stations; wireless telegraph station at Montevideo, at several military sta- tions, and in several lighthouses. Currency: Monetary unit, the gold peso: value, $1,034. No gold pieces have been coined. Ordinary medium of exchange, silver, banknotes and foreign gold coins. Weights and Measures: the metric system is obligatory. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6; Feb. 27, 28; April 19; May 1, 2, 18, 25; June 19; July 4, 14, 18; Aug. 25; Sept. 20; Oct. 12; Nov. 2; Dec. 8, 25. Feb. 28 commemorates the Proclamation of Independence (1811); April 19, the Landing of Uruguayan Patriots (1825); May 18, the Battle of Las Piedras (1811) ; May 25, the Inde- pendence of the River Plate Provinces (1810) ; July 4, American Independence Day; July 14, Fall of the Bastille; July 18, Con- stitution Day (1830) ; Aug. 25, Independence of Uruguay (1825) ; Sept. 20, Italian Liberty Day. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Montevideo (capital): Population, 400,000: Important Newspapers, El Dia, El Plata, La Tribuna Popular, La Razon, El Siglo, El Telegrafo, El Bien Publico, La Manana, El Diario Espahol, El Diario Comercial, La Democracia: The Montevideo Times (English): El Mundo Uruguayo (weekly): La Propa- ganda, El Estanciero (bi-weekly) : Selecta (monthly) : Hotels, Grand, Oriental, Central, Alhambra, Piramides, Colon, Florida, Solis, Espaha, Balcarce, Barcelona, Campiotti, Severi, Bianchi, Carrasco. Paysandu: Population, 32,000: Important Newspapers, El Diario, La Republiea, El Telegrafo : Principal Hotel, Concordia. Salto: Population, 30,000: Important Newspapers, Ecos del Progreso, La Tarde, El Diario Nuevo, La Tribuna Saltena: Principal Hotel, Concordia. Venezuela Area, 393,976 square miles. Population, 3,000,000. Language, Spanish. Appendix 381 Foreign Commerce (1920) : Imports $59,589,129 Exports $32,431,499 Total $92,020,628 Trade with the United States (1920) : Imports $35,000,000 Exports $16,500,000 Total $51,500,000 Principal Exports: Coffee, cacao, balata, hides and skins, sugar, gold, tobacco, asphalt, cattle, maize, heron plumes. Principal Imports: Cotton textiles, wheat flour, machinery, drugs and medicines, papers, rice, oils. Transportation Facilities : 650 miles of railways ; steamship service to the principal ports of the United States and Europe; special attention is paid to good roads, many excellent automobile highways being in operation and others under construction; 70 navigable rivers, with a total navigable length of over 6,000 miles; regular steamship service on the Orinoco, Apure, and Portuguesa Rivers; ocean-going vessels enter Lake Maracaibo, which covers an area of 8,000 square miles; Lake Valencia is navigated by small steamers; 5,814 miles of telegraph lines; 13,715 miles of telephone lines. Currency: Monetary unit, the gold bolivar: value, $.193. The so-called peso is equivalent to 4 bolivares, and the fuerte, to 5 bolivares. Gold, silver, nickel, and copper coins and bank-notes are in circulation. Bank and Public Holidays (1922): Jan. 1, 6; March 19; Apr. 13, 14, 19; May 25; June 15, 24, 29; July 5; Aug. 15; Nov. 1 ; Dec. 8, 19, 25. Apr. 19 commemorates the first movement for Independence; June 24, the Battle of Carabobo; July 5, Independence Day; Dec. 19 is a National Holiday. The other holidays are those common to Latin America. See under “Argentina.” Principal Cities (for list of banks, see end of appendix) : Caracas (capital): Population, 92,212: Important News- papers, El Universal, El Nuevo Diaiio, El Diario, El Imparcial, El Noticiero: La Patria, La Revista (weeklies) : Hotels, Klindt, Gran, Continental, Alemania, Universal, Italia. Valencia: Population, 64,861: Important Newspapers, El Eco Publico, El Cronista, El Radical: La Lucha (tri-weekly): Hotels, Lourdes, Olivares, Ottolina. Maracaibo: Population, 48,490: Important Newspapers, El Fonografo, La Manana, El Panorama, El Avisador, El Liberal, Ecos de Zulia: El Comercio (semi-weekly): Hotels, Bismarck, Colon, Los Andes, Zulia. 