F 11+08 .3 W55 .^ J^ ^ hbl, stx F 1 408.3. W55 ii1fn?iiii?fni'] '■^*'" American civiliz t ^ ^ -ib. ^ ^. ^ % '^'^^ ■'\ ^P- co Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/readingsinlatinaOOwilg COLLEGE OUTLINESERIES READINGS IN LATIN AMERICAN CIVILIZATION WILGUS ifFli' i«3^eStucfc(i£a,!P/»iwifc3uitn^ lUs- 1 Lri(L ' — " ^] TRADE MARK REG. BARNES 6- NOBLE • Inc • NEW YORK COLLEGE OUTLINE SERIES A. W. LiTTLEFiELD, Gcncral Editor ACCOUNTING, Elementary Bauer-Darby ALGEBRA, College Moore ANCIENT HISTORY Hyma ANCIENT, Medieval, Modern History . . . Rickard-Hyma BACTERIOLOGY, Principles of Bryan BIOLOGY, General . . . .- Alexander BOTANY, General Fuller BUSINESS LAW Babb-Martin CALCULUS, The Oakley CHEMISTRY, First Year College Lewis CHEMISTRY, Mathematics for General ' Frey CHEMISTRY, Organic Degering, et al CORPORATION FINANCE Harold DOCUMENTED PAPERS, Writing Hubbell ECONOMICS, Principles of James EDUCATION, History of Thompson ENGINEERING DRAWING .... Lombardo-Johnson ENGLAND, History of Rickard EUROPE, 1500-1848, History of Littlefield EUROPE, 1815-1946, History of Littlefield EXAMINATIONS, How to Write Better Hook FRENCH GRAMMAR Du Mont GEOLOGY, Principles of Field GEOMETRY, Plane, Problems in . . . Horblit-Nielsen GERMAN GRAMMAR Greenfield GOVERNMENT, American Sayre GRAMMAR, English, Principles of Curme HYDRAULICS for Firemen Theobald JOURNALISM, Survey of Mott, et al {.Continued on next pagel [Continued from preceding page] LATIN AMERICA, History of Wilgus-d'Eqa LATIN AMERICA in Maps Wilgus LATIN AMERICAN Civilization, Readings in . . Wilgus LATIN AMERICAN Economic Development . , Wythe LITERATURE, American Crawford, et al LITERATURE, English, Dictionary of Watt LITERATURE, English, To Dryden . . Otis-Needleman LITERATURE, English, Since Milton . . Needleman-Otis LOGARITHMIC and Trigonometric Tables. . . Nielsen MIDDLE AGES, 300-1500, History of ... . Mott-Dee PHILOSOPHY: An Introduction . . . Randall-Buchler PHILOSOPHY, Readings in Randall, et al PHYSICS, First Year College Bennett POLITICAL SCIENCE Jacobsen-Lipman POLITICS, Dictionary of American . . . Smith-Zurcher PORTUGUESE GRAMMAR .... d'Eqa-Greenfield PSYCHOLOGY, Educational Pintner, et al PSYCHOLOGY, General Fryer-Henry SHAKESPEAREAN NAMES, Dictionary of . . Irvine SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS, Outlines of . . Watt, et al SLIDE RULE, Practical Use of Bishop SOCIOLOGY, Principles of Lee, et al SPANISH GRAMMAR Greenfield STATISTICAL METHODS Arkin-Colton STUDY, Best Methods of Smith-Littlefield TRIGONOMETRY Nielsen-VanLonkhuyzen TUDOR and Stuart Plays, Outlines of . . . Holzknecht UNITED STATES, To 1865, History of ... . Krout UNITED STATES. Since 1865, History of . . . Krout UNITED STATES in Second World War .... Harris WORLD since 1914, History of Landman ZOOLOGY, General Alexander 1 atLll)(|@ dJiiriLDDilg SSBQdg READINGS IN TIN AMERICAN Compiled and Edited by A, Cmrtis Wilgus, Ph. Professor of Hispanic American History The George Washington University IfPlh' ^jlieSft/ffcwaitoariBffifet) IIABI MAX «l«. New York BARNES & NOBLE, INC. \3 Copyright, 1946 By BARNES & NOBLE, INC. Printed in the United States of America By De Pamphilis Press, Inc., New York, N. Y. Preface Scholars are notorious for being the victims of their own en- thusiasms and prejudices and for considering that their own dic- tums in their respective fields of interest constitute the last word of authority. But any scholar v/ho asserts that he can select from literally thousands of documents the most appropriate supple- mentary reading material for the use of students is necessarily a genius — or a prevaricator. I, therefore, hasten to assert that I have found the task of the selection of documents for student reference reading a most diffi- cult and discouraging one. Certainly no other person would choose for such a reference work the identical documents printed here, and probably no one, and assuredly not the present compiler, could defend adequately and logically the choice of every one of the documents. AvailabiHty, student needs, teacher objectives, and publishers' co-operation, as well as many other factors, have affected the selection. Consequently, having rushed in where other scholars have feared to tread,^ I can justify my selection only on the basis of such factors. To date, only one comparable work has been compiled,^ and I can distinctly recall criticising it, in a burst of unbalanced enthusiasm, for the omission of what I was convinced were im- portant, not to say indispensable, documents. Considerable criti- cism of the present work is therefore expected — and welcomed. And perhaps if the book prospers, a new edition will satisfy, or dissatisfy, a new group of reviewers. But meanwhile may I ven- ture to hope that readers will find the material informative to such an extent that they will better appreciate the history and civiliza- tion of the peoples of the Latin American countries. If this comes about, I shall consider that this compilation of documents has not been in vain. It is obvious that this volume should be used for collateral read- ing in connection with some general text dealing with Latin Amer- ica. The plan followed in the organization of the material is 1 This book was preceded by two mimeographed volumes which I issued through the George Washington University entitled: Readings in Hispanic American Colonial His- tory, 1492-1824 (1937) and Readings in Hispanic American History Since Independ- ence (1938). 2 N. A. N. eleven, Readings in Hispanic American History (Boston: Ginn and Co., 1927). Recently Professor T. H. Reynolds published The Progress of Pan-Americanism (Washington: Public Affairs Press, 1942), which is a historical survey of Latin- Ameri- can opinion, and in a sense a book of readings. iii iv Preface largely that used in most textbooks in the field. Naturally the documents, many of which emphasize recent events, are intended to supplement my own Development of Hispanic America (New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc.) and the Outline-History of Latin America (New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc.) by Dr. Raul d'E(;a and myself. But since these readings have a rather wide range, the volume can be used as a supplement in a number of different courses (geography, Spanish, international relations, etc.) both at the high school level and in college. By its nature the book is pedagogically flexible. It was my original intention to prepare a volume of Readings containing nearly double the number of documents printed here and containing a historical introduction for each document. But this would have made the book much longer than others in the College Outline Series. Consequently many documents of vary- ing nature, including most poetry, are omitted and no historical in- troductions were prepared. It was also necessary to omit all "Refer- ences to Further Readings," although publication of these in a supplementary booklet is contemplated.^ Once again I find myself under deep obligation to numerous individuals, but especially to the publishers whose permission to use documents has made this work possible. To Barnes & Noble, Inc., I am especially grateful for their belief that such a work is feasible at this time. Dr. Roger R. Walterhouse has helped im- measurably in seeing the manuscript through the press. A. Curtis Wilgus 1 Students and teachers who are interested in securing copies of the projected booklet, References to Further Readings, are invited to contact the publishers. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part One THE COLONIAL PERIOD CHAPTER PAGE ^ I The American Geographic Environment 1. Description of the Jungle 1 2. Two Descriptions of the Pampa 3 3. Description of a Pampero 4 4. Description of the Amazon River 5 5. Description of the Desert of Tarapaca 6 II The American Natives 1. Maya Human Sacrifice 7 2. Description of the Aztec Emperor Montezuma 7 3. Description of Aztec Idols and Worship 10 4. Aztec Hymn to Quetzalcoatl 10 5. Description of Pre-Inca Ruins of Tiahuanaco 11 6. Description of the Inca Atabalipa 12 * 7. Description of Inca Roads 14 8. Hymn to Inca God Pachacamac IS 9. Inca Embalming Methods 16 III The European Background '"1. Iberian Geography and Its Effects upon the People 17 \_2. Some Characteristics of the Spanish Race 20 3. Description of Seville at the Time of the Moors 24 4. The Rise of Pelayo in Asturias 24 5. Description of the Deeds of Alfonso el Sabio.. 25 6. Two Descriptions of Isabella of Castile 26 7. Ferdinand of Aragon 27 8. Decree Expelling the Jews from Spain 27 9. Description of Conditions in Spain in 1513 28 IV The Spanish Discovery and Conquest of America 1. Sir Walter Raleigh's Comment on Spanish Character 30 ■ 2. Praise for the Early Spanish Conquerors 31 ■^ 3. Las Casas Says God Will Punish Spain for Destroying the Indians 31 4. Letter of Toscanelli to Martins 32 5. Royal Letters Patent Granting Privileges to Persons Accompanying Columbus ?>Z vi Table of Contents CHAPTER PAGE 6. Letter Carried by Columbus to Oriental Ruler 35 7. Columbus Tells of His Discoveries 35 8. Letter of Columbus to Infante's Nurse 36 9. The Fountain of Youth Described by Peter Martyr 38 10. The Land of Quivara Described by Rebullosa 38 IL The Land of Cibola Described by Zarate 39 <>< 12. The Amazons Described by Acuiia 40 13. El Dorado Described 41 14. Royal License to Rodrigo de Bastidas to Ex- plore the Pearl Coast 41 15. Royal Decree Appointing Balboa Governor of Darien 42 16. Statement of Balboa Taking Possession of the South Sea and the Land about It 43 17. The King Tells Pedrarias to Hurry 43 18. What the Wife of Pedrarias Said to Him 44 ^19. Description of Cortes 44 20. Interview between Pedrarias and Almagro .... 45 21. Orellana's Statement of His Services 47 22. Letter of Lope de Aguirre to Philip II 49 23. Activity of the Women Colonists in La Plata 51 24. Charles V Grants Coat of Arms to Jimenez de Quesada 53 25. Description of Pedro de Valdivia Just before His Death 54 26. Soto Meets the Indian Woman Chief of Georgia 54 27. Coronado's Letter to the King 57 28. Sebastian Vizcaino's Expedition to California.. 58 V The Government of the Spanish Colonies 1. The Consejo de Indias 60 2. The Casa de Contratacion 62 3. The Audiencia 64 4. The Viceroy 67 5. The Residencia 72 6. Laws Relating to the Spanish Colonies 7Z 7. The Manifesto of Alonzo de Ojeda 77 VI Economic Affairs in the Spanish Colonies 1. Products in the Spanish American Colonies.. 79 2. Description of Pearl Fishing 80 3. Decree Forbidding Trade with Foreigners .... 81 4. Causes and Results of Foreign Contraband Trade 81 5. Description of Slave Ships 82 6. Difficulties with Food on the Manila Galleon.. 84 7. Bill of Fare on a Spanish Fleet 84 Table of Contents vii CHAPTER PAGE VII The Exploitation of the Indians in the Spanish Colonies 1. The Repartimiento System 86 2. Royal Cedula to Governor Ovando of Espanola 90 3. A Grant of Encomienda in Santo Domingo .... 91 4. How the Spaniards Mistreated the Indians of Peru 92 5. What a Noble Inca Said to Pizarro's Spaniards 93 6. What an Araucanian Indian Prisoner Said... 93 7. Rules against Mistreatment of Indians of Chile 94 VIII Society in the Spanish Colonies 1. Marriage Tangles among Mexican Indians.... 96 2. Description of Santa Fe de Bogota 97 3. The Virtues of Paraguayan Tea or Yerba Mate 98 4. Amusements of the People of Lima 98 5. Account of a Bull and Bear Fight in California 99 6. Description of Buenos Aires 99 IX The Church in the Spanish Colonies 1. Papal Bull Granting Religious Patronage 106 2. Origin of Our Lady of Guadalupe 107 3. Success of Franciscans in Converting Indians 111 4. Instructions of Charles V to Viceroy Mendoza 111 5. Criticism of the Learning Given Mexican Indians by Missionaries 113 6. Statement of Inquisition Condemning Fran- cisco de Aguirre for Heresy 113 7. Philip II Makes Provisions for Jesuits 115 8. Statement of Jesuits as to Their Aims 116 9. Decree of Philip II concerning Right of Ec- clesiastical Patronage 116 10. Moral Instruction Given Mexican Indians .... 118 11. Why Indians Should Not Become Prie-sts .... 119 12. Franciscan Activities in Paraguay 120 13. Method of Instructing the Indians of Peru... 121 14. Banishment of Jesuits by Mexican Viceroy .... 121 15. Preparations in Mexico for Expulsion of the Jesuits 122 16. Expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico 123 17. Decree of Charles III concerning Church Asylum 124 18. A Capuchin Friar on the Upper Orinoco 125 19. Low State of the Clergy in the Eighteenth Century 126 X Intellectual Life in the Spanish Colonies 1. Royal Order Not to Allow Works of Fiction.. 127 2. Order for the Examination of Books by the Holy Inquisition 127 3. Founding of a Mexican School for Indians.... 128 viii Table of Contents CHAPTER PAGE 4. Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz Tells about Her Early Education 128 5. Lyrics of Juana Ines de la Cruz 129 XI Colonial Brazil 1. How the Country Was Discovered and Named 130 2. Description of Brazil (Sixteenth Century).... 132 3. The Products of Brazil 136 4. Brazilian Ranches 140 5. Portuguese Settlements and the Captaincies.... 141 6. The Jesuits in Brazil 145 7. The Story of a Sea Monster 146 8. Brazilian Customs (Sixteenth Century) 148 9. Some Eighteenth-Century Brazilian Customs 149 10, Decree concerning the Dress of the Colonists 153 XII Foreign Attacks on the Spanish Colonies 1. Colonial Complaint about Attacks upon the Coast Towns of the Spanish Main 154 2. Drake Raids Nombre de Dios 154 3. Letter from Viceroy Toledo about Drake and Sarmiento's Voyage through the Straits.. 155 4. Description of the Buccaneers 157 5. Morgan's Attack upon Porto Bello 158 6. English Instructions to George Anson to Aid the Spanish Colonists to Revolt 163 Part Two REVOLUTIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE XIII Preliminary Revolutionary Movements and Influences 1. Friction between Creoles and Peninsulars in the Eighteenth Century 167 2. Criticism of Spanish Colonial Policy by an Exiled Jesuit 168 3. Napoleon Tells of His Plans to Subdue Spain 169 4. Napoleon Says His Spanish Policy Ruined Him 170 5. Influence of the United States upon Colonists 170 6. Letter from Miranda to Bernardo G'Higgins.. 171 7. Miranda's Expedition to Free Venezuela 173 8. The Earthquake in Venezuela on March 26, 1812 , 176 9. The Fate of the Liberators of South America 178 XIV Revolutions for Independence in Northern South America 1. How the People of Caracas Received the French Representative of Joseph 179 2. Miranda's Arrest by Bolivar 180 3. Bolivar Gives Reasons for the Defeat of the Venezuelan Patriots in 1812 182 Table of Contents ix HAPTER PAGE 4. Bolivar Disapproves of the Federal System... 183 5. Proclamation of "War to the Death" by Bolivar 183 6. Proclamation of Bolivar Inviting Foreigners to Settle in Venezuela 184 7. A Spanish General Recommends the Extermi- nation of Americans 185 8. Bolivar's "Prophetic Letter" from Jamaica,... 186 9. A Description of the Patriot Troops of San Fernando in Nueva Granada 189 10. Jose Antonio Paez Characterized 190 11. Jose de Sucre Thanked for His Services 191 XV Revolutions for Independence in Southern South America 1. Description of Jose Artigas 192 2. Manifesto of People of La Plata Complaining against Spanish A-buses 193 3. Impressions of San Martin 196 4. San Martin's Ideas regarding Freedom 197 5. Bernardo O'Higgins Resigns as Supreme Director of Chile 198 XVI Revolutions for Independence in Northern Hispanic America 1. Hidalgo Proclaims the Abolition of Slavery and Other Reforms in Mexico 199 2. The Aims of Hidalgo's Revolution 200 3. An Intimate Portrait of Morelos 200 4. Iturbide Describes Political Conditions and Ideas in Mexico 201 5. The Mexican Congress Proclaims Iturbide Emperor 202 6. Abdication of Iturbide as Emperor of Mexico 202 7. Decree of the Mexican Congress Providing for the Departure of Iturbide 203 XVII The Independence of Brazil 1. Joao VI Appoints His Son Pedro as Regent.. 204 2. Dom Pedro I Proclaims Independence 205 3. The Character of Dom Pedro 1 205 4. Metternich's Opinion regarding the Independ- ence of Brazil 207 Part Three THE NATIONAL PERIOD XVIII Latin America as a Whole 1. Analysis of Latin American Politics since Independence 211 2. Nature of the Latin American Population 217 Table of Contents CHAPTER * PAGE XIX Argentina 1. Art Evaluation of the Political Ability of Juan Manuel Rosas 222 2. Rosas Defends His Administration 223 3. Political Philosophy of Bartolome Mitre 226 4. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Describes His Interest in Education 227 5. Some Gaucho Characteristics 228 6. Story of Christ as Told by the Gauchos 230 7. The Student Movement Begun in Argentina.. 231 XX Bolivia 1. The Predominance of Women in Santo Corazon 235 2. A Native Funeral in the Bolivian Chaco 236 3. The Recova or Market Place and the Indians Who Attend in the Bolivian Andes 238 XXI Brazil 1. Pedro I Writes a Farewell Letter to His Son, the Later Pedro II 239 2. What the Tutor of Pedro II Wished Him to Know 240 3. Description of Pedro II and the Empress .... 241 4. Resignation of Pedro II as Emperor 241 5. Poem b}^ Pedro II Written after He Resigned from the Emperorship 242 6. Bonifacio Expresses His Views on Negro Slavery 243 XXII Chile 1. Description of the Chilean Earthquake 244 2. Description of Christmas Ceremonies 247 XXIII Colombia 1. Description of the Lllanura and the Llanero.... 248 2. Description of the Indians of the Andes 249 XXIV Ecuador 1. Concordat between the Papacy and Ecuador.. 251 XXV Paraguay 1, Declaration of Independence 256 2, Early Life of Carlos Antonia Lopez 258 3, People and Society in Asuncion 258 4, Description of Francisco Solano Lopez 259 5, Message of the President 261 XXVI Peru 1. How Agusto B. Leguia Was Removed from the Presidency 263 2. Problems and Conditions of the Indians 265 Table of Contents ' xi CHAPTER PAGE XXVII Uruguay 1. Description of a Uruguayan Estancia 267 2. Twenty-Five Years of Secondary Education.. 268 XXVIII Venezuela 1. Character of Jose Antonio Paez 273 2. How President Crespo Received Foreign Diplomatic Representatives 275 3. Description of Juan Vicente Gomez 277 4. How the Government Seized Men for the Army 280 5. Description of the Llanos and Llaneros 282 6. How the Llaneros Throw a Bull 284 XXIX Mexico 1. Speech of General Santa Anna to Congress at His Installation as President 285 2. The Crown is Offered to Maximilian 287 3. Reply of Maximilian to the Offer of the Grown 290 4. Proclamation of Maximilian on Entering Mexico 291 5. Reasons for Executing Emperor Maximilian.. 292 6. The Inauguration of President Porfirio Diaz 293 7. Description of Porfirio Diaz 294 8. Account of Villa's Raid upon Mexican Towns 296 9. Description of a Mexican Home 299 10. Description of a Bull Fight 300 11. Conditions of Indian Labor on Haciendas .... 302 12. Mexican Religious Customs 303 13. How Mexicans Are Affected by Drink 304 14. Characteristics of the Mexican Mestizo 304 15. Characteristics of the "Activity Schools" 304 16. The Rights and Duties of a Mexican Child.... 306 17. The Interest of President Calles in Mexican Education 307 18. Aims of Mexican Education 308 19. The Objectives of the Social Revolution 308 20. President Avila Camacho Describes the Anti- Illiteracy Campaign 309 21. The Reason for Pershing's Expedition 312 22. A Hymn of Hate Sung When United States Forces Invaded Mexico 313 XXX Central America 1. President Rafael Carrera of Guatemala 314 2. President Justo Rufino Barrios of Guatemala 316 3. Some Guatemalan Recipes 317 4. The Strong Agricultural Policy of Nicaragua 318 5. Schools and Democracy in Costa Rica 319 xii Table of Contents CHAPTER PAGE XXXI The West Indies Cuba 1. Characteristics of the Cuban ■. 321 2. The Piatt Amendment 321 3. United States Treaty Abrogating the Piatt Amendment 32?) 4. Repression and Censorship under Machado .... 324 5. Machado's Effect upon Cuban Education 326 6. Interview with Colonel Fulgencio Batista .... 328 Haiti and the Dominican Republic 7. Characteristics of the Haitian People 331 8. Description of a Cock Fight in Haiti 336 9. Influence of Haitian Education upon the Eco- nomic Life of the Country 338 Part Four INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF LATIN AMERICA XXXII Latin America and the United States: General Relations 1. Henry Clay Desires the Independence of the Spanish American Colonies 341 2. United States Instructions to the Commission Visiting Latin America, 1817-1818 341 3. President Monroe Explains His Recognition of Spanish American Independence 343 4. Secretary of State Adams Explains Recogni- tion of the Independence of Brazil 344 5. Provision in the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty con- cerning a Canal in Central America 345 6. Views of President Hayes regarding an Isthmian Canal 345 7. President Cleveland Opposes United States Expansion in Latin America 346 8. Original Statement of the Drago Doctrine.... 347 9. Statement of the Dominant Position of the United States on the American Continent 349 10. President Wilson's Plea for Better Relations 350 11. Dollar Diplomacy in Latin America 352 12. A Venezuelan Criticizes the United States... 353 13. A Colombian Condemns United States Im- perialism 354 14. Statement about Yankees in Argentine Text- book 354 15. How United States Firms Make Loans 355 16. The Good Neighbor Policy Defined ...: 357 Table of Contents xiii CHAPTER PAGE XXXIII The Monroe Doctrine 1. Letter of Secretary Canning Suggesting Prin- ciples Later Embodied in the Doctrine.... 366 2. The Original Statement of the Monroe Doc- trine 367 3. Views of Theodore Roosevelt 369 4. Meaning of the Monroe Doctrine 371 5. Suggestions of Dr. Brum for All American Nations to Support the Principles of the Doctrine 372 6. Statement by Charles E. Hughes 375 XXXIV Pan Americanism and the Inter-American Conferences L Bolivar's Circular Invitation to the Congress of Panama Z77 2. Summary of Bolivar's Ideas regarding Unity 379 3. Excerpt from United States Invitation to the First International Conference 380 4. Address of Elihu Root before the Third Inter- national Conference 382 5. Proclamation of Pan American Day by Presi- dent Hoover 385 6. Pan American Day Address of President Hoover 386 7. Pan American Day Address of President Roosevelt 388 / 8. Address of Assistant Secretary of State Welles on "The Good Neighbor Policy" 390 9. Letter of President Roosevelt for Consolidat- ing Peace in the Western Hemisphere .... 393 10. Convention Signed at the Conference for the Maintenance of Peace at Buenos Aires .... 395 IL Declaration of American Solidarity at Lima Conference 397 12. Declaration of American Principles at Lima Conference 398 13. Statement by Secretary of State Hull con- cerning the Eighth International Confer- ence 399 14. The Declaration of Panama Setting up a Safety Zone about the Americas 401 15. Joint Declaration of Continental Solidarity at Panama 403 16. Address by Secretary of State Hull on Inter- American Cultural Relations 404 17. Resolution of the American States at the Third Meeting of the Ministers 406 XXXV Some Recent Inter-Latin American Relations The Tacna-Arica Dispute between Chile and Peru 1. President Hoover Suggests an Acceptable Solution 407 xiv Table of Contents chapter page The Gran Chaco Dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay 2. Note Sent by Nineteen American Nations ... 410 3. Proclamation of the President of the United States Prohibiting Sale of Arms 411 4. Protocol for Cessation of Hostilities 413 5. Treaty of Peace Signed at Buenos Aires 416 The Leticia Dispute between Peru and Colombia 6. Recommendation of the Council of the League of Nations 419 7. Report regarding the League's Action 420 The Peru-Ecuador Boundary Dispute 8. Statement by President Roosevelt at Serving as Arbitrator 423 XXXVI Some Recent Latin American Relations with Europe 1.. Protest of the American Republics on the Violation of the American Neutrality Zone 424 2. Reply of the British Government 425 3, Reply of the German Government 428 PART ONE THE COLONIAL PERIOD ^3^ HE colonial era in Latin America was a period when rash and brave deeds were performed by innumerable men and women of white, Indian, and Negro blood. Conflicts were fought with nature and man in North and South America and a myriad obstacles were overcome at great cost of life and money. Yet throughout the 300-year-long era human nature remained essenti- ally the same as now. Individuals were moved by the same forces of prejudice and passion and they suffered from the same types of catastrophies that we know today. But in the end a great continent was conquered and settled and the quest for gold, glory, and gospel was rewarded in varying degrees of individual satisfaction. An insight into the age can perhaps best be obtained from the accounts of the actors themselves. Eyewitness records of their adventures, their problems, and their thoughts constitute excellent' material to help us today in arriving at an understanding of their customs, civilization, and history. Chapter One TELE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE JUNGLE 1 THREE days north from Rosario we encountered the gigantic and terrible personality that we came to call Green Hell. It is a truly colossal block of forest, so vast that the mind refuses to grasp the full immensity of its range. Shaped like a human body it stands foursquare on the top of Argentina, Its trunk is Brazil and Para- guay and Eastern Bolivia, its f arflung shoulders dip into two oceans at Ecuador and Pernambuco, and its scraggy neck twists at Panama into the Republics of Central America. At its widest it stretches without break the distance between Labrador and Liverpool, or Southampton and Suez. It has the Amazon, the Orinoco and the Paraguay for its main arteries, and some six hundred different breeds of Indians flit like fleas through the green covering of its skin. Naturally it is not of equal density. In the southern portion it is often wooded parkland shot with belts of thicker trees. Cattle roam the plains near the Rio Paraguay, but the forest is never far distant, and ranchers have to take care lest their charges run wild. In the north it is horrible, a dense, fever-stricken thicket, shimmer- ing in the heat with a perpetual glassy haze dancing through the topmost branches. It is evil, swampy, miasmic, like a warm, fes- tering wound. An Englishman may obtain some slight insight into the discomfort of penetration if he lock himself into a hot-house, water the flowers, close all windows, and allow a blazing sun to shine through the glass while he rides on a stationary bicycle. Even then he will not be bothered by insects. By degrees I realized that the ancients were right about the sex of their symbolic deities. Ceres, Nature, Green Hell — either name will pass — is a woman. A man, Mars for instance, or Jupiter, 1 From: Julian Duguid, Green Hell (New York: The Century Company, 1931), pp. 23- 25, 235-239. 2 The Colonial Period would sport awhile with a victim before it died. Green Hell is logical, with all the cold clear-headedness of a woman who is re- sponsible for the welfare of her kingdom. A traveler is at perfect liberty to wander in her domain, she places no insuperable obstacles in his path ; but he must have experience and nerve, for if once he lose his head or make a wrong decision his doom is signed. She will not lift a finger to his aid. For all she cares his bones may- whiten in oblivion. Still, she is not malevolent, and will grant fair play to all who subscribe to her rules. Her dress is magnificent, a rich, eternal garment of every shade of green dappled with gold sun-spots. In a measure it portrays the inflexibility of her character, for she never relapses into the browns and reds of autumn, nor into the joyous innocence of the young spring. A deep sage at the hem, it rises in steady waves of color, until, towards the top, the sun has bleached the life-blood in the leaves. Her clothes are indestructible, for her wood is for the most part hardwood, and may not be burned while it lives. But for this fact South America would have been colonized long ago. Thou- sands of gardeners sweep her paths, and their children are reared to her service. She flatters them with her smile, shelters them with her gown, lulls them to sleep in the great silence of her bosom; but she starves without mercy any creature that does not minister to the increase of her body. She grants a landing ground to Urubu on condition that he buries the dead in the warmth of his gizzard. Purple beetle has a safe home beneath a leaf so long as he play the sexton to minor carrion. Painted jaguar may range her under- growth till his beauty fades and the younger generation forces him into a corner to die. We had ridden scarcely a league from San Jose when the heavens began to mutter and a huge cloud rose out of the north. It reared up, menacing and majestic, with the black and purple coloring of a bruise, and it stooped over Green Hell as an overhanging cliflf stoops over the sea. All nature knew what was coming. Lizards, dry and automatic as hinged toys, scuttled across the path. Parrots chattered like mad things, telling their children of the fury they were too young to know. Suddenly it came, a soft, rushing sigh, advancing swiftly out of the heaviness of the cloud. The trees heard it and passed it on, bowing their branches with time-serving humility. The parrots heard it and screamed of¥ down-wind, hardy and optimistic, like boys trying to race a train. As it drew nearer, the softness van- ished, and a metallic note, steep and shrill and ominous, whistled through the forest. It was as though a great wall of sound, inevi- table as a tidal wave, were bearing down on us. In another moment we were overwhelmed, gasping, and, as our shirts bellied with the The American Geographic Environment 3 force of the wind, the lightning broke and a jagged monstrosity of flame split the cloud to pieces. Almost simultaneously a crashing gong of thunder blackened the air. It was my first experience of a tropical storm, and I was wet through before I recovered from the savage beauty of the sky. 2. TWO DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PAMPAi OVER this immense space there is not a tree, not a shrub, not a single perennial plant to be seen, save only those few which here and there lift their heads near a herdsman's hut. There are no hills nor eminences, and the undulations are so gentle as only to be per- ceived by taking a long view over its surface; and then the eye passes round . . . the horizon as over the face of the undulating ocean in a calm. . . . The keen blasts called the pamperos sweep over the . . . unsheltered plain without the least obstruction; and the fierce rays of the sun are felt in all their unmitigated fervor. . . . This interminable plain [is] one of the most expanded and awful solitudes on earth. . . . The pampas are exceedingly productive in grass, and a great portion of them are beset with a species of thistle, which grows from two to seven feet high, and is not unlike our garden artichoke. The only tree that seems to flourish everywhere ... is the embudo [ombu] ... ; its trunk, however, is a mere watery pulp, and the growth is utterly useless for everything but shade. . . . There is no tradition that, in all this immense extent of territory, . . . one single stick of good timber has been ever found growing at the distance of one mile from the rivers. . . . The pampas are some- times afflicted with the most wasteful droughts ; when vegetation is parched up, the ponds and streams . . . dried. WE SEE all around us a flat land, its horizon a perfect ring of misty blue colour where the crystal-blue dome of the sky rests on the level green world. Green . . . from April to November, but not all like a green lawn or field : there were smooth areas . . . , but the surface varied greatly and was mostly more or less rough. . . . There were other breaks and roughnesses on that flat green expanse caused by the vizcachas, a big rodent the size of a hare, nightly burrower in the earth. . . . The earth thrown out of these diggings formed a mound, and being bare of vegetation it appeared in the landscape as a clay-coloured spot on the green surface. . . . The . . . change in the aspect of the plain would begin in November: the 1 From: Theodorick Bland and W. H. Hudson quoted in A. Curtis Wilgus, ed., Argen- tina. Brazil and Chile (Washington, D.C.: The George Washington University Press. 1935), pp. 42-43. 4 The Colonial Period dead, dry grass would take on a yellowish-brown colour, the giant thistle a dark rust brown. ... It was then, when the water-courses were gradually drying up and the thirsty days coming . . . , that the mocking illusion of the mirage was constantly about us. . . . By the end of November the thistles would be dead, and their huge hollow stalks as dry and light as the shaft of a bird's feather. . . . The roots were not only dead but turned to dust in the ground, so that one could push a stalk from its place with one finger, but it would not fall since it was held up by scores of other sticks all round it, and these by hundreds more, and the hundreds by thousands and mil- lions. ... At any moment a careless spark . . . might kindle a dan- gerous blaze. . . . [Now] the one desire and hope of every one was for the pampero — the southwest wind, which in hot weather is apt to come with startling suddenness, and to blow with extraordi- nary violence . . . , and there would be thunder and lightning and a torrent of rain. ... In an hour or two it would perhaps be all over, and the next morning the detested thistles would be gone, or at all events levelled to the ground. 3. DESCRIPTION OF A PAMPERO i %\/HO has not heard of that scourge of the plains, that scavenger of the towns, the life-giving, death-dealing pampero? That mighty wind which sweeps, unopposed by mountain or hill, over the dreary wastes of Patagonia, over leagues of tall grass of the Pam- pas, over the desolate plains of Buenos Aires ; gathering force with its increasing velocity, driving before it myriads of insects and queer-winged things, and clouds of dust that sometimes turn day into night ; sweeping down in all its fury upon the great, shallow Rio de la Plata, delving into its broad bosom, banking up its waters, driving this way and that; flooding the Boca, the Ensenada, the Tigre,. the Northern, the Southern, the Pacific, the Rosario Rail- ways ; tearing up the port works, and undoing in an hour the work of months ; arresting the flow of the mighty Parana, forcing back upon the littoral that overflow greater than the Mississippi, and, lashing the widening river till hugh steamers rock like corks, speeds on to Monte Video and the mouth of the Plate, without harbour or even breakwater to oppose its terrible power; down upon the unprotected shipping, dashing the lighter craft shorewards, making matchwood of some, compelling larger vessels to cut their cables, and scud under bare poles for hundreds of miles before it; and so sweeps over the ocean, till it meets and spends its last force against the Trades. 1 From: T. A. Turner quoted in Frederick Alcock, Trade and Travel in South America (London: George Philip and Son, Ltd., 1903), pp. 204-205. The American Geographic Environment 5 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE AMAZON RIVER (Sixteenth Century)i PREVIOUS to the voyage of the Maranones down this river, its first navigator was Captain Francisco de Orellana, who came from the river Canela (which, as we have said, rises in the provinces at the back of Quito). Orellana having met, during his voyage, with women of fair stature, who defended themselves from him and his soldiers, and opposed his advance, he gave them the name of Ama- zons, because they were like similar women of Scythia, who lived on the banks of the great river Tanais, whence they first moved to another river called Thermodon, and conquered by their arms the greater portion of Asia. These Amazons had the great Penthesilea for their queen and commander, and they are mentioned by Zachary Lilio, who says that they burnt the right breast off, that it might not hinder them in the management of arms, for the chase, or in war. Orellana had some reason for calling the women he met with Amazons, on account of their having fought against the Spaniards ; yet in many provinces of these Indies, women have done the same : nor do we see why this river should be called the Amazons only on account of this occurrence. The most prevalent custom is to call it Maranon, as before stated. Its magnitude is such as to entitle it to the name of the gulf of sweet water, for, independent of its great size at its mouth, it, at times, when it rises, covers a hundred leagues of land with so much water that canoes and piraguas sail over the inundated land. The banks of the river are not well peopled, and it is a matter of wonder how the Indians live, by reason of the myriads of mosqui- toes, which they call noisy zancudos, and it appears that nature has created these animals to punish and torment sinful man. From the time the expedition left the dock where the vessels were built, at the Motilones (which was on the 26th of September of the past year, 1560), until they arrived at the village of Tortugas, in the month of December, very little rain fell, from which circum- stance they concluded that it was the summer of this part of the world (because in all the lands of this New World, there is no other rule to know the winter and summer, but by the rainy or dry season) . From December it rained much, with very heavy storms of wind, lightning, and thunder, causing great danger to the brigan- tines and canoes, the waves of the river being like to those of the sea in a tempest. Some were of opinion that the risings or freshets occurred all the year round, for, from its source until it falls into the sea, its length is more than one thousand six hundred leagues (4,800 1 From: Pedro Simon quoted in Hakluyt Society, London (Ser. I, Vol, XXVIII, 1861), pp. 107-109, passim. 6 The Colonial Period miles) ; thus it is necessary to pass through very many provinces, and under various constellations, so that when in one part the win- ter is over, it begins in another ; and when the freshets cease in one part, they commence in another, particularly as each locality has its annual winter (or rainy season). All the land by which the river flows is very hot indeed and sickly, which explains why there are so few villages, and why it is so thinly inhabited. A short distance before entering the sea, the river has so many islands, that it is said they number over two thousand, when it is low water; but when the river rises it covers the greater portion, or nearly all of them, and when the sea has its spring tides, no islands are seen ; and such is the force and bellowing of the beating waves, that it is said that the great noise is heard at a distance of four leagues. I find so much difference of opinion amongst authors and others, as to why this river was called Maraiion, or the other we have al- ready treated largely of, the Orinoco, that I cannot clearly deter- mine which of the two is the Maraiion, so it must remain unsettled until some one writes about the matter with better information; and this is the reason why I likewise call the Orinoco, Maranon. From the time the expedition left the Motilones until they en- tered the sea. they navigated for ninety-four days, counting the nights, and the rest of the time they spent in resting, building the brigantines, and other occupations. 5. DESCRIPTION OF THE DESERT OF TARAPACAi A COMPLETE and utter desert. The road was strewn with the bones and dried skins of the many beasts of burden which had perished on it from fatigue. Excepting the Vultur aura which preys on the carcases, I saw neither bird, quadruped, reptile, nor insect. On the coast mountains at the height of about 2,000 feet, w^here durino- the season the clouds generally hang, a very few cacti were growing in the cle-^ts of the rock, and the loose sand was strewed over with a lichen which grows quite unattached. This plant be- longs to the genus Cladonia, and somewhat resembles the reindeer lichen . . . Farther inland during the whole ride of fourteen leagues, I saw only one other vegetable production, and that was a most minute yellow lichen growing on the bones of the dead mules. 1 From: Charles Darwin quoted in G. F. S. Elliot, Chile (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907), pp. 257-258. The American Natives 7 Chapter Two THE AMERICAN NATIVES 1. MAYA HUMAN SACRIFICE 1 THE high priest had in his hand a large, broad and sharp knife made of flint. Another priest carried a wooden collar wrought like a snake. The persons to be sacrificed were conducted one by one up the steps, stark naked, and as soon as laid on the stone, had the collar put upon their necks, and the four priests took hold of the hands and feet. Then the high priest with wonderful dexterity, ripped up the breast, tore out the heart, reeking, with his hands, and showed it to the Sun, offering him the heart and steam that came from it. Then he turned to the idol, and threw it in his face, which done, he kicked the body down the steps, and it never stopped till it came to the bottom, because they were very upright ; and one who had been a priest, and had been converted, said that when they tore out the heart of the wretched person sacrificed, it did beat so strongly that he took it up from the ground three or four times till it cooled by degrees, and then he threw the body, still moving, down the steps. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE AZTEC EMPEROR MONTEZUMA 2 THE Great Montezuma was about forty years old, of good height and well proportioned, slender and spare of flesh, not very swarthy, but of the natural colour and shade of an Indian. He did not wear his hair long, but so as just to cover his ears, his scanty black beardewas well shaped and thin. His face was some- what long, but cheerful, and he had good eyes and showed in his appearance and manner both tenderness and, when necessary, gravity. He was very neat and clean and bathed once every day in the afternoon. He had many women as mistresses, daughters of Chieftains, and he had two great Cacicas as his legitimate wives. He was free from unnatural offences. The clothes that he wore one day, he did not put on again until four days later. He had over two 1 From: Cogolludo quoted in Gregory Mason, Columbus Came Late (New York: The Century Company, 1931), p. 168. 2 From: Bernal Diaz del Castillo quoted in A. P. Maudslay, ed., Bernal Diaz del Castillo (New York: Harper and Brotliers, 1928), pp. 289-292. 8 The Colonial Period hundred chieftains in his guard, in other rooms close to his own, not that all were meant to converse with him, but only one or another, and when they went to speak to him they were obliged to take off their rich mantles and put on others of little worth, but they had to be clean, and they had to enter barefoot with their eyes lowered to the ground, and not to look up in his face. And they made him three obeisances, and said: "Lord, my Lord, My Great Lord," before they came up to him, and then they made their report and with a few words he dismissed them, and on taking leave they did not turn their backs, but kept their faces towards him with their eyes to the ground, and they did not turn their backs until they left the room. I noticed another thing, that when other great chiefs came from distant lands about disputes or business, when they reached the apartments of the Great Montezuma, they had to come barefoot and with poor mantles, and they might not enter directly into the Palace, but had to loiter about a little on one side of the Palace door, for to enter hurriedly was considered to be dis- respectful. For each meal, over thirty different dishes were prepared by his cooks according to their ways and usage, and they placed small pottery braziers beneath the dishes so that they should not get cold. They prepared more than three hundred plates of the food that Montezuma was going to eat, and more than a thousand for the guard. When he was going to eat, Montezuma would sometimes go out with his chiefs and stewards, and they would point out to him which dish was best, and of what birds and other things it was composed, and as they advised him, so he would eat, but it was not often that he would go out to see the food, and then merely as a pastime. I have heard it said that they were wont to cook for him the flesh of young boys, but as he had such a variety of dishes, made of so many things, we could not succeed in seeing if they were of human flesh or of other things, for they daily cooked fowls, turkeys, pheasants, native partridges, quail, tame and wild ducks, venison, wild boar, reed birds, pigeons, hares and rabbits, and many sorts of birds and other things which are bred in this country, and they are so numerous that I cannot finish naming them in a hurry ; so we had no insight into it, but I know for certain that after our Captain censured the sacrifice of human beings, and the eating of their flesh, he ordered that such food should not be prepared for him thenceforth. Let us cease speaking of this and return to the way things were served to him at meal times. It was in this way : if it was cold they made up a large fire of live coals of a firewood made from the bark of trees which did not give off any smoke, and the scent of the bark from which the fire was made was very fragrant, and so that The American Natives 9 it should not give off more heat than he required, they placed in front of it a sort of screen adorned with figures of idols worked in gold. He was seated on a low stool, soft and richly worked, and the table, which was also low, was made in the same style as the seats, and on it they placed the table cloths of white cloth and some rather long napkins. . . . Four very beautiful cleanly women brought water for his hands in a sort of deep basin which they call xicales, and they held others like plates below to catch the water, and they brought him towels. And two other women brought him tortilla bread, and as soon as he began to eat they placed before him a sort of wooden screen painted over with gold, so that no one should watch him eating. Then the four women stood aside, and four great chieftains who were old men came and stood beside them, and with these Montezuma now and then conversed, and asked them questions, and as a great favour he would give to each of these elders a dish of what to him tasted best. They say that these elders were his near relations, and were his counsellors and judges of law suits, and the dishes and food which Montezuma gave them they ate standing up with much reverence and without looking at his face. He was served on Cholula earthenware either red or black. While he was at his meal the men of his guard who were in the rooms near to that of Montezuma, never dreamed of making any noise or speaking aloud. They brought him fruit of all the different kinds that the land produced, but he ate very little of it. From time to time they brought him, in cup-shaped vessels of pure gold, a certain drink made from cacao, and the women served this drink to him with great reverence. Sometimes at meal-times there were present some very ugly humpbacks, very small of stature and their bodies almost broken in half, .who are their jesters, and other Indians, who must have been buffoons, who told him witty sayings, and others who sang and danced, for Montezuma was fond of pleasure and song, and to these he ordered to be given what was left of the food and the jugs of cacao. Then the same four women removed the table cloths, and with much ceremony they brought water for his hands. And Monte- zuma talked with those four old chieftains about things that inter- ested him, and they took leave of him with the great reverence in which they held him, and he remained to repose. As soon as the Great Montezuma had dined, all the men of the Guard had their meal and as many more of the other house servants, and it seems to me that they brought out over a thousand dishes of the food of which I have spoken, and then over two thousand jugs of cacao all frothed up, as they make it in Mexico, and a limitless quantity of fruit, so that with his women and female servants and bread makers and cacao makers his expenses must have been very great. lo The Colonial Period 3. DESCRIPTION OF AZTEC IDOLS AND WORSHIP i THE idols which the Indians worshipped were numerous and were found in many places, especially in the temples of their demons and in the courtyards; in prominent places Hke forests, large hills and ports, or in high mountains and in every convenient pleasant resting place. Those that passed by drew blood from their ears or tongue and sprinkled them, or threw a little incense which they have in that land called "copalli" ; others threw roses that they gathered along the way, and when they did not have anything else, they threw a bit of green grass or straw upon them ; there they rested, especially those with burdens, for the Indians are accus- tomed to carry heavy loads. Likewise they had idols near the water, chiefly near fountains where they built their altars with covered steps. In many of the principal fountains they had four of these idols arranged in the form of a cross. ... In the water they put much "copalli" and paper and roses and some devotees of the water gods sacrificed themselves there. Near the large trees like the great cypresses or cedars they likewise had altars and sacrifices. ... At cross-roads, in diflferent sections of the towns . . . they had oratories in which there were idols of diverse forms and figures Some had the figure of bishops with mitres and croziers . . . others had figures of men. These had a mortar on the head instead of the mitre. On them they threw wine because they were gods of wine. Some had the figures of women, some of wild beasts, lions, tigers, dogs, deer, etc. Also they had idols in the form of serpents, long and intertwined, some with the face of a woman. In front of these they offered snakes and serpents, and before some of them they placed strings of snake tails, for there are large snakes in this land which when they move their tails make a rattling noise. Then also there were idols of birds like eagles, of night birds, vultures, kites and of large handsome plumed birds. The chief was the sun, also the moon, and the stars, the large fish and lizards of the water, even frogs and toads. . . . They had for gods the fire, the water, and the earth and of these they painted images. . . . They had figures of many other things, even of butterflies, fleas and lobsters, large and well carved. 4. AZTEC HYMN TO QUETZALCOATL ^ He the Wind that's ever blowing ; He the guide that's ever marching ; He who goes before the Tlalocs 1 From: Motolinia in Charles S. Braden, Religions Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico (Burliam: Duke University Press, 1930), pp. 20-21. 2 From: The BuUctin of the Pan Am.erican Union, April 1928, p. 387. The American Natives ii Sweeping clean the floor of heaven; He of deities the master, On his sea shell trumpet calling. He the wind that's madly blowing; He the tempest fiercely rushing, Masks the dust dance in his pathway; Thunders all across the heavens. He who blusters clamorously; Loudly blusters madly rushing; Turns the daytime into nighttime; Blows he fierce from all directions; Shouts with loud reverberations; Works himself into a passion; Fiercely rages in his fury, Maddened to intoxication. See, upon his head he's wearing Coronet of spotted tiger; And behold his face is blackened As though stained with smoke of charcoal. Master he of wondrous action Ever-reaching, far-extending. Exercised from all directions. Yet full many times he slumbers. Weakened and exhausted slumbers. On his neck a golden collar. Gleaming golden necklace wears he. On his back are wondrous feathers Fashioned like to glowing fire flames; Leggings has of spotted tiger; Shield adorned with precious jewels In his left hand, see, he carries; Bears the traveler's curved baton Bended like the hoe the peasant Wields to cultivate his garden. 5. DESCRIPTION OF PRE-INCA RUINS OF TIAHUANACO (About 1545)i TIAHUANACO is not a very large village, but it is celebrated for the great edifices near it, which are certainly things worth seeing. Near the buildings there is a hill made by the hands of men, on great foundations of stone. Beyond this hill there are two stone idols, of the human shape and figure, the features very skil- 1 From: Cieza de Leon, The Travels of Pedro de Cieza de LeSn (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1864), pt. 1, ch. 105, pp. 374-376. 12 The Colonial Period- fully carved, so that they appear to have been done by the hand of some great master. They are so large that they seem like small giants, and it is clear that they have on a sort of clothing different from those now worn by the natives of these parts. They seem to have some ornament on their heads. Near these stone statues there is another building. Their antiquity and the want of letters, are the causes why it is not known who built such vast foundations, and how much time has since elapsed ; for at present there is only a wall very well built, and which must have been standing for many ages. Some of these stones are much worn. At this part there are stones of such enormous size that it causes wonder to think of them, and to reflect how human force can have sufficed to move them to the place where we see them, being so large. Man}^ of these stones are carved in different ways, some of them having the shape of the human body, which have been their idols. Near the wall there are many holes and hollow places in the ground. In another, more to the westward, there are other ancient remains, among them many doorways, with their jambs, lintels, and thresholds, all of one stone. But what I noted most particu- larly, when I wandered about over these ruins writing down what I saw, was that from these great doorways there came out other still larger stones, upon which the doorways were formed, some of them thirty feet broad, fifteen or more long, and six in thickness. The whole of this, with the doorway and its jambs and lintel, was all one single stone. The work is one of grandeur and magnificence, when well considered. For myself I fail to under- stand with what instruments or tools it can have been done ; for it is very certain that before these great stones could be brought to perfection and left as we see them, the tools must have been much better than those now used by the Indians. 