382 Appendix Ciudad Bolivar: Population, 21,595: Important Newspapers, El Luchador, El Diario Comercial: Hotels, Bolivar, Gran, Venezuela, Central, Union, Manoni. Puerto Cabello: Population, 20,000 : Important Newspapers, El Boletin de Noticias, El Diario de Avisos, El Teson, El Es- tandarte: Hotels, Universal, Banos, Hotel de France. Appendix 383 POSTAL INFORMATION Domestic (United States) Postal Rates apply to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Sal- vador, and Peru. Postal rates to the other Latin American republics are as follows: First Class. — Letters. — Postage on letters is five (5) cents for the first ounce or fraction thereof, and three (3) cents for each additional ounce or fraction thereof. Postal cards. — The postage on a single card bearing a written communication is two (2) cents for each ounce or fraction thereof. Registration. — All valuable matter should be registered. Registration fee, ten (10) cents additional. Third Class. — Includes newspapers, periodicals, books, pamph- lets, sheet music, cards, proofs of printing, etc. The postage is one (1) cent for each two (2) ounces or fraction thereof. The limit of weight is four pounds six ounces (4 lbs. 6 oz.). The limit of size is eighteen (18) inches in one direction, except printed matter in rolls which may be thirty (30) inches in length and four (4) inches in diameter. Registration. — All valuable matter should be registered. The registration fee is ten (10) cents additional. Parcel-Post. Merchandise parcel-post. — Postage is twelve (12) cents for each pound or fraction thereof. Greatest length, three (3) feet six (6) inches. Greatest length and girth com- bined, six (6) feet. Registration. — All valuable matter should be registered. Regis- tration fee, ten (10) cents additional. Except. — That parcel-post to the following countries cannot be registered: Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Note. — Parcel-post packages may be sent to nearly all the Latin American countries, but in some cases, not to all cities or towns within a particular republic. Specific information should be obtained at United States postoffices. Mail Time to Principal Cities of South America The time given to the South American cities mentioned in this table is the sailing or transit period. Consideration, however, should be given to the possibility of 10 or 15 days intervening between the date a letter is posted and the actual sailing date of steamer. This allowance is applicable likewise to sailings from 384 Appendix South America, and should be considered when calculating the possible time to elapse before a reply may be expected to South American mail. Mail Time to Reply may be expected Reply may be expected Days Argentina Colombia Buenos Aires. . .26 75 Bogotd .... ...23 65 Rosario .28 80 Medellin . . . ...23 65 Bolivia Ecuador La Paz .25 75 Quito .. .15 55 Sucre .25 75 Guayaquil . . ... .15 55 Oruro .25 75 Paraguay Brazil Asuncidn . . . .. .35 100 Rio de Janeiro .18 65 Peru Lima Callao Santos Bahia Pernambuco .. .21 .15 .14 65 60 55 ...18 ...17 55 55 Porto Alegre.. .25 80 Uruguay Sao Paulo .20 65 Montevideo . . ..25 75 Pard .16 60 Venezuela Chile Caracas . . . . ...12 45 Santiago .29 75 Maracaibo . ...14 45 Valparaiso . . . .28 75 Punta Arenas. . .40 110 It should be noted that the running time to Rio de Janeiro has been shortened to about 12 days by an American line and that 5 or 6 more days are taken to reach Buenos Aires. 120 Longitude 106“ West COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMERCIAL LANGUAGES OF AMERICA g English Spanish French Portugese Appendix 385 DISTANCES TO SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL PORTS AND CITIES OF LATIN AMERICA FROM NEW YORK, NEW ORLEANS, AND SAN FRANCISCO. (Water routes in nautical miles: land routes in statute miles. A nautical mile, or knot, is equivalent to 1.151 statute miles.) FROM Port and Route New York New Orleans San Francisco Buenos Aires direct . . 5,868 6,318 via Strait of Magellan. 7,544 Callao, Peru via Panama Canal.... . . 3,779 3,264 direct 4,012 Plabana (Havana) direct . . 1,227 597 via Panama Canal. . . . 4,337 Mexico City by land . . 2,898 1,526 2.512 by land and water. . . . . 2,399 1,172 2,142 Panama (western end of Panama Canal) . . . . 3,277 via Canal and Colon.. . . 2,028 1,427 Pernambuco, Brazil direct . . 3,696 3,969 via Panama Canal.... 6,530 Punta Arenas, Chile.... . . 6,890 7,340 6,199 Rio de Janeiro direct . . 4,778 5,218 via Panama Canal.... 7,678 Valparaiso, Chile direct 5,140 via Panama Canal.... . . 4,637 4,035 (Note: Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, by rail, 888 miles. 386 Appendix CREDIT CONDITIONS SOURCES OF INFORMATION Reports relative to Latin American houses may be obtained from practically the same sources as those in the United States. They are as follows: (a) American banks having correspondents in Latin America; (b) foreign or American houses, whose names are given as reference, or noted by the salesman; (c) mercantile agencies (Bradstreet Company and R. G. Dun & Co.); ( d ) foreign banks with whom Latin Americans have filed their references; (e) banks or financial institutions in the Latin Ameri- can country where orders originate; (/) home office of American bank with branch in Latin America; ( g ) business organizations such as the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, the American Manufacturers’ Export Association, the National Association of Manufacturers; ( h ) exchange service conducted by the National Association of Credit Men, and other bodies; ( i ) express com- panies with foreign departments; (j) foreign trade papers, jour- nals, etc. (From Trading with Latin America, by E. B. Filsinger: published by the Irving National Bank, New York, 1917.) Appendix 387 BRANCHES OF AMERICAN BANKS AND INSTITUTIONS AFFILIATED WITH AMERICAN BANKS IN LATIN AMERICA Abbreviations: N. C. B., National City Bank of New York I. B. C., International Banking Corporation, New York M. B. A., Mercantile Bank of the Americas, New York F. N. B., First National Bank, Boston, Mass. A. F. B. C., American Foreign Banking Corpora- tion, New York Aff. Inst., Affiliated institution (the name of the American affiliated bank follows this abbrevia- tion ) . Argentina Buenos Aires, N. C. B. and F. N. B. Sub-branch Plaza Once, N. C. B. Rosario, N. C. B. Bolivia La Paz, W. R. Grace y Compania Brazil Bahia, N. C. B. Para, American Bank of Brazil, Aff. Inst., M. B. A. Pernambuco, American Bank of Brazil, Aff. Inst., M. B. A., and N. C. B. Porto Alegre, N. C. B. Rio de Janeiro, N. C. B. and A. F. B. C. Chile Santiago, N. C. B. Valparaiso, N. C. B. Colombia Barranquilla, N. C. B. Bogota, N. C. B. Cali, A. F. B. C. Medellin, N. C. B. Also, The branches of the Banco Mercantil Americano de 388 Appendix Colombia, affiliated with the Mercantile Bank of the Americas : located at Armenia, Barranquilla, Bogota, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Cucuta, Girardot, Honda, Manizales, and Medellin (Colombia). Costa Rica San Jose, Banco Mercantil de Costa Rica, Aff. Inst., M. B. A. Cuba Habana, N. C. B., A. F. B. C., Banco Mercantil Americano de Cuba, Aft. Inst., M. B. A., and Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland. Sub-branch, Cuatro Caminos, N. C. B. Sub-branch, Galiano, N. C. B. Ciego de Avila, N. C. B. and Banco Mercantil Americano de Cuba, Aff. Inst., M. B. A. Also, in Cuba, the branches of the National City Bank at Artemisa, Bayamo, Caibarien, Camagiiey, Cardenas, Cien- fuegos, Colon, Cruces, Guantanamo, Manzanillo, Matanzas, Nuevitas, Pinar del Rio, Placetas del Norte, Remedios, Sagua la Grande, Sancti Spiritus, Santa Clara, Santiago, Union de Reyes, Yaguajay. Dominican Republic At Barahona, Puerto Plata, Sanchez, San Pedro de Macons, Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo: branches of the International Banking Corporation. Haiti Port au Prince, A. F. B. C. Honduras San Pedro Sula, A. F. B. C. Also, Banco Atlantida, affiliated with the Mercantile Bank of the Americas, at Amapala, La Ceiba, Puerto Cortes, San Pedro Sula, Tela, Tegucigalpa (Honduras). Nicaragua . At Bluefields, Leon, Managua, and Granada : National Bank of Nicaragua, affiliated with the Mercantile Bank of the Americas Panama Colon, I. B. C. Cristobal, A. F. B. C. Panama, 1. B. C. and A. F. B. C. Appendix 389 Peru Lima, N. C. B., the Banco Mercantil Americano del Peru, Aff. Inst., M. B. A., and W. R. Grace and Co. Also, at Arequipa, Callao, Chielayo, Piura, and Trujillo, branches of the Banco Mercantil Americano del Peru, Aff. Inst., M. B. A. Uruguay Montevideo, N. C. B. Sub-branch, Calle Rondeau, N. C. B. Venezuela Ciudad Bolivar, N. C. B. Caracas, N. C. B. and the Banco Mercantil Americano de Cara- cas, Aff. Inst., M. B. A. Maracaibo, N. C. B. Also, at La Guaira, Maracaibo, and Puerto Cabello, branches of the Banco Mercantil Americano de Caracas, affiliated with the Mercantile Bank of the Americas. 