6. DESCRIPTION OF THE INCA ATABALIPA (ATAHUALPA)i THIS Atabalipa was a well disposed Indian of fine person, of medium size, not too fat, beautiful of face and grave, with red eyes, a man much feared by his people. I was told that the Lord of Guailas asked him for leave to go visit his land, and a limited time in which to go and return was conceded to him. He dallied somewhat longer, and when he returned, I being present, with a present of fruit from his land, he began to tremble in such a manner that he could not stand upon his feet. Atabalipa raised his head a little and, smiling, made him a sign to go away. When they took 1 From: Pedro Pizarro, Relation of the Discovery and Conquest of the Kingdoms of Peru. Translated by Philip Ainsworth Means (New York: The Cortes Society, 1921), pp. 220- 226. The American Natives 13 him [Atabalipa] out to kill him, all the natives who were in the plaza, prostrated themselves upon the ground, letting themselves fall like drunken men. This- Indian was served by his wives in the order which I have already related, a sister waiting upon him ten or eight days, with a great number of daughters of Lords who served these sisters, changing every eight days. These women were ever with him in order to serve him, for no Indian man entered the [room] where he was and if one such came from some distant place, he had to enter barefoot and bearing a burden. And when his captain Chal- licuchima came with Hernando Pizarro and went in to see him, he entered as I say, barefoot and with a burden, and he threw himself down at his feet and kissed them, weeping. Atabalipa, with a serene face, said to him : You are welcome here, Challicuchima, meaning : You are well come, Challicuchima. This Indian [Atabalipa] wore upon his head a certain llautos, which are braids made of coloured wool half a finger thick and a finger wide, made in the manner of a crown, but round and not having points, being a hand's breadth wide and encircling the head. At the front was a fringe sewed on this llauto, a hand's breadth or more in width, made of very fine scarlet wool, very evenly cut, and adorned with small golden tubes cunningly adjusted up to the middle [of each cord in the fringe] . This wool was spun, and below the tubes was untwisted, and that was the part that fell upon the forehead, for the little tubes were enough to fill up the whole fringe. This fringe fell to just above the eyebrows, and it was a finger in thickness and covered the whole forehead. And all these Lords went about with their hair short, and the ore j ones wore it as if upon a comb. They wore very fine soft clothes, they and their sisters whom they had for wives, and their vassals, important ore j ones, or those whom the Lords made so, and all the rest, wore coarse clothing. This Lord put his mantle over his head, fastening it under the chin and covering his ears. He did this in order to cover up one ear which had been torn, for when the men of Guascar captured him, they tore it off. This Lord dressed in very fine clothes. While he was eating one day, and these Ladies already mentioned were bringing him his dinner, and they placed it before him upon some thin small green rushes, he was seated upon a duo of wood somewhat more than a palm high. This duo was made of beautifully coloured wood, and they always kept it covered up with a very delicate mantle, even though he might be sitting upon it. These rushes, already mentioned, were always spread before him when he wished to eat, and on them they placed all the food in vessels of gold, silver and pottery, and that [dish] which stirred his appetite he indicated, and, taking it up, one of the said ladies would hold it in her hand while he ate. One day while he was eating in this manner in my presence, and when he raised 14 The Colonial Period a portion of the food to his mouth, a drop fell upon the clothing which he wore, and giving his hand to the Indian woman, he raised himself and went into his room to don other clothing, and when he came back he wore a shirt and a mantle of dark brown. Coming up to him, I felt the mantle, which was smoother than silk, and I said to him : Inga, of what is this soft clothing made? And he said to me: It is made of birds who fly by night in Puerto Viejo and Tumbez and who bite the Indians. On my saying to him : How is it and where could so much batskin be gathered ? he replied : Those dogs of Tumbez and Puerto Viejo, what else have they to do than to capture these animals so as to make clothes for my father ? And thus it is that the bats of those parts bite the Indians and Spaniards and horses by night, and they suck up so much blood that it is a mysterious thing. And so it was made certain that this clothing was of bat wool, and so the clothing was of the same colour as they are, for in Puerto Viejo and Tumbez and their regions there are great numbers of them. One day it befell that an Indian came to complain that a Spaniard had taken some garments of Atabalipa. The Marquis sent me to go and find out who it was, and to summon the Spaniard in order that he might be punished. The Indian took me to a hut where there was a great quantity of chests, for the Spaniard was now gone away, and he [the Indian] told me that it was from there that he had taken a garment of the Lord's. And, on my asking him what he had there in those chests, he showed me some in which there was everything which Atabalipa had touched with his hands, and garments which he had rejected, in fine, every- thing which he had touched. I asked him: For what purpose do you have all these things here? He answered that it was in order to bum them, for each year they burned all these things, because all that was touched by the Lords, who were sons of the Sun, must be burned, made into ashes and thrown into the air, for no one must be allowed to touch it. Standing guard over these things was an important man who guarded the things and collected them from the women who served [the sovereigns]. These Lords slept on the ground on large mattresses of cotton. They had large counterpanes of wool with which they covered themselves. I have not seen in all of this [land of] Piru an Indian like this Atabalipa, nor one equal to him in ferocity and authority. 7. DESCRIPTION OF INCA ROADS i ONE of the things most wonderful, in contemplating the works of this country, was the thought how, and in what manner, they were able to make such long and superior roads as those we see ; 1 From: Juan de Sarmiento quoted in M. E. Rivero and J. J. Von Tschudi, P^rifz/tan Antiquities (New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1854), pp. 255-256. The American Natives 15 what a large force of men must have been required for their con- struction, and with what iron tools or other instruments they were able to level mountains, and break in pieces rocks, and to make the roads so broad and good as they are. For it seems to me if the Emperor should see fit to order the construction of another road, like that which leads from Quito to Cuzco, or that which from Cuzco goes toward Chili, I certainly think that, with all his power, he would not be able to make it; nor indeed would the strength of men accomplish it, without such complete order and arbitrary subdivision of labor, as the Incas established among their subjects who built their roads; for if it were a road of but fifty, or a hun- dred, or two hundred leagues, it is easy to perceive, that although the earth might be rough, still, with great diligence, it might be accomplished. But these roads were so extensive that one stretched even eleven hundred leagues, all made, too, over large and terrific sierras, the bases of which in some places, if one looked down, were beyond the reach of sight; while in others, the sierras were per- pindicular masses of stone, the sides of which it was necessary to excavate to make the road broad and straight ; while the only imple- ments for their construction were fire and a tool of some kind for picking. Other places were so abrupt, high and rugged, that it was necessary to make steps from below to reach the summit, midway of which were cut broad platforms as resting-places for the laborers in the ascent. In other places there were frightful heaps of snow, and these of frequent occurrence, not situated as they wished, not elevated or depressed as we see it on the plains ; and upon this snow, if it were necessary to fill up cavities, they were obliged to construct actual mountains of trees and turf, and over them to make a smooth paved road. Those who read this book, and who have been in Peru, may recall the road which goes from Lima to Xauxa, by the sierras of Guayacoin, and by the snowy mountains of Pavacaca, and they know that they have both seen and heard more than I have here written. 8. HYMN TO INCA GOD PACHACAMACi O Pachacamac! Thou who hast existed from the beginning. Thou who shalt exist until the end, powerful but merciful, Who didst create man by saying, "Let man be," Who defendest us from evil, and preservest our life and our health, 1 From: Bishop Luis Geronimo de Ore, Symholo CathoHco Indiana (Lima, 1598), ch. 9. Translated by Philip Ainsworth Means. 1 6 The Colonial Period art Thou in the sky or upon the earth? in the clouds or in the deeps ? Hear the voice of him who implores Thee, and grant him his petitions. Give us life everlasting, preserve us, and accept this our sacrifice. 9. INCA EMBALMING METHODS i THE professors of the art performed the operation in several ways. In imitation of the Egyptians, they drew out the brains through the nostrils, thus explaining the want of the small bone which separates the eyes, and the fracture made in the suture which connects this with the forehead, thus facilitating the passage to the interior of the cranium. They sometimes preserved this small bone, entirely withdrawing the brain, and yet without leaving any mark capable of manifesting the corruption which would have been pro- duced, if they had extracted the brain in any other way ; thus proving that such was their knowledge of anatomy, that they made their extractions from this organ in different ways and in different places. They drew out the eyes, as being composed of very corruptible substances, filling the orbits with cotton and other materials in- geniously arranged, which covered the deficiency when the eyelids were closed : all was neatly executed without altering the features of the face, whatever aspect it might have worn in life. The tongue, with all its appurtenances, was torn out, with the lungs, by a small fissure, made from the anus to the pubis. After emptying through it all the intestines, they left the lower belly and breast free from the parts which might putrefy. The vacuum of both cavities they filled with a subtile powder, the color of liver, which exhaled a slight turpentine odor the instant that it was taken out, and afterward lost it in a short time, by its contact with the open air. It absorbs humidity, and makes a slight effervescence in cold water. We presume, from these circumstances, that the com- pound is made of resin of the molle (tree of Peru), lime, and some mineral earth. They anointed the face with an oily liquid, of an orange color, covering it afterward with cotton; they joined the hands to the jaws, and the knees to the breast, fastening the differ- ent members with bandages, until they assumed the desired position. 1 From: Francisco Barreda quoted in M. E. Rivero and J. J. Von Tschudi, Peruvian Antiquities (New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1S54), pp. 205-206. The European Background 17 (Chapter Three THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 1. IBERIAN GEOGRAPHY AND ITS EFFECTS UPON THE PEOPLE 1 LET us take, in the first place, the geographical features of the peninsula. The average altitude of Spain is very great ; in fact it ranks next to Switzerland among the European countries in this respect. The whole of the north central portion forms a high, arid plateau, which slopes off somewhat abruptly toward the Mediter- ranean on the east, and more gradually toward the Atlantic on the west. On the eastern half of the northern side it rises rapidly into the mountain chain of the Pyrenees, while on the western it merges into the rainy pastures of Asturias and Galicia. On the south it falls away quite suddenly, but far inland, leaving the wide, rich Andalusian plain, watered by the Guadiana and Guadalquivir, and cut off in turn from the Mediterranean by the snowy summits of the Sierra Nevada, whose loftiest peak (Mul-Hacen) exceeds in altitude the highest of the Pyrenees. Then, in addition to these general physiographical differentiations, the peninsula is subdivided by a number of minor mountain chains, which run for the most part in an east and west direction, and form the valleys of the five prin- cipal Spanish rivers — the Ebro, on the east, and the Douro, Tagus, Guadiana, and Guadalquivir, on the west. A river may be either a highway for those who desire to travel along its course, or a bar- rier for those who wish to cross it ; but the Spanish rivers, with the possible exception of the Guadalquivir, are emphatically the latter rather than the former. Since they all rise on the high north central plateau, their current is for the most part so swift as to render it impossible for those journeying east and west to navigate them, while the same fact renders them the more difficult to ford for travellers going north and south. By its rivers and mountain chains, as well as by its high north central plateau, low-lying coasts, and Andalusian plain, the Iberian Peninsula is parcelled out into a number of sharply separated districts, each of which naturally tends to lead a life of its own. Peculiarly and widely divergent climatic conditions follow as an 1 From: R. G. Merriman, The Rise of the Spanish Empire (New York: The Macmillan Company, 4 vols., 1918-1934), Vol. I, pp. 34-41. 1 8 The Colonial Period inevitable corollary of these physiographical facts. Moisture is never evenly distributed in a mountainous country, and Spain is no exception to the general rule. The long and parching droughts, followed by sudden inundations, vi^hich are a familiar feature of the great plateau, result from a concentration of the rains among the mountain peaks, and the sudden flooding of the swiftly rising streams, which either carry the water off to the sea before it has had any opportunity to benefit the surrounding lands, or else, if the rain has been unusually heavy, overflow their banks. Sudden alternations of heat and cold are another characteristic feature of the high north central plain or meseta. These unfavorable condi- tions, however, do not obtain on all the coasts, while in Andalusia moisture is abundant and the temperature warm and even. In the extreme northwest, in Galicia and Asturias, the action of the Gulf Stream brings equable weather, though it is also unusually w^et. In Spanish climatic as well as physiographical conditions, variety is again the dominant note. Let us turn for a moment to some of the effects of this internal geographical and climatic variety and separatism on the historical development of the peninsula. ... It is evident that the number and variety of the tribes which inhabited the peninsula made a pro- found impression on all observers. The prolonged and heroic re- sistance of the native Spaniard to the Roman legions in the last two centuries B.C. would have been impossible in a less mountainous and divided land; the Lusitanian shepherd Viriathus and his fol- lowers won their greatest victories by skilfully taking advantage of the deep ravines and rocky summits of the west. . . . That the victors, after their conquest was complete, found it convenient to exchange their original partition of the land into Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior for a division into three, four, and finally seven provinces is certainly significant, as is the difficulty w^hich the Visigoths subsequently experienced in subjecting the remoter part of the land to their control, and in blotting out the various distinctions which separated them from the mass of the Hispano- Roman inhabitants. The whole internal history of Moorish Spain may be said to centre around the efforts of the sovereign power to check its subjects' natural proneness to dissolve themselves into a number of petty states, and the tendency to division and sub- division among the Christian rulers in the north is the key to many of the most difficult questions in the mediaeval period. . . . The results of the peculiar geographical features of the Iberian Peninsula are also plainly visible in its constitutional, social, and economic life. Variety and differentiation are the dominant features of the national assemblies, of the municipal fiieros, of the ranks and classes of men, and of their multifarious interests and occupations. The difficulty of communication between the different parts of The European Background 19 Spain has always discouraged internal commerce, and accounts in some measure for the average Spaniard's marked economic in- capacity and his proverbial aversion to a business career. Generally excellent harbors, on the other hand, furnish admirable opportuni- ties for maritime intercourse vi^ith other lands, of which the inhab- itants of the Mediterranean coast took advantage at an early date. . . . The climatic and physiographical conditions within the penin- sula are especially favorable to pasturage — perhaps the principal national occupation in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The rainy slopes of the Asturian mountains afford the best of summer grazing grounds, and the sunny regions of Andalusia are corre- spondingly valuable in winter. On the other hand, the barrenness of the meseta is profoundly discouraging to the agriculturist; it goes far to explain, if not to palliate, the prevalence of the sentiment expressed in the phrase "deshonor del trabajo" ; it is one of the principal reasons why the Spaniard has always tended to concen- trate in cities. It is true that this agricultural poverty is in some measure compensated by a plentiful supply of running water and considerable mineral wealth. . . . The mineral richness of the peninsula was not sufficient to make the search for it a national occupation, but it was so much more considerable than its agricul- tural possibilities that it led the inhabitants to neglect to till the soil, and to confuse real wealth with its outward and visible symbol. It partly accounts for the proverbial thirst for gold which was the bane of the Spaniards in the New World, and for their inability to realize that agriculture is the most permanent and stable source of a new country's material prosperity. Some of the most disastrous blunders in the Spanish administration of the Indies are in large measure to be attributed to the peculiar conditions under which the conquerors had been reared in the peninsula. Everything considered, then, Spain is a country whose natural advantages for the life of mankind have been fully counterbalanced by its disadvantages. There have always been a number of un- favorable and hostile facts to be wrestled with and overcome, and the age-long struggle against these hostile conditions has powerfully affected the character of the inhabitants, and their fitness for the difficult and arduous task of building an empire. The internal divisions of the peninsula, and the tendency of each portion of it to live a life apart from the rest, reacted most unfavorably upon the development of Spain's external possessions. They have kept the inhabitants of the peninsula as a whole from concentrating their efforts in any one direction. They are the fundamental explanation of the extreme complexity and diversity of interests, which pre- vented even the powerful monarchs of the sixteenth century from endowing their immense and widely scattered territories with that unity which is the best result of absolutism. They account in large 20 The Colonial Period measure fo¥ the essentially decentralized character of Spanish im- perial administration. On the other hand, we may be sure that the inhospitality of the meseta was an important element in encouraging the Spaniards to seek pleasanter lands abroad; and it is hard to conceive how any explorer born and brought up in a more smiling country than the desolate plains of Old Castile could have per- severed in his advance across the yellow wastes of Arizona and New Mexico, which bear such striking resemblance to them. 2. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPANISH RACEi (a) Intense Individuality UNIQUE, naked, primitive individuality has been the chief char- acteristic of the Iberian race. The true Iberian is the quintes- sence of the natural man, the man who loves life first and foremost. He is a humanist, but his humanism is sui generis. . . . Spain is primarily and tenaciously of the flesh and of the earth. Her deepest self aspires to be flesh, and to live a full, concrete, fleshy existence rather than a sublimated life of the spirit. So strong is the individuality of a genuine Spaniard that he feels himself to be the born equal of any and every man. The ancient form of government in Spain was a kind of "democratic Caesarism." A number of classic phrases descended from the remote past ad- mirably express that overweening pride and that innate sense of equality which are so genuinely characteristic of the Iberian race. "Each one of us is worth as much as you, and together we are worth more than you," said a group of early Spanish nobles to their monarch. "We are knights as the king is, only with less money," is equally illuminating as an expression of the primitive Spanish sense of equality. "Every Catalonian has a king within him," is a traditional saying of the region which has insistently claimed autonomy from Spain. In the bottom of his soul each true son of Iberia feels himself to be a monarch, a man apart, a being divinely chosen for some task. It is for this reason that the humblest peasant in the Peninsula treats his social superiors with the most uncere- monious naturalness. There is nothing servile or cringing about him. . . . The beau ideal of manhood in the golden age of Spanish history was the soldier. Even the priests, monks and nuns of that period had the hearts and ways of men-at-arms. The great Spanish mys- tics have been well named "divine knights." This military ideal, which is the most natural way of expressing strong primitive in- 1 From: John A. Mackay, The Other Spanish Christ (New York: The Macmillan Com- pany, 1933), pp. 3-16. The European Background 21 dividuality, served as the medium of Spain's proud will and became the jealous guardian of her honour. . . . The intense individuality of the Spanish character forms a kind of a primitive universal. It is unity vv^ithout difference. In it, as in the great literature it produced, there are no intermediate tones. It is one extreme or another. All is sunshine or starless night, with no twilight glimmer. The Spaniard is incapable of irony, that deli- cate nuance in which the Frenchman excels. He makes demigods by praise and devils by blame. By the same law of polarity Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are ever found side by side on the road of life, and not infrequently a Spanish wayfarer becomes both by turns. ... Such naive and constant self-assertion leads inevitably to indi- vidualism, and the Spanish character is historically the sublimation of this quality. It appears, to begin with, in an insatiable acquisi- tiveness and in the lack of a social instinct. The self must possess. The lust for booty played no small part in the campaigns of the Cid and the Duke of Alva, and, of course, as we shall see later, in the conquest of the New World. But wealth and possessions were craved not to be miserly hoarded, but to be lavishly expended ; not as instruments of work but as a release from the necessity of work, and so as a means to freedom, to anarchic, knightly freedom. For a Spanish gentleman to work was a shame, to beg was not. *To be born poor is a crime," says one of the characters of Tirso de Molina. "The ideal of every Spaniard is to become pensioned after a few years' work, and, if possible, before he has worked," is a statement of the world-famous Spanish scientist Ramon y Cajal. Moreover, if personal independence can be secured through the bounty of the State or by a lucky draw in the National Lottery, why should one seek it through work alone? The Spaniard's lack of a social instinct is another of the fateful derivations of his extreme individualism. If social instinct meant no more than gregariousness, the love of meeting in a home or cafe for free and friendly intercourse and to talk through the problems of the universe, the Spaniard would have to be regarded as the most socially-minded being on earth. But the moment the warm .spontaneous glow of sociability passes into the cold and rigid limi- tations imposed by union in a common enterprise, Spanish individ- ualism makes its presence felt immediately. The innate dislike to be bound together by obligation or mutual consent underlies the problem of Spanish regionalism, and has militated against the suc- cess of corporate enterprises carried on by Spaniards. No rational, principle of self-interest has ever succeeded in tran- scending the innate individualism of the Spanish nature. Only a great passion has been able to do that, a passion for the State or a 22 The Colonial Period passion for the Church. But in both cases the manifestation of this self-transcending passion has had a peculiarly Spanish quality in which the old individualism reappears. Speaking of the patriotism of Spaniards, Madariaga makes the following acute observation : "The Spaniard feels patriotism as he feels love, in the form of a passion where he absorbs the object of his love and assimilates it, that is to say, makes it his own. He does not belong to his country so much as his country belongs to him." The passion of Spaniards for the Roman Church reveals the same characteristic. The Church was absorbed and its destinies made that of the Spanish nation. Honour demanded conformity to its rites and dogmas and the propagation of these throughout the world. But not even the Church was permitted to conserve its personal identity in the depths of the Spanish soul, nor did Christianity ever succeed in modifying the fundamental Spanish attitude towards life. In point of fact the Church belonged to Spain much more than Spain be- longed to the Church. . . . The primitive individualism of the Iberian race has been a deter- mining factor in the history and life of South America. In the course of time Spanish arrogance became transformed into "creole arrogance" .... This arrogance has appeared, however, in much more serious ways in South American life. It has shown itself in an inordinate desire to have power over others. A Mexican writer, referring to the passion for administrative positions in the government service, coined the colourful phrase "bureaucratic cannibalism." It has reduced the capacity for admiration to a minimum and engendered a levelling spirit of envy. "Our America," says the Argentine Manuel Ugarte, "has lacked the sacred faculty of being able to ad- mire. Instead of levelling upon the peaks it has wanted to level on the plains by throwing down every individual superiority." In an article entitled "The Cruelty of South America," the brilliant young Peruvian writer and politician, Haya de la Torre, draws attention to a sombre consequence of the same trait. He points out that the moment a man achieves eminence in any sphere he is cruelly set- upon by jealous rivals itching to annihilate him. . . . The tendency never to acknowledge a mistake is a further ex- pression of this quality. Honour and self-respect seem to demand that when once a position has been adopted it must be adhered to, even if one has become convinced that it was wrong. Herein lie the roots of many unhappy divisions within the Latin-American family. Herein also is one of the factors which make co-operation difficult between sister nations and between different groups within the same nation. This peculiar sense of knightly honour is hidden in the most primitive recesses of the Iberian soul. The European Background 23 (b) Predominance of Passion Beside this strong, primitive, almost savage self-assertiveness of the Iberian character which we have just analysed into its various facets and fruits, there appears the predominance of passion over reason and will. Every conquest of the Iberian race, as every disaster it suffered, have not been the outcome of a calm reasoning process, in which the adequacy of means to ends were carefully calculated, nor yet the consequence of dogged persistence in a plan of action agreed on beforehand as the best. It has always been the result of a volcanic impulse produced by the sudden explosion of a dominant sentiment. ... A people in whom passion predominates tends inevitably to give a personalized expression to its ideals. The cult of the Virgin in Spanish Christianitv is evidence of this princiole. Nowhere so much as in Spain and her old colonies has the Virgin occupied so central a religious position nor the doctrine of the Immaculate Con- ception been so insistently proclaimed and so strenuously defended. The Virgin is the symbol of Spain's innate sense of youthfulness and purity. This is one of the truest insights of Angel Ganivet into the soul of his people. "The dogma of the Immaculate Con- ception," says Ganivet, "has seemed to me to be the symbol, the admirable symbol, of our own life, a life in which, after a long and painful process of maternity, we come to find ourselves in old age with our spirit virgin." The dogma of the Immaculate Conception refers of course to original sin ; but this sin being blotted out, the dogma sets forth the highest purity and sanctity. . . . On account of the predominance of passion in all their efforts Spaniards have been gloriously indifferent to many of the comforts and amenities of so-called civilization. They were born to express incandescent passion, and the moment another ideal sufficiently great burns in their souls they will again be found in their bygone potency and splendour on all the highways of the world. For this race is everlastingly virgin. It possesses qualities which, if in- adapted in many respects to the soulless civilization of to-day, may secure it a leading place in the more spiritual civilization of to- morrow. On the other hand, it is equally true that where passion is not stirred by a noble ideal, the Spaniard becomes the plaything of base appetites and excitement. He becomes equally indifferent to the passage of time and the claims of duty. He lives solely for the low impulses of the passing hour. The Spanish attitude towards life, at its most sordid level, has been crystallized by Unamuno in the following words : "Bread and the bull-fight, and to-morrow will be another day. When we can, let's get the best out of a bad year. After that — well, it doesn't matter." V. 24 The Colonial Period 3. DESCRIPTION OF SEVILLE AT THE TIME OF THE MOORS 1 THE air is pure, the temperature mild ; the city is beautiful, its streets lined with fine buildings, its tower [the Giralda] -un- paralleled throughout the world, its dwellings beautiful with goodly courts, which are filled with orange trees, lemons, limes, and citrons. And the environs are still more beautiful. The banks of the Guadal- quivir for thirty miles are covered with gardens, orchards, vine- yards, yew trees, with castles and towers. The farmhouses are so white that they look like stars in a sky of olive trees ; and fruit trees, melodious with singing birds, are so thick that they shade the pleasure boats which sail or paddle up and down, while the pleasure-seekers listen lazily to the singing. The region can be compared only to Paradise : Down on the river sweeps the breeze in play, Catches its watery robe and lifts the edge. The maiden river clutches bank and sedge, And hastes for refuge to the sheltering bay. Naturally enough, the inhabitants are the merriest people in the world, witty, frivolous, jocose, a multitude of them poets (as every- body knows), and all play all sorts of musical instruments, timbrels, lutes, rebecs, viols, dulcimers, harps, sackbuts, guitars, flutes, and clarionets, and singing and drinking wine, for they only regard excess as forbidden; they have but one fault, which comes from perverted wit: they backbite outrageously, and anyone that does not slander his neighbors is cordially disliked. 4. THE RISE OF PELAYO IN ASTURIAS (Eighth Century) 2 "PkURING Anbasa's administration a despicable barbarian, whose ^^ name was Pelayo, rose in the land of Galicia, and, having re- proached his countrymen for their ignominious dependence and their cowardly flight, began to stir them up to avenge their past injuries and to expel the Moslems from the land of their fathers. From that moment the Christians of Andalus began to resist the attacks of the Moslems on such districts as had remained in their possession, and to defend their wives and daughters. The com- 1 From: Al Makkari quoted in H. D. Sedgwick, Spain, a Short History (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1926), pp. 41-42. 2 From: Ibn-Hayyan quoted in Stanley Lane-Pole, The Story of the Moors in Spain (New York: G. P, Putnam'.s Sons, 1888), pp. 116-117. The European Background 25 mencement of the rebellion happened thus : there remained no city, town, or village in Galicia but what was in the hands of the Moslems, with the exception of a steep mountain on which this Pelayo took refuge with a handful of men; there his followers went on dying through hunger, until he saw their numbers reduced to about thirty men and ten women, having no other food for sup- port than the honey which they gathered in the crevices of the rock which they themselves inhabited like so many bees. However, Pelayo and his men fortified themselves by degrees in the passes of the mountain, until the Moslems were made acquainted with their preparations ; but perceiving how few they were, they heeded not the advice conveyed to them, and allowed them to gather strength, saying, "What are thirty barbarians, perched up on a rock ? They must inevitably die!" 5. DESCRIPTION OF DEEDS OF ALFONSO EL SABIO (Thirteenth Century) 1 A MONG the many good qualities that God gave to King Don -^~*- Alfonso, son to that holy and fortunate king, Don Fernando, He gave him the desire to foster learning as much as ever he could ; and Alfonso did so much for learning that, from the time of King Ptolemy until now, no king nor any other man can be named who did as much for it as he did. So great was his wish that his subjects should have more knowledge, that he caused to be translated into Castilian all the learning that concerns theology, logic, the seven liberal arts, and all the mechanical arts. He had the sacred books of the Moors translated, in order that the errors which Mohammed, their false prophet, put into them should be patent. Besides, he caused to be translated all the Hebraic law, even the Talmud, and that very secret learning that the Jews have and call Cabala. And he did this in order to make it plain that the Jewish law was nothing but a prefiguration of what we Christians have, and that they, as well as the Moors, were in such great error that they would lose their souls. Besides, he turned into Spanish all the canons and statutes that I shall speak of. Nobody can tell how much this noble king did, especially for the increase of knowledge and enlighten- ment. . . . He had many good books written, which treated fully of hunting, hawking, and fishing, in great detail both as to theory and practice. And he did it all so excellently that it is obvious that nobody could better it or add to it, or do it as well as he did. 1 From: Juan Manuel quoted in H. D. Sedgwick, Spain, a Short History (Boston; Little, Brown and Company, 1926), pp. 82-83. 26 The Colonial Period 6. TWO DESCRIPTIONS OF ISABELLA OF CASTILE 1 I MUST note here a paradox in this kingdom of Castile, for the Queen is king, and the King is her servant. . . . This is so com- pletely so that the nobility fear the Queen more than the King, who in whatever he does merely carries out the Queen's orders and wishes. If the King wishes to send oflf some letters, he cannot affix the seal of State without the Queen's permission; she reads them all, and if she comes upon anything that she does not like she strikes it out in the very presence of the King. Whatever is decided between her and Cardinal Mendoza, a very powerful Spanish nobleman, the King has to put into execution. b. As to her figure, stature, and beauty, whatever I have said of the King can be said of her. Whatever in the King expressed dignity, in the Queen was also clothed with grace and charm ; the presence of both was touched with majesty, but in the opinion of most people the Queen was the handsomer, and had a quicker intelligence, a larger heart, and a more serious nature. She was an excellent Queen, a great lover of virtue, desirous of praise and spotless fame. She was very abstemious, being what is commonly called a teeto- taller, for she not only did not drink wine, but had not even ever touched it. She was much in love with her husband, and was jealously alert' to see if his affections wandered, and if she found that he cast glances of admiration at any lady in waiting, she very prudently found some tactful way of getting her out of the palace. . . . She spoke Spanish with elegance and great dignity. She did not know Latin, but she took pleasure in listening to Latin speeches and sermons, for she thought highly of the language when well spoken; and after the wars in Spain were over, although she was still very busy with important matters, she wished so much to know it that she began to take lessons, and made so much progress that she not only was able to understand the ambassadors and orators but could easily translate Latin into Spanish. As to Church matters, it is hard to say whether she was more diligent or more generous, for she possessed both virtues to perfection. She kept a great many chaplains and choristers. . . . Besides, when there was a bishopric or other high ecclesiastical office to be filled, she took more account of virtue, good character, and learning, than of riches or high birth, even if the candidates were her relations. 1 a. From: A Silesian quoted in H. D. Sedgwick, Spain, a Short History (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1926), pp. 127-128. b. From: Lucio Marineo quoted in Ibid., pp. 128-129. The European Background 27 7. FERDINAND OF ARAGON 1 THE feats that Ferdinand has accomplished, his words, his ways, and his general reputation prove that he is an extremely saga- cious man. He is very secret, and unless obliged to does not com- municate important matters ; he could not be more patient. He leads a very regular life, assigning times for this and that. He likes to know about all the affairs of the kingdom, great and little, and has them go through his hands ; and though he exhibits a willingness to hear everybody's opinion, he makes up his own mind, and directs everything himself. He is generally considered avaricious, but I can't tell whether this comes from his nature or from the constraint of great expenses, for his income is small in proportion to the mag- nitude of his affairs. But he means to proceed in orderly fashion and limit expenses as much as he can. He is good at knightly ex- ercises, and keeps them up; he makes a show of great piety, speaks of holy things with great reverence, and ascribes everything to God. He also makes a great parade of worship and attendance at church, as indeed the whole nation does. He is no scholar, but very friendly to the humanists. He gives audience freely and answers petitions with great dignity, and there are few who are not satisfied with what he says. But rumor has it that he often departs from his promises — either because he did not mean to keep his word, or because events make him change his mind — and that then he pays no heed to what he had said. My opinion is that he can dissimulate better than any other man. ... In short, he is a very notable king and has many talents ; and the only criticisms upon him are that he is not generous and that he does not keep his promise. 8. EXTRACTS FROM THE DECREE EXPELLING THE JEWS FROM SPAIN (March 31, 1924) 2 'VT'OU know, or ought to know, that since we were informed that -*- there were certain evil Christians in these our realms who judaized and apostatized from our Holy Catholic Faith, on account of the considerable communication of Jews with Christians, we commanded the said (Jews) in the Cortes which we held in the city of Toledo in the past year 1480, to go apart in all the cities, towns and places of our realms . . . and gave them Jeweries and separate places where they might live, hoping that with their seg- regation the matter might be remedied. And moreover we have en- 1 From: Guicciardini quoted in H. D. Sedgwick, Spain, a Short History (Boston: Little, Brown and Corapan}^ 1926), p. 126. 2 From: Ferdinand and Isabella quoted in William Thomas Walsh, Isabella of Spain (New York: Robert M, McBride and Company, 1930), pp. 342-343. 28 The Colonial Period deavored and given orders to have inquisition made in our said realms and seignories ; which, as you know, has been done for more than twelve years, and is done ; and many guilty persons have been sentenced by it, as is well known, . . . (Yet) there remains and is apparent the great injury to the Christians which has resulted and does result from the participation, conversation, and communication which they have held and hold with the Jews, who have demon- strated that they would always endeavor, by all possible ways and manners, to subvert and draw away faithful Christians from our Holy Catholic Faith, and separate them from it, and attract and pervert them to their wicked belief and opinion, instructing them in the ceremonies and observances of their law, holding fasts during which they read and teach them what they have to believe and observe according to their law, causing them and their sons to be circumcized . . . notifying them of the Passover feasts before they come . . . giving them and taking to them from their houses un- leavened bread and meat slaughtered with ceremonies . . . persuad- ing them as far as possible to hold and observe the law of Moses, giving them to understand that there was no other true law but that ; the which is clear from many utterances and confessions, not only by the Jews themselves, but by those who were perverted and injured by them, which has resulted in great harm, detriment and opprobrium to our Holy Catholic Faith. 9: DESCRIPTION OF CONDITIONS IN SPAIN IN 15131 SPAIN is thinly populated, so that towns and burgs are rare, and between one great town and another scarcely a house will be found. In short, the inhabitants are few. There are some fine cities, like Barcelona, Sargossa, Valencia, Granada, and Seville; but they are few for such an important kingdom and for so great an area of country. Aside from these principal centers, most of the towns are small and have rude buildings, of which the greater part, in many places, are built of mud and are, moreover, full of filth and dirt. The land is fertile and yields abundantly, since more grain is raised than is necessary for use at home. The same may be said of wine, which is sent by sea to Flanders and England. Oil, too, is exported in great quantities every year to the countries mentioned above and to Alexandria, to the value of more than sixty thousand ducats. The fertility is greatest in the lower parts of Andalusia and Granada, and would be much greater than it is if all the land were brought under cultivation ; but it is worked only in the neigh- 1 From: Guicciardini quoted in James Harvey Robinson, Readings in European History. Abridged edition (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1906), pp. 243-245. I The European Background 29 borhood of the towns and there badly; the rest remains untilled. Much wool is exported annually, amounting-, it is said, to two hun- dred and fifty thousand ducats, as well as the finest silk, especially from the lower regions. From Viscaya come iron and steel in con- siderable quantity, and much grain, leather, alum, and many other products, so that if only this nation were industrious and given to trade it would be rich. The country is cold in the region of the Pyrenees, very warm in Andalusia and Granada, and more temperate in the central districts. The men of this nation are gloomy of temperament and swarthy of complexion ; dark in color and short of stature ; they are proud by nature, and it seems to them as if no nation could be compared with theirs. They are prone to boast in their conversation of their own things, and endeavor to make the best possible appearance. They have little love for foreigners and are very uncivil toward them. They are devoted to arms, perhaps more than any other Christian nation, and are very skilful with them, owing to their agile frames and their dexterity. In military matters they are great sticklers for honor, in such wise that rather than sully it they prefer to die. . . . The Spaniards are held to be clever and acute, but nevertheless they are not skilful in any of the arts, whether mechanical or liberal. Almost all the artisans at the king's court belong to the French or to some other foreign nation. The natives do not devote themselves to trade, which they look upon as degrading; the pride of the hidalgo goes to his head, and he would rather turn to arms with little chance of gain, or serve a grandee in wretchedness and pov- erty, or, before the times of the present king, even assault wayfarers, than engage in trade or any other business. Recently, however, some attention is beginning to be given in a few places to trade, and already in parts of Spain cloth and silks are manufactured; . . . for example, in Valencia, Toledo, and Seville. But the whole nation is opposed to industry. Accordingly the artisans only work when they are driven to do so by necessity, and then they take their ease until they have spent their earnings ; this is the reason why manual labor is so dear. The meanest cultivators of the soil have the same habit. They will not exert themselves except under dire pressure of want, so that they bring much less land under cultivation than they might, and the little they do till is badly cared for. . . . Aside from a few grandees of the kingdom who display great luxury, it must be remembered that the rest of the people live at home in the utmost straits ; and if they have a little to spend they put it all on their backs or in purchasing a mule, thus making a great show before the world when they have scarce anything at 30 The Colonial Period home, where their surroundings are mean in the extreme and where they exercise an economy truly astonishing. Although they know how to live on little, they are by no means free from cupidity. On the contrary, they are very avaricious, and not having any of the arts to rely upon, they are driven to robbery, so that in earlier times when the kingdom was less orderly it was full of assassins, who were favored by the nature of the country, with its many mountainous regions and its sparse population. . . . The Spaniards have not turned their attention to books, and neither the nobility nor others have any idea of Latin, except a very few, who know a little of the language. They are outwardly very religious, but not inwardly. They have infinite ceremonies, which they perform with great exactness, and show much humility in speech, the use of titles, and the kissing of hands. Every one is their lord, every one may command them ; but this means little, and you can place no faith in them. . . . CHAPTER Four THE SPANISH DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF AMERICA 1. SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S COMMENT ON SPANISH CHARACTER i HERE I cannot forbear to commend the patient virtue of the Spaniards : we seldom or never find that any nation hath en- dured so many misadventures and miseries as the Spaniards have done in their Indian discoveries ; yet persisting in their enterprizes with an invincible constancy, they have annexed to their kingdom so many goodly provinces, as bury the remembrance of all dangers past. — Tempest and shipwrecks, famine, overthrows, mutinies, heat and cold, pestilence, and all manner of diseases, both old and new, together with extreme poverty, and want of all things needful, have been the enemies wherewith every one of their most noble discoverers, at one time or other, hath encountered. Many years had passed over their heads, in the search of not so many leagues ; yea, more than one or two have spent their labour, their wealth, and their lives, in search of a golden kingdom, without getting 1 From: Sir Walter Raleigh quoted in Sir Arthur Helps, The Spanish Conanest in America (London: John Lane, 4 vols., 1900-1904), Vol. Ill (1902), p. 305, note 2. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 31 further notice of it than what they had at their first setting forth. All which notwithstanding, the third, fourth, and fifth undertakers have not been disheartened. Surely they are worthily rewarded with those treasuries and paradises which they enjoy ; and well they deserve to hold them quietly, if they hinder not the like virtue in others, which perhaps will not be found. 2. PRAISE FOR THE EARLY SPANISH CONQUERORS IN AMERICA 1 WE ARE filled with admiration when we read and muse on the history of the conquest of the American continent, by the energy and self denial with which those men, whether soldiers or friars, whether obeying the order of their superior or inspired by the idea of religious propaganda, dashed alone or with a few com- panions across unknown countries, amidst implacable enemies, ig- norant of the language and custom of the natives, without even the most necessary food to sustain themselves, but with neither hesita- tion nor fear for the difficulties. The soldiers sought the camp of the enemy not to oflfer him peace, but to demand from him submis- sion, a deed of rashness that even now the officers of the European armies would not dare to imitate, notwithstanding that the laws of war have invested the emissaries with the most sacred character. The friars, walking afoot, preached the gospel, going alone to dis- tant lands, which nowadays, with all the advantages of modern civilization, with unity of government, language, and customs, it would be hard to reach. 3. LAS CASAS SAYS GOD WILL PUNISH SPAIN FOR DESTROYING THE INDIANS (1550) 2 THE injuries and loss which have befallen the Crown of Castile and Leon will be visited likewise on all Spain, because the tyranny wrought by their devastations, massacres, and slaughters is so monstrous, that the blind may see it, the deaf hear it, and the dumb recount it, while after our brief existence, the wise shall judge and condemn it. I invoke all the hierarchies and choirs of angels, all the saints of the Celestial Court, all the inhabitants of the globe, and especially those who may live after me, to witness that I free my conscience of all that has been done ; and that I have fully ex- posed all these woes to his Majesty; and that if he abandons the government of the Indies to the tyranny of the Spaniards, they will all be lost and depopulated — as we see Hispaniola, and other islands and three thousand leagues of the continent destitute of inhabitants. 1 From: Riva Palacio quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, May 1919, p. 145, note 9 2 From: Las Casas quoted in Francis Augustus MacNutt, Bartholomew de las Casas (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1909), pp. 291-292. 32 The Colonial Period For these reasons, God will punish Spain and all her people with inevitable severity. So may it be ! 4. LETTER OF TOSCANELLI TO MARTINS (June 25, 1474) i I WAS pleased to learn that you are in good health, and to learn that you are favored with the friendship of your King, who is a most generous and mighty prince. Since I talked to you some time ago of a route to the land of spices, by way of the sea, and shorter than the passage you are searching along the coast of the Guineas, your Most Serene King now asks me for an explanation of this route, or rather a plan for the eyes to see, and so clearly that even an unlearned sailor might find this route and follow it with understanding. For myself, although I know that this chart could best be made in form, like that of the world, of a sphere, I have nevertheless decided, for greater clearness and ease, to draw it up in the way used to make marine charts. I am, then, sending to His Majesty a chart made by my hand, upon which are shown your shores and islands from which you will depart, heading westward unchangingly ; also the countries to which you should attain; likewise the distances you should keep, both from the Pole and from the Equinoctial Line, and in what direction, that is to say : within how many miles you should arrive in those lands which are richest in spices and precious stones. And be not surprised that I call them "occidental," these lands of spice, although commonly they are called "oriental." For to those who go by sea and by way of the interior hemisphere, these lands will lie always to the West; while he who goes by land and by way of the upper hemisphere will have them always to the East. Furthermore, the vertical lines drawn with relation to the height of the chart, will mark the distances from the West to the East; while the transverse lines mark the space which extends from the South to the North. I have also marked on the chart many other distant places to which you might come ; and I have done this for the greater infor- mation of those who will make the voyage, in case the winds or some accident should drive them elsewhere than where they in- tended — and also that they may show the natives of these lands that they know something of the country, which should please them. It is said that there are no other professions in these islands than that of the merchant, and, truly, there are so many sea captains and traders there that the one great part of Zaiton alone contains more 1 From: Andre de Hevesy, The Discoverer (New York: The Macaulay Company, 1928), pp. 70-73. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 33 than all our known world; and it is said that each year one hun- dred great ships loaded with pepper enter the port, without count- ing the other ships which bring in other spices. The country is populous, and rich in a number of provinces, principalities, kingdoms, and cities without number, the whole un- der the rule of one sovereign, called the "Grand Kan," signifying in Latin the King of Kings — Rex Regum. For the most part of the time, the siege and residence of this prince is in the province of Catay. His ancestors showed a disposition to come to terms with the Christians. Two hundred years ago, they sent deputies to the Pope, asking that men skilled in religious doctrine be sent to them, for they were anxious to enter into the Faith. But those who were sent encountered so many difficulties on the way that they turned back, and never reached their destination. Again, in the time of Pope Eugene IV, there came to Rome an envoy who showed great interest in Christianity. I myself held long conversation with him, talking of many things, as the great size of their royal palaces, and the enormous width and length of their rivers, and the multitude of cities on each, so that, in the course of one river, there are more than two hundred cities built and fortified, with marble bridges very wide and long, and orna- mented with marble columns on each side. It is very fitting that we Latins should search out this land, not only for the great profit that would result in gold, in silver, in precious stones of all kinds and in spices which never yet had been brought into our countries, but also because of the learned men, and the philosophers and skilled astrologers to be found there, and who by their genius and their wisdom govern all that mighty prov- ince, even to directing its armies. And thus much to give what satisfaction to your demands as is permitted by the press of time and the exigencies of my occupa- tions, and full ready for what other service His Majesty may require. Done at Florence, the 25 June, 1474. 5. ROYAL LETTERS PATENT FROM THE SOVEREIGNS OF SPAIN GRANTING CERTAIN PRIVILEGES TO THE PERSONS ACCOMPANYING COLUMBUS ON HIS FIRST VOYAGE (April 30, 1492)1 DON FERDINAND and Dona Isabella, by the grace of God King and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, etc., to the mem- bers of our council, oidors of our court of audience, corregidores, 1 From: Annual Report for the year 1894 of the American Historical Association (Wash- ington, 1895), pp. 501-502. 34 The Colonial Period asistentes, alcaldes, alguacils, merinos, and all other magistrates whatsoever of all the cities, towns, and villages of our kingdoms and dominions, to everyone who shall see this writing or a copy of the same attested by a public notary, greeting : Be it known to you that we have ordered Christopher Columbus to proceed to sea for the accomplishment of certain business for our service, and as we are informed by him that in order to man the fleet which he is to command for the execution of this purpose it is necessary to grant security to the persons composing the crew of the same, who would be otherwise unwilling to embark, and being requested by him to give the necessary orders for this meas- ure, we have determined to grant what is demanded by him relating to this matter. We therefore grant a security to each and every person belong- ing to the crews of the fleet of the said Christopher Columbus in the voyage by sea which he is to undertake by our command, ex- empting them from all hindrance or inconvenience, either in their persons or goods, and we declare them privileged from arrest or detention on account of any offense or crime which may have been committed by them up to the date of this instrument and during' the time they may be upon the voyage, and for two months after they return to their homes. And we hereby command you, all and each one, in your several districts and jurisdictions, that you abstain from trying any crim- inal cause touching the person of the crews under the command of the said Christopher Columbus during the time above specified, it being our will and pleasure that every matter of this sort remain suspended. This order is to be complied with as you value our favor, and under a penalty of ten thousand maravedis for any in- fringement of the same. And we hereby furthermore command every public notary who shall be applied to for any purpose connected with the above- mentioned mandate, that he furnish all the proper signed attesta- tions which are necessary in the case, in order that we may be assured of the due performance of our orders. Given in our city of Granada on the thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Saviour Jesus Christ, one thousand four hundred and ninety-two. I, The King. I, The Queen. Juan De Coloma, Secretary. Executed in due form. Rodericus, Doctor. Francisco De Madrid, Chancellor. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 35 6. LETTER CARRIED BY COLUMBUS FROM CATHOLIC KINGS TO ORIENTAL RULER (April 30, 1492)i DON FERNANDO and Dona Isabel, by the grace of God King and Queen of Castile, of Leon, of Toledo, of Galicia, of Aragon, of Valencia, etc., etc. . . . To King : We have heard that Your Highness and your subjects entertain great love for us and for Spain. We are informed, moreover, that you and your subjects very much wish to hear news from Spain. We therefore send our Admiral, Christopher Columbus, who will tell you that we are in good health and perfect prosperity. I, The King I, The Queen Granada, April 30, 1492 7. COLUMBUS TELLS THE PORTUGUESE KING OF HIS DISCOVERIES (March 1493)2 THE King being in Val do Paraiso, at the monastery of Nossa Senhora das Virtudes, in Santarem, on account of the pestilence which raged at that time, there came accounts from Lisbon, that one Christopher Columbus had arrived there, stating that he had come from the island of Cipango, with much gold and riches of that country. The king having some acquaintance with this Columbus, and knowing that he had been sent upon the discovery by Don Ferdinand, King of Castile, requested him to pay him a visit, that he might learn the events of his voyage. This he readily complied with, not so much from a wish to oblige the King, as to mortify him with his presence, for before he went to Castile, he had applied to this same King Don John, entreating to be sent by him upon the enterprise. This the King had refused. . . . Columbus was received very respectfully by the King, but the latter was much concerned on perceiving that the natives of the newly discovered countries, which he had brought along with him, were not black and woolly- headed, like those of Guinea, but similar in features, complexion, and hair to the people of India, where he was engaged in such important undertakings. Columbus in discoursing of those coun- tries and extolling their character to an extravagant degree, used so great a freedom of language, chiding and censuring the King for not having taken up with his offer, that many of the nobles stung to resentment by the license of his tongue, as well as vexed 2 From: Joao de Barros quoted in Van Wyck Brooks, Journal of First Voyage to America Co., 1930), p. 375. 1 From: Joao de Barros quoted in Van Wyck Brooks, Journal of First Voyage to America by Christopher Columbus (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1924). pp. 249-250. 36 The Colonial Period that the King had lost the benefits of the enterprise, offered to pre- vent his return to Castile by assassinating him. For to all appear- ance, his arrival was likely to be very prejudicial to this kingdom, and cause great trouble to his Highness on account of the grants made by the popes, from the limits comprised in which, it appeared to be manifest that these natives were taken by Columbus. The King rejected these offers, and like a Catholic Prince, rebuked the nobles who made them, although the business gave him some concern. 8. LETTER OF COLUMBUS TO INFANTE'S NURSE, AFTER THIRD VOYAGE (1500)i MOST honoured Lady : if it be a new thing for me to complain of the world, it is no new thing for the world to misconceive its servants. It has cruelly trampled me to the ground. My hope in Him v/ho created us all keeps me steadfast. God made me the messenger of the new Heaven and the new earth, and He shewed me where I should find them. I came, and there is no one, down to the vilest of them all, that does not seek to slander me. If I had stolen India and given it to the Moors, Spain could not have shewn me greater enmity. ... I cannot conceive how anyone can hold me so foolish as to think I did not know that even if India belonged to me I could not -maintain myself there without the protection of a King. And if that be so, where could I have found better protection and support than at the hands of the King and Queen who raised me out of nothing ? . . . For six months longw^as I ready to bring Their Majesties good news of gold, and give up my rule over that ruffianly mob who in their wickedness and arrogance brought dishonour upon the Queen and upon the King. All I needed for my purpose was sixty thousand maravedis, and the taxes would have come to four millions, but I have fallen into such evil repute that when I caused churches and hospitals to be built it was said that they were dens for thieves. I was two years in Spain ; I asked nothing and I received nothing, neither for myself nor for those who came with me, and Bishop Fonseca filled his purse — he did not need to ask nor to bestir himself. It would be truly a good deed if Their Majesties would check these rumours that hang over me. They know what trouble I went through to secure their property and authority, and how I drew no profit for myself therefrom : thus at least would my good name and my honour in the world be restored. I cannot understand — I swear it, — why I am a prisoner. Bobadilla's first care was to lay his hands on the 1 From: Jacob Wassermann, Columbus (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1930), pp. 201-205. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 37 gold that I had collected, and he did so without measuring or weigh- ing it, and in my absence. He said he wanted to pay it out, for it was due to various persons, but I have been assured that he kept the greater part for himself. I had put aside certain specimens of this gold to give pleasure to Their Majesties, and help them to realise the importance of the undertaking : and therewith were nug- gets as large as hen's and goose's eggs. The scoundrel embezzled all this so that Their Majesties should not suspect the value of my discoveries. If Their Majesties would call for an account of these matters the truth would be brought to light. No one could be made to suffer a greater insult than I was, when a man was sent out to judge me who knew very well that he had but to slander me in order to take my place. I was treated like a Governor sent to a civilised Province, where he can rule by established laws. I was to be disgraced as if I were a General who has mishandled a cam- paign; but nothing can be done with soldiers in that country, be- cause the inhabitants live scattered in the forests. I was to be disgraced like a paltry Captain, who has never had his sword out of his hand for years, and yet in India, where there are no towns, and treaties do not hold, I could in no manner proceed in accord- ance with established usage. The way to gold and pearls stands open — would to Heaven that it were as certain that I should not suffer for it, as it is sure that what I wrote to Their Majesties before my first voyage will be fulfilled ! I know too well that I have made mistakes, but I never purposely did wrong. Their Majesties will understand that. They will lay everything in the balance, just as, according to Holy Writ, on the Day of Judgment good will be weighed against evil. When Bobadilla came to San Domingo, he lodged in my house and took everything that was in it. He may have needed it, but no pirate ever dealt worse with the merchants that he robbed. But the cruellest blow to me is that he has got possession of my papers, none of which I have been able to recover, and he has been especially careful to hide just those that I need most for my defence. Whence you may see what a just judge he is, what an honourable man ! But God, our Lord, abides in His power and wisdom, and will punish the ungrateful. So much is certain, that nearly all those who come to India are unworthy of the grace of baptism. It is a new thing that a man sent out to hold an enquiry should collect traitors and rebels and call them as witnesses against him who had to rule them. If a man thinks upon the whole matter, he might well be astonished that the Island of Espanola has not yet been swallowed up in the sea. And had I not escaped the judg- ment. Their Majesties must recognise that I have done them infinite service, as they have done to me, — in love, as it always should be, for where there is no love, there all things cease. 38 Tlie Colonial Period 9. THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH DESCRIBED BY PETER MARTYR 1 A MONG the islands on the north side of Hispaniola there is one ^-^~^ about 325 leagues distant, as they say which have searched the same, in the which is a continual spring: of running water, of such marvelous virtue, that the water thereof being drunk, perhaps with some diet, maketh olde men young again. And here I must make protestation to your holiness not to think this to be said lightly or rashly, for they have so spread this rumor for a truth throughout all the court, that not only all the people, but also many of them whom wisdom or fortune hath divided from the common sort, think it to be true ; but, if you will ask my opinion herein, I will answer, that I will not attribute so great power to nature, but that God hath no less reserved this prerogative to himself than to search the hearts of men. 10. THE LAND OF QUIVIRA DESCRIBED BY REBULLOSA 2 HAVING passed the Mar Bermejo, there extends a dry and thinly inhabited country, whose principal pueblos are El Cabo del Eneano, Cabo de Cruz, Plava de Santa Ana, that of San Miguel de los Pescadores, La Punta de Santa Elena, Los Montes Nevadas, and El Cabo Mendocino, which is the most western point of this peninsula that is known. Beyond this cape lies the kingdom of Quivira, in 40 degrees. It has a temperate climate, and fertile and productive soil, although cotton f which is so common in almost all the New World) has not yet reached this far. Thus the people wear as clothing whole skins of wild goats, and the skins of a certain kind of oxen very similar to ours in size and color, although huge and frightful, with very small horns, and a large hump on their shoulders. They are more sightly in front than elsewhere, and from the knees down than above them. Their heads and whole bodies are very thickly covered with hair, or fleece, and the bulls have the ends of their tails adorned with a fringe, or tassel, of the same, which is an admirable flourish of nature. The Quiviras depend upon these animals for most of their sus- tenance, for they provide them with food, drink, footwear, and clothing. Even from their skins they make ropes and build houses ; from their bones they make needles ; from the fibers, thread ; from the horns, vases ; and from the dung, fire. There is another animal. 1 From: Peter Martyr quoted in Washington Irving, The Life and Voyages of Christo- pher Columbus (New York: G. P. Putnam, 3 vols., 1863-1865), Vol. Ill (1865), p. 279, note. 2 From: Jaime Rebullosa quoted in C. W. Hackett, ed., Pichardo's Treatise on the Limits of Louisiana and Texas (Austin: The University of Texas Press, 4 vols., 1931- ), Vol. II (1934), p. 433. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 39 a kind of mastiff, for guarding the cattle and the hacienda, and another for the sheep. Both are twice as large as ours. In all these lands they speak an infinite number of languages. This arises from the fact that their inhabitants are not so sociable and united as others ; also from the distribution of the pueblos — some being at a distance from others — and from the fact that commerce also divides languages. Thus it was that God, in order to create a schism among the giants who had aided each other in the construc- tion of the tower of Babel, confused the languages, and just as their differentiation dispersed men, so, on the contrary, the dis- persion of men separates languages. Therefore, men who live in remote places ordinarily have their own languages, as in Wales [Vvaha] and Cornwall [Cornubia] in England, Brittany in France, Viscaya in Spain, and Bohemia in Germany — the latter because it is surrounded by forests on all sides. So that the majesty of our God and Lord, in order to reunite the human race, combined many diverse languages into one in the preaching of the Apostles. 11. THE LAND OF CfBOLA DESCRIBED BY ZARATE (1538)1 TN THE same year [1538], the father provincial sent two other -"- religious by land along the same coast of the South Sea, travel- ling northward through Xalisco and Nueva Galicia. These two religious went in company with a captain and twelve soldiers who were going in search of mines. Having passed all the territory which was discovered and conquered in that region, they found two well defined roads. The captain chose the one to the right and followed it, saying that it led due north. After a few days' journey, they came to mountain ranges so rough that it forced them to turn back, as they did. Of the religious, one sickened and turned back also. The other, with two Indian interpreters whom he was taking along, followed the left-hand road to the coast — a very direct route. He reached a land inhabited by poor Indians, who came forth to receive the religious, considering him as one from heaven. They touched him and kissed his robe. More than three hundred Indians joined him and accompanied him in his journey day after day. Some of them went off to hunt jackrabbits, cottontails, and deer, which are abundant throughout that country. They first gave some to the religious so that he might eat, and divided the rest among them themselves. In this manner he journeyed more than two hundred leagues, and almost all along the way he heard of a 1 From: Geronimo Zarate Salmeron quoted in C. W. Hackett, ed., Pichardo's Treatise on the Limits of Louisiana and Texas (Austin: The University of Texas Press, 4 vols., 1931- ), Vol. II (1934), p. 283. 40 The Colonial Period land densely populated with people who wore clothing and who had flat-roof houses not only of one story but of many stories. Other peoples, they said, are settled on the banks of a large river and there are many walled pueblos which war with each other. They said also that beyond that river zvere other pueblos much larger and inhabited by zvealthier people; and that they had cozvs larger than ours . . . and other animals not seen in Castile. There had already gone out in quest of this land many large fleets by sea, and armies by land; but God concealed it from all of them and revealed it to a poor, humble, ragged friar of Saint Francis, who discovered and saw it first. This religious returned to give the news of what he had seen and learned. As soon as this news w^as made public, many Spaniards wished to go there. The father provincial, who was then Fray Marcos de Niza, in order to confirm what that religious had said, took the lead and went as quickly as he could, before the Spaniards should enter, and found the report of the religious to be true, and thus confirmed what had been said with the authority of an eye-witness. With this definite information, the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, personally offered to go on this journey in order to prevent the robberies and crimes that the soldiers commit on such occasions. But important matters prevented him from doing so, and therefore he sent as his personal representative Francisco Vasquez Coronado. He was ac- companied by the father provincial [Niza] and four other religious, true sons of our Father Saint Francis. 12. THE AMAZONS DESCRIBED BY ACUnAi THEY are women of great valor, who have always kept apart from the ordinary contacts with men, and although they have agreed that men should come to their lands once a year, they receive them wdth weapons in their hands — namely, bows and arrows — and do not loose their hold on them until they are satisfied that the men are known to them and had come in peace ; and leaving their weapons, they all get into the canoes or boats of the guests, take their hammocks, carry them to their houses, hang them where the owner knows he is received as a guest, and after a few days they return to their country ; but they repeat this trip every year at the same time. The daughters that are born from this union are kept and brought up, but it is not certain what they do with the boys who are born to them. 1 From: Christoval de Acuna quoted in Enrique Naranjo M. in the Hispanic American Historical Review, February 1934, p. 96. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 41 13. EL DORADO DESCRIBED (Sixteenth Century)i WHEN I ask why they call this prince the Gilded Cacique or King, the Spaniards, who have been in Quito or have come to Santo Domingo, and there are at present more than 10 of them in this city, make reply that from what they hear respecting this from the Indians, this great lord or prince goes about continually, covered with gold as finely pulverized as fine salt. For it seemeth to him that to wear any other kind of apparel is less beautiful, and that to put on pieces or arms of gold stamped or fashioned by a hammer or otherwise is to use something plain or common, like that which is worn by other rich lords and princes when they wish ; but that to powder oneself with gold is something strange, unusual, and new and more costly, because that which one puts on in the morning is removed and washed off in the evening and falls to the ground and is lost. And this he does every day in the year. While walking clothed and covered in this manner his movements are unimpeded, and the graceful proportions of his person, of which he greatly prides himself, are seen in beauty unadorned. I would rather have the chamber besom of this prince than the large gold smelters in Peru or in any other part of the world. Thus it is that the Indians say that this cacique or king is very rich and a great lord, and anoints himself every morning with a very fragrant gum or liquor and over this ointment he sprinkles powdered gold of the requisite fineness, and his entire person from the sole of his foot to his head remains covered with gold, and as resplendent as a piece of gold polished by the hand of a great artificer. And I be- lieve, if this cacique uses this, that he must have very rich mines of a similar quality of gold, because I have seen much in tierra firme of the kind called by the Spaniards volador, and so fine that one could easily do with it what is above stated. 14. ROYAL LICENSE TO RODRIGO DE BASTIDAS TO EXPLORE THE PEARL COAST (June 15, 1500) 2 FIRST, that we give license to you, the said Rodrigo de Bastidas, that with two vessels of your own, and at your own cost and risk, you may go by the Ocean Sea to discover, and you may dis- cover islands and firm land ; in the parts of the Indies and in any other parts, provided it be not the islands and firm land already discovered by the Admiral Don Cristobal Colon, our admiral of the Ocean Sea, or by Cristobal Guerra ; nor those which have been or may be discovered by other person or persons by our order and 1 From: Oviedo quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, January 1912, pp. 63-64. 2 From: H. H. Bancroft, Annals of Early Central Ameriea, 1501-1530 (New York: The Bancroft Company, n.d.), p. 187, note. 42 The Colonial Period with our license before you; nor the islands and firm land which belong to the most serene prince, the king of Portugal, our very dear and beloved son; for from them nor from any of them you shall not take anything, save only such things as for your main- tenance, and for the provision of your ships and crew you may need. Furthermore, that all the gold, and silver, and copper, and lead, and tin, and quicksilver, and any other metal whatever; and aljojar, and pearls, and precious stones and jewels, and slaves and Negroes, and mixed breeds, which in these our kingdoms may be held and reputed as slaves ; and monsters and serpents, and w^hat- ever other animals and fishes and birds, and spices and drugs, and every other thing of whatsoever name or quality or value it may be ; deducting therefrom the freight expenses, and cost of vessels, which in said voyage and fleet may be made ; of the remainder to us will belong the fourth part of the whole, and the other three fourths may be freely for you the said Rodrigo de Bastidas, that you may do therewith as you choose and may be pleased to do, as a thing of your own, free and unincumbered. Ite^n, that we will place in each one of the said ships one or two persons, who in our name or by our order shall be witnesses to all which may be ob- tained and trafficked in said vessels of the aforesaid things ; and that they may put the same in writing and keep a book and account thereof, so that no fraud or mistake happen. . . . 15. ROYAL DECREE APPOINTING BALBOA GOVERNOR OF DARIEN (December 23, 1511)i Zaragoza, 23 December 1511 THE KING — For the present, in the interim while providing . a governor and justice of the province of Darien, which is on the mainland of the Indies of the Ocean Sea, it is my will and pleasure, acknowledging the sufficiency and ability and fidelity of you, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, and understanding that it is condu- cive to our service that you be our governor and captain of the said province . . . and judicature of it ; and by this my cedilla I command any persons of whatever estate or condition, pre-eminence, or dig- nity that they may be, who are or might be in the said province of Darien, that, during the said time, they have and hold and receive you as our captain and governor of it ; and deal with you in all the cases and things annexed to and belonging to the said office of governor; and that in everything they treat you as our governor, and execute and obey your commands. In order to employ the said office in the form aforesaid, and for the execution and fulfillment of it, I give you full power by this my decree, with all its incidents. 1 From: Ferdinand quoted in C. L. G. Anderson, Life and Letters of Vasco Nunez Balboa (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1941), p. 102. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 43 dependencies annexed and rights pertaining thereto. To any faihng to do my will a penalty. Done in Zaragoza, XXIII days of December, DXI years. By command of His Highness. I the King. Lope Conchillos Countersigned by the Bishop. 16. STATEMENT OF BALBOA TAKING POSSESSION OF THE SOUTH SEA AND THE LAND ABOUT IT (September 29, 1513) 1 LONG live the high and powerful monarchs Don Fernando and Dofia Juana, sovereigns of Castile, and of Leon, and of Aragon, in whose name, and for the royal crown of Castile, I take and seize real and corporeal actual possession of these seas and lands, and coasts and ports and islands of the south, with all thereto annexed ; and kingdoms and provinces which belong to them, or which may hereafter belong to them, in whatever manner and by whatever right and title acquired, now existing or which may exist, ancient and modern, in times past and present and to come, without any contradiction. And if any other prince or captain, Christian or infidel, of whatever law or sect or condition he may be, pretends any right to these lands and seas, I am ready and prepared to con- tradict him, and to defend them in the names of the present and future sovereigns of Castile, who are the lords paramount in these Indies, islands and firm land, northern and southern, with their seas, as well in the arctic pole as in the antarctic, on either side of the equinoctial line, within or without the tropics of cancer and Capricorn, according to what more completely to their majesties and their successors belongs and is due, for the whole and any part thereof ; as I protest in writing shall or may be more fully specified and alleged on behalf of their royal patrimony ; now and in all time while the earth revolves, and until the universal judgment of all mankind. 17. THE KING TELLS PEDRARIAS TO HURRY (October 18, 1513) 2 EL REY. — Pedrarias de Avila, my servant : You know, of course, that when you left here you told me that you would be in Sevilla the 27 of September past, and now I have received a dispatch from Sevilla dated the 6 of the present month, in which 1 From: H. H. Bancroft, Annals of Early Central America, 1501-1530 (New York: The Bancroft Company, n.d.), pp. 370-371. 2 From: C. L. G. Anderson, Life and Letters of Vasco Nufiez de Balboa, (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1941), p. 240. 44 The Colonial Period they write me that you have not arrived, nor do they know of you ; at which I am much astonished, and I do not know what has been the cause. In the future put more diHgence in my service than you have until the present, and proceed with all haste to Sevilla and engage in your departure, and report to me the cause why you were detained so long. In the meantime, put your people in order, so that they waste no time in idleness, and that they go taught and instructed in what may be needed ; and you become acquainted with the members of the expedition, and they know you and the Captains. Advise me continually of all you do. Done in Valbonilla, 18 Octo- ber 513 [1513]. I the King. 18. WHAT THE WIFE OF PEDRARIAS SAID TO HIM WHEN HE WISHED HER TO REMAIN IN SPAIN (1513)i MY DEAR husband, we have been united from our youth, as I think, for the purpose of living together and never being separated. Wherever destiny may lead you, be it on the tempestuous ocean or be it among the hardships that await you on land, I should be your companion. There is nothing I would more fear, nor any kind of death that might threaten me, which would not be more supportable than for me to live without you and separated by such an immense distance. I would rather die and even be eaten by fish in the sea or devoured on land by cannibals, than to consume my- self in perpetual mourning and in unceasing sorrow, awaiting — not my husband — but his letters. My determination is not sudden nor unconsidered ; nor is it a woman's caprice that moves me to a well-weighed and merited decision. The children God has given us will not stop me for one moment. We will leave them their heritage and their marriage portions, sufficient to enable them to live in conformity with their rank; and besides these, I have no other preoccupation. 19. DESCRIPTION OF CORTES 2 I WILL now proceed to describe the person and disposition of the Marquis. He was of a good stature and strong build, of a rather pale complexion, and serious countenance. His features were, if faulty, rather too small ; his eyes mild and grave. His beard was black, thin, and scanty ; his hair in the same manner. He was very well limbed, and his legs rather bowed; an excellent horseman, 1 From: C. L. G. Anderson, Life and Letters of Vasco Ntines de Balboa. (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1941), pp. 222-223. 2 From: Bernal Diaz quoted in W. H. Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico (Philadelphia, n.d.), pp. 305-307. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 45 and dexterous in the use of arms. He also possessed the heart and mind, which is the principal part of the business. ... In his ap- pearance, manners, transaction, conversation, table, and dress, every thing bore the appearance of a great lord. . . . . . . He was very affable with all his captains and soldiers, es- pecially those who accompanied him in his first expedition from Cuba. He was a Latinist, and as I have been told, a bachelor in laws. He was also something of a poet, and a very good rhetorician. . . . He was very patient under insults or injuries. . . . He was very determined and headstrong in all business of war, not attending to any remonstrances on account of danger. . . . Where he had to erect a fortress, Cortes was the hardest labourer in the trenches; when we were going into battle, he was as forward as any. ... In military service he practiced the most strict attention to discipline, constantly going the rounds in person during the night, visiting the quarters of the soldiers, and severely reprehending those whom he found without their armour and appointments. . . . In his early life he was very liberal, but grew close, latterly ; some of his servants complaining that he did not pay them as he ought, and I have also to observe that in his latter undertakings he never succeeded. Perhaps such is the will of heaven, his reward being reserved for another place; for he was a good cavalier, and very devout to the Holy Virgin. . . . God pardon him his sins ; and me mine; and give me a good end which is better than all conquests and victories over Indians. 20. INTERVIEW BETWEEN PEDRARIAS AND ALMAGRO (February 1527)i IN FEBRUARY, 1527, I had some accounts to settle with Pedra- rias, and was frequently at his house for the purpose. While there one day, Almagro came in and said to him, "Your Excellency is of course aware that you contracted with Francisco Pizarro, Don Fernando de Luque, the schoolmaster, and myself, to fit out an expedition for the discovery of Peru. You have contributed nothing for the enterprise, while we have sunk both fortune and credit; for our expenses have already amounted to about fifteen thousand castellanos de oro. Pizarro and his followers are now in the greatest distress, and require a supply of provisions, with a reinforcement of brave recruits. Unless these are promptly raised, we shall be wholly ruined, and our glorious enterprise, from which the most brilliant results have been justly anticipated, will fall to the ground. An exact account will be kept of our expenses, that each may share the profits of the discovery in proportion to the 1 From: Oviedo quoted in W. H. Prescott, Peru (New York: Peter Fanelon Collier, 2 vols., 1898), Vol. II, pp. 337-339. 46 The Colonial Period amount of his contribution toward the outfit. You have connected yourself with us in the adventure, and, from the terms of our con- tract, have no right to waste our time and involve us in ruin. But if you no longer wish to be a member of the partnership, pay down your share of what has already been advanced, and leave the affair to us." To this proposal Pedrarias replied with indignation, "One would really think, from the lofty tone you take, that my power was at an end ; but, if I have not been degraded from my office, you shall be punished for your insolence. You shall be made to answer for the lives of the Christians who have perished through Pizarro's ob- stinacy and your own. A day of reckoning will come for all these disturbances and murders, as you shall see, and that before you leave Panama." "I grant," returned Almagro, "that, as there is an almighty Judge, before w^hose tribunal we must appear, it is proper that all should render account of the living as well as the dead. And, sir, I shall not shrink from doing so, when I have received an account from you, to be immediately sent to Pizarro, of the gratitude which our sovereign, the emperor, has been pleased to express for our services. Pay, if you wish to enjoy the fruits of this enterprise; for you neither sweat nor toil for them, and have not contributed even a third of the sum you promised when the contract w^as drawn up — your whole expenditure not exceeding two or three paltr}^ pesos. But if you prefer to leave the partnership at once, we will remit one-half of what you owe us, for our past outlays." Pedrarias, with a bitter smile, replied, "It would not ruin you if you were to give me four thousand pesos to dissolve our con- nection." "To forward so happy an event," said Almagro, "we will release you from your whole debt, although it may prove our ruin ; but we will trust our fortunes in the hand of God." Although Pedrarias found himself relieved from the debt in- curred for the outfit of the expedition, which could not be less than four or five thousand pesos, he was not satisfied, but asked, "What more will you give me?" Almagro, much chagrined, said, "I will give three hundred pesos, though I swear by God I have not so much money in the w^orld ; but I will borrow it to be rid of such an incubus." "You must give me two thousand." "Five hundred is the most I will offer." "You must pay me more than a thousand." "A thousand pesos, then," cried the captain in a rage, "I will give you, though I do not own them; but I will find sufficient security for their future payment." Pedrarias declared himself satisfied with this arrangement; and Spanish Discovery and Conquest 47 a contract was accordingly drawn up, in which it was agreed that, on the receipt of a thousand pesos, the governor should abandon the partnership and give up his share in the profits of the expedi- tion. I was one of the witnesses who signed this instrument, in which Pedrarias released and assigned over all his interest in Peru to Almagro and his associates, by this act deserting the enterprise, and, by his littleness of soul, forfeiting the rich treasures which it is well known he might have acquired from the golden empire of the Incas. 21. ORELLANA'S STATEMENT OF HIS SERVICES (February 4, 1541) 1 VERY distinguished gentlemen : I, Captain Francisco de Orellana, Governor's Lieutenant-General in this city, etc., and a citizen of it, present myself before Your Worships and state that [I desire to petition His Majesty for certain favors] as a reward for what I have done in the form of services to His Majesty in these parts of Peru during the time that I have been residing in it, having thus taken part in the conquest of Lima and Trujillo and Cuzco and in the pursuit of the Inca and in the conquest of Puerto Vie jo and its outlying territory, and having lost an eye in them [i.e., these campaigns], and [believing that] likewise [there is bound] to be [well] known to Your Worships the service which I rendered to God Our Lord and to His Majesty in the said city of Puerto Viejo in the aiding of Spaniards who came freely to my house, and [that familiar also to Your Worships is] my having gone from the said Villa Nueva de Puerto Viejo, where I was a resident, with more than eighty men on foot and on horse, and my having taken along more than ten or twelve horses, which I purchased at my own ex- pense and on my own initiative, and [my having] distributed them among some companions, because in the said town news had been received how the city of Cuzco, where Hernando Pizarro was, and that of Lima, where the Governor was, were being besieged by the Indians and [were] in great danger of being lost [by the Spaniards], [and] I recruited the said eighty men at my own expense and on my own initiative, paying their transportation and other expenses which they had incurred in the said town and putting myself in debt for a large amount and sum total of gold pesos, [and] I led them by land, at my own expense and on my own initiative, on which said expedition I accomplished much good and [rendered] a great sen/ice to the Royal Crown, as a person zealous [in looking after the interests] of it; and, having left the said cities freed from siege, and the said Governor and Hernando Pizarro 1 From: Francisco de Orellana quoted in Jose Toribio Medina, The Discovery of the Amazon (New York: American Geographical Society, 1934), pp. 262-264. 48 The Colonial Period being now out of their perilous situation, the Governor ordered me and gave official instructions to me to set out to conquer [terri- tory] in the name of His Majesty and in his own, and to conquer, v/ith the rank of Captain-General, the province of La Culata, in which I was to found a city, which task I accepted in order to serve His Majesty; and I set out on the said conquest, -which I carried out with the aid of men whom I took along on it at my own ex- pense and on my own initiative, and at the cost of many hardships on the part of myself and of those who went along with me, for the reason that the Indians of the said province were untamable and warlike and the land where they were [was one] of many rivers and [of rivers] having great volume of water, and [was a region] of great marshes, and because two or three captains had gone into it and they [i.e. the Indians] had routed them and killed many Spaniards, for which reason the Indians of the said province were very haughty; and, after I had conquered them and placed the said province under the yoke of, and under obedience to. His Maj- esty, continuing my services I established and founded in the name of His Majesty a city to which I gave the name of City of Santiago, in the establishing and founding of which I rendered and [have since rendered] a great service to His Majesty owing to the fact that I founded it in a spot so fertile and so rich and because of its being in a district [so conveniently situated] that through it provisions are furnished and carried to the towns of Quito and Pasto and Popayan, and it is expected [that through it also] they will supply the others that will be founded in the future, all of which could not have been done, if the said city had not been founded, without frequent slaughterings of Spaniards and great destruction and losses, because of the fact that the province was [formerly] outside of the [territory under] obedience to His Majesty, while at present the said provinces are traversed [freely] by one Spaniard or by two traveling alone and as they wish, without any risk for their lives and their property, and the said city [has the further advantage of] being in a spot where [the proximity of the sea is such that] ships come close up to it ; and likewise the said Governor, seeing and understanding how [well] I had done all this, sent me powers and commissions by virtue of which I might hold the office of Captain-General and Governor's Lieutenant in this said city and in Villa Nueva de Puerto Vie jo, which said office I accepted, and I have held and am holding the city and the town in [keeping with the laws of] righteousness and justice and I have exercised and am exercising the said functions well and faithfully and diligently, and of them I have given and am giving a good account; and because I wish to go or send [someone] to beseech His Majesty, as a King and master who w^ill be grateful for my services and for those that I hope to perform for him hence- Spanish Discovery and Conquest 49 forth, to grant me in return for them [certain] favors, which I do not wish to state here, [preferring to wait] until I can beg and beseech His Majesty [to grant] them, and because His Majesty does command through the medium of his royal [decrees o£J authorization that whenever any person in these parts may wish to go or send [someone] to ask [him] to grant him favors in return for the services that he is rendering to his Royal Crown in them [i.e. these parts], he shall submit a statement of them before the Court of the city, town, or place where the one who may wish to beg and beseech His Majesty [to grant] some such thing as this may be a resident, so that the said Court may say whether he is entitled to it and is a person to whom such a favor should be granted; and because I, the said Captain Francisco de Orellana, do not clearly state here what I wish to beg and beseech His Maj- esty [to grant me], and since I am a gentleman of noble blood and a person of honor, and there are brought together in me the qualifi- cations which are required [of me] in order that I may be able to hold and fill any office, such as that of governor or any qtlier whatsoever that His Majesty might see fit to grant me, I beg Your Worships, in accordance with the said [decrees of] authoriza- tion, to reply and state my personal qualifications and my titles to a reward and my [past] services and [to say] whether I am a per- son such that any office or offices whatsoever might fittingly be held by me, and [I urge Your Worships] to state in reply, in all this matter, exactly what Your Worships think best, so that His Majesty may be truthfully informed in the [present] case; for which purpose, and to such an extent as may be necessary, I im- plore the very distinguished services of Your Worships, and I beg Your Worships to order that I be given one or two or more copies of this petition and of Your Worships' reply. Francisco de Orellana. 22. LETTER OF LOPE DE AGUIRRE TO PHILIP II (1561)i KING PHILIP, native of Spain, son of Charles the Invincible, I, Lope de Aguirre, thy vassal, an old Christian, of poor but noble parents, and native of the town of Onate, in Biscay, went over young to Peru, to labour lance in hand. I rendered thee great serv- ices in the conquest of India. I fought for thy glory, without de- manding pay, as is proved by the books of thy treasury. I firmly believe. Christian King and Lord, very ungrateful to me and my companions, that all those who write to thee from this land deceive thee much, because thou seest things top far off. I recommend to 1 From: Lope de Aguirre quoted in Robert Southey, The Expedition of Orsua and the Crimes of Aguirre (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1821), pp. 171- 176. 50 The Colonial Period thee to be more just toward the good vassals whom thou hast in this country; for I and mine, wearied of the cruelties and injustice which thy viceroy, thy governors, and thy judges exercise in thy name, have resolved to obey thee no more. We regard ourselves no longer as Spaniards. We make a cruel war on thee, because we will not endure the oppression of thy ministers, who, to give places to their nephews and their children, dispose of our lives, our repu- tation, and our fortunes. I am lame in the left foot from two shots of an harquebuss, which I received in the valley of Coquimbo, fighting under the orders of thy marshal Alonzo de Alvarado, against Francisco Hernandez Giron, who was then a rebel, as I am at present, and always shall be : for since thy viceroy, the Marquis of Cafiete, a cowardly, ambitious, and effeminate man, has hanged our bravest warriors, I care no more for thy pardon than for the books of Martin Luther. It is not well in thee. King of Spain, to be ungrateful toward thy vassals : for it was while thy father, the Emperor Charles, re- mained quietly in Castile, that they procured for thee so many kingdoms and extensive countries. Remember, King Philip, that thou hast no right to draw revenues from these provinces, the con- quest of which has been without danger to thee, but inasmuch as thou recompensest those who have rendered thee such great services. I am certain that few Kings go to heaven. Therefore we think ourselves very happy to be here in the Indies, preserving in all their purity the commandments of God, and of the Roman church; and we intend, though sinners during Hfe, to become one day martyrs to the glory of God. But the corruption of morals among monks is so great in this land, that it is necessary to chastise it severely. There is not an ec- clesiastic here, who does not think himself higher than the gov- ernor of a province. I beg of thee, great King, not to believe what the monks tell thee down yonder in Spain. They are always talking of the sacrifices they make, as well as of the hard and bitter life they are forced to lead in America, while they occupy the richest lands, and the Indians hunt and fish for them every day. If they shed tears before thy throne, it is that thou mayest send them hither to govern provinces. Dost thou know what sort of life they lead here ? Given up to luxury ; acquiring possessions ; selling the sacraments ; being at once ambitious, violent, and gluttonous ; such is the life they lead in America. The faith of the Indians suffers by such bad examples. If thou dost not change all this, O King of Spain, thy government will not be stable. . . . In the year 1559 the Marquis of Cafiete sent Pedro de Orsua, a Navarrese, or rather a Frenchman, to the Amazons. We sailed on the largest rivers of Peru, till we came to a gulf of fresh water. We had already gone three hundred leagues, when we killed that SpdiiuJi Discovery and Conquest^ ^l bad and ambitious captain. We chose a cavallero of Seville, Fer- nando de Guzman, for King, and we swore fealty to him, as is done to thyself, I was named Camp-master, and because I did not con- sent to his will in all things, he wanted to kill me ; but I killed this new king, the captain of his guards, his lieutenant-general, his chaplain, a woman, a knight of the order of Rhodes, his ensign, and five or six domestics of the pretended King. I then resolved to punish thy ministers and thy auditors. I appointed captains and Serjeants ; these again wanted to kill me, but I had them all hanged. In the midst of these adventures, we navigated eleven months, till we reached the mouth of the river. We sailed more than fifteen hundred leagues. God knows how we got through that great mass of water. I advise thee, O great King, never to send Spanish fleets into that cursed river. God preserve thee in his holy keeping. 23. LETTER TELLING OF THE ACTIVITY OF THE WOMEN COLONISTS IN THE SETTLEMENT OF LA PLATA UNDER PEDRO DE MENDOZA IN 1535 AND AFTER i Very High and Powerful Princess, TO THIS province of the River Plate with the first Governor of it, Don Pedro de Mendoza, there came certain women, amongst whom fortune so willed it that I should be one, and that the fleet should arrive at the port of Buenos Aires with fifteen hundred men, and that they all should be in want of food. So great was the famine that at the end of three months a thou- sand perished. This famine was so great that not even in Jerusalem it could have been equalled, nor can it be compared to any other The men became so weak that the poor women had to do all their work; they had to wash their clothes, and care for them when sick, to cook the little food they had; stand sentinel, care for the watch-fires and prepare the crossbows when the Indians attacked, and even fire the petronels ; to give the alarm, crying out with all their strength, to drill and put the soldiers in good order, for at that time we women, as we did not require so much food, had not fallen into the same state of weakness as the men. Your Highness will understand that had it not been for the care and solicitude that we had for them they would have all died, and if it were not for the honour of the men, there is much more that I could write your Highness truthfully. In the face of such terrible trials, the few that remained alive determined to ascend the river, weak as they were, and although winter was coming on, in two brigantines, and 1 From: Isabel de Guevara quoted in R. B. Cunninghame Graham, The Conquest of the River Plate (Garden City: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1924), pp. 281-284. 52 The Colonial Period the worn-out women cared for and looked after them and cooked their food, bringing the wood for firing into the vessels on their backs, and cheering them with virile exhortations, beseeching them not to allow themselves to die, for they would soon be in a country where there was food, and carrying them upon their shoulders into the brigantines with as much love as if they had been their own sons, and thus we came to a tribe of Indians who are called Timbues, who have good fishings. Then we bestirred ourselves to find out nice ways of cooking, so that the fish should not disgust them, for they had to eat it without bread and were all very weak. Then they determined to ascend the Parana in search of food, and in this journey the unlucky women endured so many hardships that God ordained that they should survive miraculously, for the men's lives were in their hands, for all the service of the ship they took so much to heart that each one was affronted if she thought she did less work than all the rest, so they all handled and reefed the sail, steered and hove the lead at the bows, and took the oars from the hands of the soldiers who could row no more ; they also baled the vessel, and they put before the soldiers that they should not lose heart, for that hardships were the lot of men ; certain it is they were not rewarded for their work, nor forced to do it, only love impelled them. Thus they arrived at the city of Asuncion, which, though it is now fertile and full of food, was then in wretchedness, so that it became necessary that the women should return to their labours, making plantations with their own hands, digging, weeding, and sowing and gathering in the crops without the help of anyone, until the soldiers recovered from their weakness and commenced to rule the country and to acquire Indians as their servants, and so get the land into the state in which it is. I have wished to write and bring all this before your Highness, so that you may comprehend the ingratitude that has been shown me in this country, for at present most of it has been granted either to the older or [new colonists] without the least remembrance either of me or of my .hardships, and they have left me without assigning me a single Indian as my servant. I would much like to have been free to go and put before your Highness all the services that I have done you and all the injuries that they are doing me; but this is not in my hands, for I am married to a gentleman of Seville who is called Pedro de Esquivel, whose services to your Highness have caused mine to be forgotten. Three times I have saved his life with the knife at his throat, as your Highness will know. Therefore I beseech that you will order that a perpetual Reparti- miento shall be granted to me, and as payment for my ser^aces that Spanish Discovery and Conquest 53 some employment be given to my husband, according to his quaHty, for he on his part merits it. May our Lord increase your royal life and state for many years. From this city of Asuncion and July the second, 1556. Your servant, Doila Isabel de Guevara, Kisses your royal hands. 24. CHARLES V GRANTS COAT OF ARMS TO JIMENEZ DE QUESADA (May 21, 1545)i DON CARLOS and Dofia Juana, &c. With regard to you, the Licentiate Gonzalo Jimenes, who had been Lieutenant of the Governor of the new kingdom of Granada, which is in our Indies of the Ocean Sea, we have been informed that, about twelve years ago, you went to the Indies with the desire of serving us. Being in the province of Santa Martha you went, by order of Don Pedro Hernando de Lugo, Governor of that Province, as his Lieutenant- General for his expedition of discovery up the great river. You took with you 500 men and 90 horses, eight of them being your own, which you took for our service in that expedition, with many other things. With great difficulty and labour you succeeded in finding the entrance to that mainland. To do this it was necessary first to take certain Indian towns. Having found the entrance you ascended the river with certain brigantines, and the further you ascended the less food you found for your people, the Indians be- coming more warlike. Yet you continued to prosecute your voyage until you came to a place called La Tora, and from there you went on until you reached the said kingdom of New Granada, enduring on the way much labour and many infirmities, all for our service. Arriving in the kingdom of New Granada with your followers, who were few, for most of them had died on the road, you conquered and subdued the natives, and put them all under our yoke and royal lordship, whence our fifths consisted of great quantities of gold, silver, and emeralds, being in addition to what we always received previously, from the said land. In the encounters, skir- mishes, and fights which continually took place with the said In- dians, you were ever the first, and in all this you served us as a good and loyal vassal, passing through much labour, hardship, and want, as appears from a report which you have made and presented to us in our Council of the Indies. In it you pray that, in reward for these services, you and they may be kept in perpetual memory. We have therefore ordered that you shall be given the following shield of arms. Parted per fess in chief gules a lion or with a naked 1 From: Sir Clements Markham, The Conquest of New Granada (London: Smith, Elder & Company, 1912), pp. 217-218, 54 The Colonial Period sword in its fore-paw, in memory of the bravery and resolution you showed in ascending the river in the face of such hardships, and in discovering and subduing the said new kingdom. In base or a mount proper over waters of the sea azure and argent, semee of emeralds vert, in memory of the emerald mines which you dis- covered in the said new kingdom, and at the foot and on the top of the mount some trees vert. On a bordure. azure four suns or, and gules four moons argent. Crest on a closed helmet with a baldre- quin azure and or, a lion or with a naked sword in his fore-paw, and eagles' wings issuing from the helmet. Given at Madrid on the 21st of May, 1546. I, the King. 25. DESCRIPTION OF PEDRO DE VALDIVIA JUST BEFORE HIS DEATH (1553)i HE WAS fifty-six years of age, and had governed Chile sixteen years. . . . He was a man of good stature, and had a smiling countenance. His head was large, in just proportion with his body. He had become stout and bulky, and broad-chested. A man of good understanding, although not cultured in his speech; liberal and gracious when he did a favour. After he became a great lord, his greatest pleasure was to give anything he had. In all things he was generous, and it liked him well to vv^ear fine clothes, and that all his friends should be well dressed: he loved to eat and drink all of the best. With everyone he 'was most affable and easy of approach. Two things he had that smirched his virtues. One that he hated, men of noble birth. The other, that he was fond of w^omen, and usually kept a common Spanish girl. . . . God has mysteries that a Christian should ponder on. Here was a man feared and obeyed by all, as a great lord, and yet he died a cruel death at the hands of savages. 26. SOTO MEETS THE INDIAN WOMAN CHIEF OF GEORGIA (April 1540) 2 ON WEDNESDAY the three Captains came up : they had found _ . the letter and followed on after the rest. From the command of Juan Rodriguez two men remained behind, their horses having given out, for which the Governor reprimanded him severely, and 1 From: Gongora Marmolejo quoted in R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Pedro de Valdivia, Conqueror of Chile (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1927), pp. 120-121. 2 From: The Gentleman of Elvas quoted in Buckingham Smith, ed.. Narratives of the Career of Hernando de Soto (New York: Allerton Book Company, 2 vols., 1904), Vol: I, pp. 64-69. Spanish Discovery and Conquest 55 sent him to bring them. While they should be coming on he set out for Cutifachiqui, capturing three Indians in the road, who stated that the mistress of that country had already information of the Christians, and was waiting for them in a town. He sent to her by one of them, offering his friendship and announcing his approach. Directly as the Governor arrived, four canoes came towards him, in one of which was a kinswoman of the Cacica, who, coming near, addressed him in these words: Excellent Lord : My sister sends me to salute you, and to say, th^-t the reason why she has not come in person is, that she has thought to serve you better by remaining to give orders on the other shore; and that, in a short time, her canoes will all be here, in readiness to conduct you thither, where you may take your repose and be obeyed. The Governor thanked her, and she returned to cross the river. After a little time the Cacica came out of the town, seated in a chair, which some principal men having borne to the bank, she entered a canoe. Over the stern was spread an awning, and in the bottom lay extended a mat where were two cushions, one above the other, upon which she sate ; and she was accompanied by her chief men, in other canoes, with Indians. She approached the spot where the Governor was, and, being arrived, thus addressed him : Excellent Lord : Be this coming to these your shores most happy. My ability can in no way equal my wishes, nor my services become the merits of so great a prince ; nevertheless, good wishes are to be valued more than all the treasurers of the earth without them. With sincerest and purest good- will I tender you my person, my lands, my people, and make you these small gifts. The Cacica presented much clothing of the country, from the shawls and skins that came in the other boats ; and drawing from over her head a large string of pearls, she threw them about his neck, exchanging with him many gracious words of friendship and courtesy. She directed that canoes should come to the spot, whence the Governor and his people passed to the opposite side of the river. So soon as he was lodged in the town, a great many turkeys were sent to him. The country was delightful and fertile, having good interval lands upon the streams; the forest was open, with abundance of walnut and mulberry trees. The sea was stated to be two days' travel. About the place, from half a league to a league off, were large vacant towns, grown up in grass, that appeared as if no people had lived in them for a long time. The Indians said that, two years before, there had been a pest in the land, and the inhabitants had moved away to other towns. In the barbacoas were large quantities of clothing, shawls of thread, made from the bark of trees, and others of feathers, white, gray, vermilion, and yellow, rich and proper for winter. There were also many well-dressed 56 The Colonial Period deer-skins, of colours drawn over with designs, of which had been made shoes, stockings, and hose. The Cacica, observing that the Christians vakied pearls, told the Governor that, if he should order some sepulchres that were in the town to be searched, he would find many; and if he chose to send to those that were in the un- inhabited towns, he might load all his horses with them. They examined those in the town, and found three hundred and fifty pounds' weight of pearls, and figures of babies and birds made of them. The inhabitants are brown of skin, well formed and propor- tioned. They are more civilized than any people seen in all the territories of Florida, wearing clothes and shoes. This country, according to what the Indians stated, had been very populous. It appeared that the youth who was the guide had heard of it ; and what was told him he declared to have seen, and magnified such parts as he chose, to suit his pleasure. He told the Governor that they had begun to enter upon the country he had spoken to him about, which, because of its appearance, with his being able to understand the language of the people, gained for him some credit. He wished to become a Christian, and asked to be baptized, vv^hich was done, he receiving the name of Pedro ; and the Governor com- manded the chain to be struck ofif that he had carried until then. In the town were found a dirk and beads that had belonged to Christians, who, the Indians said, had many years before been in the port, distant two days' journey. He that had been there was the Governor-licentiate Ayllon, who came to conquer the land, and, on arriving at the port, died, when there followed divisions and mur- ders among the chief personages, in quarrels as to who should command ; and thence, without knowing any thing of the countr}^, they went back to Spain. To all it appeared well to make a settlement there, the point being a favourable one, to which could come all the ships from New Spain, Peru, Sancta Marta, and Tierra-Firme, going to Spain ; because it is in the way thither, is a good country, and one fit in which to raise supplies; but Soto, as it was his object to find another treasure like that of Atabalipa, lord of Peru, would not be content with good lands nor pearls, even though many of them Avere worth their weight in gold (and if the country were divided among Christians, more precious should those be the Indians would procure than these they have, being bored with heat, which causes them to lose their hue) : so he answered them who urged him to make a settlement, that in all the country together there was not support for his troops a single month ; that it was necessary to re- turn to Ochus, where Maldonado was to wait ; and should a richer country not be found, they could always return to that who would, and in their absence the Indians would plant their fields and be Spanish Discovery and Conquest 57 better provided with maize. The natives were asked if they had knowledge of any great lord farther on, to which they answered, that twelve days' travel thence was a province called Chiaha, sub- ject to a chief of Coqa. The Governor then resolved at once to go in quest of that coun- try, and being an inflexible man, and dry of word, who, although he liked to know what the others all thought and had to say, after he once said a thing he did not like to be opposed, and as he ever acted as he thought best, all bent to his will; for though it seemed an error to leave that country, when another might have been found about it, on which all the people could have been sustained until the crops had been made and the grain gathered, there were none who would say a thing to him after it became known that he had made up his mind. 27. CORONADO'S LETTER TO THE KING (October 20, 1541)i HOLY Catholic Caesarian Majesty: On April 20 of this year I 'wrote to Your Majesty from this province of Tiguex, in reply to a letter from Your Majesty dated in Madrid, June 11 a year ago. ... I started from this province on the 23rd of last April, for the place w^here the Indians wanted to guide me. After nine days' march I reached some plains, so vast that I did not find their limit anywhere that I went, although I traveled over them for more than 300 leagues. And I found such a quantity of cows in these, of the kind that I wrote Your Majesty about, which they have in this country, that it is impossible to number them, for while I was journeying through these plains, until I returned to where I first found them, there was not a day that I lost sight of them. And after seventeen days' march I came to a settlement of Indians who are called Querechos, who travel around with these cows, who do not plant, and who eat the raw flesh and drink the blood of the cows they kill, and they tan the skins of the cows, with which all the people of this country dress themselves here. They have little field tents made of the hides of the cows, tanned and greased, very well made, in which they live while they travel around near the cows, moving with these. They have dogs which they load, which carry their tents and poles and belongings. These people have the best figures of any that I have seen in the Indies. They could not give me any account of the country where the guides were taking me. ... It was the Lord's pleasure that, after having journeyed across these deserts seventy-seven days, I arrived at the province they call 1 From: Helen B. Bennett and J. A. Haniphy in Historical Readings (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1920), pp. 19-20. 58 The Colonial Period Quivira, to which the guides were conducting me, and where they had described to me houses of stone, with many stories ; and not only are they not of stone, but of straw, but the people in them are as barbarous as all those whom I have seen and passed before this ; they do not have cloaks, nor cotton of which to make these, but use the skins of the cattle they kill, which they tan, because they are settled among these on a very large river. The people here are large. I had several Indians measured, and found that they were 10 palms in height ; the women are well pro- portioned and their features are more like Moorish women than Indians. The country itself is the best I have ever seen for producing all the products of Spain, for besides the land itself being very fat and black and being very well watered by the rivulets and springs and rivers, I found prunes like those of Spain . . . and nuts and very good sweet grapes and mulberries .... And what I am sure of is that there is not any gold nor any other metal in all that country, and the other things of which they had told me are nothing but little villages, and in many of these they do not plant anything and do not have any houses except of skins and sticks, and they wander around with the cows ; so that the account they gave me was false, because they wanted to persuade me to go there with the whole force, believing that as the way was through such uninhabited deserts, and from the lack of water, they would get us where we and our horses would die of hunger. From this province of Tiguex, October 20, in the year 1541. Your Majesty's humble servant and vassal, who would kiss the royal feet and hands. Francisco Vasquez Coronado 28. ACCOUNT OF SEBASTIAN VIZCAINO'S EXPEDITION TO CALIFORNIA (1596)i TN 1597 [1596] I accompanied Sebastian Vizcaino as boatswain -^ of the capitana with one large ship and two small ones, with a number of people. We reached California in an ensenada in front of an island where Sebastian Vizcaino went ashore with all the force and ordered the ship to be unrigged, with the intention of marching inland. Having done this and marched a matter of a half a league, he determined to come back and reembark. The ayudante, a Negro, and I remained, on account of having found people there, peaceable although naked, and decided to follow a well-trodden trail. We might have gone a matter of two leagues 1 From: Gonzalo de Francia quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Revieiv, May 1930, pp. 218-219, SpanisJi Discovery and Conquest 59 to where about a hundred Indians came out to meet us, making signs of peace. Putting down their arms they seated themselves when they reached us, making signs to us to do likewise, which we did without, however, laying aside our arms. We remained looking at each other for an hour. They came up to the Negro to rub his hands to see if the color would come off, and gave him a large fat pearl, but to us nothing. At the end of this time we made signs to them that we wished to leave, and they permitted us to go without doing us any harm. Wherever we went we saw no houses where they could assemble, but they must have had them from where they came out. Being very thirsty I asked them for some water, which they brought me in a shell, and we shortly returned to where Sebastian Vizcaino was, who had given orders for all to embark with the purpose of searching for another better port and people. Ten leagues from this bay we found a great port, which we called the "Puerto de la Paz" because the Indians came out to meet us peacefully. At the entrance of the port there is an island which we called 'Tsla de Mujeres." It is uninhabited as people only go there in summer in some small cane balsas. In this Puerto de la Paz, he put the people on shore, where they remained some months without making any expedition by land. Here we found the Indians peaceable and they served us in a very friendly manner. As he saw that the people were naked and there were no kinds of seeds to eat, he determined to enter the gulf with the two small ships, leaving the large one in the Puerto de la Paz with all the women and the unnecessary men to make a settlement. The said Sebastian Viz- caino reached 28° inside of the gulf, where he went ashore with his forces, and because of an abuse which a soldier committed op an Indian by giving him a blow, the rest raised a tumult and fled to a wood near the sea. Seeing this. Captain Juan Augustin told . Sebastian Vizcaino to embark with half of the force, as the Indians were warlike, and he would remain on guard on land until the shallop should return. As soon as it came back, the force which was on land embarked, and when all were on board and the Indians saw them shoving off the shallop and thus about to lose their prey, they came out from the wood with great shouts. Shooting many arrows and throwing many lances they wounded many people. Not being able to use their weapons, on account of being so close to- gether, the shallop upset, and twenty-eight [eighteen] men were drowned and killed, only seven escaping by swimming to the ship. This disaster was the reason for not continuing the voyage, and another was that in these parts the people were found to be naked and without seeds. The truth is that he did not go inland and shortly determined to return to New Spain. 6o The Colonial Period Chapter Five THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SPANISH COLONIES 1. THE CONSEJO DE INDIAS i THE Consejo Supremo de Indias, Supreme Council of the Indies, sometimes termed the Consejo de Indias, or India Council, was a body possessing executive as well as judicial powers, in perma- nent session at Madrid, and having the same jurisdiction over Spanish colonies in America that was held in Spain by the other supreme councils, especially the Consejo de Castilla. Immediately after its discovery the American portion of the Spanish realm was superintended by the Council of Castile, or by councillors selected therefrom. But with the constantly increasing burden of business the creation of a separate supreme tribunal became necessary. Thus the machinery set in motion by Ferdinand was augmented by Charles, and further improved by Philip, until these vast west- ern interests were watched over with undeviating care. Thence all measures for the government and commerce of Spanish America issued; it was the tribunal likewise of ultimate resort where all questions relating thereto were adjudicated. For m.any years, how- ever, the India Council had no formal existence. . . . This fact gave rise to errors of date into which several historians fell. . . . It was the first of August, 1524, that the office proper of the Council of the Indies was created. . . . The decree of final organi- zation . . . sets forth that in view of the great benefits, under divine favor, the crown daily receives by the enlargement of the realm, the monarch by the grace of God feeling his obligation to govern tH^se kingdoms well, for the better service of God and the well- being of those lands, it was ordered that there should always reside at court this tribunal. It should have a president ; the grand chan- cellor of the Indies should also be a councillor ; its members, whose number must be eight, should be letrados, men learned in the law. There were to be a fiscal, two secretaries, and a deputy grand chancellor, all of noble birth, upright in morals, prudent, and God- fearing men. There must be, also, three relatores, or readers, and 1 From: H. H. Bancroft, Annals of Early Central America. 1501-1530 (New York: The Bancroft Company, n.d.), pp. 280-282. note. The Spanish Colonies: Government 6i a notary, all of experience, diligence, and fidelity; four expert contadores de ciientas, accountants and auditors ; a treasurer- general ; two solicitadores fiscales, crown attorneys ; a chief chron- icler and cosmographer ; a professor of mathematics; a tasador to tax costs of suits ; a lawyer and a procurador for poor suitors ; a chaplain to say mass on council days; four door-keepers, and a bailiff, all taking oath on assuming duty to keep secret the acts of the council. The first president appointed was Fray Garcia de Loaysa, at the time general of the Dominicans, confessor of the emperor, and bishop of Osma, and later cardinal and archbishop of Seville. . . . The jurisdiction of the council extended to every department, civil, military, ecclesiastical, and commercial, and no other council in Spain might have cognizance of any affairs appertaining to the New World. Two thirds of the members must approve of any law or ordinance before it was presented to the king for his signature. . . . Philip 11. ordered the council to be obeyed equally in Spain and in the Indies. Three members were to constitute a quorum, and sit from three to five hours every day except holidays. . . . The council was commanded to have for its chief care the conver- sion and good treatment of the Indians. The laws made by the Council for the Indies should conform as nearly as possible to the existing laws of Spain. In selecting ecclesiastics and civil offtcers for the Indies, the greatest care should be exercised that none but good men were sent, and their final nomination must rest with the king. Nepotism was strictly prohibited, and offices were not to be sold. In 1600 Felipe III. ordered that twice a week should be held a council of war, composed of eight members, four of whom were councillors of the Indies, and four specially selected by the king. It was decreed in 1584 that the offices of governors, corregidores, and alcaldes mayores of the Indies, when bestowed on persons residing in Spain, should be for five years ; when residents in the Indies were appointed, it should be for three years. Felipe IV. in 1636 ordered that in the archives of the council, beside records, should be kept manuscripts and printed books treating on matters moral, religious, historical, political, and scientific, touching the Indies, all that had been or should be issued; and publishers of books of this class were required by law to deposit one copy each in these archives. Two keys were ordered kept, one by the coun- cillor appointed by the president, and the other by the senior sec- retary. And when the archives of the council became too full, a portion might be sent to Simancas. It was early ordered that the chronicler of the council should write a history, natural and politi- cal, of the Indies, every facility being afforded him; and before drawing his last quarter's salary each year, he must present what he had written. So it was with the cosmographer, who was to calcu- 62 The Colonial Period late eclipses, compile guide-books, prepare tables and descriptions, and give an annual lecture. The regulations governing this august body were most wise, and it was the constant aim of the Spanish monarchs to increase its power and sustain its authority. Its juris- diction extended over half the world, being absolute on sea and land. By it viceroys were made and unmade, also presidents and governors; and, in ecclesiastical rule, patriarchs, archbishops, bish- ops, and lesser spiritual dignitaries. His Holiness himself was sec- ond here. All bulls or briefs of indulgence issued by the pope must be laid before the Consejo de Cruzada, a.nd pass through the Council of the Indies. The Consejo de Indias continued in Spain till by a law of the Cortes, March 24, 1834, it was abolished. . . . 2. THE CASA DE C0NTRATACI6N i THE next most important agency in the management of New World afifairs was the Casa de Contratacion, house or board of trade, supreme in commercial matters, save only in its subordina- tion to the Consejo de Indias, in common with every other power below absolute royalty. As before stated, on the return of Colum- bus from his first voyage, Fonseca, with two or three assistants, was appointed to take charge of the business appertaining to the discovery, the nature or importance of which was then but faintly conceived. This Indian office or agency w^as established at Seville, with a branch office in the form of a custom-house at Cadiz. But before the expiration of the first decade the New World business had so increased, and the New World dimensions were so rapidly expanding, that it was found necessary to enlarge the capabilities and powers of the India Office; hence by decrees of January 20, and June 5, 1503, was ordered established at Seville the Casa de Contratacion de las Indias, or India house of trade, that commerce between the mother country and the Indian colonies might be pro- moted. The first cedula ordered the office placed in the arsenal, the second in a building known as the alcazar viejo, and in that part of it called the cuarto de los almirantes, or admirals' quarters. The board consisted of a president, three royal officers, or judges, to wit, treasurer, auditor, and factor; also three judges bred to the law; one fiscal, and other lesser officers and attendants. . . . By law . . . three officers were to reside in the building; and were to despatch all ships going to the Indies, and receive all merchan- dise coming thence. In all which they were scrupulously to respect the agreement made with Columbus by the sovereigns. They were, moreover, to proclaim that licenses for discovery and trade would be given, under just conditions, to all seeking them and filing com- mensurate bonds. . . . An officer appointed by the king resided at 1 From: H. H. Bancroft in Ihid.. pp. 282-283. note. TJie SpanisJi Colonics: Government 63 Cadiz to despatch vessels under the supervision of the Casa de Contratacion. The India House was a court of judicature no less than a board of trade ; it had cognizance in all civil, criminal, and commercial questions arising from the traffic of Spain with the Indies, appeal being to the Council of the Indies. I will mention a few only of the more important of the many minor orders regu- lating this board. The volume and variety of its business rapidly increased from year to year. In 1510 Diego Colon was instructed to inform its officers concerning all that he should write to the king. The board was obliged to possess itself of the minutest knowledge concerning New World affairs, and of persons asking permission to go thither, and in the execution of its duties it was not to be interfered with even by royal officers of high rank. The actual powers conferred on the three officials first named by Queen Juana are not given by any of the chronicles, or collections of laws, which I have examined. Indeed, the powers and jurisdiction of the board were never clearly defined until the issuing of the ordinances of the 23d of August, 1543, known as the ordenanzas de la casa, and which should not be confounded with the ordenanzas of other years. Every day but feast-days the board should meet for busi- ness, and remain in session for three hours in the forenoon, and on the afternoons of Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the despatch of ships. Absence involved primarily loss of pay, and finally loss of office. If this be not time sufficient for the business, they must take more time. The president and judges together should transact the business; a judge might not act singly except upon a matter referred to him by all. The notary should keep in his book an account of the hours of absence among the officers. Before the platform on which sat the judges, benches were ordered placed for the convenience of the visitadores, or inspectors of ships, and such other honorable persons having business there as should be invited by the tribunal to sit. The authorities of Seville should not interfere in the trial and punishment of crimes committed on board ships sailing to and from the Indies. If the penalty was death or mutilation, the offender was to be tried by the three judges, members of the board, learned in the law. In the civil suits of private persons, appertaining to the Indies, litigants were given the option of bringing their disputes before the judges of the India House, or before the ordinary justice of Seville. Disputes arising from shipwreck, loss of cargo, and frauds connected there- with, were all brought before the India House. Traders to the Indies residing in Seville were authorized to meet and elect a prior and consul, or consuls, which consulate should be called the Universidad de los Cargadores a las Indias, and hold their meetings in the Casa de Contratacion. No foreigner, his son or grandson could so hold office. This consulate had cognizance in disputes be- 64 The Colonial Period tween these merchants and factors in matters relative to purchases, sales, freights, insurance, and bankruptcy, all being subordinate to the regular tribunal of the India House. Appeals were from the consulate to one of the regular judges selected annually to that duty. The consulate could address the king only through the Casa de Contratacion, and government despatches from the Indies must be forwarded by the board. As justice alone was the object of these merchants, and not chicanery, or the distortion of evidence, parties to suits before the consulate were not allowed lawyers. That har- mony might be maintained, the Casa de Contratacion should carry out the orders of the audiencia de grados of Seville, if deemed conformable to law, and to existing regulations of the board. Communications from the board to the king must be signed by the president and judges conjointly, and no letter must treat of more than a single subject. All gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones coming from the Indies were first to be deposited in the India House, and thence distributed to the owners. The king's share was to be placed in a safe with three keys, or if this was too small, then , in a room having three keys. Other safes were to be kept, one for each kind of property. Accounts of receipts at the India House were to be rendered the king every year. The board must render an annual statement of its expenditures on religiosos sent to the Indies. Felipe IV. ordered that the board should collect from all ships and merchandise, including a pro rata on the king's share, the cost for convoying them forth and back. Such was the famous India House at Seville, modest in its beginning, mighty in its ac- complishments, through which passed into Spain the almost fabu- lous wealth of Spanish America. 3. THE AUDIENCIAi THE word audiencia, from audire, to hear, has a variety of sig- nifications in Spanish ; meaning, namely, the act pf hearing, the tribunal, the courtroom and building, and finally, jurisdiction. Oidor, he who hears, comes from the same root, but is now applied only to the magistrate of an audiencia. The more important general laws governing audiencias in the New World were the following. In 1528 the emperor ordered, and the decree was reiterated in 1548, 1569, 1575, and 1589, that each audiencia should make a tariff of fees of notaries and other officers, which must not exceed five times those in Spain. In 1530 the mandates of this tribunal were made of equal force with those of the king himself. Should any one demand it, decisions in civil suits were to be rendered in one case before another was begun; suits of poor persons always to have preference in time of hearing. Even dissenting judges 1 From: H. H. Bancroft in Ibid., pp. 270-273, note. The Spanish Colonies: Government 65 must sign the decision, making it unanimous. On the first business' day of each year, all the members and officers being present, the laws governing audiencias should be read. In 1541 the emperor ordered that in 'first instance' alcaldes, regidores, alguaciles may- ores, and escribanos should not be brought before the audiencia; in each pueblo one alcalde should have cognizance of what affected the other, and both of matters concerning its other officers. In 1540, and many times thereafter, the audiencia was charged to look to the welfare of the natives, to watch narrowly the conduct of gov- ernors and other officials, and to punish excesses. While in October, 1545, the emperor was at Malines, hence known as the law of Malinas, directions were given for procedure in cases of claims of Indians. Menor Cuantia in suits was fixed at 300,000 maravedis ; not exceeding this amount two oidores might decide ; also in suits of may 07^ cuantia, except at Lima and Mexico where three votes were necessary as in Spanish law. It was ordered in 1548 that audiencias must not meddle with questions of rank and precedence. In 1551, Saturdays and two other days in the week were set aside, there being no suits of poor persons, for hearing disputes between Indians, and between Indians and Spaniards. More casos de corte, that is important suits taken from lower courts, were not to be ad- mitted by an audiencia of the Indies than was customary in Spain. This was in 1552, and repeated in 1572. In 1553 it was ordered that any person having a grievance against a president or viceroy might appeal to the audiencia, the accused officer being forbidden to preside at such times. If the president was a bishop he was not permitted to adjudicate in matters ecclesiastic. Six years later all petitions presented were to be admitted. Philip II. in 1561 ordered that suits of the royal treasury should have precedence over all others. The year 1563 was prolific in regulations for the audiencia. Where the president of an audiencia was governor and captain- general, the tribunal should not meddle in matters of war, unless the president was absent, or unless specially directed by the crown. In the city where the audiencia is held there must be an Audiencia House, and the president must live there, and keep there the royal seal, the registry, the jail, and the mint; in this house must be a striking clock ; and if there be no such building provided, the resi- dence of the president shall in the mean time be so used. On every day not a feast-day the audiencia must sit at least three hours, be- ginning at 7 a.m. in summer, and 8 a.m. in winter, and at least three oidores must be present. Audiencias must not annul sen- tences of exile ; or, unless bonds for payment are given, grant let- ters of delay to condemned treasury debtors. The majority decide. The governor, alcalde mayor, or other person refusing obedience to any mandate of the tribunal must be visited by a judge and pun- ished. In exceptional cases only the audiencia might touch the 66 The Colonial Period royal treasury. Each audiencia must keep a book in which was to be recorded — ^ where the amount in question was over 100,000 maravedis, or, in other important cases — the verdict of each oidor ; and the president must swear to keep secret the contents of this book unless ordered by the king to divulge the same. A book should also be kept in which was to be entered anything affecting the treasury ; and another the fines imposed. Audiencias could ap- point only to certain offices. Philip II. further ordered during the subsequent years of his reign, that audiencias must keep secret the instructions from the crown; that they must not interfere with the lower courts, or with the courts of ecclesiastics, except in cases provided by law, but rather aid them; that they should register the names of persons coming from Spain, with their New World address ; that vv^ith such matters as residencias, compelling married men to live with their wives, and the estates of deceased persons, presidents and viceroys should not intermeddle, but leave them to the other members ; that they should use no funds resulting from their judgments, but draw on the treasury for expenses ; that when an audiencia was to be closed, a governor should be appointed with power to continue and determine pending suits, but he should in- stitute no new suits, and appeals lie to the nearest audiencia ; that they should not make public the frailties of ecclesiastics, but ex- amine charges against them in secret; that royal despatches for the audiencia must not be opened by the president alone, but at an acuerdo, and in presence of the oidores and fiscal, and if thought necessary the escrihano de cdma?'a must be present ; and that they must not remit to the Council of the Indies trivial matters for decision. In subsequent reigns during the seventeenth century it was at various times decreed that a president might impeach an oidor before the Council of the Indies, though he could not send him to Spain, but no oidor might impeach his president except by royal command ; that audiencias should exercise their functions in love and temperance, especially during a vacancy in the" office of president or viceroy; that in their visits to the jail the oidores should not entertain petitions of those condemned to death by the ordinary justices in consultation with the criminal section of the audiencia, nor should they on such visits take cognizance of any- thing not specially confided to them ; that they should not legitimize natural children, but refer such cases to the Council of the Indies ; that each year- the president should designate an oidor to oversee the officers and attaches and punish their faults ; that no favoritism should be shown appointees of viceroys or presidents; one oidor might transact business, if the audiencia were reduced to that ex- tremity; in arriving at a decision the junior member should vote first, then the next youngest, and so on up to the senior member. ... In the PoJitica Indiana of Solorzano, . . . may be found how The Spanish Colonies: Government 67 the aiidiencias of America differed from those of Spain. Larger powers were given the former by reason of their distance from the throne. They were given jurisdiction in the residencias of the inferior judiciary; they could commission pesquisidores, or special judges, and order execution to issue where an inferior judge had neglected to do so. They had cognizance in matters of tithes, of royal patronage, patrimony, treasury matters, and jurisdiction; they could even fix the fee-bill of the ecclesiastical tribunals, settle the estates of bishops, retain apostolic bulls which they deemed prejudicial to the royal patronage, and they could watch and regu- late the conduct of all ecclesiastical officials. In making appoint- ments the viceroy was obliged to take the opinion of the audiencia. Persons aggrieved might appeal from the viceroy to the audiencia. On the death, absence, or inability of the viceroy the senior oidor stood in his place. None of these powers were given audiencias in Spain. 4. THE VICEROY! VICEROYALTIES were established by the Spanish monarch in his American possessions after the rule of the audiencias had proved to be a failure. Since the institution of the office of viceroy- had been successful in Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, Aragon, Valencia, and had also been employed by Venice and Portugal in the Orient, it v/as thought to be particularly suitable for the distant colonies in America. The good results from the founding of the viceroyal- ties which held for one nation such a vast extent of territory for almost three centuries, more than justified the venture. One man was needed — a powerful personage — to govern king- doms so far from Spain, one to whom the vassals in those remote provinces might go for assistance and from whom they could ask all that ought to be hoped for from a king. A man of great prestige who was higher than the audiencia — one worthy indeed, to repre- sent the monarch himself — must be chosen viceroy. Accordingly, it became customary to appoint the viceroy from among the dis- tinguished nobles of the royal court. At first appointment to the new office of viceroy in America was not eagerly sought. Three names had been proposed for royal confirmation by the Council of the Indies for the position of viceroy of Mexico before Antonio de Mendoza, the fourth choice, was finally persuaded, in 1528, to accept the office. The authority of the viceroy was almost supreme during the first half of the sixteenth century, but time slightly modified the extent- of this power. He was the highest official in the New World; in the provinces under his control he might do and order all that the 1 From: Lillian Estelle Fisher in Viceregal Administration in the Spanish- American Colonics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1926), pp. 1-16 passim. 68 The ColonioA Period king would be able to perform if he resided in them except in ex- pressly stated prohibitions. All the ceremonies provided for kings in the royal chapel were to be observed in the case of the viceroys. As the king's chief representatives, they were to administer justice equally to all subjects, take charge of everything conducive to the peace and welfare of the provinces, provide what was fitting for them, reward the descendants of the conquerors, and collect money for the treasury. With the royal assent they could make ordinances, put them into effect, revoke those not approved by the king, grant Indians under the encomienda system, remove governors, corregi- dores, and lesser officials, appoint judges of residencia for minor functionaries, dispatch fleets and armadas, protect the Indians, pre- vent disorders, keep the Catholic religion pure, preside over the audiencia, and perform innumerable other duties, the most impor- tant of which will be discussed in the proper place. The viceregal functions as they developed until the establishment of the intendancies in 1786 may be grouped generally under four divisions. The first included the civil, political, and economic ad- ministration, the second the supervision of the royal treasury and its branches, the third the use and conservation of the royal patron- age, and the fourth the duties of the office of captain-general. For a short time, the viceroy was relieved of the tasks connected with the second division by the intendants, but he performed all the other duties until the era of Spanish-American independence. The first and by far the most important viceroyalties were New Spain, established in 1535, and Peru, in 1542. The viceroyalty of New Spain stretched northward from the isthmus of Tehuantepec on the south, including Guatemala or Central America, and the present republic of Venezuela. The most northerly boundar}^ of Mexico in 1670 was the Savannah River. The provinces of the Calif ornias, Texas, New Mexico, the lands between Louisiana and the Pacific, Louisiana from 1762 to 1801, the West Indies, Florida, and the Philippines from 1565 to 1584, formed part of it. Louisiana and the two Floridas, however, were never governed directly by the viceroy, since they belonged to the captaincy-general of Havana. During the greater part of the history of the Philippines, the gov- ernor was independent of the administration in New Spain and directly responsible to the Council of the Indies. The early vice- royalty of Peru extended from the borders of New Spain, to Pata- gonia and included all the lands except Brazil. Two other viceroyalties were organized in South America when the population increased and it became felt that the seat of govern- ment was so far away that it was almost inaccessible and authority so weak that smuggling could not be prevented. The viceroyalty of Nueva Granada was established in 1718 to guard against the aggressions of the English; it was suppressed in 1724 because of its TJie Spanish Colonics: Goveynuient 69 great cost, but was reestablished in 1740. The jurisdiction of this viceroyalty extended over the northwestern part of the continent, including the isthmus of Panama, Darien, the province of Veragua, and Quito. In 1776 the fourth viceroyalty, Rio de la Plata, was organized as a barrier against the illicit commerce which the Portu- guese carried on with Buenos Aires, but it was not until 1777 that the king declared it permanent. . . . The viceroys for the most part were efficient men who tried to perform faithfully the trust that was placed in them. A few were great men, others had only medium capabilities, and some were weak or corrupt. . . . During the sixteenth century the viceroys were, as a rule, care- fully chosen, experienced men who had already won distinction in the royal service. In the seventeenth century military viceroys were preferred for both Mexico and Peru. In the latter part of the eighteenth century especially, and in the early nineteenth cen- tury, the kings grew careless in their choice. Some men were al- ready hoary with age when they began to serve in the office. . . . The policy of advancing deserving governors or captains-general to the position of viceroy was followed during the latter part of the eighteenth century. . . . Promotion from one viceroyalty to another was frequent, and to be invited to go to Peru was the greatest honor of all. . . . No fixed term was decided upon for the early viceroys. . . . In some of the early instructions, it was stated that the viceroys enjoyed their positions during the pleasure of the king. Finally, it w^as thought best to limit the term. Accordingly a cedula of March 10, 1555, referring to the appointment of the first Caiiete to the viceroyalty of Peru, declared his term to be six years, be- ginning from the day that he arrived in Lima and took charge of the government. The same limit was implied in a decree of March 28, 1620, directed to Esquilache. This rule was not strictly followed, as the king did not always send the viceroy's successor when the time had expired. Later the three-year period, which had been employed in Naples, Sardinia, and Sicily, was adopted, but the king extended the period whenever he saw fit, sometimes duplicat- ing it in favor of those who were especially distinguished by their service. . . . A number of viceroys died in office; therefore it became neces- sary to make some provision for governing in the interim until arrival of the succeeding viceroy. In the. sixteenth and early seven- teenth centuries the audiencia usually served ad interim. It ap- pointed one of its members president who virtually took the place of a viceroy. The audiencia of Mexico ruled fourteen times during the colonial period, but that of Peru not so frequently, no doubt on account of remembrance of the early turbulent days in the southern yo The Colonial Period viceroyalty. However, the audiencia usually governed in Peru for a longer period than in New Spain. . . . As soon as it was reported that the viceroy had died, one of the government clerks hastened to the viceregal palace to confirm the fact. The secretary of the viceroyalty then officially notified the audiencia, and immediately an extraordinary acuerdo of oidores was summoned to fill the vacancy. The pliego de mortaja was opened and read in the presence of the regent, the fiscals, and all the judges of the audiencia. If there was.no pliego de mortaja, it was declared by auto that the audiencia should take charge of the government ; the regent, or in case there was no regent, the senior oidor assumed the duties of viceroy. After all the judges had signed the pliego, it was submitted to the person named in it to perform the functions of administration. The salary of the viceroy was high enough to maintain the dig- nity of his office, but at first it was not regulated by rule. Mendoza received 6000 ducats to be paid from the day that he set sail from the port of San Lucar, and was granted an additional allowance of 2000 ducats for his bodyguard. The first viceroy of Peru, Blasco Nunez Vela, received a salary of only 5000 ducats, but in a short time the amount was raised to 40,000, the sum which Francisco de Toledo and the second Marquis of Caiiete received. In 1614 a law of the Indies, confirmed by others in 1628, 1653, 1659, 1660, and 1663, fixed the emoluments of viceroys of Peru at 30,000 ducats and those of Mexican viceroys at 20,000, beginning from the day they took possession of their office and continuing until their successor began to serve. Fully six months were allowed for the voyage to Peru or New Spain and another six months for the return trip. In the middle of the eighteenth century the salary of viceroys of Mexico was raised to 40,000 and even to 60,000 pesos. . . . Proper instructions for his successor were required of every viceroy before he departed from the country. They were provided by a written document recording the most notable events of the administration and the measures applied to them. The report in- cluded all departments of government, military, political, financial, and ecclesiastical. The instruction was left in a sealed package, with all the dispatches, letters, and cedulas sent by the king to the departing viceroy. It was intrusted to the care of a reliable person who gave it to the new viceroy as soon as he arrived, if the former viceroy did not do this himself. The first Revillagigedo said that he sent to the king one copy of the instruction to his successor and kept another in the office of his secretary. The penalty imposed upon an executive for the failure to submit to the new viceroy such an account was forfeiture of his last year's salary. The majority of the viceroys met their successors, either before The Spanish Colonies: Government 71 leaving the capital or at some town on the way to the coast, where they held conferences with them, explaining the conditions of the country and making valuable recommendations as to policy. . . . Sometimes the former viceroy sent to his successor chocolate, wines, and whatever was needed for the journey to the capital. At other times he arranged a splendid and costly reception. . . . The reception of a viceroy was an important social event. The people eagerly waited for it, coming from far and near to attend the celebrations and pay their respect to the new executive. . . . The expenses of the reception grew so heavy that it became necessary to curtail them. ... An oath of office was required of every new viceroy. Shortly after he entered the capital, the viceroy went to the sala of the audiencia, where a clerk read his title, and in the presence of all the judges he "swore by God and the holy Mary to perform well and faithfully the duty of viceroy and president, attend to the service of his Majesty, obey the laws and ordinances of the king- dom, [to administer] justice to litigants and [keep] the secrecy of the audiencia." This was the substance of all the oaths, but occasionally the wording was slightly changed. Sometimes the re- ligious element was emphasized more than in the oath quoted. Before the oath was taken, the royal seal was brought out of the chancilleria with great pomp and returned afterwards with the same ceremony. When the monarch died, it was not necessary to repeat this oath, but the viceroy and other functionaries went through the ceremony of swearing allegiance to the new king. Many distinctions and privileges were granted to the viceroys from the time of their appointment until they returned to Spain. The Casa de Contratacion, or Board of Trade, was to transport them and their families to America without charge, as it did also when they were transferred from one viceroyalty to another. They might take with them a certain number of arms and jewels, and import free of duty every year as much as eight thousand ducats' worth of articles for their household. Of course they could ship other things at their own expense. . . . At first the title of Senoria was given to the viceroy, but soon the more distinguishing one of Clarisimo or Excelentisimo was per- mitted, and the troops honored him with the royal salute. A vice- regal court was maintained in imitation of the court in Spain. There the wealthiest and most select persons of colonial society gathered, and the court naturally became the chief social center and displayed great pomp and magnificence. It fixed the styles and etiquette of polite society, and the people of high social standing eagerly awaited the coming of the new viceroy and his attendants to set the pace for them in these matters. The viceroy's guard of 72 . The Colonial Period honor also lent dignity to his high position and gave a military as- pect to the palace. 5. THE RESIDENCIA i "jyesidencia was the examination or account taken of the official -^ acts of an executive or judicial officer during the term of his residence within the province of his jurisdiction, and while in the exercise of the functions of his office. This was done at the expira- tion of the term of office, or at stated periods, or in case of male- feasance at any time. The person making the examination was appointed by the king, or in New World affairs by the Consejo de Indias, or by a viceroy, and was called a juez de resldencia. Before this judge, within a given time, any one might appear and make complaint, and offer .evidence against the retiring or suspended official, who might refute and rebut as in an ordinary tribunal. The residencia of any officer appointed by the crown must be taken by a judge appointed by the crown; the residencia of officers ap- pointed in the Indies by viceroys, audiencias, or president-gov- ernors, was taken by a judge appointed by the same authority. Following are somt of the changes rung upon the subject by royal decrees, the better to make it fit the government of the Indies. The 10th of June, 1523, and again the 17th of November, 1526, Charles V. decreed that appeal might be made from the judge of residencia to the Council of the Indies, except in private demands not exceeding 600 pesos de oro, when appeal was to the audiencia. In 1530 viceroys and president-governors were directed to take the residencia of visitadores de Indios that wrong-doing to the natives might not escape punishment ; and by a later law proclama- tions of residencias must be made in such manner that the Indians might know thereof. The Ordeimnzas de Audiencias of Philip II. of 1563 and 1567, state that in some cities of the Indies it was customary to appoint at certain seasons two regidores, who, with an alcalde, acted as fieles ejecutores. At the beginning of every year the viceroy, or the president, in a city which was the residence of an audiencia, had to appoint an old or to take the residencia of the fieles ejecutores of the previous year. The same was to be done if those offices had been sold to the city, villa, or lugar ; but in such cases it was left to the discretion of the viceroy or president to cause them to be taken when necessary, not allowing them to be- come too commonplace. Philip II. in 1573, and his successors as late as 1680, directed that in residencias of governors and their subordinates, when the fine did not exceed 20,000 maravedis, ex- ecution should issue immediately ; in damages granted from private 1 From: H. H. Bancroft, Annals of Early Central America, 1501-1530 (New York: The Bancroft Company, n.d.), PP. 250-251, note. The Spanish Colonies: Government 73 demands to the amount of 200 ducats, the condemned was to give bonds to respond. While an official was undergoing his residencia it was equivalent to his being under arrest, as he could neither exer- cise office nor, except in certain cases specified, leave the place. Thus the law of 1530, reiterated in 1581, stated that from the time of the proclamation of a residencia till its conclusion alguaciles mayores and their tenientes should be suspended from carrying the varas, or from exercising any of the functions of office. In 1583, in 1620, and in 1680, it was ordered that such judges of resi- dencia as were appointed in the Indies should be selected by a vice- roy and audiencia, or by a president and audiencia, acting in accord. Salaries of jueces de residencia were ordered by Felipe III. in 1618 to be paid by the official tried if found guilty, if not by the audiencia appointing. Before this, in 1610, the same sovereign had ordered notaries employed in residencias taken by corregidores to be paid in like manner. The next monarch directed that ships' officers should be subject to residencia in the form of a vistia; and in visitas to galeones and flotas none but common sailors, artillery- men, and soldiers should be exempt. Carlos II. in 1667 decreed that the residencia of a viceroy must be terminated within six months from the publication of the notice of the judge taking it. Felipe III. in 1619, and Carlos II. in 1680, ordered that viceroys and presidents should send annually to the crown lists of persons suitable for conducting residencias, so that no one might be chosen to act upon the official under whose jurisdiction he resided. . . . Of the report of the residencia the original was sent to the Council of the Indies, and a copy deposited in the archives of the audiencia. So burdensome w^ere these trials, so corrupt became the judges, that later, in America, the residencia seemed rather to defeat than to promote justice, and in 1799 it was abolished so far as the sub- ordinate officers were concerned. 6. LAWS RELATING TO THE SPANISH COLONIES 1 ly ecopilacion de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias, of which I -*^ make general use in referring to the laws passed in Spain for the regulation of the affairs of the New World, is the result of several previous efforts in the direction of compilation. It was pub- lished at Madrid, the first edition in four volumes, by order of Carlos II. in 1681, and the fourth edition in three volumes, under the direction of the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies, in 1791. The work aimed to em^body all laws in force at the date of the respective editions relative to the Spanish American colonies. The three volumes are divided into nine books, and each book into from eight to forty-six titles. The first title of the first book is 1 From: H. H. Bancroft in Ibid., pp. 285-288, note. 74 The Colonial Period De la Santa Fe Catolica, a subject then second to none in grave importance. In fact the whole of the first book is devoted to ec- clesiastical and kindred matters. The second book refers in the main to tribunals and officials ; the third in a great measure to the army ; the fourth to discoveries and settlements ; the fifth to execu- tive and judicial offices ; the sixth to Indians, including treatment, repartimientos and encomiendas ; the seventh to crimes and pun- ishments ; the eighth to the management of the royal treasury ; and the ninth to the India House and the commerce of the Indies. By a decree of the emperor in 1550, which was embodied in the ordi- nances of audiencias in 1563, by Philip 11. , it was ordered that all cedulas and provisiones should be copied in extenso in a book set apart for that service, and of which great care should be taken, and that the said documents were to be filed chronologically in the ar- chives of each audiencia. In 1571, by Philip IL, it was decreed, and the decree embodied in the Recopilacion of 1680, that cedulas and provisiones concerning the royal treasury should be kept in a sep- arate book. The earliest printed collection of laws relating solely to the Indies is that of the ordenanzas for the government of the audiencia of Mexico. This was issued in 1548. In 1552 a similar collection was made by order of the viceroy of Peru, Antonio de Mendoza, for the government of the audiencia of Lima, but was not printed at that time. Later the fiscal of Mexico, Antonio Maldonado, began a compilation to which he gave the name Repertorio de las Cedidas, Provisiones, i Ordenansas Reales, but it does not appear that he ever completed his task, although a royal cedula in 1556 authorized him to do so. Upon the representation in 1552 by Francisco Her- nandez de Liebana, fiscal of the Council of the Indies, of the urgent necessity of such a work, a royal cedula was issued in 1560, direct- ing the viceroy of New Spain, Luis de Velasco, to have prepared and printed such regulations as were in force within the jurisdic- tion of the audiencia of Mexico, which was done in 1563 under the direction of Vasco de Puga, oidor of the audiencia. Francisco de Toledo, sent from Spain in 1569 as viceroy of Peru, was ordered to make a similar compilation covering the limits of his viceroyalty, but it was afterward thought better the work should be done in Spain. Hence in 1570 Philip II. ordered made a general compila- tion of laws and provisions for the government of the Indies, which was intended as a code, obsolete laws being omitted, new ones pro- vided where necessary, and those in conflict reconciled. Of this work, from some cause not satisfactorily explained, probably from the death of the author, only the title relating to the Consejo de Indias and its ordenanzas was printed, although the whole of the first book had been prepared. In 1581 some ordinances relative to the Casa de Contratacion The Spanish Colonies: Government 75 and its judges were printed at Madrid; and more of a similar na- ture in 1585, beside the Leyes y Ordenanzas for the government of the Indies, and the ordinances of 1582 concerning the despatch of fleets for New Spain and Tierra Firme, printed at Madrid ; and in Guatemala the ordenansas of July 14, 1556, relating to the Uni- vcrsidad de los Mercadcres de Sevilla. In 1594 the marques de Caiiete, viceroy of Peru, published at Lima a small volume of ordi- nances relative to the good treatme"nt of the Indians. But the want of a general compilation becoming more and more apparent, Diego de Encinas, a clerk in the office of the king's secretary, was ordered to prepare a copy of all provisiones, cedillas, cartas, ordenanzas, and instriic clones despatched prior to 1596, which work was printed at Madrid, in four folio volumes, the same year. . . . Shortly after this, Alvar Gomez de Abaunza, oidor of the audiencia of Guate- mala, and subsequently alcalde del crimen of the audiencia of Mexico, compiled two large volumes under the title of Repertorio de Cedillas Reales, which were not printed. And in Spain, Diego de Zorrilla made an attempt to revive the project of the recopilacion de leyes, by making extracts from Encinas and adding laws of later date ; but having received an appointment as oidor of the audiencia of Quito, he left the work incomplete and in manuscript. Others made similar attempts ; I shall not be able to enumerate them all, or give a full list even of the printed collections. For example, in 1603 was published at Valladolid a folio entitled Ordenangas Reales del Consejo de Indias, and another thin folio called Leyes y Orde- nangas Nuevamente he c has por su Mag est ad, para la Governacio de las Indias; later appeared a folio entitled Ordenangas de la Casa de la Contratacion de Sevilla, and another, Ordenangas Reales para el gohierno de los Tribunales de Contaduria Mayor en los Reynos de las Indias. In 1606 Hernando de Villagomez began to arrange cedulas and other laws relating to the Indies ; and two years after the celebrated conde de Lemos being president of the Council, Villagomez, and Rodrigo de Aguiar y Acuiia, member of the Coun- cil of the Indies, were appointed a committee to compile the laws ; but nothing came of it, even Fernando Carrillo failing to complete their unfinished task. Juan de Solorzano y Pereira, oidor of the audiencia of Lima, also began a collection of cedulas, and sent to the Council of th^ Indies the first book of his contemplated work, with the titles of the other five books which he intended to compile. In a carta real he was thanked for what he had done, and charged to continue his labors, sending each book as prepared to the Coun- cil. I have no evidence that he did so. . . . We come now to the time when Antonio de Leon Pinelo, judge in the India House, presented to the Council of the Indies the first and second books, nearly complete, of his Discurso sohre la importancia, forma, y disposicion de la Recopilacion Leies de Indias, which was ^6 The Colonial Period i:n::ied :n one volume, folio, in 1623. Tliis \\-as in reality Encinas' \rork with some cedulas added. Meanwhile it appears that some direct omcial work was done on a compilation, for in 1624 we find tlie Council instructing Pinelo to enter into relations with the cus- todian of the material for die compilation. Pinelo was likewise authorized to examine the arcliives of the Council: and for two vears he employed himself continuously in examining some 500 MS. volumes of cedulas. containing over 300.000 docum.ents. In the law authorizing tlie Recopiludon de las Indius of 16S0. it is said that in 1622 tlie task had been entrusted to Rodrigo de Aguiar y Acuna, probably tlie custodian referred to. In 1628 it was thought best to print for the use of the Council an epitome of the part com- pleted ; hence appeared the Sum-arios de h RccopUaciSn General de las Leies de las Indias, Aguiar y Acuna d^ing, Pinelo worked on alone until 1634, when the Council approved of what had l>een done : and in the year following this indefatigable and learned man had the satisfaction of presei—ir.g the completed Recopiladon de las Indias. To one of the :::e:::':ers. Juan de Solorzano y Pereira. the work was referred, and received liis approbation in 1636. More than half a million of cedulas had been examined and classiiied dur- ing the progress of this compilation. And yet it \\'as not published ; and during the delay it was :e:: : :: .: :':solete. and new material and partial compilations were :e:_ :.:.. ie both in Spain and in Aimerica, some of which were printed in separate pieces. In 1634 the Ordejiansas de la Junta de Guerra de Indias were published: in 1646 Juan Diez de la CaUe compiled and published for the Council of the Indies in small quarto a memorial containing some of the cedulas of the Recopilacion. A useful aid for the study of statistic geography in America is to be found in the exceedingly rare Meuwrial y Koficias Sacras y Reales del Imperic de las Indias Occidentales. By Juan Diez de la Calle. 