390 Appendix PRINCIPAL BANKS (This list does not include the branches of United States banks in Latin America. Par United States banks, see the preceding list. The countries are arranged alphabetically, and the cities are arranged in the order used in the first part of the Appendix, thus making reference an easy matter.) Argentina Buenos Aires Banco de la Nacion Argentina London & River Plate Bank, Limited British Bank of South America, Limited London & Brazilian Bank, Limited Banco Anglo-Sud-Americano Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco Germanico de la America del Sud Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires Banco Credito Popular Banco Espanol del Rio de la Plata Banco Frances e Italiano para America del Sud Banque Franchise pour le Commerce et l’lndustrie Banco Popular Argentino Royal Bank of Canada Tornquist y Compania Yokohama Specie Bank, Limited Rosario Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco de la Nacion Argentina British Bank of South America, Limited London and Brazilian Bank, Limited Banque Franchise et Italienne pour l’Amerique du Sud Cordoba Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco de la Nacion Argentina Banco Espanol del Rio de la Plata La Plata Banco de la Nacion Argentina Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires Banco Espanol del Rio de la Plata Appendix 391 Tucuman Banco de la Nacion Argentina Banco Espanol del Rio de la Plata Banco Aleman Transatlantico Bahia Blanca Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Banco Frances del Rio de la Plata Banco Espanol del Rio de la Plata Banco Alem&n Transatlantico Bolivia La Paz Banco Nacional de Bolivia Banco Francisco Argandona Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco de la Nacion Boliviana Banco Mercantil Cochabamba Banco de la Nacion Boliviana Oruro Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco de la Nacion Boliviana Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Potosi Banco de la Nacion Boliviana S'ucre Banco de la Nacion Boliviana Brazil Rio de Janeiro Banco do Brazil Banco Nacional Brazileiro Brasilianische Bank fur Deutschland London & Brazilian Bank, Limited London & River Plate Bank, Limited British Bank of South America, Limited Banco Espanol del Rio de la Plata Banco Allemao Transatlantico Banco Commercial do Rio de Janeiro Banco do Commercio Banco do Estado do Rio de Janeiro Banco Mercantil do Rio de Janeiro Banco Nacional Ultramarino Yokohama Specie Bank 392 Appendix Sao Paulo British Bank of South America, Limited London and Brazilian Bank, Limited Banco Nacional Ultramarino Banque Frangaise et Italienne pour l’Amerique du Sud Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banque Italo-Belge Bahia Banco Nacional Ultramarino British Bank of South America, Limited London and Brazilian Bank, Limited Brasilianische Bank fur Deutschland Para (or Belem) Banco Nacional Ultramarino London and Brazilian Bank, Limited Recife (or Pernambuco) Banco do Recife Banque Frangaise et Italienne pour l’Amerique du Sud Santos London and Brazilian Bank, Limited Banco Nacional Ultramarino Banque Frangaise et Italienne pour l’Amerique du Sud Banque Italo-Belge Banco Aleman Transatlantico Chile Santiago Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Banco de Chile Banco de Santiago Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco Nacional Banco Comercial de Chile Banco Espanol Valparaiso Banco Anglo-Sud- Americano Edwards y Compania London & River Plate Bank Deutsch-Siidamerikanische Bank Concepcion Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Banco Alem&n Transatlantico Antofagasta Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Banco Aleman Transatlantico Appendix 393 Iquique Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Banco Aleman Transatlantic Punta Arenas Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Colombia Bogota Banco de Bogota Banco de Colombia Banco del Comercio Banco Central C. Schloss y Cia Medellin Restrepos y Cia Banco Aleman-Antioqueno Banco de la Mutualidad Banco Dugand Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited Banco de Sucre London and River Plate Bank, Limited Barranquilla Banco de la Mutualidad Banco Dugand Banco Comercial de Barranquilla Royal Bank of