1646, sm. 4to. 1S3 foKos. A register for the Spanish colonies, chiefly of state and cliurcli officials, of towns, their wealth and notable objects. Folios 41-132 refer to the jurisdictions of the audiencias of ^Mexico, Guadalajara. and Guateomla. CaUe had in the previous year, as assistant chief dak to the secretary of the Ro\'al Council of the Indies, presented the work to the king as Mem-orial Injormatorio al Rcy, and in ac- cordance with his approval it had been reprinted witli additions as above. Encouraged hereby he wrote at greater lengtli tlie Koticias Sacras i Reales in twelve Hbros, the publication of which was begun, bat never finished- Puga's work was continued in the form of an Ifmentjcmo of the cedulas relating to Xew Spain issued from 1567- 1620, the manuscript being presented to the secretar}^ of the Xew Spain dqiartHKnt of the Coundl of the Indies by Francisco de Parraga, afterward forming part of the Barcia collection. In 1647 apcesrei a: Seville the Ordenangas Reales, para la Casa de Coiv- The Spanish Colonies: Govern tnenl 77 tratacion de Sevilla, y para otras cosas do las Indias; in 1658 Pinelo published at Madrid the Autos, acuerdos y decretos de gobierno del real y supremo consejo de las Indias. In 1661 there was printed at Madrid a folio entitled Ordenangas para remedio de los danos, . . . and in 1672 the Norte de la Contra tacion de las Indias Occi- dentales of Joseph de Veitia Linage was published at Seville. . . . The many and long periods of suspended animation of the Recopilacion de Indias, between its inception and its birth, is no less remarkable a feature in the histoiy of the work than its multi- plicity of origins and collateral affluents. In 1660 the case was brought before the king, and then referred to successive commit- tees, in each of which were several members of the Council, the whole being under the supervision of their successive presidents, until finally, on the 18th of May, 1680, a royal decree made the Recopilacion de Indias law, and all ordinances conflicting therewith null. Even now printing did not seem to be at first thought of. Two authenticated copies were ordered made, one to be kept in the archives of the Council, and the other at Simancas. It was soon seen, however, that this was not sufficient, and in 1681 the king ordered the book printed under the superintendence of the Council of the Indies, which was done. Although the Recopilacion de Indias was several times revised, and well fulfilled its mission for over a hundred years, in fact to the end of Spain's dominion in Am.erica, several partial collections appeared from time to time in Spain and in America. Among these were Sumarios de las Cedulas . . . que se han despachado . . . desde el ano 1628 . . . hasta . . . 1677, printed in Mexico in 1678 ; Ordenanzas del Peru, Lima, 1685 ; also the Ordenanhas de Crugada, para los Suhdelegados del Peru; Regla- m-ento y Aranceles Reales para el Comercio Libre de Espana a Indias, 177 S; Teatro de la leglslacion universal de Espana e Indias, by Antonio Javier Perez y Lopez, 28 vols. 4to, Madrid, 1791-8. In the various public and private archives of Spain and Spanish America are manuscript collections of cedulas and compilations on special subjects. 7. THE REQUISITION OR MANIFESTO OF ALONZO DE OJEDA (1509)i IALONZO DE OJEDA, servant of the high and mighty kings 9 of Castile and Leon, civilizers of barbarous nations, their mes- senger and captain, notify and make known to you, in the best way I can, that God our Lord, one and eternal, created the heavens and earth, and one man and one woman, from whom you, and we, and all the people of the earth, were and are descendants, procreated, 1 From: Washington Irving, The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (New York: G. P. Putnam, 3 vols., 1863-1865), Vol. Ill (1865), pp. 468-470. yS The Colonial Period and all those who shall come after us ; but the vast number of gen- erations which have proceeded from them in the course of more than five thousand years that have elapsed since the creation of the world, made it necessary that some of the human race should dis- perse in one direction, and some in another, and that they should divide themselves into many kingdoms and provinces, as they could not sustain and preserve themselves in one alone. All these people were given in charge, by God our Lord, to one person, named Saint Peter, who was thus made lord and superior of all the people of the earth, and head of the w^hole human lineage ; whom all should obey, wherever they might live, and w^hatever might be their law, sect, or belief : he gave him also the whole world for his service and jurisdiction; and though he desired that he should establish his chair in Rome, as a place most convenient for governing the world, yet he permitted that he might establish his chair in any other part of the world and judge and govern all the nations, Christians, Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and whatever other sect or belief might be. This person was denominated Pope, that is to say. Admirable, Su- preme, Father and Guardian, because he is father and governor of all mankind. This holy father was obeyed and honored as lord, king, and superior of the universe, by those who lived in his time, and, in like manner, have been obeyed and honored all those who have been elected to the pontificate ; and thus it has continued imto the present day, and w411 continue until the end of the world. One of these pontiffs, of whom I have spoken, as lord of the w^orld, made a donation of these islands and continents of the ocean sea, and all that they contain, to the Catholic Kings of Castile, who, at that time, were Ferdinand and Isabella, of glorious memory, and to their successors, our sovereigns, according to the tenor of cer- tain papers, drawn up for the purpose (which you may see, if you desire). Thus his majesty is Idng and sovereign of these islands and continents by virtue of the said donation, and, as king and sovereign, certain islands, and almost all, to whom this has been notified, have received his majesty, and have obeyed and served, and do actually serve him. And, moreover, like good subjects, and with good wdll, and without any resistance or delay, the moment they were informed of the foregoing, they obeyed all the religious men sent among them to preach and teach our holy faith ; and these of their free and cheerful will, without any condition or rew^ard. became Christians, and continue so to be. And his majesty received them kindly and benignantly, and ordered that they should be treated like his other subjects and vassals. You also are required and obliged to do the same. Therefore, in the best manner I can, I pray and entreat you, that you consider well what I have said, and that you take whatever time is reasonable to understand and deliberate upon it, and that you recognize the church for sovereign The Spanish Colonies: Economic Affairs 79 and superior of the universal world, and the supreme pontiff, called pope, in her name, and his majesty, in his place, as superior and sovereign king of the islands and terra firma by virtue of said dona- tion ; and that you consent that these religious fathers declare and preach to 3^ou the foregoing: and if you shall so do, you will do well, and will do that to which you are bounden and obliged ; and his majesty, and I, in his name, will receive you with all due love and charity, and will leave you your wives and children free from servitude, that you may freely do with them and with yourselves whatever you please and think proper, as have done the inhabitants of the other islands. And, beside this, his majesty will give you many privileges and exemptions, and grant you many favors. If you do not do this, or wickedly and intentionally delay to do so, I certify to you that, by the aid of God, I will forcibly invade and make war upon you in all parts and modes that I can, and will subdue you to the yoke and obedience of the church and of his majesty; and I will take your wives and children, and make slaves of them, and sell them as such, and dispose of them as his majesty may command : and I will take your effects, and will do you all the harm and injury in my power, as vassals who will not obey or re- ceive their sovereign, and who resist and oppose him. And I pro- test that the deaths and disasters, which may in this manner be occasioned, will be the fault of yourselves, and not of his majesty, nor of me, nor of these cavaliers who accompany me. And of what I here tell you, and require of you, I call upon the notary here present to give me his signed testimonial. Chapter Si^ ECONOMIC AFFAIRS IN THE SPANISH COLONIES 1. PRODUCTS IN THE SPANISH AMERICAN COLONIES (1590)1 'T^HE Indies have been better repaid in the way of plants than in -■- other merchandise, for those which have come to Spain are few and get along badly, while those which have been sent from Spain are many and get along well. . . . Almost everything good 1 From: Jose de Acosta quoted in Charles Edward ChaDraan, Colonial Hispanic America: A History (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933), pp. 154-155. 8o The Colonial Period which is produced in Spain is now over there, in some cases better than in Spain, and in others not so good: wheat, barley, garden stuff, greens, and vegetables of every sort, such as lettuce, cabbage, radishes, onions, parsley, turnips, carrots, eggplant, endives, salt- worts, spinach, chick-peas, beans, lentils . . . for those who have gone there have been careful to carry seeds of everything, and in all cases the land has responded well. ... Of trees, those which most generally have been planted there and which are especially plentiful are the orange, sweet lime, citron, and fruit-trees of this type. . . . Also there are many peaches . . . and apricots. . . . There is an abundance of figs. . . . Quince trees are everywhere. . . . The cultivation of the vine is not slight, but its product is not em- ployed in export trade beyond the locality. Silk, which is produced in New Spain, is exported to other realms, for example to Peru. They had no silk in the time of the Indians ; the white mulberry tree was brought over from Spain, and got along very well, es- pecially in the province called Mixteca, where the silkworm is raised and taffetas are woven and made. . . . Sugar is even more generally produced, for not only is it consumed in the Indies, but also a great quantity is shipped to Spain, for the sugar cane grows exceedingly well in different parts of the Indies ; in the islands, in Mexico, in Peru, and in other parts estates on a great scale have been developed. . . . Olive trees have been planted ... in Mexico and Peru and in other regions, but, so far, there are no mills for the manufacture of olive oil. • 2. DESCRIPTION OF PEARL FISHING (Sixteenth Century) i THE tyrannic which the Spanish exercise over the Indians, to fish for Pearles, is one of the crudest that is in the world. There is no hell in this life, nor other desperate state in this world, that may be compared unto it ; although that the Trade of Gold finding be, in his kind, \Q.vy grievous, and very miserable. They let them into the Sea, three, f oure, or five fathome forth downe right under water, from the morning untill Sun-set, where they are continually flitting without stint, to plucke Oysters, in the which are engendered the Pearles. They surge up above the waters, with a Net full of Oysters to take breath: where standeth readie a Spanish Tor- mentor, in a little Cocke Boate, or a Brigantine, and if the poore wretches stay never so little while to rest themselves : they all do be buffet them with their fists and draw them by the haire into the water to returne to their fishing. Their sustenance is fish, and the same very fish which containeth the Pearles, and the bread Cacabi, 1 From: Las Casas quoted in Bernard Moses, The Spanish Dependencies in South America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 2 vols., 1914), Vol. I, pp. 30-31, note 1. The Spanish Colonies: Economic Ajf airs 8i or some Maiz, which are the kinds of bread of that Countrie, the one of very slender nourishment, the other is not easie to bee made into bread, of the which also, they never give them their belly full. The beds that they lodge them in a nights, is to set them by the heeles, their bodies recoyling on the cold ground, in a paire of stockes for feare of running away. Sometimes they are drowned in the Sea, and at their fishing and travell picking of Pearles, and never rise up againe above the water: because the Bunches (Sharkes) and whirlepooles doe kill and eate them. 3. ROYAL DECREE FORBIDDING SPANISH COLONIAL TRADE WITH FOREIGNERS (December 15, 1558)i WE ORDER and command that all persons who shall trade and traffic in the Indies, its provinces and harbors, with foreigners, of whatsoever nation, — who shall buy or barter gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, fruit or any other kind of merchandise; or shall buy or barter the spoils of battle or shall sell supplies, ammunition, arms or warlike stores and shall be found guilty of such sale, trade, barter or purchase, shall be punished with death and the confisca- tion of their property; and we command the governors and cap- tains general of our provinces, islands, and harbors to proceed against such persons with all the rigor of the law and to punish them without fail and without remission. And we withold from our Royal Audiences all power of dispensation or remission in the execution of the aforesaid penalties, since our royal will is that the provisions of this act be enforced and fulfilled without change or favor. If anyone shall disobey this law, whatsoever his state or condition, his life is forfeit and his goods shall be divided into three parts, of which one shall go to our royal treasury, one to the Judge, and one to the informer. 4. CAUSES AND RESULTS OF FOREIGN CONTRABAND TRADE IN THE SPANISH COLONIES 2 THE sole purpose for which the [Spanish] Americans existed was held to be that of collecting precious metals for the Span- iards ; and if the wild horses and cattle which overran the country- could have been trained to perform this office, the inhabitants might have been perfect. Unfortunately, however, for the system, the South Americans, finding that the Spaniards neither could nor would furnish them with an adequate supply of European products. 1 From: Philip II quoted in A. Stuart M. Chisholm, The Independence of Chile (Boston: Sherman, French and Company, 1911), pp. 11-12. 2 From: Basil Hall quoted in Anna Schoellkopf, Don Jose de San Martin (New York: Boni and Liveright, 1924), pp. 26-27. 82 The Colonial Period invited the assistance of other nations. To this call the other na- tions were not slow to listen, and in process of time there was established one of the most extraordinary systems of organized smuggling which the world ever saw. This was known under the name of contraband or forced trade, and was carried on in armed vessels, well manned, and prepared to fight their way to the coast, and resist the coast blockades of Spain. This singular system of warlike commerce was conducted by Dutch, Portuguese, French, English, and latterly by North Americans. In this way goods to an immense value were distributed over South America, and . . . along with goods no small portion of knowledge found entrance, in spite of the increased exertions of the Inquisition. . . . Many foreigners, too, by means of bribes and other arts, succeeded in getting into the country, so that the progress of intelligence was encouraged, to the utter despair of the Spaniards, who knew no other method of governing the colonies but that of brute force. 5. DESCRIPTION OF SLAVE SHIPS i THE men negroes, on being brought aboard ship, are immediately fastened together two by two, by handcuffs on their wrists, and by irons riveted on their legs. . . . They are frequently stowed so close as to admit of no other posture than lying on their sides. Neither will the height between decks, unless directly under the grating, permit them the indulgence of an erect posture, especially where there are platforms, which is generally the case. These platforms are a kind of shelf, about eight or nine feet in breadth, extending from the side of the ship towards the centre. They are placed nearly midway between the decks, at the distance of two or three feet from each deck. Upon these the negroes are stowed in the same manner as they are on the deck underneath. ... It often happens that those who are placed at a distance from the buckets, in endeavouring to get to them, tumble over their companions, in consequence of their being shackled. These accidents, although unavoidable, are productive of continual quarrels, in which some of them are always bruised. In this distressed situation they desist from the attempt . . . this results in a fresh source of broils and disturbances, and tends to render "the situation of the poor captive wretches still more uncomfortable. In favourable weather they are fed upon deck, but in bad weather the food is given to them below. Numberless quarrels take place among them during their meals, more especially when they are put upon short allowance, which frequently happens. In that case the weak are obliged to be content with a very scanty portion. 1 From: Falconbridge quoted in Arnold Lunn, A Saint in the Slave Trade. Peter Claver, 1581-1654 (New York: Sheed and Ward. Inc., 1935), pp. 92-95. The Spanish Colonies: Economic Affairs 83 Their allowance of water is about half a pint each, at every meal. Upon the negroes refusing to take sustenance, I have seen coals of fire, glowing hot, put on a shovel, and placed so near their lips as to scorch and burn them, and this has been accompanied with threats of forcing them to swallow the coals, if they any longer persisted in refusing to eat. These means have generally the desired effect. I have also been credibly informed that a certain captain in the slave trade poured melted lead on such of the negroes as obstinately refused their food. . , . The negroes are far more violently affected by sea-sickness than Europeans. It frequently terminates in death, especially among the women. The exclusion of the fresh air is among the most in- tolerable of their sufferings. Most ships have air-ports ; but, when- ever the sea is rough and the rain heavy, it becomes necessary to shut these and every other conveyance by which air is admitted. The fresh air being thus excluded, the negroes' rooms very soon grow intolerably hot. The confined air, rendered noxious by the effluvia exhaled from their bodies, and by being repeatedly breathed, soon produces fevers and fluxes, which generally carry off great numbers of them. . . . My profession requiring it, I frequently went down among them, till at length their apartment became so extremely hot as to be only sufferable for a very short time. But the excessive heat was not the only thing that rendered their situ- ation intolerable. The deck, that is, the floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and mucus which had proceeded from them in consequence^ of the flux, that it resembled a slaughter- house. . . . Numbers of the slaves haying fainted, they were carried on deck, where several of them died ; and the rest were with great difficulty restored. ... By only continuing among them for about a quarter of an hour, I was so overcome by the heat, stench, and foul air, that I had nearly fainted ; and it was not without assistance that I could get upon deck. ... [Falconb ridge then describes conditions in a vessel which carried more than three slaves to each ton.] The slaves were so crowded that they were obliged to lie one upon another. This occasioned such a mortality among them, that, without meeting with unusual bad weather, or having a longer voyage than common, nearly one half of them died before the ship arrived in the West Indies. . . . The place allotted for the sick negroes is under the half -deck, where they lie on the bare plank. Thus, those who are emaciated frequently have their skin, and even their flesh, entirely rubbed off, fey the motion of the ship, from the prominent parts of the shoulders, elbows, and hips, so as to render the bones in those parts quite bare. The excruciating pain [lasts] frequently for several weeks. . . . The surgeon, upon going between decks in the morning, frequently finds several of 84 The Colonial Period the slaves dead, and sometimes a dead and a living negro fastened by their irons together. 6. DIFFICULTIES WITH FOOD ON THE MANILA GALLEON (1697)1 AT LAST he [Boatswain] depriv'd me of the satisfaction of gnawing a good bisket, because he would spend no more of his own, but laid the king's allowance on the table ; in every mouth- ful v/hereof there went down abundance of m.aggots^'and Gorgojos chew'd and bruis'd. On fish days the common diet was old rank fish boil'd in fair water and salt ; at noon Vv^e had Mongos, something like kidney beans, in which there were so many maggots, that they swam at the top of the broth, and the quantity was so great, that besides the loathing they caus'd, I doubted whether the dinner was fish or flesh. This bitter fare was sweeten'd after dinner with a little water and sugar ; yet the allowance was but a small cocoa shell full, which rather increased than quenched drought. Providence reliev'd us for a month with sharks and Cachorretas the seamen caught, which, either boil'd or broil'd were some comfort. Yet he is to be pity'd who has another at his table ; for the tediousness of the voyage is the cause of all these hardships. 'Tis certain, they that take this upon them, lay out thousands of pieces of eight in making the necessary provision of flesh, fowl, fish, bisket, rice, sweetmeats, chocolate, and other things; and the quantity is so great, that during the whole voyage, they never fail of sweetmeats at table, and chocolate twice a day, of which last the sailors and grummets make as great a consumption, as the richest. 7. BILL OF FARE ON A SPANISH FLEET (1770) 2 THE captains or other persons commissioned therefor on the ships detailed for the present transport service must provide meals as follows to the officers and their families assigned to the different ships, all provisions, materials, and utensils for the pur- veying and service of the commissariat being at their expense. Breakfast One cup of chocolate, with bread, and butter or cheese, for each person who has the right of the messroom. Dinner A bread-soup and another soup, made either of rice, vermicelli, or other paste — both soups to be prepared with broth or stock. 1 From: Gemelli Careri quoted in Paul S. Taylor in the Hispanic American Historical Reviezo, November 1922, pp. 657-658. 2 From: Juan Antonio Enriquez quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Rcvic'v, May 1920, pp. 186-188. The Spanish Colonies: Economic Affairs 85 A stew, to consist of beef or mutton, and salt pork, well made and plenty for all those of the messroom ; with one, two, or three pork sausages as may be considered necessary ; and with pumpkins, cabbages, chickpeas, etc., prepared in proportion to the amount it has been possible to stow aboard, paying due consideration to the length of the voyage. Two main dishes, one of mutton or veal, and the other of fowl, such as it may have been possible to stow aboard. Another course of pickled fish, anchovies, salad, or their equiva- lent. In addition to the various courses above enumerated, an extra of ham, sausage, or some kind of paste shall be served twice per week whenever the weather permits. Three different kinds of dessert, which shall be varied daily, consisting of olives, raisins, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and cheese; and in addition an extra of sweetmeats shall be served three times per week. Supper A salad, either raw or boiled, as the weather may permit. Two courses, one of meat, and the other of fish or eggs, accord- ing to the length of the voyage and the condition of the weather. Two dififerent kinds of dessert as above mentioned for the din- ner, alternating the several kinds. Notice For dinner as well as for supper good wine shall be provided unsparingly, which may also be provided for breakfast to those preferring it to chocolate. The bread mentioned above is to be white biscuit, similar to the kind prescribed in the provisions of the king's fleet. In case the weather should becom.e so bad on some days that fires can not be lighted aboard, it w411 be prudent for the com- missaries to have ready at all times a supply of boiled ham with which they can replace the hot dishes. In such cases they shall provide one ample course of cold ham, one of pickled fish or sausage, a salad of anchovies or gaspacho, together with cheese and the desserts above mentioned. In cases of sickness, each patient shall be served a stew, one- fourth of which shall consist of chicken, and one-fourth of mutton and chickpeas, together with a cup of broth or soup; and for des- sert some sweets. In case the officers, their families, and the other persons who have the freedom of the messroom, enjoy the privilege of eating meat on fast days and Fridays during the year (with the exception of Lent and Holy Week), the commissaries shall not have to pro- vide a fish dinner on such days, because of the difficulty in doing 86 The Colonial Period otherwise at sea. But in case all the persons (and not only a part of them) aboard should agree to abstain from meat and shall have given notice the day before, the following bill-of-fare shall be provided : A soup made of chickpeas, beans, or lentils ; one dish of codfish, either stewed or boiled, or the two different kinds in case there is no pickled fish or salmon available ; one course of eggs, giving two or three eggs to each person; and three different desserts of the kinds above mentioned. Don Juan Antonio Enriquez, Of His Majesty's Council, his secretary, and commissary of the Department of the Navy. I hereby attest that the above is a copy of the instructions made by virtue of the royal orders by Don Juan Gerbaut, Intendant General of the Navy. In order that it may be regarded as a copy by the captains of the 31 ships detailed by me for the present transportation to America of the infantry regiments Savoya [i.e., Savoy], Lombardia [i.e., Lombardy], Irlanda [i.e., Ireland], Se- gundo de Cataluna [i.e., the Second Catalonian], and the two artil- lery companies — with whom I have adjusted the price of the daily meals of each officer at seven reales in silver — I sign the present at Cadiz, October 24, 1770. Don Juan Antonio Enriquez. QuKvu-E^ vSeven THE EXPLOITATION OF THE INDIANS IN THE SPANISH COLONIES 1. THE REPARTIMIENTO SYSTEM i jy epartimiento, a distribution ; repartir, to divide ; encomienda, a ■*-^ charge, a commandery; encornendar, to give in charge; en- comendero, he who holds an encomienda. In Spain an encomienda, as here understood, was a dignity in the four military orders, en- dowed with a rental, and held by certain members of the order. It was acquired through the liberality of the crown as a reward for 1 From: H. H. Bancroft, Annals of Early Central America, 1501-1530 (New York: The Bancroft Company, n.d.), pp. 262-264, note. The Spanish Colonies: The Indians 87 services in the wars against the Moors. The lands taken from the Infidels were divided among Christian commanders ; the inhabitants of those lands were crown tenants, and life-rights to their services were given these commanders. In the legislation of the Indies, en- comienda was the patronage conferred by royal favor over a portion of the natives, coupled with the obligation to teach them the doc- trines of the Church, and to defend their persons and property. It was originally intended that the recipients of these favors were to be the discoverers, conquerors, meritorious settlers, and their descendants; but in this as in many other respects the wishes of the monarchs and their advisers did not always reach the mark. The system begun in the New World by Columbus, Bobadilla, and Ovando was continued by Vasco Nuiiez, Pedrarias, Cortes, and Pizarro, and finally became general. Royal decrees upon the sub- ject, which seemed to grow more and more intricate as new posses- sions were pacified, began with a law by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1509, reiterated by Philip II. in 1580, to the effect that immediately upon the pacification of a province the governor should divide the natives among the settlers. The natives thus distributed were held for a term of years, or during the life of the holder, or for two or more lives — that is, during the life of the first holder, and that of his heir, and perhaps that of his heir's heir, or until the king should otherwise decree. . . . When by this course three fourths of certain populations had been ''recommended" to their death, at the repre- sentation of Las Casas, the king in 1523 decreed that "as God our lord had made the Indians free," they must not be enslaved on this or any other pretext ; "and therefore we command that it be done no more, and that those already distributed be set at liberty. ..." But by this abolition the destruction of the colonies was threatened. Petition followed petition for the restoration of the system, until the king finally yielded. ... In 1542 encomiendas were again abolished, and again the king was obliged to restore them. Mean- while every effort possible was made by the crown to prevent abuses.- The encomendero must fulfil in person the intention of the law. He must not leave without permission from the governor, and then his duties must be delegated to a responsible agent. If away for four months without permission, his encomienda was to be declared vacant. The encomendero must not hire out any natives, or pledge them to creditors, under penalty of loss of Indians and a fine of 50,000 maravedis. No one could appropriate any natives except those legally assigned. When it was seen how those in office misused their power, in 1530, in 1532, in 1542, in 1551, and in 1563 all civil and ecclesiastical functionaries were forbidden to hold encomiendas; but in 1544 Philip II. excepted from this pro- hibition tenientes de gohernadores, corregidores, and alcaldes may- ores de pueblos, Indians should not be given in encomienda to the 88 The Colonial Period daughters of royal officials, or to sons unless married. It was just and reasonable that the savages should pay the Spaniards tribute, for so God had appointed, so the pope had ordained, and the king had commanded; but it was the collection of this tribute only, and not the deprivation of liberty, or of any personal rights, that the encomienda was intended to cover. And for this tax, which who- soever enjoys the boon of civilization must surely pay, the vassal was to receive protection, and the still more blessed boon of Chris- tianity. Nor must this impost under any consideration be made burdensome. The manner of making assessments was minutely defined by edicts of Charles V. at divers dates from 1528 to 1555, and of Philip II. from the beginning to the end of his reign. In substance they were as follows. The king made responsible to him the vice- roys, and the presidents and audiencias, who, by the aid of a com- missioner and assessors, fixed the rates in their respective districts. The assessors having first heard a solemn mass of the Holy Ghost, in order to enlighten their understanding that they might justly regard the value of the rental and equitably determine the rate, they were to swear with all solemnity before the priest this to do without bias. They were personally to inspect all the pueblos of the province, noting the number of settlers and natives in each pueblo, and the quality of the land. They were to ascertain what the natives had originally paid to their caciques as tribute, and never make the new rate higher, but always lower, than the old one. For surely they should not be worse off in serving Spain than in serving their heathen lords. After thus carefully examining the resources and capabilities of the tributaries, and never infringing on the comfort of the women and children, the assessors should fix the rate according to God and their conscience. The natives might pay in money if they preferred, but payment should be required only in kind, in whatever produce grew on their lands. They must not be required to raise anything specially for this purpose; and from not over two or three kinds of produce should tribute be taken ; a few chickens, or a pig or two, need not be counted at all. It was the intention of the monarchs that from a tenth to a fifth might in this way be taken, though the encomendero too often managed to get twice or thrice as much, or all the natives had. The Indians must be made to understand how the appraisement was made, and that it was not done in the interests of the Spaniards alone. Then the assessor must put in writing what each had to pay, and leave the original with the cacique, giving one copy to the encomendero, and sending one to the Council of the Indies, or to the viceroy, or to the audiencia. For the encomendero to practise extortion, or demand more than the schedule called for, there were pronounced the severest penalties, even to the loss of the encomienda The Spanish Colonies: The Indians 89 and half his goods. Natives voluntarily coming forward and en- tering in encomienda w^ere excused from paying tribute for ten years; and, in any event, for the first two years after congregating in pueblos but one half the usual tribute could be legally exacted. Males were taxed after the eighteenth year; caciques, elder sons, women, and alcaldes in office were exempt. After the gift, the encomienda was the property of the encomendero, not to be taken from him before the expiration of his term without cause. In every encomienda there must be a church, and where there was none, the natives must be stimulated to build one, the priest to be paid out of the rental. In every pueblo of 100 or more natives, two or three must be taught to sing, so that they might act as choristers ; also a native sacristan — these to be exempt from tribute. In 1568 Philip II. ordered that no encomendero should receive a rental of over 2000 pesos ; any excess was to be returned to the crown and employed as pensions. The same monarch directed in 1573 that when an encomienda fell A^acant, a viceroy or governor might, if he deemed best, appropriate the rental to benevolent objects, and defer granting it again till the king's pleasure should be known. And again, in 1583, that the encomendero must have a house of his own, built of stone for purposes of defence, in the city of his resi- dence ; and he must keep his family there. He should maintain no house in the town of the Indians, nor should he have any building there except a granary. In 1592 it was decreed that Indians in encomienda could be given to none but residents in the Indies. When an encomienda became vacant, so it was decreed in 1594 and subsequently, the fact was advertised for from twenty to thirty days, during which time applicants might prefer their respective claims, and recite services rendered the crown by themselves or their ancestors. Preference was always to be given to the descend- ants of discoverers and settlers. Two or three small encomiendas might sometimes be joined in one. And never might religious train- ing be forgotten ; when the rental was not sufficient for the support of the encomendero and the instructor, the latter must have the revenue. Felipe III. in 1602, 1611, 1616, 1618, and 1620, decreed that as a rule but one encomienda could be held by one person; still more seldom could one be given up and another taken. There was to be no such thing as commerce in them. They were a trust. Much evil had arisen from dividing encomiendas, and' it should be done no more. Felipe IV. in 1655 ordered that governors under royal commission and those named by the viceroy ad interim might give Indians in encomienda, but alcaldes ordinarios holding tempo- rarily the office of governor were not allowed this privilege. . . , Finally, toward the close of the seventeenth century, the monarchs, becoming more and more straitened in their need of money, ordered that encomenderos should pay a portion of their revenue to the 90 The Colonial Period crown; then a larger portion was demanded; and then the whole of it. In 1721 the system came to an end. But after endeavoring for two hundred years to get back what they had given away, the monarchs found there was nothing left of it, the natives having by this time merged with sometimes slightly whitened skins into the civilized pueblos. 2. ROYAL C^DULA TO GOVERNOR OVANDO OF ESPA^OLA CONCERNING INDIAN LABOR AND WAGES (December 20, 1503)i MEDINA del Campo, Dec. 20, 1503. Isabella, by the Grace of God, Queen of Castille, etc. In as much as the King, my Lord, and I, in the instruction we commanded given to Don Fray Nicolas de Ovando, Comendador mayor of Alcantara, at the time when he went to the islands and mainland of the Ocean Sea, decreed that the Indian inhabitants and residents of the island of Espanola, are free and not subject . . . and as now we are informed that be- cause of the excessive liberty enjoyed by the said Indians they avoid contact and community with the Spaniards to such an extent that they will not even work for wages, but wander about idle, and cannot be had by the Christians to convert to the Holy Catholic Faith ; and in order that the Christians of the said island . . . may not lack people to v/ork their holdings for their maintenance, and may be able to take out what gold there is on the island . . . and because we desire that the said Indians be converted to our Holy Catholic Faith and taught in its doctrines; and because this can better be done by having the Indians living in community with the Christians of the island, and by having them go among them and associate with them, by which means they will help each other to cultivate and settle and increase the fruits of the island and take the gold which may be there and bring profit to my kingdom and subjects : I have commanded this my letter to be issued on the matter, in which I command you, our said Governor, that beginning from the day you receive my letter you will compel and force the said Indians to associate with the Christians of the island and to work on their buildings, and to gather and mine the gold and other metals, and to till the fields and produce food for the Christian inhabitants and dwellers of the said island ; and you are to have each one paid on the day he works the wage and maintenance which you think he should 'have . . . and you are to order each cacique to take charge 1 From: Queen Isabella, quoted in Lesley Byrd Simpson, The Encomienda in New Spain (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1929), pp. 30-31. The Spanish Colonies: The Indians 91 of a certain number of the said Indians so that you may* make them work wherever necessary, and so that on feast days and such days as you think proper they may be gathered together to hear and be taught in matters of the Faith. . . . This the Indians shall perform as free people, which they are, and not as slaves. And see to it that the said Indians are well treated, those who become Christians better than the others, and do not consent or allow that any person do them any harm or oppress them. . . . I, the Queen. 3. A GRANT OF ENCOMIENDA IN SANTO DOMINGO (July 15, 1521)1 I THE licenciate Rodrigo de Figueroa, oidor of the royal audien- 9 cia of appeals, who by command of his Majesty reside in these parts, judge of commission of Indian aftairs of this island of Espanola for the Emperor and Queen, our lords, do inform you, the alcaldes ordinary of this city of Santo Domingo, that I have been petitioned by Esteban de Pasamonte, a resident of this city, to give him license to use the Indians that belong to Martin de Gamboa, deceased, whom God cherish, and who have been set at liberty, in as much as he says that the said Indians will be glad to serve him. This matter having been examined by me, and in consideration of the fact that they wish and consent to serve the said Pasamonte for just wages as free persons and will be more profited thus than in any other state, I have ordered this instruction issued by which I command you, the said alcaldes, each and all of you, to go where the said Indians are and inform yourselves about them, first giving them to understand that they are free and that his Majesty com- mands and wishes that they be not given in encomienda to any person, but that they are to be and live like Spaniards, and that the latter are not to do violence to them, but they are to be and live together, and what they produce shall be for themselves. And after having informed them of the above you will tell them that if they wish to come and enter the service of Esteban de Pasamonte he will pay them very well; and if they are satisfied with it, you, the said alcaldes, each and all of you, in God and good conscience, will fix what seems just to you to be paid them each year, so that the said Pasamonte may give it them for the time they may serve him. And let this be set down before a notary, so that, although the said Indians or any of them do not serve the full time, they may 1 From: Rodrigo de Figueroa quoted in Lesley Byrd Simpson, The Encomienda in New Spain (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1929), pp. 208-209. 92 The Colonial Period be paid for the time they have served and not lose anything ; and with all of this I charge your consciences. Done in the city of Santo Domingo, July 15, 1521. The Licenciate Figueroa. By command of the said lord licenciate. Juan Ramos, notary of his Majesty. 4. HOW THE SPANIARDS MISTREATED THE INDIANS OF PERU DURING THE CONQUEST i THE natives of the fruitful villages, seeing the powerful force led by the Governor, came out to serve him and bring him pro- visions ; and although the Governor had excellent intentions about pacifying and tranquillising the provinces, I will not omit to say that great wickednesses and violences were committed against the natives by the Spaniards, who took from them their women and from some their property also : and — what is most lamentable — in order to make them carry baggage and superfluous things which need not have been brought at all, the Spaniards put them in chains ; and as they walked through the deserts of deep sand and the bur- dens were big and the sun was powerful and there was no tree to give them shade nor stream to provide them with water, the poor Indians became weary ; and instead of letting them rest, the Span- iards gave them hard beatings, saying that they did it from rascality. They were so ill-treated that many of them fell on the ground; and some of the Spaniards, in order not to spend time in removing the fallen men from the chain, cut off their heads with little fear of God. In this way many of the Indians perished ; for there used to be a great number of them in these valleys ; and through the -evil treatment which they suffered from former Governors and Cap- tains, they have come to the present diminution ; and many of these valleys are depopulated and are so deserted that there is nothing to be seen but the ruined buildings and the sepulchres of the dead and the rivers which run through the valleys. . . . They ill-treated the unhappy Indians who for their own sins and those of their ancestors deserved the chastisement or great plague which by the hand of the Spaniards — our Lord God permitting it — has come upon them. . . . Hardly had one army of the Christians passed when the other army came ; and if the first had little fear of God and had no charity to prevent the deaths of so many thousands, the others feared God less. . . . Moreover Almagro and his men paid attention to nothing except to attain their desire and possess the government, and thus there disappeared from these valleys between Lima and Nasca the 1 From: Cieza de Leon quoted in F. A. Kirkpatrick, The Spanish Conqnistadores (London: A. and C. Black, Ltd., 1934), pp. 200-203. The Spanish Colonies: The Indians 93 greater part of the inhabitants, dying from hunger and from being- carried captive in chains and from many other harms which they suffered; and having come to the valley of Nasca, the Adelantado set up his camp in the place which seemed most suitable : and the Spaniards provided themselves at their pleasure and at the cost of the poor Indians. . . . And of the Indians who came from the moun- tains carrying the King's gold and other baggage some were left dead on the road and others were so injured in their feet that they had not the use of their feet as long as they lived. . . . Many faults have been committed by the Spaniards in this kingdom and assuredly I should wish not to write these things since they were done by my own countrymen. They did not regard the benefits granted by God, who was pleased that they and no other nation should win the great kingdoms and provinces of these Indies. After the victory of Las Salinas many of those who had fought for the Pizarros dispersed through the provinces of the west and north, robbing all they could from the Indians : they forced the Indians by torture to give up the flocks that were hidden for fear of thieves ; and they drove away great flocks for sale in Lima and sold them for almost nothing. . . . and the poor Indians went from hill to hill complaining of their ill-treatment. 5. WHAT A NOBLE INCA SAID TO PIZARRO'S SPANIARDS 1 NOW, since you Christians have come, from freeman you have made us slaves, and from lords have made us your servants. The Inca lost his reputation and freedom and we our liberty and re- freshment. In place of being served, we served you. . . . We lived in your houses, abandoning our own. You have been so ungrateful that instead of treating us well and justly, you took our wives and daughters for concubines : you robbed our property, burning us, and tearing us with dogs in order to take it from us, insulting our persons with evil words ; and that which we feel with most dismay is that a natural lord whom God gave us, who was esteemed, served, loved and obeyed, should be treated as the least among us. 6. WHAT AN ARAUCANIAN INDIAN PRISONER SAID TO THE SPANIARDS 2 I AM your captive. You have killed our men and carried away our women and children. Our houses are in ruins, and our little fields are left desolate. The summer has come many times since 1 From: Cieza de Leon quoted in F. A. Kirkpatrick, The Spanish Conquistadores (London: A. and C. Black, Ltd.. 1934), p. 182. 2 From: Bernard Moses, The Spanish Dependencies in South America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 2 vols., 1914), Vol, I, pp. 358-359. 94 The Colonial Period you began to murder my people. One after one our villages have been burned, and all that we had has been taken from us. We have become strangers in the valleys where sometime the blue smoke of our hearth-fires ascended through the green branches of our forests. You tell us you came to make us know your god, but we reply we will not know him. He is a weak and unjust god, or long ago he would have stretched forth his hand to smite you for your cruel treatment of those who lived before us. You fancy, because your battle-axes have fallen heavily upon us, and your spears have pierced us, that we are subdued. The Araucanian is never subdued. He is born free. You may put chains on his body, but you cannot put chains on his spirit. You may kill our warriors and make our country a desert ; but you will marry our women, and your children will have the strong blood of the Araucanian. You may whiten their faces ; you may teach them to go to your temples, and pray to your god; but they will not be like you. Their blood will be our blood, and their spirit will be our spirit. The Araucanian has al- ways triumphed, and he will still triumph. Your children's chil- dren will rule the land, but they will be our children. Their mothers will be our women, from whose breasts they will have drawn the hatred you have aroused in us. The generations who come after you will hate the stranger as we have hated you. They will be like us. You may tear us in pieces with your horses ; you may burn us with hot irons ; you may puU out our tongues by the roots ; but the Araucanian will not be conquered. Your children will be his chil- dren, and in them his spirit will survive unsubdued to the latest days. 7. RULES AGAINST MISTREATMENT OF INDIANS BY THE ENCOMENDEROS OF CHILE (about 1560)i 1 HENCEFORTH the demora [period of work in the mines] • shall be only for six months. In the jurisdictions of Santiago and Serena, embracing the* cities of Mendoza and San Juan, gold shall not be mined, except in March, April, May, June, July, and August ; and, in other parts of the country in November, Decem- ber, January, February, March, and April. 2. The rule according a sixth of the gold to the Indians shall be re-established in all its force, as also the guarantees ordered by Santillan in their favour. 3. In view of the evil results of the mingling of the negroes with the Indians in the work of mining, the introduction of negroes as inspectors in the repartimientos shall be prohibited ; the penalty 1 From: Pedro de Villagra summarized in Bernard Moses, The Spanish Dependencies in South America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 2 vols., 1914), Vol. II, pp. 53-55. The Spanish Colonies: The Indians 95 being that the encomenderos, for the first violation of the rule, shall. pay, for the benefit of the Indians, one hundred dollars in gold, and for the second two hundred dollars. Besides, each of the negroes shall receive a hundred lashes. For the third offence, the encomenderos shall lose their slaves, and shall be deprived of their repartimientos for three years. 4. The protector of the Indians, and the priest appointed for the purpose of teaching them the Christian doctrine, shall use the prod- uct of the sixths in acquiring sheep for their wards ; and, before an officer of the court, shall turn these animals over to the encomen- deros, who shall be obliged to render an account annually of the state of the flock. 5. This account shall be received by the protector and the priest "both together, and not the one without the other." The same pro- tector and priest were authorized to distribute among the Indians as many sheep as they thought advisable. 6. The protector and the priest shall make efifective the respon- sibility of the encomenderos whenever they become delinquent, and even take from them the care of the flock, and commit it to the proper persons without prejudice to the institution of judicial pro- ceedings in the case against the delinquents. 7. The protector and the priest shall visit together every six months the repartimientos of the district committed to their care, and shall inform themselves concerning the treatment accorded to the Indians, and concerning the execution of the laws, and send a detailed report to the governor, to the end that justice may be done. 8. In each district there shall be appointed a protector and a priest. The protector shall be selected by the governor of Chile from persons of strictly Christian character: and the priest shall be the superior of the monastery of Saint Francis, or, indeed, some other Franciscan designated by the order, in case there shall be a local establishment of the order, or, in the absence of any such establishment, then the parish priest, or a priest of prestige of another order than the Franciscan, until this order shall be estab- lished in the district. 9. The protector shall be given a salary fixed by the governor, which shall be paid by halves by the Indians and by the encomen- deros, although it shall by preference be deducted from the product of the penalties established by this law. 10. Annually an account shall be taken of the manner in which the protectors shall have performed their duties, and the\' ^hall he punished if found delinquent. 11. In the first visit of each year the protector and the jjriest shall form, in connection with the encomendero, a list of the Indians of the repartimiento. 96 The Colonial Period SOCIETY IN THE SPANISH COLONIES 1. MARRIAGE TANGLES AMONG MEXICAN INDIANS IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY 1 I WILL tell of a case of abuse which I found in the diocese of Michoacan, and I found so many cases of it that finally, I gave up the idea of trying to discover a remedy. It happened that Pedro and Maria, Indians, were married by the church. Then Pedro be- came enamored of another woman and in order to rid himself of his wife and wed the other, had only to go to the friar and say that when he was married to Maria by the church, he was already mar- ried to the other. At once this was believed, and without asking for further information the monk dissolved the union and married him to the other woman. It happened afterwards that Pedro became angry and dissatisfied with his latest w^ife, so he appeared again before the same friar and said that the story that he had told on the former occasion was not true and that he had practiced deception in what he said. He asked then that his former wife be returned to him. Meantime, however, she had sought the protection of some other man and had married him. ' At once, not withstanding the admission of deception, with the same readiness as before, the priest accepted the second story, and there was thus created a matrimonial tangle which God alone could untangle, for there was a confusion of five or six marriages, all solemnized by the church. This is very common and every day such marriages are per- formed and dissolved, as I have ascertained by repeated personal observation and investigation of man}^ cases. ... I sought by writ- ing and by word to get the evils corrected, but accomplished noth- ing, for the friar simply said that the conscience of each had to be relied upon. Even the protests of the prelates accomplished noth- ing more than to provoke a defense by the friars. 1 From: Father Anguis quoted in Charles S. Braden, Religious Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 1930), pp. 244-245. The Spanish Colonies: Society 97 2. DESCRIPTION OF SANTA FE DE BOGOTA (About 1650) 1 SANTA Fe de Bogota lies on the slopes of two mountains, ex- tending downward to the plain. It is a little more than two miles in length, and perhaps one in width. The streets are wide, straight and at present all are paved, so that neither is there mud "in the winter nor does dust annoy in the summer. The city's build- ings, both high and low, are costly and well built in the modern style of stone, brick, plaster and tile, so that they are not surpassed by Castilian dwellings, although there is no comparison with royal palaces, either of kings or of great lords, which in their structure generally surpass those found in the Indies. The houses are so spread out over their sites that almost all have spacious patios, gardens and orchards, and no family needs to beg fruit and flowers from another. The city is beautified by four plazas and five arched bridges over the two rivers that bathe it, San Francisco and San Agustin, so that it is easy to go from one part of the city to the other, and the San Francisco River is so useful that besides supply- ing water for many private fountains it provides power for eight mills within the circuit of the city. The Spaniards who live here, whose number is increasing daily, are more than 3,000 at present and there are as many as 10,000 Indians, most of them dwelling in the highest part of the city, that called Pueblo vie jo, and in another section to the north called Pueblonuevo. There would be many more Spanish inhabitants if they were not constantly being drawn off to succor the strongholds of Cartagena, Santa Marta, Merida and Guiana. Those who dwell here, Indians as well as Spaniards, are divided into three parishes, besides the cathedral, which has the most distinguished and numerous parishioners. Those who are commonly called Creoles are of a lively intelligence and speak a purer Castilian Spanish than any other inhabitants of the Indies. They are little inclined to the study of law and medicine, in which Lima and Mexico excel, but much to that of sacred theology, phil- osophy and the humanities. They go to great lengths in the elab- orate celebration of church rites and in entertaining strangers. They are generally skilled in sword play and dancing, and they make it a point of honor to settle their duels and challenges one by one or two by two without recourse to firearms. The women are generally beautiful, of distinguished bearing, quick and full of courtly wit, especially those of noble birth, and they surpass men in keeping their word. 1 "From: Lucas Fernandez de Piedrahita quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, August 1938, pp. 444-446. 98 The Colonial Period 3. THE VIRTUES OF PARAGUAYAN TEA OR VERBA MATE (About 1670) 1 MANY things . . . are reported concerning the virtue of this powder or herb ; for, they say, if you cannot sleep, it will com- pose you to it ; if you are lethargic, it drives away sleep ; if you are hungry, it satisfies ; if your meat does not digest, it causes an appe- tite ; it refreshes after weariness, and drives away melancholy, and several diseases. Those who once use themselves to it, cannot easily leave it, -for they affirm their strength fails 'em when they want it, and can't live long ; and so great slaves are they to this slender diet, that they'll almost sell themselves rather than want wherev/ithal to purchase it. The wiser sort, tho' moderately used it strengthens and brings other advantages, will hardly ever make use of it; and if immoderately used, it causes drunkenness, and breeds distempers, as too much wine does ; yet this vice has not only overrun Paraguay, but Tucuman, Chile and Peru, and is near coming over to Europe, this herb of Paraguay being valued among the precious commodi- ties of America. 4. AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE OF LIMA (About 1800) 2 LIMA, like the cities of Spain, has its bull-ring where bull-fights are held at appointed times. The bull-fighters, the most active and daring, have the custom of hamstringing the bull if he will not attack. The people of Lima count among their public amusements the drama, for the representation of which they have a sufficiently capacious theatre. Good order and neatness are maintained in the theatre in spite of the fact that the spectators smoke during the play. The decorations are mediocre, and the actors are ordinary. Gen- erally no other plays are given than those which we call magic or religious plays. The public applauds them heartily, and the time appears still very remote when these coarser productions will be driven from the stage, which, far from instructing, vitiate the understanding and confirm bad taste. Before the 5^ear 1771 cafes were not known in Lima. To-day there are several, and they are much frequented early in the morn- ing and at noon. All kinds of drinks and ices are found in them, and each has its table for trucks or billiards. There is also a public place for the playing of pelota, or hand- ball, where much money is risked; but among all the diversions 1 From: Padre Nicolas Techo quoted in J. A. Zahra, Through South America's Southland (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1916), p. 113, note 2. 2 From: Tadeo- Haenke quoted in Bernard Moses, South America on the Eve of Eman- cipation iNevf York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1908), pp. 26-27. The Spanish Colonies: Society 99 cock-fighting is that which most attracts the attention of the people of Lima, and may be regarded as the favorite amusement of the natives. 5. ACCOUNT OF A BULL AND BEAR FIGHT IN CALIFORNIA (1815)i THE bull and bear were fastened together by the feet with a stout chain of sufficient length to allow considerable freedom of action; and then the reatas were thrown off and the beasts con- fronted each other. The bull lowered his head and looked threaten- ingly, and the bear rose upon his haunches as if awaiting the onset. But for ten minutes neither advanced. The spectators began to grow impatient. The vaqueros rode up and prodded the bull, and with a roar of pain he rushed upon his adversary. The bear, with a quickness and agility astonishing in a body apparently unwieldy, avoiding the horns, threw himiself with a grasp upon the bull's neck and both rolled over and over in a desperate struggle upon the ground. The noise was terrific and the dust rose in clouds, while the onlookers shouted and yelled as they saw that the fight was deadly, and witnessed the flow of blood. Presently the bull, fatigued with exertion and hot with thirst, protruded his tongue, and the bear made an attempt by a change in position to seize it. But the attempt cost him his life. The bull was wary and on his guard, and with a sudden plunge transfixed his enemy, and with a tremendous effort threw him into the air. As the bear fell with a ghastly wound, the bull, infuriated with his own injuries, pursued his advantage, and with a second and deadly plunge closed the combat. 6. DESCRIPTION OF THE PEOPLE AND CITY OF BUENOS AIRES (1818) 2 BUT it is time to speak of the inhabitants of the city, and of the people who frequent it. And here, whether illusion or reality, I shall not take upon me to say, but certain it is, I had not walked far, before I felt myself in a land of freedom. There was an inde- pendence, an ingenuousness in the carriage, and an expression in the countenances of those I met, which reminded me of my own country ; an air of freedom breathed about them, which I shall not attempt to describe. ... I saw nothing but the plainness and simplicity of republicanism ; in the streets, there were none but plain citizens, and citizen sol- 1 From: Myrtle Garrison, Romance and History of California Ranches (San Francisco: Harr Wagner Publishing Company, 1935), pp. 189-190. 2 From: H. M. Brackenridge, Voyage to South Atnerica (Baltimore: 2 vols., 1819), Vol. I, pp. 383-287, 288-292, 293-297. lOO The Colonial Period diers ; some of the latter, perhaps, shewing a little of the coxcomb, and others exhibiting rather a inUitia appearance, not the less agree- able to me on that account. In fact, I could almost have fancied myself in one of our own towns, judging by the dress and appear- ance of the people whom I met. Nothing can be more different than the population of this place, from that of Rio. I saw no one bearing the insignia of nobility, except an old crazy man, followed by a train of roguish boys. There were no palanquins, or rattling equipages ; in these matters, there was much less luxury and splen- dor than with us. The females, instead of being immured by jeal- ousy, are permitted to walk abroad and breathe the air. The supreme director has no grooms, gentlemen of the bed chamber, nor any of the train which appertains to royalty, nor has his wife any maids of honor ; his household is much more plain than most of the private gentlemen of fortune in our own country; it is true, when he rides out to his country seat, thirty miles off, he is accom- panied by half a dozen horsemen, perhaps a necessary precaution, considering the times, and which may be dispensed wath on the return of peace ; or perhaps, a remnant of anti-republican barbarity, which will be purged away by the sun of a more enlightened age ; indeed, I am informed, that the present director lives in a st3de of much greater simplicity than any of his predecessors. If I were to stop here, however, I should not give a faithful pic- ture of the appearance to a stranger, of the population of Buenos Ayres ; the mixture of negroes and mulattoes, is by no means re- markable, not as great, perhaps, as in Baltimore, and the proportion of military, such as we might have seen in one of our towns during the last war, with the exception of the black troops, which, in this city, constitute a principal part of the regular force. But there are other figures which enter into the picture, and give a different cast to the whole from any thing I have seen. The modern European and North Am^erican civilization, and I will add South American, which differs but little from the others, was set off by a strange mixture of antiquity, and aboriginal rudeness. Buenos Ayres may very justly be compared to the bust of a very beautiful female, placed upon a pedestal of rude unshapen stone. Great numbers of gauchos, and other country people, are seen in the streets, and al- ways on hprseback; and as there prevails a universal passion for riding, the number of horses is very great. The European mode of caparisoning is occasionally seen, but most usually, the bridle, saddle, &c. would be regarded as curiosities by us. The stirrups of the gauchos are so small, as to admit little more than the big toe of the rider, who makes a very grotesque figure with his long flow- ing poncho. This is a kind of striped cotton, or woolen rug, of the manufacture of the country, fine or coarse, according to the purse of the wearer, with nothing but a slit in the middle, through which The Spanish Colonies: Society loi the head is thrust, it hangs down perfectly loose, resembling some- what, a wagoner's frock. In rain, it answers the purposes of a big-coat, and in hot weather, is placed on the saddle. It is also used for sleeping on, as the Indians do their blanket. It is possible after all, that this singularity of dress, may not make any great difference in the man. There is nothing remarkable in the complexion or features, excepting where there happens to be a little dash of the Indian. There is more of indolence, and vacancy, (if I may use the word), in the expression in their countenances, and an uncouth wildness of their appearance ; but it must be remembered, that we also of the north, are reproached by Europeans for our carelessness of time, and our lazy habits. These gauchos, I generally observed clustered about the pulperias, or grog shops; of which there are great numbers in the city and ^suburbs ; these people frequently drink and carouse on horseback, while the horses of those that are dismounted, continue to stand still without being fastened, as they are all taught to do, and champing the bit. These carousing groups would afford excellent subjects for Flemish painters. The horses, though not of a large size, are all finely formed ; I do not recollect a single instance in which I did not remark good limbs, and head, and neck. The gauchos are often bare footed and bare legged; or, instead of boots, make use of the skin of the hind legs of the horse ; the joint answering the purpose of a heel, and furnishing a very cheap kind of suwarrow. . . . As this is the fruit season, a great number of people were crying peaches up and down the street, but on horseback with large paniers made of the raw hides of oxen, on each side. Milk, in large tin cannisters, was cried about in the same way, and as they were car- ried in a tolerable trot, I expected every moment to hear the cry changed to that of butter. As I moved along towards the great square, a part of which is the principal market place, (immediately in front of the castle, or government house,) there appeared to be a great throng of people. I met some priests and friars, but by no means as many as I expected, and nothing like the number I met at Rio Janeiro. There are, perhaps, fewer monasteries and convents in Buenos Ayres, than in any Spanish town in the world. But as things are very much judged of by comparison, it is highly probable that if I had not touched at the place before mentioned, and had come directly here from one of our cities, I should have considered the number of regular and secular clergy, very consid- erable. It must be constantty kept in view, that in order to judge of these people fairly, we are to compare them with Spanish or Portuguese, and look at zvhat they have been, not to the state of things in the United States. The dress of the seculars when in their canonicals, is like that of the episcopal clergy, except that they wear a broad quaker hat. The monks and friars are easily dis- I02 The Colonial Period tinguished by their habit of coarse cloth or flannel, girt round the waist, and with a cowl or hood behind. In speaking of the catholic clerg3^ we, who know little about them, are very much in the habit of confounding these two classes. They are very different, both in character and appearance. The seculars are, necessarily, men of education, and living and mingling in society, participate in the feelings of the people, and cannot avoid taking part in temporal affairs. The monks, on the contrary, are gregarious-; not dispersed through the society, but shut up in their convents and monasteries, and not permitted to mingle in the affairs of the world. From the first it is natural to expect liberality and intelligence, as well as from other christian clergy ; but in the latter, it would not be surprising to find superstition and ignorance. On approaching the market place, as it was still early in the day, I found that the crowd had not entirely dispersed. There is no mar- ket house or stalls, except in the meat market, situated on one corner of the square which fronts on the plaza. Every thing offered for sale, was spread on the ground. I can say but little in favor of the appearance of cleanliness ; dirt and filth appeared to have a prescriptive right here. One who had never seen any other than a Philadelphia market, can form no idea of the condition of this place. To make amends, it is admirably supplied with all the neces- saries, and delicacies, that an abundant and fruitful country can afford. Beef, mutton, fowls, game, &c. with a variety of excellent fish, were here in great plenty, and for prices, which, in our mar- kets, would be considered very low. Beef, particularly, is exceed- ingly cheap and of a superior quality; it is the universal dish; chiefly roasted. Absolute want is scarcely known in this country, any more than with us. As I passed by the hucksters stalls, they presented a much richer display than any I had been accustomed to see. Here apples, grapes, oranges, pomegranates, peaches, figs, pine-apples, water-melons, were mingled in fair profusion. The plaza, or great square, is at least twice as large as the state house yard in Philadelphia, and is unequally divided into two parts, by an edifice long and low, which serves as a kind of bazaar, or place of shops, with a corridor on each side the whole length, which often serves as a shelter for the market people. At these shops, or stores, which are pretty well supplied, they can make their pur- chases without the trouble of wandering through the town. The space between this and the fort, is that appropriated for the market. The opposite side, which is much larger, is a kind of place d' amies; and fronting the building just spoken of, and which intercepts the view of the fort, there is a very fine edifice called the cabildo, or town house, somewhat resembling that of New Orleans, but much larger. In this building the courts hold their sessions, and the offices are kept. The city council, or cabildo, also sits here, and business The Spanish Colonies: Society 103 of all kinds relating to the police, is here transacted. Near the centre of the square, a neat pyramid has been erected, commemora- tive of the revolution, vi^ith four emblematic figures, one at each corner, representing justice, science, liberty and America; the whole enclosed with a light railing. The shops, or stores, as far as I observed, in my perambulation through the city, are all on a very small scale, and make no shew as in our towns. There are but few signs, and those belong chiefly to foreigners ; such as sastre, hotero, sapatero, &c. de Londres; taylor, bootmaker, shoemaker, from London. The greater part of the trades which are now flourishing here, particularly hatters, blacksmiths, and many others that I might enumerate, have been established since the revolution; the journeymen mechanics are chiefly half Indians and mulattoes. The wages of an American or English journeyman, are higher than in any part of the world: fifteen hundred, or two thousand dollars per annum, I am told are very commonly given. There are other squares through the town, besides the one already mentioned, in which markets are held. There are also large yards, or corrals, which belong to the city, and are hired to individuals for the purpose of confining droves of cattle. I observed several large wood yards, in which there were immense piles of peach limbs, tied into bundles or fagots, together with timber and firewood brought from Paraguay, or the Brazils. In receding from the river towards the country, the streets wear a much more mean appearance; being very dirty, and apparently much neglected, while the houses seldom exceed one story in height, and built of brick scarcely half burnt. In walking from the front streets, we seemed to be transferred, at once, to some half civilized village, a thousand miles in the interior. Every where in the skirts of the town, much of the Indian race is visible; generally a very poor, harmless, and indolent people. They commonly speak nothing but Spanish, and but for their complexion, and inanimate counte- nances, they could not be distinguished from the lower orders of the Spanish Americans, such as the laborers, carters, countrymen, gauchos, &c. . . . On my way back to the hotel, I met a party of twenty or thirty pampas Indians on horseback, who had come to town for the pur- pose of bartering skins for such things as they wanted. They ex- cited no curiosity as they rode along the street, although tricked out with their nosebobs and earbobs, and except the poncho, which they wore, entirely naked. They were rather taller, and more square shouldered than ours, but their physiognomy was very nearly the same. At this season of the year, many of the principal inhabitants are still in the country, to which they retire for a few months, until the approach of cool weather. This is probably the most pleasant sea- I04 The Colonial Period son of the year, but the climate is seldom otherwise than pleasant ; the range of the thermometer rarely exceeds fifty degrees, and hardly ever rises within ten degrees as high as with us. In the vast plains, or pampas, which stretch from the margin of the river almost to the foot of the Cordilleras, where there is no shade or shelter, or next to none, the heat of the sun is said to be very op- pressive; travellers therefore lay by in the middle of the day. The habit of the siesta, which prevails so universally in this country, is perhaps an excuse for this loss of time. It was now the hour here for this indulgence, and the change from the busy populous city, of a sudden, to the silence and loneliness which takes place on these occasions, was peculiarly striking. The inhabitants generally dine between one and two o'clock, and soon after, retire to take their evening's nap, which usually lasts until five or six, at which hour the devotees go to vespers, or evening prayers, in the churches. I saw, however, a greater number of persons in the streets than I had expected, and I am told, that of late years, the habit has been sensibly decreasing. It was formerly a saying, that during the siesta, none but dogs and foreigners were to be seen in the street. This is no longer true ; the increase of business and active employ- ments, having a good deal broken in upon a custom, which could only owe its origin to that indolence v/hich commonly proceeds from a want of incentive to action. . . . The climate of Buenos 'Ayres, howxver, is not such as to render it necessary to avoid the sun in the heat of the day. It resembles very much, that to the south of the Mississippi, in our Louisiana district of Texas, although not quite so warm in summer, nor yet so cold in winter. The south-west winds of the winter, are exceed- ingly piercing; although there is very seldom sufficient cold to in- crust the water with ice ; but the frequent rains which fall at this season, renders it damp and chilly, as at New Orleans. The climate of the southern latitudes, although they do not accord with the same degree, north of the equator, in the eastern hemisphere, are yet several degrees warmer than in North America. This place is situated in about thirty-five degrees south, and ought therefore to correspond with the climate of Norfolk. But less cold is felt here, than in Charleston or New Orleans, This is an important consid- eration, with respect to the territory of the republic, to the south- ward of this place. Molina, the historian of Chili, has taken pains to disprove, in his work, to which I would refer the reader, the prevalent idea of the excessive cold of Patagonia. I think it highly probable, that as high south as latitude fifty degrees, the climate is at least as mild as that of Philadelphia. On some other occasion, when I come to speak of the geography of this vast country, I will say more on this subject. The day after we arrived was Sunday, and the streets were The Spanish Colonies: Society 105 crowded with people. I was very frequently reminded of my old ■place of residence, New Orleans, with the exception that the pro- portion of colored people is comparatively very small, but amongst the lower classes I remarked a great many of Indian extraction ; this was discoverable in the complexion and features. The inhab- itants generally, are a shade browner than those of North America ; but I saw a great many with good complexions. They are a hand- some people. They have nothing in their appearance and character, of that dark, jealous and revengeful disposition, we have been in the habit of attributing to Spaniards. The men dress pretty much as we do, but the women are fond of wearing black, when they go abroad. The fashion of dress, in both sexes, I am informed, has undergone great improvement, since their free intercourse with strangers. The old Spaniards, of whom there are considerable numbers, are easily distinguished by their darker complexion, the studied shabbiness of- their dress, and the morose and surly ex- pression of countenance; this arises, from their being treated as a sort of Jews, by those whom they were wont to consider as greatly their inferiors. They are also distinguished by not mounting the blue and white cockade, which is universally worn by the citizens of the republic. The same number of Chinese, could scarcely form a class more distinct from the rest of the community. There can hardly be a greater affront offered to an Americano del Sud, than to call him a Spaniard. A young fellow told me, in a jesting way, that the monks, friars, and Spaniards, were generally old, and would soon die off, which he said was a great consolation. I went round to several of the churches, of which there are ten or fifteen throughout the city. I shall not trouble the reader with a description of them, as by referring to books he can learn their names, and the years in which they were founded. All I shall say, is, that those I saw, were immense masses of buildings, particularly the cathedral, which of itself covers almost a whole square. The internal decorations are generally rich and splendid, and the pomp of catholic worship is displayed here, pretty much as it is in other parts of the world. My attention was more attracted, by the crowds of beautiful women, going and coming to the churches, and the graceful elegance of their carriage. They walk more elegantly than any women I ever saw. They are seen usually in family groups, but according to the custom of the country, seldom attended by gentle- men. There are usually a few beggars about the church doors, all blind, or decrepid with age. I am informed, there are two con- vents in the city, but I did not go to see them, as I was told the nuns were all old and ugly. io6 The Colonial Period Chapter ?sJine THE CHURCH IN THE SPANISH COLONIES 1. PAPAL BULL GRANTING CATHOLIC KINGS RELIGIOUS PATRONAGE IN AMERICA (July 28, 1508) i JULIUS, bishop, servant of the servants of God. We, presiding by divine choice, although unworthily, over the government of the Universal Church, do concede voluntarily to the Catholic kings principally those things that augment their honor and glory, and contribute effectively to the benefit and security of their dominions. Since our beloved son in Christ, Ferdinand, illustrious king of Aragon, and also of Sicily, and Isabella, of cherished memor}^ Queen of Castile and Leon, after having expelled the Moors from Spain, crossed the ocean and planted the Cross in unknown lands, and subjugated many islands and places, and among these being one very rich and extremely populous named New Spain, thereby fulfilling to the extent of their abilit}^ the saying in omnem terram exivit sonus eorum — Therefore, we, in order that it (New Spain) might be purged of false and pernicious rites, and the true religion be planted there, have acceded to the most urgent requests of the king and queen, and do hereby erect for the greater glory of the name of Christ, a metropolitan church in Ayguacen, and two cathedrals in Maguen and Bayunen, and if the converts imbued by the new faith should attempt to found any church or pious place, they should do so in such a way as not to injure the new religion or the temporal dominions of the king. In view of the fact that the said Ferdinand, who is also at pres- ent governor-general of the kingdoms of Castile and Leon, and our most cherished daughter in Christ, Juana, queen of the same kingdoms and daughter of the aforementioned Ferdinand, wish that no church, monastery, or pious place be erected or founded either in the islands and lands already possessed,' or in those sub- sequently acquired, without their express consent and that of their successors ; and considering that since it is convenient to those kings that the persons who preside over churches and monasteries be faithful and acceptable to them, they desire that they be conceded 1 From: Julius II quoted in J. Lloyd Mecham, Church and State in Latin America (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1934), pp. 18-20. The Spanish Colonies: The Church 107 the right of patronage and of the presentation of qualified persons for both the metropoHtan and cathedral churches already erected, or to be erected in the future, and for all the other ecclesiastical benefices inside of a year of their vacancy, and also for inferior benefices ; and in case the ordinario should refuse without legitimate cause to grant the one presented with canonical institu- tion inside of ten days, any other bishop, at the request of the king should grant it. We, appreciating that these privileges increase the honor, beauty and security of those islands, and also of the said kingdoms, whose kings are always devout and faithful to the Apos- tolic See, and heeding the reiterated demands made on us by King Ferdinand and Queen Juana, after mature deliberation with our brothers the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and with their advice, by these presents we concede with apostolic authority, other constitutions, ordinances, and laws to the contrary notwithstanding, to the said Ferdinand and Juana, and to the future kings of Castile and Leon, that nobody without their consent can construct or build in the above mentioned islands, now possessed or to be possessed, large churches ; and we concede the right of patronage and of pre- senting qualified persons to cathedral churches, monasteries, digni- dades, collegiates, and other ecclesiastical benefices and pious places in this manner: respecting benefices that are instituted in the con- sistory, the presentation is to be made to us, or our successors, within one year after the vacancy occurs ; and respecting the other benefices, presentation will be made to the respective ordinarios, and if these refuse without cause to give institution inside of ten days, any bishop in those lands, on the petition of King Ferdi- nand or of Queen Juana, or the king ruling at that time, can bestow, under those conditions, free and legal canonical institution on the person presented. Nobody should deign to infringe on or act con- trary to this concession, and if any one attempts to do so, let him know that he will incur the indignation of God Almighty and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. Given in Rome, etc., July 28, 1508. 2. ORIGIN OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE 1 ON SATURDAY, December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a poor Chris- tian Indian, while on his way from Tolpetlac to Tlatelulco, now a part of the capital, to hear holy Mass and receive instruc- tions at the Franciscan church of Santiago, was obHged to pass the brow of a rugged, barren hill, known as Tepeacac. He suddenly heard the sounds of the most delightful music, and turning his eyes upwards, whence the sweet strains came, with amazement he beheld an arc of glorious coloring. In the center shone a brilliant light 1 From: Zephyrin Engelhardt, The Missions and Missionaries of California (California: Mission Santa Barbara, 2nd edition, 4 vols., 1929ff. ), Vol. I (1929), pp. 715-718. io8 The Colonial Period whence rays of various colors spread out in every direction. Diego stood bewildered and contemplated the wonderful vision until, from the midst of the splendor, he heard his name called. Drawing nearer, he saw in the radiance a lady of surpassing beauty who in a gentle voice bade him ascend to where she stood. The lady in the Aztec language, and in a voice inexpressibly tender, said to him : "My son Juan, whither art thou going?" "I am going," Diego replied, "most noble Lady and Sovereign, to Mexico, to the Tlate- lulco quarter, to hear Mass and the instructions which the ministers of the Lord, our priests, give us." "Know, then," the Apparition continued, "my much beloved, that I am the ever Virgin Mary, the Mother of the true God, the Author of Life, He, who has created and preserves all things. It is my will that on this place there be built in my honor a temple, in which I will show forth all my goodness and love, for I am the Mother of merc)^ ; and to thee, and such as thee, and to all who love me and confidently invoke my name, who call on me in their trials and afflictions, I shall show forth that mercy. I will be mindful of their tears and tribulations and will give them consolation and relief. In order that my will may be fulfilled, I command thee to go to the city of Mexico, to the palace of the Bishop, and tell him that thou art sent by me, and that I wish a temple to be raised on his spot in my honor. Thou shalt also tell him all that thou hast seen and heard ; and be assured that thy work and thy service will be pleasing to me, and I will reward thy labor and diligence. Thou hast heard my words, beloved son ; go, therefore, and do as thou art bidden." Prostrating himself before the lady, the Indian rephed, "I will go, my Lady and my Queen, as thy humble servant in order that thy will and thy word may be fulfilled." Juan hastened to the city, and went straight to the Bishop's house. Fr. Juan a Zumarraga, O. F. M., the first Bishop of Mexico City, and a fearless defender of the Indians, wdth no little astonish- ment heard the story of the pious Diego, but, fearing that the Indian might be the dupe of a delusion, he kindly dismissed him with the promise that he would consider the matter. With a heavy heart Juan Diego in the evening returned to the spot and found the lady awaiting him. Casting himself at her feet, he related his. failure to interest the Bishop, "and this is, I believe because of me," he added. "I beseech thee, therefore, O Virgin, my Lady and my Queen, that thou choose some noble and honorable man to whom credit will be given ; and that thou committest to him thy will and thy word, for I am poor, and lowly, and unknown, and it is useless that I am sent. Pardon, O Virgin, my Lady and my Queen, if I have offended before thy face or incurred thine anger." The Virgin listened until Diego had finished his plaint, and then said : "Hear, my beloved son, and understand that I am not without The Spanish Colonies: The Church 109 clients and servants to send; but it pleases me and it is my will that thou undertake this work, and that it be accomplished by means of thee. I command thee to go again tomorrow to the Bishop and tell him to erect the temple I demanded, and say that she who sent thee is the Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God." Poor Diego expressed his willingness to obey, but declared that he feared he should have no more success than the first time. On the following day, Sunday, December 10th, Juan Diego again repaired to the Bishop's palace. The servants were in no hurry to announce him, but at last he was admitted to the prelate's presence. With tears in his eyes he related that he had seen the Mother of God a second time, and that she had again charged him to ask that a temple be built on the spot where she had appeared. Zumarraga questioned him closely, made him describe every circumstance, and then instructed him to ask the lady to give him some sign whereby he might know that the message was from the Mother of God. After Juan had departed, the prudent Bishop ordered two of his attendants to follow the Indian secretly and to report everything they might observe. When Diego reached the bridge which crossed a small stream near the foot of the mount, he disappeared from view, nor could the closest search discover the least trace of him. The spies returned to the Bishop and expressed it as their firm belief that the Indian was an imposter. Meanwhile Juan Diego continued on his way, unconscious of the miracle performed in his behalf, and related to the Virgin the result of his mission. The lady bade him return the next morning when he should have the sign the Bishop demanded. At his home he found his uncle, Juan Bernardino, grievously ill. This prevented him from visiting the hillside on the next day as he had promised. On the second day, December 12th, his uncle seemed to be at the point of death, wherefore Diego hastened to call a priest to admin- ister the last Sacraments. On the way to Tlatelulco he remembered that he had failed to keep his promise on the day before. In his simplicity he hoped to avoid meeting the lady by taking another path. In doing so he arrived at a small fountain near the foot of the hill. From there he suddenly beheld the Virgin descending surrounded by the same brilliant light as on the first occasion. The vision dazzled him. Conscience-stricken and trembling he fell upon his knees. The lady addressed him in most tender accents, and asked, "My son, whither art thou going? and what road art thou taking?" Quite confused Juan Diego related his predicament, and then promised to carry out her command as soon as he had brought the priest to his uncle. The Virgin consoled him, and bade him have no fear for his relative, as she had cured him at that same hour. She then told him that she would now give him the sign for the Bishop. "Go, my beloved son, to the top of the hill where thou no The Colonial .Period didst see me first; pick the roses which thou shalt find growing there, and fetch them to me in thy mantle, when I will tell thee what thou shalt do and say." Juan obeyed without a word, though he well knew that no flowers ever grew on that barren spot. When he reached the summit, he was amazed to find a number of beautiful rose-bushes, fresh and fragrant and wet with the dew of the morning. He gathered the roses in his tilma or mantle, which was nothing more than a square piece of cloth, and brought them to the lady. She took them into her hands, and putting them back in the cloak, she said to Juan, 'This is the token thou shalt take to the Bishop. Tell him that by this he shall do what I have commanded. Show what thou carriest to no one, nor do thou open thy cloak till thou art in the presence of the Bishop. Tell him all that thou hast seen and heard, and he will take courage to build my temple." The Virgin then dismissed him. When Diego arrived at the Bishop's house, the servants would not admit him for a long time. They wanted to see what he carried. Through a slight opening they saw the roses and tried to seize them, but they caught at nothing. The flowers seemed to be only painted or woven into the cloth. They then informed the Bishop, who called the Indian into his presence. Falling on his knees Juan delivered his message, and added, "Here is the sign thou didst want, and which the lady sends to thee." With this he opened his mantle and displayed the fresh roses, and, to his own as well as the Bishop's astonishment, the glorious likeness of the Blessed Virgin herself was found imprinted on the mantle. Zumarraga called in the members of his household, and all acknowledged the miracu- lous nature of the roses and of the apparition. With his own hands the prelate untied the two corners of the cloak from behind the Indian's neck, and placed the picture in his oratory. On the follow- ing day he accompanied Diego to the hill where the apparition had occurred, and there ordered the temple built. The Indian now hastened with some of the Bishop's servants to the house of his uncle, whom he found perfectly cured. Juan Bernardino related that a beautiful lady had appeared to him on the previous morning. She informed him that she was the Blessed Virgin, that she re- stored him to health, that she wanted a temple erected on the spot where his nephew had seen her, and that it should be known as Santa Maria de Guadalupe. No further evidence was needed. The fame of the apparition spread all over the country and captivated the poor Indians, who rejoiced that one of their number, and not one of the haughty foreigners, had been chosen to see the Virgin, and that she herself had deigned to represent herself on the picture as one of them. They danced and sang, and the burden of their song were the The Spanish Colonics: The C/nirch iii pathetic and beautiful words, "The Virgin is one of us, the Indians ! Our pure Mother! Our Sovereign Lady! The Virgin is one of us!" That was the beginning of the end of idolatry in Mexico. When the temple had been erected the picture was transferred thither in procession and placed above the altar ; there it has been venerated ever since. 3. SUCCESS OF FRANCISCANS IN CONVERTING MEXICAN INDIANS (1531)1 WE ARE very busy in the great task of converting the Indians. More than a million five hundred thousand of them have been baptized at the hands of our own Franciscan fathers. Temples of idols have been destroyed and more than twenty thousand idols ground to dust or burned. In many places churches have been built and the cross raised up and worshipped by the Indians. What seems most wonderful is that where formerly, in their infidelity, they were accustomed to sacrificing as many as twenty thousand human hearts, now they offer themselves not to evil spirits but to God, with innumerable sacrifices of praise, thanks to the teaching and excellent example of our priests, who are greatly respected by the children of the natives. Many of the converts fast and pray and discipline themselves with tears and sighings. Many of them know how to read and write and sing. They confess frequently and receive the holy sacrament with great devotion, and with joy preach the word of God to their parents, trained to do so by the priests. They rise at midnight' for matins and are particularly de- voted to Our Lady. They take the idols away from their parents and bring them to the priests, for which some of them have actually been killed by the parents and crowned by Christ in glory. Each of our convents has a school alongside it and a dormitory, dining room, and chapel. The children are humble and obedient to the priests whom they love as fathers. They are chaste and quite clever, especially in painting, and have achieved a good heart before God. 4. INSTRUCTIONS OF CHARLES V TO VICEROY MENDOZA CONCERNING CONVERSION OF THE INDIANS IN MEXICO (1536)2 FIRST of all, be careful to seek the best and most successful methods for the conversion of the natives of that land to our Holy Catholic Faith, for besides being obligated to the task out of gratitude to God for having in these days given the land to the 1 From: Zumarraga quoted in Charles S. Braden, Religious Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 1930), pp. 222-223. 2 From: Charles S. Braden, Religions Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 1930), pp. 194-195, 196. 112 The Colonial Period crown, we are sure that it is the best way to secure their love and loyalty to us as their sovereign and to ensure that they live in peace, respect and perfect obedience. Wherefore you will give orders that the monks who dwell there be distributed to live in the provinces and villages where there is less knowledge of our Lord God and greater need for the doctrine. To do this best you will not permit two monasteries to be built close together except for reasons that seem to you to benefit the service of God and the Indians. Command likewise all. those who have encomiendas that they ex- ercise care in the indoctrination of their Indians as they are under obligation to do, and provide that in the villages where the tribute warrants it and there are priests who are able to do it, they be employed and paid by those who collect the tribute. Where this is impossible, order that some of the Indians who have been taught the doctrine by the priests teach it to others. . . . Provide further that where there are priests or those who teach, there be certain hours for instruction and that the Indians attend, being careful to see that an hour be chosen which does not interfere with their hours of labor, and that the instruction be free. Strictly prohibit the Spaniards and chiefs from hindering the Indians being taught, punishing those who do hinder them. We are informed that in the mines there are many Indian slaves, and there is no reason why they should lack the faith. See therefore, that in the mines or on the farms, or wherever they are, they be instructed, for it is not just that simply because they are slaves, they should lose, along with their liberty, their right to know God, which is so important for them. Since in order to advance the conversion of the natives, it is very important that the priests and monks apply themselves to learning the Indian tongue and that they reduce it to some sort of a system easy to learn, always favor those who have set themselves to learn it, in order that others may be stimulated to join them. In the churches of the city and the schools for Spanish children it seems that it would be wise to do some teaching in the Indian tongue, so that those who are to become priests and monks or hold public office in the villages may know how to teach and confess the Indians and understand how to deal with them, for they are so numerous that they cannot at present be required to learn our language. . . . Since you know how, even in Christian countries, public sins greatly corrupt the good customs of the people, it must be even more harmful in a land where the faith is but newly planted. Wherefore, be very diligent in restraining and punishing public sins of the Spaniards, for they are a great obstacle to the preaching of our Holy Catholic Faith which we so much desire to root in the hearts of the people. TJie Spanish Colonies: The Church 113 In order that the work of the prelates and priests who desire the conversion of the Indians be effective, and that the hatred which they cherish toward the Spaniards on account of ill treatment may not lead to the hatred of our Faith, which is preached by Spaniards of the same race and color as those who use them ill, you will use the utmost diligence to see that the Indians are well treated. 5. CRITICISM OF THE LEARNING GIVEN MEXICAN INDIANS BY MISSIONARIES (1541)i NOT content with teaching the Indians to read and write, keep books, play musical instruments, etc., they put them to learn- ing grammar. They gave themselves with such zeal to this that there are lads now, and every day there are more of them, who speak as elegantly in Latin as Tulio. And, seeing that because of increasing numbers the monasteries could not hold them, special schools were founded where they read science and books. From the first I protested against this, explaining the error and damage that might result from allowing the Indians to study science, and, particularly, allowing them to have the Bible and read it, since in this way many have been lost in Spain, and a thousand heresies have arisen due to a lack of understanding of that which they found. Indeed, they were not worthy to understand it because of their spiritual pride and arrogance. . . . When the Indians read of the sacrifices under the old law of Abraham, and that God permitted such, they will take it as a defense of like sacrifices today. Reading of the wives of David and others and other practices to which they were inclined, they will turn and apply the scripture to their own evil purpose, and no good will come of it. . . . Only eight days ago, a priest who had recently visited the college told me that while there he was surrounded by some two hundred students who in talking with him asked such questions regarding the scriptures and the faith that he was amazed and stopped his ears. The school he said was a veritable hell, and the pupils disciples of Satan. It seems to me that there is no remedy for this but to close the school entirely. If we do not, this land will become a cave of Sibyls, etc. 6. STATEMENT OF INQUISITION CONDEMNING FRANCISCO DE AGUIRRE FOR HERESY (About 1567)2 HAVING considered the records and merits of this case, and all other things touching it which it was necessary to consider, we decide, that, for the offence which stands against him, we ought 1 From: Geronimo de Lopez quoted in Charles S. Braden, Religious Aspects of the Con- guest of Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 1930), pp. 149-150. 2 From: Bernard Moses, The Spanish Dependencies in South America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 2 vols., 1914), Vol. II, pp. 32-33. 114 TJie Colonial Period to condemn him, and do condemn him, to two years' imprisonment over and above what he has had, which we declare to have been just and given as punishment: and besides, we condemn him, after he shall have been released from the prison where he is at present, and taken to the city of Santiago del Estero, province of Tucuman, to hear high mass on the first or second Sunday in the parochial church, in person, standing uncovered from the beginning to the end of it, with a lighted candle in his hand, and at the time of the ofifertory he shall repeat the propositions which he acknowledges in a loud voice, so that those who may be in the church may be able to hear him, and he shall declare them in the form and manner in which they shall be given to him, written and signed by the ordi- nary and by his notary; and he shall say this on account of the liberty which he has had and taken as governor and supreme judge of the province, and with arrogance and temerity, he said and affirmed the aforesaid propositions in ignorance, which have scan- dalized by their bad example those who may be edified by the humility, obedience, and reverence entertained for the Holy Mother Church: this penance is imposed upon him, that he shall send to the ordinary of this bishopric testimony of the Vicario in the said city of Santiago, by the first person coming thence to this kingdom, under the order that in case he shall not do this or send this evi- dence, he shall be proceeded against as one proceeds against an impenitent person. Moreover, we impose upon him a fine of fifteen hundred dollars of standard silver, to be applied in the following manner : seven hundred and fifty dollars to aid in paying for vest- ments of brocade which this Holy Church has purchased, and the other seven hundred and fifty dollars for the expenses of justice, at the disposal of the ordinary. Furthermore, we condemn him to give to the parochial church of Santiago del Estero a bell which shall weigh more than fifty pounds. Furthermore, we condemn him to pay the costs of this case, the appraisement of which is re- served- to the ordinary ; all of which shall be observed, complied with, and paid before he is released from the prison where he is now confined ; and after he shall have complied with this and made payment, we command him to absolve himself from any censure and excommunication under which he has fallen on account of the proceedings in this case; and w^e command him to redeem from sequestration whatever property may have been sequestered in the course of this case. The Spanish Colonies: The Church 115 7. PHILIP II MAKES PROVISIONS FOR JESUITS TO GO TO MEXICO (August 6, 1571)i THE 'KING. To our officials who reside in the city of Seville, in the Casa de la contratacion de las Indias. Having seen the great benefit which the Religious of the Company of Jesus, who have gone to some parts of our Indies, have produced and still do produce, in the instruction and conversion of the natives there, We have ordered that Doctor Pedro Sanchez and twelve other Religious of the same Company should go to New Spain and reside there. The said Doctor Pedro Sanchez is going as their Provincial. And as it is my wish that you give them all that is needed for the expedition, I order our treasurer to provide as many maravedis as are required for the journey, to the same Provincial and the other twelve and the servants that they must bring for their help. Store their ship with enough provisions to last until they reach New Spain, conformable to the nature of the season at which they em- bark and the measure which you have set for other members of the said Company who have passed over to the said our Indies. And to the Provincial and each of the other said twelve Religious you will give one vesture of black cloth, according to their normal custom, and to each a mattress and a blanket and a pillow for their ocean trip ; allow to each, one real and a half a day for their enter- tainment and support during the time that they are in your city, or in Jerez or Cadiz or the villa of Sanlucar de Barrameda awaiting their departure. See to it too that when they leave the city, they are enabled to bring from their houses the books and clothing which the said Religious may have gathered together to take with them. And with this cedula or its copy, signed by a public notary, and the bill of credit of the said Religious or whatever they have as a surety for the muleteers and their other expenses, I order that there be accepted and taken as remuneration whatever they shall show. Do you adjust the cost of the^ passage of the said Provincial and Religious and servants and books and clothing, with the master or masters of the ship or ships in which they shall ride as far as the port of San Juan de Uloa. Arrange a cabin for each six of the said Religious and provide the like for their attendants according to my cedilla or its copy, signed by the public notary. In virtue of the same, I command our officials of the said New Spain or their substitutes, to pay for the said Religious on arrival, to the master or masters of the ships which- bring them, whatever their cost has been. Let these officers provide animals to carry their books and clothing from the city of Verapaz to Mexico. And I order that this cedida or its copy, signed by the public notary, and 1 From: W. Eugene Shiels, Gonsalo de Tapia (New Yorki The United States Catholic Historical Society, 1934), pp. 24-25. Ii6 The Colofiial Period the bills of the said masters and testimonies of the other expenses, be received and passed in account of the costs of the same Religious. In their Masses and sacrifices let them beg Our Lord to enlighten Us that We may govern well in the afifairs of those parts. Do you procure their happy and rapid departure and a safe journey with all good will. Done in San Lorenzo del Escorial, August 6, 157L I, the King. 8. STATEMENT OF THE JESUITS AS TO THEIR AIMS i 'E DO not mean ... to oppose those advantages you may draw from the Indians in a lawful manner; but you know it never was the King's intention that you should consider them as slaves, and that, besides, the law of God strictly forbids it. As to those we are commissioned to gain over to Jesus Christ, and upon whom you can have no claim, since they were never conquered by force of arms, our design is : first to labour to make them men, that we may be the better able to make them Christians. We shall then endeavour to induce them, from a view to their own interest, to submit cheerfully to the King our Sovereign, and hope, with God's blessing, our endeavours will be crowned with success. We do not think it lawful to make any attempt upon their liberties, to which they have a natural and incontestable right ; but we will endeavour to make them sensible that they render their freedom prejudicial to themselves by making a bad use of it, and to teach them to re- strain it within just bounds. We flatter ourselves with being able to make them discover such great advantages in that dependence, in which all civilised nations live, and in yielding obedience to a Prince who only desires to be their protector and their father, and procure them the inestimable blessing of knowing the true God, that they will submit to the yoke with joy, and bless the day they became his subjects. 9. DECREE OF PHILIP II CONCERNING RIGHT OF ECCLESIASTICAL PATRONAGE (June 10, 1574)- THE right of the ecclesiastical patronage belongs to us through- out the realm of the Indias — both because of having dis- covered and acquired that new world and erected there and en- dowed the churches and monasteries at our own cost, or at the cost 1 From: W. H. Koebel, In Jesuit Land (London: Stanley Paul and Company, 1912), pp. 208-209. 2 From: Philip II quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, August 1929, pp. 318-319. The Spanish Colonies: The Church 117 of our ancestors, the Catholic Sovereigns ; and because it was con- ceded to us by the bulls of the most holy pontiffs, conceded of their own accord. For its conservation, and that of the right that we have of it, we order and command that the said right of patronage be always preserved for us and our royal crown, singly and in solidmn, throughout all the realm of the Indias, without any dero- gation therefrom, either in whole or in part ; and that we shall not concede the right of patronage by any favor or reward that we or the kings our successors may confer. Further, no person or persons, or ecclesiastical or secular com- munities, or church or monastery, shall be able to exercise the right of patronage by custom, privilege, or any other title, unless it be the person who shall exercise it in our name, and with our author- ity and power; and no person, whether secular or ecclesiastical, and no order, convent, or religious community, of whatever state, condition, rank, and preeminence he or they may be, shall for any occasion and cause whatever, judicially or extra- judicially, dare to meddle in any matter touching my royal patronage, to injure us in it — ■ to appoint to any church, benefice, or ecclesiastical office, or to be accepted if he shall be appointed — in all the realm of the Indias, without our presentation, of that of the person to whom we commit it by law or by letters-patent. He who shall do the contrary, if he be a secular person, shall incur the loss of the concessions that shall have been made to him by us in all the realm of the Indias, shall be unable to hold and obtain others, and shall be exiled perpetually from all our kingdoms and seigniories ; and if he shall be an ecclesi- astical person, he shall be considered as a foreigner, exiled from all our kingdoms, and shall not be able to hold or obtain any benefice or ecclesiastical office, and shall incur the other penalties established against such by the laws of these my kingdoms. And our viceroys, audiencias, and royal justices shall proceed with all severity against those who shall infringe or violate our right of patronage ; and they shall proceed officially, either at the petition of our friends, or at that of any party who demands it ; and in the execution of it great diligence shall be exercised. We declare and order that no cathedral, church, parish church, monastery, hospital, votive church, or any other pious or religious establishment be erected, founded, or constructed without our ex- press consent for it, or that of the person who shall exercise our authority; and further that no archbishopric, bishopric, dignidad, canonry, radon, media-racion, rectorial or simple benefice, be con- stituted, or appointment be made, without our consent or presenta- tion, or that of the person who shall exercise our authority; and such presentation or consent shall be in writing, in the ordinary manner. Ii8 The Colonial Period 10. MORAL INSTRUCTION GIVEN MEXICAN INDIANS BY CLERGY (Sixteenth Century)^ OMY precious son, commend thyself to God that he may help thee, for he created thee and loves thee more than I. Think of him day and night, serve him with love and he will bless thee and free thee from danger. .Reverence his images, pray devoutly before them and celebrate his festivals. He who offends God shall die and great shall be his guilt. Reverence and salute your elders, comfort the poor and afflicted with kind words and works of mercy. Honor and love, serve and obey your parents, for the son who does not do so shall not succeed. Love and honor all, and live in peace. Have no company with those who, like animals, do not honor father nor mother, and who will not listen to counsel. Never make sport of the old, the sick, the maimed, or of one who is caught in some sin, but humble yourself before God, lest a like thing befall you. Do not give poison to anyone, for in so doing you will oft'end God, yours will be the confusion and the harm, and you shall likewise die. Be honest and well bred and do not bother nor annoy others. Go not where you are not called. Injure no one. Do not commit adultery, nor be licentious for it is a great vice and destroys those who are given to it and offends God. Do not be an evil example nor speak indiscreetly ; do not inter- rupt while others are speaking. Unless it be your turn to speak, keep still. If you are asked anything, reply properly without deceit or flattery and without injury to others. - Do not give yourself to fables, tricks, or lies. Do not stir up discord where there is peace. Seek not pleasure; do not loaf in the streets, the markets, or the baths. Be not too queer in the matter of dress, for it is a sign of poor counsel. Wherever you go keep your eyes quiet, not making eyes, cer- tainly not w^ith lascivious intent, for these are the works of the evil one. Do not take another by the hand or the clothing. It is a sign of lightness. Do not enter or leave before your elders, or cross in front of them. Always give them the advantage. 