Canada Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited Banco Aleman-Antioqueno Cartagena Banco de Bolivar Banco Industrial Pombo Hermanos Banco Dugand Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited Bucaramanga Banco de la Mutualidad Banco de San Gil Banco de Santander Banco Dugand Costa Rica San Jos6 Royal Bank of Canada Banco Anglo-Costarricense Banco Comercial Banco de Costa Rica 394 Appendix Lim6n Banco Comercial de Costa Rica Felipe J. Alvarado y Cia Cuba Habana Banco de Cuba Banco Nacional de Cuba Bank of Nova Scotia La Nacional The Royal Bank of Canada The Trust Co. of Cuba Banco de la Habana Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba Mendoza y Cia N. Gelats y Cia Santiago Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba Banco Nacional de Cuba Royal Bank of Canada Mantanzas Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba Banco Nacional de Cuba Royal Bank of Canada Cienfuegos Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba Banco Nacional de Cuba Royal Bank of Canada Camagiiey Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba Banco Nacional de Cuba Royal Bank of Canada Dominican Republic S'anto Domingo Banco Nacional de Santo Domingo Royal Bank of Canada S. Michelena Santiago Royal Bank of Canada Ecuador Quito Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited Banco de Pichincha Appendix 395 Guayaquil Banco Comercial y Agricola Banco del Ecuador Banco Territorial Alvarado y Bejarano Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited J. G. White Commercial Co., Limited Guatemala Guatemala City Banco Americano de Guatemala Banco de Guatemala Banco Internacional de Guatemala Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited Quezaltenango Banco de Guatemala Banco Internacional de Guatemala Haiti Port au Prince Banque Nationale d ’Haiti F. Hermann & Company Robert Dutton & Company Otto Bieber & Company Honduras Tegucigalpa Banco de Honduras Daniel Fertin Ricardo Streber Mexico Mexico City Banco de Londres y Mexico Banco de Montreal Banco Nacional de Mexico United States and Mexican Trust Company Banque Frangaise du Mexique Canadian Bank of Commerce Anglo-South American Bank Deutsch-Siidamerikanische Bank Guadalajara Banco Nacional de Mexico 396 Appendix Puebla Banco Nacional de Mexico Monterey Banco Nacional de Mexico Banque Frangaise du Mexique Patricio Milmo e Hijos, Sues. Banco de Nuevo Leon San Luis Potosi Banco Nacional de Mexico Banque Frangaise du Mexique A. Zambrano e Hijos Vera Cruz Banco Nacional de Mexico Banque Frangaise du Mexique Chihuahua Banco de Sonora Banco Minero Banco Nacional de Mexico David S. Russek and Co. Nicaragua Managua Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited Francisco Breckmann A. J. Martin Cortes Commercial and Banking Company, Limited Banco Nacional de Nicaragua Panama Panama Panama Banking Co. Ehrman and Co. Colon Panama Banking Co. Paraguay Asuncion Banco Agricola Banco Mercantil del Paraguay Banco Paraguayo Banco de la Republica Banco de Espana y America Villarrica Banco Mercantil del Paraguay Appendix 397 Peru Lima Banco Mercantil Americano del Peru Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco del Peru y Londres Banco Internacional del Peru Banco Popular Caja de Ahorros Arequipa Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco del Peru y Londres Banco Italiano Americano Banco Mercantil del Peru Callao Banco Aleman Transatlantico Banco del Peru y Londres Banco Italiano Banco Mercantil Americano del Peru Cuzco Banco del Peru y Londres Iquitos Banco del Peru y Londres Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited Salvador San Salvador Banco Agricola Comercial Banco Occidental Banco Salvadoreno Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Limited Santa Ana Banco Salvadoreno San Miguel Banco Salvadoreno M. Meardi y Cia. Uruguay Montevideo Banco de la Republica Banco Popular del Uruguay Banco Comercial Banco Espanol Banco Frances 398 Appendix Banco Aleman Transatlantic© Banco Britanico de la America del Sud Banco Anglo-Sud- Americano Banco de Londres y Rio de la Plata London & Brazilian Bank, Limited Anglo-South American Bank, Limited Banque Italo-Belge Venezuela Caracas Banco de Venezuela Banco de Caracas H. L. Boulton y Cia. 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