1 From: Charles S. Braden, Religions Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 1930), pp. 254-255. The Spanish Colonies: The Church 119 Commend yourself to God, for from his hand comes good and you know not when you are to die. Do not marry without first telHng your parents. Do not be a gossip. If a secret is told you, keep it to yourself. Do not murmur nor complain if you would live in peace. Have nothing to do with a woman not your own, but live a clean Hfe. Offend no one. If you live with another, be careful to serve and please him. Be not proud of that which God gives you, nor depreciate others, for you will thus offend God who has given you the honor. 11. WHY INDIANS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN INTO RELIGIOUS ORDERS OR BECOME PRIESTS (Sixteenth Century) 1 WHAT then is the reason why the Indians are denied the habit not only of priests but of lay brothers, since in the primitive church gentiles and Jews, newly converted to the faith, were elected as priests and even bishops ? Rather it would seem of great benefit in the conversion of the natives, for these know the languages better and could preach and minister more acceptably in them; further- more the people would receive the gospel at the lips of their own brothers more freely than from strangers. To this question, it will be enough to reply confessing that in the primitive church it was thus, and that it was fitting then, for God worked by miracles on the new converts and they Tpecame saints and even martyrs to the name of Jesus. But in these times, the church, illumined by the Holy Spirit, and taught by the experi- ence which it has had of the many backslidings among the new Christians, has ordained that by determination of the High Priests, the Vicars of Christ, that there shall not be admitted to the pro- fession of priesthood or the orders, the descendants of any infidel in the fourth degree, and this is especially provided in the consti- tution of the Franciscan order. But I would add further that even providing that they would not return to the vomit of their rites and ceremonies (which is the reason why the church deprives them of this privilege) there exists among them a greater cause than in other descendants of infidels why they should not be admitted even as lay brothers, namely, that the majority of them are not fitted to command or rule, but to be commanded and ruled. ... I mean to say that they are not fitted iov masters but pupils, not for prelates but for subjects, and as such the best in the world. So good are they in this regard that poor and weak as I am, with only the 1 From: Geronimo de Mendieta quoted in Charles S. Braden, Religions Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 1930), pp. 271-272. I20 The Colonial Period backing of the king and his favor, I could with Httle aid from my companions have a province of fifty thousand Indians so well ordered and Christian that it would seem to be a monastery. 12. A REPORT ON FRANCISCAN ACTIVITIES IN PARAGUAY (June 5, 1608)1 WITH extraordinary success the Franciscans are working in these provinces since the day when Spaniards first came into the land. More than all others, they have preached the Gospel and instructed and converted the Indians, not only by word but above all by their excellent example and many sacrifices. Thus, at the present time some of them are out there in the wilds, and by kind words are seeking to induce the Indians to settle down and to accept the sacrament of baptism. In this way they are saving numerous souls ; and rarely has there been such a favorable opportunity for their work in this province than at present. The same love and the same zeal they have displayed also in the service of those stricken with the pest, when this dread disease recently exacted terrible losses among the natives. In five towns lying in the territory which is under my jurisdic- tion these Fathers have also erected friaries. Two of them are truly monuments of their poverty. Though I assisted them as much as I could, they had to go to much trouble in begging the necessary funds, and even saved whatever they could of that which they needed for sustenance and clothing. . . . The last pest has again caused great havoc, especially among the natives, who in places have been greatly reduced in number. Some are brought together in reductions, and others who are already civilized to some extent are raised to a higher degree of culture by the same means. Thus the sons of St. Francis are dispensing great benefits because of the devoted love with which they are serving God, our Lord, and Your Majesty. However, their number is too small, and also the secular priests are too few in number ; nor do all of these devote themselves to missionary work, for the poverty of the Indians is great and the life of a missionary among them is hard and not in- frequently hazardous. For this reason many Indian villages are without a spiritual leader. To remedy this situation, it is very important that six more friars come to us. Then they could go about two and two, and thus they would win souls for God with greater courage and greater joy. 1 From: Hernando Arias de Saavedra quoted in Franciscan Studies. March 1941, pp. 50- 51. i The Spanish Colonies: The Church 121 13. METHOD OF INSTRUCTING THE INDIANS OF PERU IN THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE (About 1740)i ALL the Indians, male and female, great and small, are to pre- sent themselves, and, gathering in the cemetery or square in front of the church, they sit upon the ground, arranged according to age and sex, and the catechising or doctrine commences in the following manner: Each curate employs a blind Indian, whose duty it is to repeat the doctrine to the rest. The blind Indian is stationed in the centre of them all and, with a kind of recitative, which is neither singing nor praying, he repeats the collects or offices word for word, and the audience responds in the form of a dialogue. The doctrine is sometimes rehearsed in the language of the Inca (which is that of the Indians), and sometimes in Span- ish, which is not intelligible to any of them. This saying of prayers lasts somewhat more than half an hour, and it comprises all the religious instruction which is given to the Indians — a method from which they derive so little benefit that old men of seventy know no more than the little Indian boys of the age of six, and neither these nor those have any further instruction than parrots would obtain if they were so taught, for they are neither questioned personally^ nor are the mysteries of faith explained to them with the needful simplicity, nor are they examined to see if they understand what they say, nor do they endeavour to make it more intelligible to those who are dull of comprehension. As the whole instruction is confined rather to the tone of the recitative than to the sense of the words, it is only by singing that they are able to rehearse de- tached portions; for, when they are questioned upon any distinct point, they cannot join two words together. 14. DECREE OF BANISHMENT OF JESUITS BY MEXICAN VICEROY (June 25, 1767)-^ I MAKE known to all the inhabitants of this country that the King, our Lord, on account of past occurrences, and in order to fulfill the first obligation, with which God has granted him the crow^n, of preserving intact its sovereign prerogatives, and of keep- ing his loyal and beloved people in subordination, peace, and justice, and for other very grave reasons which he conceals in his royal heart, has vouchsafed to command, upon the advice of his royal council and by decree issued on the 27th of last February, that the religious of the Company (of Jesus), priests as well as coadjutors 1 From: Juan and Ulloa quoted in Bernard Moses, The Spanish Dependencies in South America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 2 vols., 1914), Vol. II, pp. 193-194. 2 From: Francisco de Croix quoted in Zephyrin Engelhardt, Tlic Missions and Mission- aries of California (California: Mission Santa Barbara, 2nd edition, 4 vols., 1929 ff.j. Vol. I (1929), pp. 305-306. 122 The Golo?iial Period or lay-brothers, who have made the first vows, and the novices who desire to follow them, shall be banished from all his dominions in Spain, the Indies, the Philippine Islands, and the other adjoining countries, and that all the property of the Cojnpany in his dominions shall be seized. His Majesty, for the sake of uniform execution everywhere, having authorized exclusively the Conde de Aranda, President of Castilla, and having committed to me its execution in this realm with the same plentitude of power, I have assigned this day for the announcement of the Supreme Sentence to the expelled in their colleges and houses of residence in this New Spain, and likewise for the publishing of it to its people with the warning that all subjects of whatever dignity, class, or condition they may be, strictly obliged as they are to respect and obey the ever just resolutions of their sovereign, must venerate, assist, and execute this one with the greatest exactitude and fidelity, because His Majesty declares that the disobedient or the remiss in co-operating with its fulfillment incur his royal indignation, and I shall see my- self compelled to use the utmost rigor and military force against those that in public or in private for this purpose may have con- ferences, meetings, assembHes, talks, or discussions by word or in writing; for the subjects of the great monarch, who occupies the throne of Spain, must henceforth know once for all that they are born to keep silent and to obey, but not to discuss, nor to judge the lofty affairs of government. Mexico, June 25, 1767. El Marques de Croix. 15. HOW PREPARATIONS WERE MADE IN MEXICO FOR EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS (1767)i AS ALL the inhabitants are worthy pupils and zealous partisans of that Company ... I took good care to trust none of them with the execution of the orders of the King. The secret w^ould surely have got out, which would by no means have been con- venient. For this reason it was that I decided to confide in none save the Senor de Galvez, a minister who is employed here in the King's service, and in your son; we three, therefore, made all the arrangements ourselves, writing with our own hands all the orders necessary; these were immediately despatched by special messen- gers, that they might be carried out simultaneously in the most remote places of this vast empire. Until now the business has had the best success ; neither the troops nor any member of .the public discovered the secret until daybreak of the twenty-fifth of the present month [June], which was the date I had selected for the promulgation of the sentence. 1 From: Teodoro de Croix quoted in H. I. Priestley, Jose de Galvez (Berkeley: Univer- sity of California Press, 1916), pp. 212-213. J The Spanish Colonies: The Church 123 It was executed at the same hour in all the colleges and other houses of the Company, whose money, goods, and general effects were at the same time sequestered to the King. Effort is now being made, while orders are being awaited, to arrange everything so that no one may be injured. The secret was so well kept that the entire public is not yet recovered from the extreme surprise it experienced at the outset, a circumstance which — added to the fact that the troops were under arms — has con- tributed not a little to the marked tranquility with which everything has passed off, as well here as in the principal cities around about. These are the only places of which I can at present write you, as I have not yet been able to obtain news from those which are at greater distance. Nevertheless, as the orders were uniform, I flatter myself that the results must have been the same. The good fathers are conforming with the greatest submission to the will of the King. Their removal was accompanied by all manner of attentions, and they are cared for much better than they were in their own houses. They are all now en route for Vera Cruz, where I shall have them embarked for the port of Santa Maria as quickly as possible. Thence they will doubtless be transported to the Papal States at the expense of the King, upon whom this item will necessarily fall heavily, but no matter, they leave in 'his do- minions much more than is necessary to meet this cost without need of recourse to the royal treasury. 16. ACCOUNT OF THE EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS FROM MEXICO (1767)i THE expatriation of the Jesuits has so increased my labors that, although I wrote you in June concerning it, I have not since then been able to inform you of the effect which the order of ex- pulsion has produced. Today I confess to you frankly, my dear brother, that I should never have come out of this ticklish business as w^ell as I have if I had not decided to conceal from every one the order which I received, and to communicate it to none save the Sehor Galvez, a minister of great trustworthiness whom the King has here, and to your son. . . . Only in San Luis de la Paz, Guana- juato, and San Luis Potosi [the viceroy neglects to mention the troubles at Valladolid and Patzcuaro] , which are all gold and silver mining camps, and thus full of the lowest rabble . . . have there been uprisings. . . . These would have assumed a general character if I had not at the first intim.ation of trouble adopted the measure of sending thither Galvez with five hundred picked troops ... to punish those most at fault. He so well chscharged his commission that 1 From: Viceroy de Croix quoted in H. I. Priestley, Jose de Gdlves (Berkeley: Univer- sity of California Press, 1916), pp. 230-231. 124 ^^^^ Colonial Period within a few days after his arrival he re-estabHshed general quiet everywhere. I even believe that peace will be enduring, owing to the exemplary punishment which the principal chiefs were made to suffer, and to the formation of a body of about 3000 militia, both infantry and cavalry, which Galvez found means of raising with- out their costing the King a cent for uniforms or arms, as he pro- vided these from his own peculio (resources). Owing to lack of sufficient vessels for carrying the Fathers to Spain, the greater part of them are yet in Vera Cruz and its en- virons. But as the governor of Havana has just promised to send me a dozen vessels, I figure that within this month and the next I shall be entirely rid of them, excepting those of the California missions and the adjacent territory, who have not yet been able to reach the point of rendezvous. . . . The good Fathers are leaving us contentedly, at least in appearance, owing to the manner in which they have been cared for since their fall. But I believe that in their hearts they are in no wise pleased to be obliged to leave us. Every one is still weeping for them, at which there is no need for surprise. They were absolute masters of the hearts and consciences of all the inhabitants. . . . The value of the goods of all kinds which they leave amounts to a considerable sum. I am yet ignorant as to what disposition will be made of them, and until I know I shall deal with the property as did the Fathers in their time. 17. DECREE OF CHARLES III CONCERNING CHURCH ASYLUM (November 9, 1773)i ANY person of either sex, whatever station or condition, who takes refuge in the Sanctuary, shall be immediately removed after notification of the Rector, Parish priest, or Ecclesiastical I^relate by the Royal Judge, Minister, Military Governor, Chief, Adjutant or Corporal, under the guarantee (issued in writing or given orally, as the fugitive may desire) that he shall not be injured in his life or his members. He shall then be placed in a secure prison, and shall be maintained at his own cost, if he have the means ; in case he have no property, he shall be kept at the cost of the public funds, or of my royal treasury in case either is wanting, so that the necessary sustenance be not lacking him. Without delay a thorough investigation shall be instituted to discover the motive or cause for taking refuge in the sanctuary, and if it turns out to be a slight though voluntary matter, he shall be punished with prudence and discretion, and then set at liberty with the warning considered in keeping by the judge or respective official. 1 From: Zepliyrin Engelhardt, The Missions and Missionaries of California (California: Mission Santa Barbara, 2nd edition, 4 vols., 1929- ff.), Vol. II (1930), pp. 692-693. The Spanish Colonies: The Church 125 If a crime is discovered or a transgression that makes the refugee liable to suffer a grave punishment, the regular trial shall be in- stituted, and when the guilt has been established, which result must be accomplished within the space of three days, unless there be urgent reasons for delay, the acts shall be sent to the viceroy or chief of the territory if the culprit be under miHtary jurisdiction; but if not the acts shall be given to the royal audencia of the territory. When the crime is of an enormous nature, and one of those for which the law grants no asylum to the culprit, and if there is suffi- cient evidence, the acts shall be forwarded by the military tribunal or chief to the lower judge, so that by means of a certified copy of the proof of the guilt (without prejudice to the prosecution of the case) he may demand from the ecclesiastical judge of his district the formal surrender without guarantee to the person of the culprit, at the same time sending a record to the chief of the territory, so that he may provide a speedy execution. The ecclesiastical judge in virtue of the said copy of the proof of the guilt forwarded by the secular judge will provide for the sur- render of the culprit. When the papers for the formal surrender have been served the actual surrender of the delinquent shall be made within twenty- four hours. When in the course of the trial the evidence shall prove weak, they shall proceed to release him, or inflict a small punish- ment m keeping with the evidence. 18. DESCRIPTION OF A CAPUCHIN FRIAR ON THE UPPER ORINOCO (Eighteenth Century) 1 THE missionary of San Fernando was a Capuchin, a native of Aragon, far advanced in years, but strong and healthy. His extreme corpulency, his hilarity, the interest he took in battles and sieges, ill accorded with the ideas we form in northern countries of the melancholy reveries and the contemplative life of missionaries. Though extremely busy about a cow which was to be killed next day, the old monk received us with kindness, and permitted us to hang up our hammocks in a' gallery of his house. Seated, without doing anything, the greater part of the day, in an armchair of red wood, he bitterly complained of what he called the indolence and ignorance of his countrymen. Our missionary, however, seemed well satisfied with his situation. He treated the Indians with mild- ness ; he beheld his Mission prosper, and he praised with enthusiasm the waters, the bananas, and the dairy-produce of the district. The sight of our instruments, our books, and our dried plants, drew 1 From: Alexander von Humboldt quoted in J. Fred Rippy and Jean Thomas Nelson, Crusaders of the Jungle (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1936), p. 336. 126 The Colonial Period from him a sarcastic smile ; and he acknowledged, with the naivete pecuHar to the inhabitants of those countries, that of all the enjoy- ments of life, without excepting sleep, none was comparable to the pleasure of eating good beef. 19. LOW STATE OF THE CLERGY IN THE SPANISH COLONIES IN' THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY i THE persons . . . who compose the two orders of the clergy are guilty of such licentiousness, that, making due allowance for the frailties to which human nature is liable, and the weaknesses to which men of every class are subject, it would appear that those ecclesiastics regard it as their peculiar privilege to go before all others in the career of vice ; for while they are under the most sacred obligations not only to practise virtue, but to correct the errors incident to frail nature, it is they who, by their pernicious example, sanction the practice of iniquity, and in a measure divest it of its heinous nature. The parish priests are extremely vicious in their habits ; but, whether it happen that an error or crime in them attracts less notice, or whether they are more careful to conceal it, or for both reasons, which is the more probable, disgraceful as the consequences are known to be, they never reach such a degree of scandal as do those of the monks; for the latter, from the first step they take, and even without leaving the monasteries, pursue a course of con- duct so notorious and shameful that it becomes offensive in the extreme, and fills the mind with horror. Concubinage is so general that the practice of it is esteemed a point of honor; and when a stranger arrives and continues his residence there for some time without having adopted the customs of the country, his continence is attributed not to a principle of virtue, but to the passion of avarice, as it is generally supposed that he lives so in order to save money. In large cities, the greater part of the monks live in private houses, for the convents furnish an asylum to those only who can- not keep house, or to the choristers, novitiates, and such like, who live there from choice. The same is true of the small ckies, villages, and hamlets. The doors of the monasteries are kept open, and the monks live in their cells, accompanied by their women, and lead in every respect the life of married persons". The fandangoes or balls are usually devised by the members of the religious orders, or more properly by those who call themselves religious, although, in fact, they are far from being so ; for it is they who pay the expense, who attend in company with their con- 1 From: Juan and Ulloa quoted in Bernard Moses, South America on the Eve of Eman- cipation (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1908), pp. 116-118. The Spanish Colonies: Intellectual Life 127 cubines, and who get up the fray in their own houses. Simul- taneously with the dance, the immoderate use of ardent spirits begins, and the entertainment is gradually converted into acts of impropriety so unseemly and lewd, that it would be presumption even to speak of them, and a want of delicacy to stain the narrative with such a record of obscenities ; and, letting them lie hid in the region of silence, we shall only remark, that whatever the spirit of malice could invent in respect to this subject, great as it might be, it could never fathom that abyss into which those corrupt minds are plunged, nor give any adequate idea of the degree of excess to which debauchery and crime are carried. Chapter Ten INTELLECTUAL LIFE IN THE SPANISH COLONIES 1. ROYAL ORDER NOT TO ALLOW WORKS OF FICTION TO BE SENT TO THE COLONIES (April 4, 1531)i I HAVE been informed that many books of fiction in the ver- nacular which are unrelated to religion such as Amadis and others of this sort go to the Indies ; since this is bad practice for the Indians and something with which it is not well for them to be concerned or to read, I command you, therefore, from this time henceforth neither to permit nor allow any person at all to take any books of fiction and of secular matters there but only those relating to the Christian religion and morality upon which the above men- tioned Indians and other inhabitants of the Indies may practice the art of reading and with which they may busy themselves ; no other kind is to be allowed. Done at Ocana, April 4, 1531, I, the Queen. 2. ORDER FOR THE EXAMINATION OF BOOKS BY THE HOLY OFFICE OF THE INQUISITIONS WE command that now and henceforth each and every time that . . . you go to inspect these fleets and private vessels and see and understand after opening cases on them that there are books of any sort in them of sacred writings as well as philosophy and 1 From: The Queen quoted in Irving A. Leonard, Romances of Chivalry in the Spanish Indies (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1933), p. 3. 2 From: Irving A. Leonard, Romances of Chivalry in the Spanish Indies (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1933), p. 33. 128 The Colonial Period other subjects, you shall close the cases and, without taking them out or reading them in any manner, hand them over to the . . . deputy of the Holy Office in this city and port of San Juan Ulua [Vera Cruz] who, in accordance with 'the instructions issued to him, shall seal them with the seal of this Holy Office and send them here so that they may be seen and inspected by ourselves. After this formality they shall be turned over to their owners. Regard- ing the cases going elswhere than here [Mexico City] the deputy shall do what we have instructed with suitable promptness so that the owners of these books suffer no damage or loss. 3. ACCOUNT OF FOUNDING OF A MEXICAN SCHOOL FOR INDIANS (1558)i THE rectors and the deputies and Charity societies of the City of Mexico, seeing the great necessity that the orphan daughters of Spanish and Indian parents be gathered together and indoc- trinated, in order that their poverty and weakness might not offend God, founded, with the permission of the viceroy, a college called Nuestra Senora de la Caridad w^hich is supported by the gifts of the societies of charity and friends. This has grown constantly, especially since your majesty by royal order commanded the vice- roy to favor it, as indeed he has done. From this school, after they are taught what is suitable, many of the orphans marry who other- wise would be lost. There is provision in the school for the cele- bration of the sacraments ; there are seasons during lent and other festival occasions ; and some of the girls take part in the singing on feast days and in the service of the mass. 4. SISTER JUANA INfiS DE LA CRUZ TELLS ABOUT HER EARLY EDUCATION^ I HAD not yet reached my third year, when my mother sent one of my sisters, older than I, to be taught to read by a teacher of the sort we call "Amigas ;" it was then that I first went to school — - for I accompanied my sister because of my affection for her, and because, also, of my own mischievous nature. Observing that she was being given lessons, a desire to learn how to read began to burn in me so fiercely that I went so far — I realize now — as to deceive the teacher by telling her that my mother wanted me to have lessons, too. The teacher did not believe it, because it was not believable ; but in order to honor my impudence, she began to teach me. I persevered in my efforts, and she continued to teach 1 From: Francisco de Velasco quoted in Charles S. Braden, Religious Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 1930), p. 152. 2 From: Juana Ines de la Cruz quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, March 1941, p. 152. The Spanish Colonies: Intellectual Life 129 me, now no longer merely to amuse herself, because experience had soon shown her that I was in earnest; and I learned to read so quickly that I knew how before my mother heard anything about it, for my teacher had kept it secret from her in order to give her news of my undertaking, and to receive congratulations upon its success, all at the same time. I, too, had kept quiet about it, fearing that I might be spanked for doing what I did without permission. I well remember that, in those days, although my chief enjoyment was the one that is usual in a child of my years, I abstained from eating cheese because I had heard someone say that the eating of it made one stupid — and the desire to learn had more power over me than the desire to eat, though the latter generally exceeds all others in children. Later on, when I was about six or seven, and already knowing how to read, and being proficient in such things as embroidery and sewing, which constitute the only learning of women, I heard somewhere that in the City of Mexico there were several schools and a University, in which the sciences were taught. No sooner had I heard that than I began to plague my mother with insistent and inopportune requests to put me into boys' clothes and send me to live in the City with relatives we had there, so that I might attend the University. Naturally, she would not consent — and of course, she was right. So I had to satisfy my ambitions as best I could by reading many different kinds of books, that belonged to my grandfather. No admonitions or punishments were ever able to stop me in this, and as a consequence, when I finally did go to Mexico City, people wondered, not so much at the cleverness, but rather at the memory and the range of information displayed by one whose age was such that she scarcely had had time to learn how to talk correctly. 5. LYRICS OF JUANA IN^S DE LA CRUZ 1 If perchance, oh beloved Fabio, After such long vexations. There still remains in my soul Strength for a last complaint; If perchance, in the midst of the ashes Of my hope that is dead forever There has blossomed a last, frail flower — So shrinking; so fragile, so fair! — Its fragrance, whose strength is nothing. May charm you and hold you to listen To all that my heart would tell you Ere I go, to see you no more ; 1 From: Juana Ines de la Cruz quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, March 1941, p. 158. 130 The Colonial Period If perchance the stony-eyed Fate Whose hand holds the direful shears Will but for a moment forget me — Will grant but a moment's delay — You will heed the heartbroken music And the sorrowful rhymes of my verses That will ring in your heart like the singing Of the swan ere she yields her to death. Oh, lover! Oh, lover! Ere night With her mantle of darkness and cold Blots out the last, feeble flame That glows in the depths of my eyes, Give me a final embrace In whose tender, compassionate bonds We may find brief communion of flesh And know that our souls are as one. Chapter 6^leven 1. HOW THE COUNTRY WAS DISCOVERED AND NAMED 1 TN THE reign of that very Catholic and Serene Prince, King -■- Dom MANUEL, a fleet was prepared for India, of which Pedralvarez Cabral went as commander-in-chief (capifam mor), this being the second expedition undertaken by the Portuguese to that part of the Orient. The fleet sailed from the city of Lisbon the ninth of March of the year 1500. After they arrived among the Cape Verde Islands (for here they planned to get fresh water), a storm broke out, which prevented taking on water and separated some of the vessels of the fleet. When fair weather came again the fleet was reunited, and proceeded to the high seas, to avoid the Guinea calms which might hinder their voyage, and to be able easily to double the Cape of Good Hope. They travelled a month in this circuitous course with favourable winds, when they came upon the coast of this Province; along which they sailed all of that day, it appearing to every one to be a large island, for they had no Pilot or other person who had any knowledge of it, or any one who 1 From: Pedro de Magalhaes, The Histories of Brazil (New York: The Cortes Society, 2 vols., 1922), Vol. II, pp. 20-24. Colonial Brazil 131 presumed that there might be a continent in that part of the Occident. They anchored that afternoon in a place on the island which seemed to them most suitable, where they soon had sight of the natives on shore ; whose appearance caused them no little won- der, for they were different from the inhabitants of Guinea, and according to the general impression, different from any people they had ever seen. They being at anchor in the place I mention, such a storm arose that night that they were obliged to weigh anchor ; and in a wind which quartered their course, they were forced to run along the coast until they came to an open harbour of deep water, which they entered, and to which they then gave the name, which it bears today, Porto Seguro, for it had given them shelter, and had safeguarded them from the dangers of the tempest they had experienced. The next day, Pedralvarez and most of the crew v/ent ashore where high mass was celebrated and a sermon preached: and the Indians of the land, who were grouped about, listened very quietly to everything, imitating aJl the acts and cere- monies they saw us perform. Thus they knelt and beat their breasts, as though they had the light of Faith, or as though in some way there had been revealed to them the great and ineffable mystery of the Most Holy Sacrament. By this action they showed clearly that they were disposed to receive Christian Doctrine at any time it could be declared to them, inasmuch as they were people who were not impeded by a belief in idols, and who professed no other law which might conflict with ours, as will be seen later in the chapter dealing with their customs. Then Pedralvarez sent a ship with the news to the King, Dom Manuel, which news was received with much pleasure and satisfaction : and from that time on he be- gan to send more ships to those regions ; and so, little by little, the country was explored, and [ever] more was learned about it, until finally the country was entirely divided into Captaincies and settled in the way it is today. To come back to Pedralvarez, its discoverer. After spending some days there, taking on water and waiting for suitable weather before departing, he wished to give a name to the Province he had so recently discovered; so he ordered a Cross to be raised on the highest branch of a tree, whither it was lifted with great solemnity, and many benedictions by the Priests whom he had brought in his company, and the name of Sancta Cruz was given to the land; for Holy Mother Church was celebrating the feast of the Holy Cross that very day (it being the third of May). This event is not lacking in mystery, for the Order and Knighthood of Christ in the Kingdom of Portugal wear as insignia a cross upon the breast; and so it pleased Him (Christ) that that land should be discovered on this holy day when such a name might be given it, because it [the land] was destined to be possessed by the Portu- guese, and to rem.ain an inherited property under the custody of 132 The Colonial Period the Grand Mastership of this very Order of Christ. Hence it does not seem reasonable that this name should be withdrawn from it, nor that we should forget it so universally for another which an ill-advised public gave it after the dye-wood began to be exported to the Kingdom [of Portugal]. We call it brazil because the wood is red and resembles hot coals, and thus the land got the name of Brazil. But in order that in this respect we may vex the Devil who has laboured so hard and is still labouring to efface the memory of the Holy Cross and to exile it from the hearts of men (the Cross by means of which we were redeemed and delivered from the power of his tyranny), let us restore the name and call it "Province of Sancta Cruz," as in the beginning. (That illustrious and famous writer, Joao de Barros, in his First Decade, dealing with this dis- covery, shows that it was first so called). For in truth it is more estimable, and sounds better to our ears as Christian folk, to hear the name of the rood upon which the mystery of our Redemption took place, than of the tree which serves for no other uses than the dyeing of cloth, or similar purposes. 2. DESCRIPTION OF BRAZIL (Sixteenth Century)i THE Province of Sancta Cruz is situated in that great America, one of the four parts of the world. It begins two degrees south of the Equator and thence extends southwards to forty-five degrees. Thus part of it lies in the torrid zone and part in the temperate. The shape of the Province is like that of a harp, the coast-line on the north side running from east to west and parallel to the Equator. On the south it is bounded by other provinces of America, peopled and owned by heathen nations with whom so far we have no com- munication. On the east it is bounded by the African Ocean and lies directly opposite the Kingdoms of Congo and Angola as far as the Cape of Good Hope. On the west it is bounded by the very high peaks of the Andes and the slopes of Peru, which are so high above the land that it is said even the birds have difficulty in pass- ing over them. Until now, men coming from Peru to this Province have been able to find only one route, and that is so rough that some persons perish crossing over, by falling from the narrow path they are following, and their dead bodies fall to a depth so far below the living that they can not see them, even if they are disposed to give them burial. This Province of Sancta Cruz lacks these and other extremes ; for although it is so large, there are neither such mountains (there, are great numbers of them) nor deserts nor marshes which can not be crossed with ease. Apart from this, the Province, without contradiction, is the most suitable of all the 1 From: Pedro de Magalhaes, The Histories of Brazil (New York: The Cortes Society, 2 vols., 1922), Vol. II, pp. 25-30, 154-157. Colonial Brazil 133 provinces of America for mankind, because usually the air is good and the soil most fertile, and [the land is] of the most delightful and pleasing appearance to human sight. The fact that it is so healthful and free from sickness is because of the winds that gen- erally blow over it, from the northeast or south and sometimes from the east or east-southeast. As all these come from off the sea, the air is so pure and well tempered, that not only does it do no harm, but on the contrary restores and pfolongs human life. The viragdo begins about noon and lasts till daylight; then it stops be- cause of the moisture from the earth which checks it. When day breaks the sky is usually covered with mist, for the many thickets attract all this moisture. And during this period a gentle wind blows from off the land until the sun calms it with its rays and the accustomed sea breeze starts, the day becomes clear and mild, and the ground remains clean and free from all exhalations. The aspect of the Province is very delectable and refreshing to a great degree : the whole of it is covered with lofty thick woods, and is watered with many delightful streams, with which all the land is abundantly supplied ; it is always green with the same tem- perature of spring that April and May offer us here [in Portugal]. For this reason they do not have the colds or frosts of winter to injure the plants as they injure our plants. In a word, Nature has so acted in respect to all things in the Province, and has so moder- ated the air, that one is never aware of excessive cold or heat. There is an infinite number of springs in the country, the waters of which form many great rivers which flow into the Ocean, either on the north or the east coast. Some of them rise in the midst of the sertdo and wind through long and tortuous channels in search of the Ocean, where their currents driv^ away the salt water with violence and enter the Ocean with such impetus that it is difficult and dangerous to navigate those waters. The principal and most famous of the rivers of those regions is the River of the Amazons which flows northward into the ocean one half -degree south of the Equator, and whose mouth is about thirty leagues across. In the mouth of this river are many islands which divide it into many channels; it rises in a lake about one hundred leagues from the South Sea [Pacific] at the foot of the mountain ranges of Quito, in the province of Peru, whence several Castillian expeditions have embarked, which navigated downstream and succeeded in entering the Ocean half a degree from the Equator, a distance of six hundred leagues in a straight line, but actually more, counting the turns the river itself makes. Another very large river, fifty leagues to the east of this one, also empties north, and is called the Maranhao River. There are many islands in it : one of them in the middle of the bar is inhabited by aborigines, and alongside any kind of boat may anchor. The 134 ^^^^ Colonial Period mouth of this river is seven leagues across, and so much salt water enters it that for fifty leagues up into the sertdo it is no more nor less than an arm of the sea, whither one can navigate among the islands without any hindrance. Here there empty two rivers which rise in the sertdo; up one of them some Portuguese sailed on a voyage of discovery in the year '35 ; they proceeded up it two hun-- dred and fifty leagues, until they could go no farther because of the narrowness of the river and the shallowness of the water which would no longer float the boats. Of the other river no exploration was made, so that today the source of neither is known. Another very noteworthy river flows eastward into the same Ocean and is called Sao Francisco : its mouth is located in ten and a third degrees and may be half a league wide." This river flows into the sea so proudly and with such fury that the tide never reaches its mouth, but only represses the water a little ; three leagues out to sea the water is fresh. It flows toward its mouth from the south to the north ; within it is very deep and clear, and it can be navigated for sixty leagues, as has already been done. From there on one can not go, on account of a very great waterfall at that point, over which the sheet of water rushes from a great height. And above this fall the river itself runs underground and comes up again a league away ; when there are floods, the river overflows and washes away the earth. This river rises in a very large lake which is in the middle of the country, where they say are many towns whose inhabitants (according to report) have great posses- sions of gold and precious stones. Another very large river, one of the most marvellous in the world, empties into the sea on the east coast in latitude thirty-five : it is called Rio da Prata, and has a width of forty leagues where it enters the Ocean ; and the force of this fresh water, which carries the drainage of all the slopes of Peru, is so great that sailors drink fresh water before they can see the land whence it comes. Two hundred and seventy leagues up this river, there stands a city settled by Castillians which is called Ascenqao (Asuncion). It is navigable up to this point and for many leagues farther. Up in the interior there pours into this river another called Paragoahi, which rises also in that very same lake as the Sao Francisco which has already been [mentioned]. Besides these, there are many other rivers on the coast, large ones and small ones, and many gulfs, bays and arms of the sea, which I do not wish to name because my intention was to choose only noteworthy facts, the principal ones, of that land and to speak of them in detail, so that I should not be charged with prolixity, but should satisfy all with brevity. In these parts of Brazil there are six months of summer and six months of winter; the summer months are from September to Colonial Brazil 135 February, those of winter from March to August; so, when it is winter in the Province of Brazil, here in the Kingdom it is summer, and the days are ahiiost of the same length as the nights, increasing and diminishing only one hour. In the winter months the prevail- ing winds blow from the south and southeast, in the summer from the northeast. The waters of the coast always run with the wind ; thus it is impossible to sail from some of the Captaincies to others unless one wait for the monsoons when wind and water move in the same direction, because, as I have said, the winds blow six months in one direction and six in the other; hence frequently voyages afe precarious, and when ships sail against the weather they run much risk, and [are obliged to] return in most cases to the port from whence they set forth. Eight days before All Saints Day, in the height of summer, a storm of south wind arises which lasts a week. Its occurrence at this period is so certain and general that some ships wait for it to make their voyages. It is always warm in that country, almost as warm in v/inter as in summer ; the viragdo of the prevailing wind takes place at about midday : this breeze is so fresh and cool that one no longer feels the heat, and is refreshed in body. This wind from the sea lasts till daylight; then it turns warm again by reason of the vapours of the land which still the wind. When it dawns the sky is all covered with clouds, and most mornings it rains in these regions, and the ground remains covered with mist because there are many clumps of trees, and the earth draws to itself all moisture. And, as soon as the prevailing wind dies out, a gentle wind begins to blow from inland where it arises, until the sun with its warmth in turn checks it, and the day clears up again, and remains bright and serene ; then the accustomed sea breeze starts. This land breeze is very dangerous and unwhole- some; and if it happen to continue several days many people die, Portuguese as well as native Indians ; but it is our Lord's will that this happen rarely; aside from this evil, it is a very healthful land of good climate, where people find themselves well disposed and live many years ; old folks especially have better health and appear to become young again, and for this reason some of them do not wish to return to their native lands, fearing that thus death would come to them sooner. The air in the morning is very fresh and healthful ; many people are accustomed to rise early to take advan- tage of it at its best. The land itself is slack and, lazy ; there men find themselves a little weak and their strength less than that they had in the Kingdom, on account of the heat, and the food that is used there. This applies to people who are new in the land ; but in time, after they become accustomed to it, they are as lusty and strong as if this land were their native country. In this country they order pork given to sick people, because it is beneficial in any illness and harms no one; the fish also has the same property and 136 The Colonial Period furnishes much nourishment to the aiHng. The soil is very rich and fertile, entirely covered with exceedingly high leafy trees, whose verdure persists winter and summer; this is the reason for its raining often and for not having cold weather to harm whatever the land produces. The shadow beneath these trees is dense and the undergrowth so thick that the ground never receives heat or light from the sun, but is always damp and oozing with fresh water. The drinking water of the country is very healthful and sweet; however much of it one may drink, it does not injure one's health. The most of it turns at once to perspiration and the body remains free of fats and healthy. Finally, this land is so' delightful and temperate that one never feels cold nor excessive heat. 3. THE PRODUCTS OF BRAZIL (Sixteenth Century)i THERE is such an abundance and such variety of plants, fruits and herbs in this Province, of which one could point out so many peculiarities, that it would be an endless task to write about them here or to give a detailed account of the properties of them all. Therefore I shall mention only a few in particular, principally those whose properties and fruits are advantageous to the Portu- guese. First, I shall describe that plant and root from which the in- habitants obtain sustenance and which they eat in place of bread. The root is call [sic] mandioca [manioc] and the plant from which it grows is about the height of a man. This plant is not very thick and the stalks have many joints ; when they want to plant a field of it, they cut it into pieces, which they put, like graft stalks, into the ground after it has been tilled, and from them new shoots put forth ; each of these cuttings produces three or four roots or more (accord- ing to the quality of the soil in which they plant it) which take from nine to ten months to grow ; except in Sao Vicente, where it takes three years because the ground is colder [than to the north] . The roots at the end of this period have become very large like the inhames [yams] of Sao Thome, although most of them are long and curved like the horn of an ox. After they have reached their growth in this way, if the inhabitants do not wish to pull them up to eat, they cut off the plant at its stalk, and the roots will remain five or six months under ground in perfect condition without spoil- ing: in Sao Vicente they will keep twenty or thirty years in the same way. As soon as they pull them up, they put them to soak in water for three or four days, and after they are soaked they thoroughly mash them. This done, they put the paste into long narrow bags which they make of narrow withes woven as in a basket; and in this they squeeze out the juice so that none drips, 1 From: Pedro de Magalhaes, The Histories of Brazil (New York: The Cortes Society, 2 vols., 1922), Vol. II, pp. 43-52. Colonial Brazil 137 for the juice is so poisonous and the venom so powerful, that if a person or any animal whatsoever drank it, he would die instantly. After they have cured it in this way they put it in an earthen vessel over a fire; an Indian woman keeps stirring it until the heat of the fire has dispelled all the moisture and it becomes dry and is ready to eat, this process consuming about half an hour. This is the food they call jarinha do pdo [wood-flour] ; with it the inhabitants and natives are nourished. They have two kinds of flour, one called jarinha de guerra [war-flour] and the other farinha fresca [fresh flour] . War-flour is made of the same root ; after it is dried it is toasted so that it will keep more than a year without spoiling. The fresh flour is more delicate and of better flavour; but it will keep only two or three days, after which it spoils. They make from this same mandioca another food which they call beijus; these are like obreas [wafers], only thicker and whiter, and some are flat like filhos [pancakes] . They are much used by the inhabi- tants of the country (principally those of Bahia de Todos os Sanctos) because they are more tasty and more easily digested than the flour. There is another species of mandioca which has different quali- ties, called aipim, from which, in some Captaincies, they make holos [a kind of bread] which surpass in flavour the fresh bread of Portugal. The juice of this root is not poisonous like the juice of the other, and will harm no living thing even if it be drunk. They also eat this root roasted like batata [sweet potatoes] or inhame and it has a good flavour. Aside from this there is much milho zaburro [maize], from which they make a very white bread; and much rice, and many species of beans and other vegetables, all in great plenty. There is another plant in that Province which came from the island of Sao Thome the fruit of which helps to nourish many people in the region. This plant is very tender and not very tall ; it has no branches but only leaves which are six or seven palms long. The fruit is called bananas [banana] : these are shaped like cucumbers and grow in bunches ; some of them are so large as to contain one hundred and fifty or more. And many times the weight is so great that it breaks the stalk of the plant in the middle. At the proper time they gather the bunches, and a few days later they ripen. After they have been gathered they cut down the plant, for it bears only once; but soon suckers shoot out from the same root and grow up like the others. This fruit is very savoury and one of the best of the country ; it has a skin like that of a fig (but thicker) which they throw away when they eat it : but when over- indulged in, it causes injury to the health and produces fever. There are some very tall trees in those regions called zabucaes [Brazilian nuts], on which grows a cup-like fruit the size of a 138 The Colonial Period large cocoanut, of the same shape as a Hindu jar. These cups are exceeding hard and are full of very sweet and tasty nuts; the mouths are the lower end and covered with flaps [tapadoiras] , which really do not look as if grown by Nature but as though made by human industry. And when the nuts are ripe, these flaps fall off and the nuts themselves begin to drop out one at a time until not one remains in the cup. There is another fruit in this region better still, the most prized by the inhabitants of all fruits ; it grows on a humble plant near the ground: this plant, like the aloes plant, has spines. They call this fruit ananases [pineapple] ; they grow like artichokes, and naturally resemble pine-cones, being of the same size or a little larger. When ripe they have a very sweet odour, and are eaten pared and cut in slices. They are so savoury that in every one's opinion there is no fruit in Portugal which surpasses them in flavour. And therefore the inhabitants strive harder to obtain them, and hold them in greater esteem than any other fruit in the country. There is another fruit which grows in the thick wood, on trees like pear-trees or apple-trees : it is like peros repinaldos [a variety of apple] in form, and is very yellow. They call it cajiis [cashew] : it is very juicy, and is eaten in hot weather for refreshment as it is very cool by nature, and it would be astonishing if it did one harm even if used to excess. On the point of each fruit there grows a nut the size of a chestnut and the shape of a bean : this sprouts first and grows at its extremity like a bloom. The shell is very bitter, and the nut when roasted is very hot and more tasteful than an almond. There are in the Province many different varieties of fruit, ac- cessible to all ; they are so abundant that many people travelling in the interior live on them for days without any other sustenance. The fruits I am describing are the ones which the Portuguese hold in highest esteem and consider the best in the country. There are some Portuguese fruits which grow in those regions ; namely, many varieties of melons, cucumbers, pomegranates, and figs of several species; there are many grape-vines which produce grapes tw^o or three times a year : all fruits are so abundant because there are no frosts (as I have said) to do them any harm. Of cedrats, citrons, limes, lemons and oranges there is an infinite number, because these thorny trees thrive well in the country and multiply faster than others. Besides the trees which produce these fruits without any culti- vation, and the food-stuffs, there are others which the inhabitants raise on their farms; namely, sugar-cane and cotton plants which are the principal crops of the region, in the cultivation of which they all help one another and gain much profit in all the Captaincies, especially in that of Paranambuco where nearly thirty sugar mills Colonial Brazil 139 have been built, and nearly as many at Bahia de Salvador : from each of these there is a large yield of sugar every year, and a big crop of cotton, more, w^ithout comparison, than in any of the other Captaincies. There is also much brazil-wood in these Captaincies, on which the inhabitants make a large profit : it is quite evident that this wood is produced by the heat of the sun, and grows under the influence of its rays ; because it is found only in the torrid zone, and the nearer it grows to the Equinoctial Line, the better it is and the finer the dye. That is the reason why there is none of it in the Captaincy of Sao Vicente, or south of it. There is a species of tree in the forests of the Captaincy of Paranambuco called copaiba, from which they get a balsam that is very healthful and exceedingly useful in many kinds of sickness; it has especially good effect in illnesses that come from chills, and draws out all pain, however serious, in a very short space of time. For bruises or wounds of any kind, it has the same virtue, for as soon as it is applied to them they hastily heal without a scar, in such a way that it is the exception to be able to discern where [the wounds] have been; and in this respect they have an advantage over all other medicines. This oil is not easily found in these trees at all seasons of the year ; nor do they attempt to look for it, except in summer which is the season when the trees produce it abundantly. When they wish to obtain it, they make cuts or holes in the trunks of the trees, from which the precious liquor exudes little by little from the heart of the tree. Nevertheless they do not find it in all the trees, but only in some of them which for that reason they call female ; those which lack it they call male ; and in this respect only is the difference in the two varieties ; for in size and appearance one cannot distinguish one from the other. Most of these trees are found with the bark scratched by animals, which instinctively seek them as a cure for their wounds, when they are injured or bitten by some other wild animal. There is another tree, different ■from these, in the Captaincies of Ilheos and Spirito Sancto which they call cahorahiha, from which they extract another balsam : this exudes from the bark of the tree and smells most sweet. It also is advantageous for the same infirmities, and those who obtain it hpld it in great esteem and sell it for a high price; because, aside from the fact that the trees are very scarce, those who seek them run great risks from hidden enemies who infest the forest in that region and spare no ong whom they encounter. Moreover, there is a certain tree in the Captaincy of Sao Vicente, which is called in the language of the Indians ohird paramagaci, which means 'Vood for ills" : three drops only of the sap serves amply as a purge and an emetic. If any one swallow a quantity such as [might be contained] in the shell of a nut, he will die without delay. 140 The Colonial Period Of the other plants and herbs which yield no fruit, and of whose uses nothing is known, many things might be written; but I shall not mention them here, for it is my intention (as I have said before) only to give data of the things which benefit the inhabitants of the country. I shall mention only a very noteworthy one, whose quali- ties when known will, I believe, cause much wonderment every- where. It is called the herva viva [literally and actually "sensitive plant"] and has some resemblance to dog-briar. When any one touches it with his hands or with any other object whatsoever, it instantly recoils and shrivels, in such a way that one would say it seemed a living creature annoyed and insulted by "the touch. And after it has become calmer, as though the insult had been forgotten, once more it opens little by little until it is again as sturdy and green as before. This plant must have some very great virtue hid- den from us, the effect of which will probably not be less w^orthy of admiration. For we know that of all the plants which God created, each one has, in the field of usefulness, a special power which causes certain operations for which it was created: how much greater virtue then has this one which I wish especially to point out as being so strange and different from all other plants. 4. BRAZILIAN RANCHES (Sixteenth Century)i npHE inhabitants of this coast of Brazil all hold lands in fee -■- [sesmaria], granted and guaranteed by the Captains of the land ; and the first thing which they seek to obtain is slaves to work the land and to till their plantations and ranches, because without them they can not maintain themselves in the country; and one of the reasons why Brazil does not flourish much more is that the slaves revolt and flee to their own land and run away every day; and if these Indians were not so fickle and given to flight, the wealth of Brazil would be incomparable; the crops from which they obtain the greatest profit are sugar, cotton, and brazil-wood, and, because there is little money in the country, they pay with these the merchants who bring them goods from the Kingdom; thus they sell and exchange one merchandise for another at its just value. All the inhabitants of this country have plantations of food-stuffs and sell much manioc flour one to the other, from which they also derive much profit. The majority of cattle on this coast are oxen and cows of which there is great abundance in all the Captaincies, because there is much grass and the country is always covered with verdure ; except in Porto Seguro where cattle thrive only in the first year, in which time, they say, they become so fat that they all die from excessive 1 From: Pedro de Magalhaes, The Histories of Brazil (New York: The Cortes Society. 2 vols., 1922), Vol. II, pp. 149-151. Colonial Brazil 141 fat. Of goats and sheep there are very few up to the present, but now they are beginning to multiply again. Goats breed better than sheep and have two or three young at a time. The inhabitants make money from this kind of cattle raising also. There are mares and stallions, too, but so far they are dear because they are not numer- ous in the land. They bring them from Cabo Verde here and they succeed very well. One finds also on the coast much ambergris which the sea throws up in nearly every instance when there is a storm and high water. Then many persons send their slaves to the shore to collect it in those places where it is usually cast up. Often it happens that they thus become rich upon what their slaves find, as well as by trading in it with the free Indians, [which inures to] the happiness and benefit of each one. The clothes which are made in this country are of cotton, the most of which comes from the Kingdom; there are also many Guinea slaves. These are more certain than the Indians of the country, because they never flee as they have nowhere to go. There is also much breeding of hogs, hens, mallards [adens], and wild ducks [patos da terra]. These are the stock and crops of the inhabitants of Brazil. 5. PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENTS AND THE CAPTAINCIES (Sixteenth Century) 1 THIS Province contains eight Captaincies settled by the Portu- guese, as one proceeds southward from the Equator, each one having fifty leagues of coast-line or thereabouts, separated from one another by lines drawn parallel with the Equator from east to west; they are contained between the Ocean and the Line of De- marcation of the Kings of Portugal and Castille. And to each of these Captaincies the King, Dom Joao III, desirous of establishing the Christian Religion in those regions, chose and sent for govern- ing each one of them a vassal of noble blood and ability in whom he had confidence. They built their cities along the coast in those places which seemed to them most convenient and suitable for those who were to live there. All these Captaincies are now well peopled, and in the more important places there are garrisons with much heavy artillery to defend and protect them from enemies coming from the sea, as well as from the land. Near the towns were many Indians when the Portuguese first began to colonize ; but because these same Indians revolted against them, and committed many acts of treachery, the Governours and Captains of the land de- stroyed them little by little, and killed off a great many of them; others fled into the sertdo, and thus the land in the neighborhood of the towns is unoccupied by aborigines. However, some villages 1 From: Pedro de Magalhaes, The Histories of Brazil (New York: The Cortes Society, 2 vols.. 1922), Vol. II. pp. 31-39. 142 The Colonial Period of the Indians remained in the neighborhood, those who were peaceful and friendly with the Portuguese inhabitants. In order that I may mention all [the Captaincies] in the present chapter, I shall in passing name only the first Captains to conquer them, and name specifically the towns, sites, and ports where the Portuguese reside, giving them in order as they lie from north to south, as follows : The first and most ancient is called Tamaraca, which took its name from a small island where the first settlement was situated. Pero Lopez de Sousa was he who first conquered it and freed it from the French, in whose possession it was when he came there to settle: this is an island whose inhabitants are separated from the mainland by an arm of the sea which surrounds it and into which empty several streams from the sertdo. There are two bars parallel with the coast and the island between them: over one of the bars any large ship may pass and come to anchor close to the town which is only about half a league off. The north bar may be used as well by ships of smaller size ; because of its shallowness it will not admit the larger ones. North of the island, this Captaincy possesses many broad and luxuriant fields, where in these days there are large ranches ; and its population will increase and flourish with as much prosperity as that of any of the other Cajptaincies, if the Captain himself, Pero Lopez, will reside there a few years more and not leave the colony unprotected during the time it is being settled. The second Captaincy which follows next is called Paranambuco : this Duarte Coelho conquered. He built his principal town on a height visible from the sea lying five leagues from the island of Tamaraca, in eight degrees latitude. It is called Olinda and is one of the noblest and most populous cities of those regions. Five leagues inland there is another town called IgaroQu, which has for another name Villa dos Cosmos. And besides the inhabitants of these towns there are many others who are scattered about on the sugar mills and ranches, here as in the other Captaincies, all the surrounding territory being settled. The soil here is of the best and the inhabitants have cultivated it more than in any of the other Captaincies of the Province ; for the inhabitants are much favoured and aided by the Indians of the land from among wdiom they get an infinite number of slaves with whom they work their farms. The principal reasons why the population is continuously growing are that the Captain himself, who conquered the country, has made a continuous sojourn there, and that it is visited by more ships from Portugal, as it is nearer to it than any of the other Captaincies farther down the coast. A league south of Olinda is a reef or low line of rock which is the port where the ships enter. The debarca- Colonial Brazil 143 tion takes place on the beach and also on the bank of a small river which runs close to the town itself. The third Captaincy going south is that of Bahia de Todos os Sanctos, belonging to the King our Master. There reside the Governour, the Bishop, and the Ouvidor Geral for the whole coa'St. The first Captain to conquer it and to begin the colonization was Francisco Pereira Coutinho ; he was overwhelmed by the Indians in a great war they waged against him, the impetus of which he could not withstand, so many were the enemies who leagued against the Portuguese everywhere in those regions. Afterwards it was once more restored and colonized by Thome de Sousa, the first Governour General in those parts. And from then on the inhabi- tants kept steadily increasing in number as well as in their posses- sions. So that today the Captaincy of Todos os Sanctos has more Portuguese citizens than any other Captaincy of the Province. There are three populous and noble cities, near one another, located one hundred leagues from the cities of Paranambuco, in thirteen degrees latitude. The principal one, where the Governour of the land and the other nobihty live, is the City of Salvador. Another one is near the bar and is called Villa Velha, the first settlement located in the Captaincy. After Thome de Sousa became Governour, he built the city of Salvador a little more than half a league away, as that was a fitter and more appropriate location for the inhabitants of the country. Four leagues inland there is another city called Paripe which is also an incorporated city like the others. All these settlements are located on the shore of a large and beautiful bay where any ships, no matter how large, may enter with security: it is three leagues wide and navigable fifteen leagues inland. There are many islands in it of remarkable soil. It is much cut up into arms and coves of which the inhabitants make use to go in small boats to their ranches. The fourth Captaincy, that of Ilheos, was given to lorge de Figueiredo Correa, a nobleman of the household of the King our Master ; by his order it was colonized by loao Dalmeida, who built his town thirty leagues from Bahia de Todos os Sanctos, in latitude fourteen and two-thirds degrees. It is a very pretty and populous city, on a slope in sight of the sea, beside a river which ships enter. This river also is divided inland into many branches by the sides of which the inhabitants of the whole country have the cultivated fields of their estates ; they move about in boats and dugouts as in the Bahia de Todos os Sanctos. The fifth Captaincy is known as Porto Seguro and was conquered by Pero do Campo Tourinho. There are two settlements located thirty leagues from those of Ilheos, in sixteen and a half degrees : between them runs a river with a reef at its mouth forming a har- bour where ships enter. The principal town is in two sections, one 144 The Colonial Period on the crest of a steep cliff facing north, above the sea, the other on the plain beside the river. The other town is named Sancto Amaro, and is one league south of the river. Two leagues to the north of this reef is another one, [behind which] lies the harbour the fleet entered when the discovery of the Province was made. And because at that time the name of Porto Seguro was given it, as I have related above, the Captaincy took the same name and is called Porto Seguro. The sixth Captaincy is that of Spirito Sancto, conquered by Vasco Fernandez Coutinho. The town is located on a little island about sixty leagues from the towns of Porto Seguro, in latitude twenty degrees. This island lies in a very broad river, about a league above the bar, up in the sertdo: in this river they take an infinite number of fish, and on shore an infinite quantity of game, with which the inhabitants are always sufficiently supplied. This is the most fertile Captaincy and the best provided of all on the coast with the products of the soil. The seventh Captaincy is that of Rio de Janeiro, which Mem de Sa conquered, and, having engaged in perilous combats, he freed it by force of arms from the French who were occupying it, he being the Governour General of those parts. There is a noble city there of many inhabitants called Sao Sebastiao which is seventy- five leagues from Spirito Sancto, in latitude twenty-three degrees. This town is built near the bar along an arm of the sea, which enters seven leagues inland and is five across in the widest place, and at its mouth, where it is narrowest, only a third of a league. In the middle of the bar there is a flat rock fifty-six fathoms long and twenty-six wide, on which a fort may be built to insure the defense of the country. The bar is one of the safest and best in those regions, and any ship may enter or leave it in any weather without fear or danger. The soil of this Captaincy is of the best, and better fitted to enrich the inhabitants than any other soil in the Province : I do not believe that any one who goes out there with that hope will be deceived. The last Captaincy is that of Sao Vicente, conquered by Martim Affonso de Sousa. There are four towns in it : -two of them are situated on an island which an arm of the sea, resembling a river, separates from the mainland. These two towns are forty-five leagues from Rio de Janeiro, in latitude twenty-four degrees. This arm of the sea which surrounds the island has two bars, one at each end. One of them is shallow, and not very wide, where only small craft may enter; beside it is built the oldest of the towns, called Sao Vicente. A league and a half from the other bar (which is the main one where large ships or craft of any description enter when they come to this Captaincy) is located the other town called Sanctos. Here, because it is the port of call, live the Captain or Colonial Brazil 145 his lieutenant, and the other officials of the council and government. Five leagues south there is another settlement called Hitanhaem. There is another twelve leagues inland named Sao Paulo, which the Fathers of the Company [Jesuits] founded, where there are many inhabitants, the greater portion of them born of native Indian mothers and Portuguese fathers. There is also a similar island to the north separated from the mainland by another arm of the sea which joins the first one : on its bar there are two for- tresses, well equipped with artillery, one on each side to defend this Captaincy from the Indians and sea-pirates. Formerly they used the bar as a point of embarcation and here their enemies used to inflict great damage upon the inhabitants. There are many other towns in all these Captaincies, besides those I mention, where many Portuguese dwell ; of these I do not wish to speak here, for it is my intention to indicate only the most renowned, where there are officers of justice and which are self- governing just like any town or city in this Kingdom. 6. THE JESUITS IN BRAZIL (Sixteenth Century)i IN ALL the Captaincies of that Province the Fathers of the Company of JESUS have erected monasteries, and have built a few churches in certain places among the Indians who are peace- able, where some of the Fathers reside in order to preach their Doctrine and to make Christians of them : they all accept this Doc- trine readily and without any contradiction. For, as they have no law, or anything which they worship, it is very easy for them to accept ours. And on the other hand, with the same facility they turn away for the most trivial reason and many flee to the sertdo after having been baptized and instructed in Christian Doctrine. Because the Fathers have observed their inconstancy in this respect, and the slight capacity they have for observing the commandments of the Law of God (for it is among the elders that the seed of their Doctrine brings forth the least fruit) they try, especially, to plant the Doctrine among the children whom they raise from infancy instructed in it. And in this way, they have hopes that with time (by the grace of God) the Christian religion will spread through- out the whole Province, and that some day our Holy Catholic Faith will flourish as universally there as in any other part of Christen- dom. And in order that the fruit of this Doctrine might not be lost, but might continue to grow, the Fathers themselves decided to re- move occasions which, on our part, might be hindrances, causes for scandal, or prejudicial to the consciences of the inhabitants of the country. Since these Indians covet certain things which come from the Kingdom of Portugal, namely, shirts, jerkins, iron tools, and 1 From: Pedro de Magalhaes, The Histories of Brazil (New York: The Cortes Society, 2 vols., 1922), Vol. II, pp. 113-116. 146 The Colonial Period similar things, they sell one another in exchange for these articles to the Portuguese; these, on the other hand, capture as many as they want and do them many injuries without any one's checking them [the Portuguese]. But now there is no longer this disorder in the land or the traffic in slaves as formerly. For, after the Fathers saw the unreasonableness with which they were treating the Indians, and the slight service to God proceeding from these acts, they took this business in hand and prohibited, as I said, the many assaults which the Portuguese themselves were making on these shores : for they were burdening their consciences heavily by seizing unlawfully many Indians and by waging unjust wars upon them. And to avoid all this, the Fathers ordered and arranged with the Governours and the Captains of the land that there should be no more trading in slaves in the same way as in the past, nor were any Portuguese to be allowed to go to an Indian village with- out the permission of the Captain himself. And if they disobeyed, or did wrong to the Indians in any way, even if they had a permit, they were well punished for the deed according to the crime. Aside from this, in order that there may be more frankness in that part of the country, whatever slaves are newly come out of the sertdo, or from one Captaincy to another, all go first to the custom house where they examine them and ask them questions : who sold them and what were the terms of purchase; for no one has the right to sell them save their fathers (if in case of dire necessity) or those who have captured them in a just war; those whom they find acquired illegally, they set at liberty. In this way the Indians who are purchased are fairly acquired, and the inhabitants of the land do not fail on this account to make good progress with their possessions. The Fathers have done many other beneficent and pious deeds in those parts, and are continuing to do so, and in truth one can not deny them great praise. Because these deeds are so praised throughout the land, it is unnecessary for me to deal more exten- siA'cly with them, here : it is enough to know that their acts are so well approved everywhere as holy and good, and that their inten- tion is none other than to dedicate their lives to our Lord, from whom alone they hope for recompense and reward for their virtues. 7. THE STORY OF A SEA MONSTER (1564)i THE appearance of the fierce and frightful marine monster, which was killed in that Province in the year 1564, was so unusual, and human sight so unaccustomed thereto, that although many parts of the world have news of it, I shall nevertheless not fail to 1 From: Pedro de Magalliaes, The Histories of Brazil (New York: The Cortes Society, 2 vols., 1922), Vol. II, pp. 79-82. Colonial Brazil 147 repeat it again, relating in detail all that happened. For in truth the greater part, and in fact nearly all of the pictures which have attempted to show its horrible aspect, are erroneous, and besides, the facts about its death are told in different ways, there being only one true one, the following. In the Captaincy of Sao Vicente, it being already night, about the hour when every one was ready to go to sleep, it happened that an Indian girl, the Captain's slave, left her house ; and casting her eyes over the plain which lies between the sea and the town of the Captaincy, she saw the monster walking about from one place to another, with steps and movements which were strange, and bray- ing now and then so horribly that she, half out of her wits and nearly fainting, went to find the son of the Captain, whose name was Baltesar Ferreira ; she told him what she had seen, it seeming to her to be an apparition of the Devil. But as he was a man as judicious as he was brave, and as the natives were worthy of little credence, he paid small attention to her words and remained in bed, and told her to go out again and make certain what it was. The Indian woman obeyed his command and went out: and she returned more frightened and affirmed and repeated what she had said before; namely, that there was something walking about that was so ugly it could be only the Devil himself. Then he hastily got up, and seized a sword that was close by him and stepped out of doors clad only in a shirt, being very strongly of the opinion that it must be a tiger, or some other animal known in the country, and that, having verified it, he could persuade the Indian woman that it was not what she thought. Turning his eyes in the direction she indicated, he saw indistinctly the bulk of the monster on the beach, without being able to distinguish what it was because of the dark- ness which prevented him and because the monster was something never before seen, entirely different in appearance from all other animals. And approaching a little so that he could see it better, he was perceived by the monster itself ; which, raising its head, as soon as it saw him, started for the sea whence it had come. From this the youth knew that it was from the sea, and before it could reach the water he had hastily rushed forward to intercept it. Seeing that he was barring its path it stood upright like a man, resting upon the fins of its tail ; and being thus face to face with it, he gave the monster a sword thrust in the belly, and at the same time dodged to one side so swiftly that the monster could not fall upon him: nevertheless he was in no little danger, for the great flov/ of blood which came out of the wound squirted in his face with such force that he v/as almost blinded. As soon as the monster had fallen forward it left the path it was following ; and thus wounded, it brayed with its mouth open, and fearlessly attacked him to rend him with teeth and claws, but he gave it a large cut on the side 148 The Colonial Period of the head : upon this the monster became weak, and giving up its vain encounter, it turned once more to the path toward the sea. During this time some slaves had rushed up in response to the cries of the Indian woman who was looking on, and coming up to the monster they seized it, when almost dead, and carried it from there to the town where it was seen the next day by all the people of the country. Although the young man had shown himself so courageous on this occasion, thereby gaining a very great reputation in the land, nevertheless he came out of this battle so exhausted and so upset and overcome by the sight of this horrible animal, that when his father asked him what had happened to him he was not able to answer; and in the state of one in a trance he remained a long time without saying a word. The picture of this monster, which may be seen at the end of this chapter, was taken from life. It was fifteen palms long, the whole body covered with hair, and on its muzzle there were some very silky bristles like a mustache. The Indians of the country call it in their language hipupidra, which means demonio dagoa [water-devil]. Others like it have already been seen in those regions; but they are rarely found. And thus there must be many other monsters of different shapes which hide in the vast and frightful depths of the sea, no less strange and wonderful : for one can believe anything, however difficult it may Seem; because all the secrets of Nature have not been revealed to man, so that he can not reasonably deny or hold as impossible things which he has not seen or of which he has no knowledge. 8. BRAZILIAN CUSTOMS (Sixteenth Century)i AS SOON as persons who intend to live in Brazil become inhab- itants of the country, however poor they may be, if each one obtain two pairs or half a dozen slaves, which might cost some- where in the neighborhood of ten cruzados, he then has the means for sustenance ; because some fish and hunt, and the others produce for him maintenance and crops ; and so little by little the men be- come rich and live honourably in the land with more ease than in the Kingdom because these same Indian slaves hunt food for them- selves and in this way the men have no expense for the main- tenance of their slaves, nor for their own persons. Most of the beds in Brazil are hammocks hung up in the house on two cords, and one stretches out in them to sleep. This custom they took from the native Indians. The inhabitants of these Captaincies treat one another very well and are more lavish than the people of the King- dom, both in eating and in the clothing of their persons. They enjoy helping one another with their slaves, and they favour 'the 1 From: Pedro de Magalhaes, The Histories of Brazil (New York: The Cortes Society, 2 vols., 1922), Vol. II, pp. 152-153, Colonial Brazil 149 poor new arrivals in the country, for this is the custom in these parts; and they perform many other pious deeds, as a result of which all have the means of life and no poor ask alms from door to door, as in the Kingdom. 9. SOME EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRAZILIAN CUSTOMSi a. Poem about illiterate wives To take a learned maid to wife Is to plunge yourself in endless strife. Such maiden's brains are quite confounded, And with trouble and worries you'll be surrounded. With little learning, or none at all, A wife will grace her master's hall, Her mind to household things she'll bend. Children and husband she'll fondly tend. b. Announcement and congratulations on the birth of a daughter With great pleasure, I announce to your Excellency that the Almighty Lord has again blessed our home, and that my excel- lent wife has given birth to a daughter. . . . The answer to such a message was even more elaborate : Dear Sir : — I am indeed indebted to you for your most agreeable and pleasing announcement. May the Lord in the future vouchsafe to your beloved wife other joys as great as this one. A gifted family tree such as yours should assuredly bear much rich fruit. May the little daughter, born today, possess all the virtues of her parents and be a con- tinual joy to you until a ripe old age. c. Bedtime song for children In your walks across the hills, dear Patroness, St. Anne, You bring clear and trickling rills. Where e'er your footsteps span. 1 From: Luiz Edmundo, Rio in the Time of the Viceroys (Rio de Janeiro: J. R. de Oliveira and Company, 1936), pp. 206, 218-219, 221-222, 172-173, "145, 260-261, 354 note 16, 193, 296-297. 150 The Colonial Period Even angels drink their fill from the clear translucent brooks, So pure and sparkling every rill that springs from rocky nooks. Oh dear Patroness St. Anne Guard and cherish this sweet child See how innocent she is So 3^oung and pure and mild. This dearest little baby lacks not a happy bed, In the lap of her dear Lady To sweetest dreams she's led. d. A poem about women's headdress Her keys in her hand her hair hanging down, Anxious mother came running in loose morning gown. Our best feathered pillow, oh daughter my dear. Has disappeared quite, tho I've searched far and near ! The daughter, so stylish, just nodded her head. Oh mother, just use another instead ! Just one pillow's loss this house will not feel, I shall not worry, but go on with my meal. The mother, enraged at the vixen's cool tongue, Raised hand, and at daughter's high headdress she swung, Down it cascaded — ■ daughter bent like a willow, And right at her feet fell her best feather pillow. e. Easter Sunday song The Exalted Holy Ghost, Will accept all things you make; Will rejoice in nice fresh roast, Milk or eggs, or bread and cake. He accepts your cup of wine, Chickens, fish, or barley flour, Any fruit from off your vine, Bits of all things sweet or sour. Here on earth we sing to Thee, Holy Ghost seen as a dove. One of the great Trinity, A Person in the heavens above. ... Thanks for your most generous gift. To the Hoi}/ Ghost Divine, Your kind thoughts to heaven we lift. Reward will come to thee and thine. » Colonial Brazil 151 f. A Brazilian banquet First Course: Three large platters of larded partridge garnished with pickled pork loin. Jugged hare garnished with paios, a sort of thick sausage. Roasted chicken with pippin sauce. Roast turkey with royal sauce. Roast squab garnished with tongue and grated breadcrumbs. Breast of veal stufifed with slices of fried bread. Veal roasted French style; loin of pork roasted with thrushes and blackbirds, and served with almond sauce. Second Course: Three large platters of minced partridge breast, garnished with sausages. Minced hare garnished with cooked cream. Chicken a la Fernao de Souza, that is, formed like patties but without the pie crust. Stuffed turkeys garnished with fried pigs knuckles. Special fowl garnished with apples. Pullets fried with conserves. Lamb with eggs, garnished with lamb's tongue. Stuffed pigs feet cooked with white wine with parsley and capers. Third Course : Three large platters with three pies made of differ- ent kinds of meat. Three pies with very thin pie crust contain- ing sweet and sour ham. English pies, pickled veal pies. Cold chicken fritters. Pies of loin of pork roasted on a spit. Little fruit pies and cakes, tgg yolk and sugar cakes. Little pies of conserve made of slices of fowl with eggs, sugar, etc. g. Recipe for olhas Cook the following in a large pot: A piece of very fat beef, a chicken, a partridge or pigeon, a rabbit, a hare, an ear or foot of a pig if pork is in season, a piece of pork fat, some sausages and tongue, all mixed with turnips if there be any, som^ radishes, three large head (not cloves) of garlic, two or three dozen chestnuts, salt and sweet pot-herbs, and when sufficiently cooked carry it into the table. h. Filth around a noble's mansion The dilapidated sedan chairs and litters in the courtyard, made me think of the inns on the mail route in France in the courts of which an aggregation of post chaises was always to be found. I was even more reminded of those inns by the great litter strewn around the courtyard. Piles of manure, discarded household uten- sils and other possessions cluttered our path, and thru them we had to pick our way to the principal stairway. A very fat pig and her numerous progeny scattered as we approached, squealing about our feet and thru our legs, almost upsetting us in their m^ad scramble. 1^2 The Colonial Period i. Rhymes used as cures The black ''healer" cured a wound made by an animal, or an irritation made by an insect which had layed its eggs under the skin, etc., with a rhyme: Snake or vermin sickening thee, Bug or other insect here, The Cross of Christ I bear with me. Go and never more appear. To cure intermittent fevers or seizures of any kind, or the "evil eye," this prayerful chant was sung : All evil breaths this body within. Breath of confusion, breath of" sin. Breath of a man excommunicate. Breath of a body buried too late, Envious wish or evil eye, Out of this body you shall fly ; God so wills it to be done. For him the victory shall be won. The evil wisher now he shameth. Evil return to whence it cameth. Cure for curvature of the spine or fallen stomach : The whole round world with glory shone When God ascended to his throne. And on the day when God was born. The light shone like a sunny morn. Thru him your ill I shall make fine. The fallen belly and crooked spine, All the saints as witness see, Belly and spine all cured shall be. In the Name of the Father and also the Son, The Holy Ghost, all three in one. For toothache, there was this remedy : Suffering pain. Saint Quelimente; To a rocky hillside went; Our Lady of Mercy saw him there; Asked why he was so bowed with care. "Ah Madonna I suffer sore. In three of my teeth and in my jaw." "Shall I then my blessing give?" "Yes for then I'll joy to live." "Place your fingers on the place, I shall cure you then apace" "Our Father, — Ave Maria — You are well know — Hallelujah*" Colonial Brazil 153 10. ROYAL DECREE CONCERNING THE DRESS OF THE BRAZILIAN COLONISTS (1749)i TpROM this day and date, no person of either sex or of whatever -*- station in life shall use the following ornaments on any part of their clothes whatsoever: ribbons, laces, fringes, cords, tassels, ornaments made with brocade, cut velvet, silver or gold thread; nor passementery, sashes, nor any embroidery whether it be in silk or wool, the only exceptions being the Cross of Military Orders. We hereby give permission to wear buttons or buckles of silver or other metals, whether they be smooth, beaten or cast, so long as they be not of gold or silver wire, nor gilded, silverplated, enamelled or carved. We hereby prohibit the use of ribbons or embroidery on dresses ; also of silk scallops and lace of any kind or any work simulating lace. Neither shall the above be used on underlinen or handker- chiefs, towels or other household belongings. Underlinen may be embroidered in white or in colors, only, however, if the work be executed within the confines of our royal domain. Any person found using any of the above prohibited articles shall have the article confiscated, and for the first ofifense shall pay a fine of twenty milreis ; for the second, the offender shall be fined forty milreis, and shall suffer three months imprisonment; and for the third oflfense, shall be punished by a fine of one hundred milreis and banished to Angola for a term of five years. . . . The bridegroom shall give wedding gifts to his bride at no time other than when the papers are signed, and the gifts shall not ex- ceed the value of one-fifth of the girl's dowry. . . . Having been informed of the inconveniences resulting from the great liberty taken by the blacks in their dress, we hereby command that no black nor mulatto, child of black or mulatto, or child of a black mother, of whatever sex, whether emancipated or born free, shall use any kind of silk or fine woolen cloth, fine Dutch linens or fine cottons, nor wear any ornaments of whatever kind, however small in size. ... 1 From: Luiz Edmundo, Rio in the Time of the Viceroys, (Rig de Janeiro, 1936), pp. 159-160, 161. 154 ^^^^ Colonial Period (Chapter Twelve FOREIGN ATTACKS ON THE SPANISH COLONIES 1. COLONIAL COMPLAINT ABOUT FOREIGN ATTACKS UPON THE COAST TOWNS OF THE SPANISH MAIN (1558)1 WE ENTREAT your majesty to remedy the grievous conditions prevailing to-day in the Indies. For ever}^ two ships that come hither from Spain, twenty corsairs appear. For this reason not a town on all this coast is safe, for whenever they please to do so they take and plunder these settlements. They go so far as to boast that they are lords of the sea and of the land, and as a matter of fact daily we see them seize ships, both those of the Indies trade and also some that come home from Spain itself. They capture towns, and this so commonly that we see it happen every year. Unless your majesty deign to favour all this coast by remedying the situation, all these settlements must necessarily be abandoned, from which w^ill result grave detriment to your majesty's royal patrimony and an end will be put to inter-Indies traffic ; trade with the Canaries will suffer, as will also those ships which come out of Spain between fleets. 2. DRAKE RAIDS NOMBRE DE DIOS (1572) 2 THERE was a certain Englishman named Francis Drake who, having intelligence how the town of Nombre de Dios in New Spain, had but small store of people remaining there, came on a night, and entered the Port with four Pinnaces, and landed about 150 men; and lea,ving 70 men with a trumpet, in a Fort which w^as there, with the other 80 he entered the town, without doing any harm, till he came to the market-place ; and there discharged his calivers, and sounded a trumpet very loud. And the others which he had left in the Fort answered him after the same manner, with the discharging their calivers, and sounding their trumpets. The 1 From: Philip Gosse, Hawkins: Scourge of Spain (New York: Harper and Brothers. 1930), pp. 77-78. 2 From: Hakluyt's Voyages (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1929), pp. 141-143. T h e Sp (I II I s h Col on I es : Fo rei ij n R e la i io it s i c^^ people hereupon, not thinking of any such matter, were put in great fear, and waking out of their sleep fled all into the mountains, inquiring one of another what the matter should be; remaining as men amazed, not knowing what that uproar was which happened so suddenly in the town. But 14 or 15 of them joining together, with their arquebuses went to the market-place to know what they were that were in the town, and in a corner of the market-place they did discover the Englishmen; and seeing them to be but few, discharged their calivers at those Englishmen. Their fortune was such that they killed the Trumpeter, and shot one of the principal men through the leg ; who seeing himself hurt, retired to the Fort, where the rest of their company was left : they which were in the Fort sounded their trumpet, and seeing that they in the town did not answer them, and hearing the calivers, thought that all they in the town had been slain, and thereupon fled to their Pinnaces. The English captain coming to the Fort, and not finding his men which he left there, he and his were in so great fear, that leaving their furniture behind them, and putting off their hose' they swam, and waded all to their Pinnaces, and so went with their ships again out of the Port. Thus this English captain, called Francis Drake, departed from Nombre de Dios, and slew only one man in the town, which was looking out of a window to see what the matter was; and of his men had only his Trumpeter slain. 3. LETTER FROM VICEROY TOLEDO TO GOVERNOR OF RiO DE LA PLATA ABOUT DRAKE AND SARMIENTO'S VOYAGE THROUGH THE STRAITS (October 9, 1579)i A SHIP of English pirates passed by the Strait of Magellan into the South Sea, and arrived in the port of Santiago, of the Prov- ince of Chile, on the 4th of December of the past year 1578, robbed a ship of a quantity of gold that was in that port, and did other harm in other ports of this coast. On the 13th of February she arrived at the port of this city [Callao], being quite oflf its guard respecting any such strange occurrence. For having been so long in giving me notice from those provinces of Chile, nothing was done. The Governor was engaged in the war in Aranco, and neither the officers nor the municipality cared to buy a vessel and bring me the news ; whereby many losses and expenses might have been avoided which have fallen on His Majesty and on private persons, especially as regards a ship from which a large quantity of silver was stolen, going from this city to Tierra Firme. Much diligence was used to take this pirate, and two ships were sent in search of 1 From Francisco de Toledo quoted in Haklnyt Society Publications, 1st Series, Vol. 91 (1895), pp. 206-208. 156 The Colonial Period him. But as the sea is so wide, and he had run with all speed, it was not possible to catch him. The thing that is most felt is that he will bring back intelligence of everything here, and that there is now facility for them to enter any day, by that door of the Strait, which has now been examined and made known to them. In the Year 1577 English pirates crossed from the North to the South Sea, by the forests of Tierra Firme, with the aid of the fugitive negroes who inhabit those parts. But the captain and troops that I sent from here captured them all, so that of those who had been in the forests not one remained, so that others might not be able to undertake to do the like. Notwithstanding his Majesty, in his great zeal for Christianity, has fortified and garrisoned the passages with galleys in the sea, and settlements of soldiers by land, so that the passage that way is well defended. With regard to this part of the Strait it is necessary to provide a prompt remedy, and this, in a manner which is not known nor understood, will be difficult. We have decided to send two strong ships, well victualled, with good pilots and sailors, to make this discovery in this part of the South Sea. They are to examine and look out for the place where, with greatest convenience, some settlement or fortress may be established, with artillery. They are to occupy the entrance before any pirate can do so ; and they are to find out whether in any part of the South Sea, or in the Strait itself, or outside in the North Sea, there is any settlement of the English, and in what part and in what number, that such order may be taken as will be most conducive to his Majesty's service. Of these two ships one is to return with the report of all that has been seen and has happened after they have come out into the North Sea, and seen the entrances of the Strait, for it will be fruitless to provide a remedy for one, if the enemy can enter by the others. As it is possible that, by reason of the winter, this arrangement may not be practicable, and it may be necessary to winter somewhere, it is so ordered that this is to be done either in the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, or in somiC port on the coast which is well sheltered. In whatever district in the Government of Paraguay they may be, his Majesty will be well served, and I shall be particularly obliged for what may be done for the captain and soldiers, and for the good accommodation and treatment of their persons, and for what may be given for the necessary repair of materials they brought with them, that may be worn out. If the other ship should touch, which is to proceed to Spain, what is proper for it should be done. For if the captain and soldiers are not given all possible assistance, that they may secure the object for which they were sent, the expenses incurred by his Majesty will be fruitless. The despatches which the captain or captains of the said ships The SpanisJi Colonies: Foreign Relations 157 may give into your charge for me or for this Royal Audience, are to be sent to me by way of Tucuman with all speed possible, with. a proper and trustworthy person, who will be ordered to expect the reward for his labours here, and you are to advise his Majesty of your proceedings in this matter. With the messenger you will give me information of what you know respecting the ship or ships of the English, and whether they touched at any of the ports of those coasts, and how many ; also whether this ship, or others, have gone to Spain and when; and whether you have news that the English have made any settlement on shore and where, and what number of people, and at what time they were in this part. 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUCCANEERS (About 1630)i THE buccaneers are so called from the word boucan, which is a sort of wooden grid-iron, made of several sticks placed upon four forks, upon which the boucaniers broil their hogs, sometimes quite whole, with which they feed themselves without eating any bread. They were at this time an unorganised rabble of men from all countries, rendered expert and active by the necessity of their exercise which was to go in chase of cattle to obtain their hides, and from being chased themselves by the Spaniards who never gave them any quarter. As they would never suffer any chiefs, they passed for undisciplined men, for the greater part had sought refuge in these places and were reduced to this way of life to avoid the punishments due for the crimes which they had committed in Europe, and which could be proved against many of them. In general they were without any habitation or fixed abode, but only rendezvoused where the cattle were to be found, and some sheds covered with leaves to keep off the rain and to store the hides of the beasts they had killed until some vessels should pass to barter for them with wine, brandy, line, arms, powder, bullets and cooking vessels which they needed and which are the only move- ables of the buccaneers. . . . They were dressed in a pair of drawers and a shirt at the most, shod with the skin of a hog's leg fastened on the top, and behind the foot with strips of the same skin, girded around the middle of their body with a sack which served them to sleep in as a defence against the innumerable insects which bit and sucked the blood from all parts of their bodies that were left un- covered. . . . When they returned from the chase to the boucan, you would say that these are the butcher's vilest servants who have been eight days in the slaughter-house without washing themselves. I have seen some who had lived this miserable life for twenty years without seeing a priest and without eating bread. 1 From: The Abbe du Tertre quoted in Arthur Percival Newton, The European Nations in the West Indies, 1493-16S8 (London: A. and C. Black, Ltd., 1933), pp. 169-170. 158 The Colonial Period 5. MORGAN'S ATTACK UPON PORTO BELLO (1668)i CAPTAIN MORGAN who always communicated Vigour with his words, infused such Spirits into his men, as were able to put every one of them instantly upon new designs : They being all perswaded by his Reasons, that the sole execution of his Orders, would be a certain means of obtaining great Riches. This per- swasion had such influence upon their minds that with unimitable Courage they all resolved to follow him. The same likewise did a certain Pirat of Campeche ; who in this ocasion joyned with Cap- tain Morgan, to seek new fortunes under his conduct, and greater advantages than he had found before. Thus Captain Morgan, in few days, gathered a Fleet of nine sail, between Ships and great Boats ; wherein he had four hundred and threescore military men. After that all things were in a good posture of readiness, they put forth to Sea, Captain Morgan imparting the design he had in his mind unto no body for that present. He onely told them on several occasions, that, he held as indubitable, he should make a good fortune by that Voyage, if strange occurrences altered not the course of his designs. They directed their course towards the Continent ; where they arrived in few days upon the Coast of Costa Rica, with all their Fleet entire. No sooner had they discovered Land, but Captain Morgan declared his intentions to the Captains, and presently after unto all the rest of the Company. He told them, he intended in that Expedition to plunder Puerto Velo, and that he would perform it by night, being resolved to put the whole City to the sack, not the least corner escaping his diligence. Moreover, to encourage them, he added, This Enterprize could not fail to succeed well, seeing he had kept it secreet in his mind, without revealing it to any body ; whereby they could not have notice of his coming. Unto this proposition some made answer, They had not a sufficient number of men wherewith to assault so strong and great a City. But Captain Morgan replied. If our number is small, our hearts are great. And the fewer persons we are, the more union and better shares we shall have in the spoil. Hereupon, being stimulated with the ambition of those vast Riches they promised themselves from their good success, they unanimously concluded to venture upon that design. But now, to the intent my Reader may better comprehend the incomparable boldness of this Exploit, it may be necessary to say something before-hand of the City of Puerto Velo. The City, which beareth this name in America, is seated in the Province of Costa Rica, under the altitude of ten degrees Northern latitude, at the distance of fourteen leagues from the Gulf of Darien, 1 From: Esquemeling quoted in Francis Russell Hart, Admirals of the Caribbean (Boston: Houghton Miiflin Company, 1923), pp. 55-66. The Spanish Colonies: Foreign Relations 159 and eight Westwards from the Port called Nombre de Dios. It is judged to be the strongest place that the King of Spain possesseth in all the West-Indies, excepting two, that is to say, Havana and Cartagena. Here are two Castles, almost inexpugnable, that de- fend the City, being situated at the entry of the Port; so that no Ship nor Boat can pass without permission. The Garrison con- sisteth of three hundred Souldiers, and the Town constantly in- habited by four hundred Families, more or less. The Merchants dwell not here, but onely reside for a while, when the Galeons come or go from Spain ; by reason of the unhealthiness of the Air, occasioned by certain Vapours that exhale from the Mountains. Notwithstanding, their chief Ware-houses are at Puerto Velo, howbeit their Habitations be all the year long at Panama. From whence they bring the Plate upon Mules, at such times as the Fair beginneth; and when the Ships, belonging to the Company of Negro's, arrive here to sell Slaves. Captain Morgan, who knew very well all the Avenues of this City, as also all the Neighbouring Coasts, arrived in the dusk of the Evening at the place called Puerto de Naos, distant ten Leagues towards the West of Puerto Velo. Being come unto this place, they mounted the River in their Ships, as far as another Harbour called Puerto Pontin; where they came to an Anchor. Here they put themselves immediately into Boats and Canows, leaving in the Ships onely a few men to keep them, and conduct them the next day unto the Port. About midnight they came to a certain place called Estera longa Lemos, where they all went on shore, and marched by land to the first Posts of the City. They had in their company a certain English-man, who had been formerly a Prisoner in those parts, and who now served them for a Guide. Unto him and three or four more, they gave Commission to take the Gentry, if possible, or kill him upon the place. But they laid hands on him and apprehended him with such cunning, as he had no time to give warning with his Musket, or make any other noise. Thus they brought him, with his hands bound, unto Captain Morgan, who asked him. How things went in the City, and what Forces they had: with many other circumstances, which he was desirous to know. After every question, they made him a thousand menaces to kill him, in case he declared not the truth. Thus they began to advance towards the City, carrying always the said Gentry bound before them. Having marched about one quarter of a league, they came unto the Castle that is nigh unto the City; which presently they closely surrounded, so that no person could get either in or out of the said Fortress. Being thus posted under the walls of the Castle, Captain Morgan commanded the Gentry, whom they had taken Prisoner, to speak unto those that were within, charging them to surrender, and de- i6o The Colonial Period liver themselves up to his discretion; otherwise they should be all cut in pieces, without g4ving quarter to any one. But they would hearken to none of these threats, beginning instantly to fire ; which gave notice unto the City, and this was suddenly alarm'd. Yet notwithstanding, although the Governour and Souldiers of the said Castle made as great resistance as could be performed, they were constrained to surrender unto the Pirats. These no sooner had taken the Castle, but they resolved to be as good as their words, in putting the Spaniards to the Sword, thereby to strike a terrour into the rest of the City. Hereupon, having shut up all the Souldiers and Officers, as Prisoners, into one Room, they instantly set fire unto the Powder (whereof they found great quantity) and blew up the whole Castle into the air, with all the Spaniards that were within. This being done, they pursued the course of their Victory, falling upon the City, which as yet was not in order to receive them. Many of the Inhabitants cast their precious Jewels and Moneys into Wells and Cisterns, or hid them in other places under ground, to excuse, as much as were possible, their being totally robb'd. One party of the Pirats being assigned to this purpose, ran immediately to the Cloisters, and took as many Religious men and women as they could find. The Governour of the City not being able to rally the Citizens, through the huge confusion of the Town, retired unto one of the Castles remaining, and from thence began to fire incessantly at the Pirats. But these were not in the least negligent either to assault him, or defend themselves with all the courage imaginable. Thus it was observable, that amidst the hor- rour of the Assault, they made very few shot in vain. For aiming with great dexterity at the mouths of the Guns, the Spaniards were certain to lose one or two men every time they charged each Gun anew. The assault of this Castle where the Governour was, continued very furious on both sides, from break of day until noon. Yea, about this time of day, the case was very dubious which party should conquer or be conquered. At last the Pirats perceiving they had lost many men, and as yet advanced but little towards the gaining either this or the other Castles remaining, thought to make use of Fireballs, which they threw with their hands, designing, if possible, to burn the doors of the Castle. But going about to put this in execution, the Spaniards from the Walls let fall great quan- tity of stones, and earthen pats full of Powder, and other com- bustible matter, which forced them to desist from that attempt. Captain Morgan seeing this generous defence made by the Span- iards, began to despair of the whole success of the Enterprize. Hereupon many faint and calm meditations came to his mind; neither could he determine which way to turn himself in that straitness of affairs. Being involved in these thoughts, he was sud- The Spanish Colonies: Foreign Relations i6i denly animated to continue the assault, by seeing the EngHsh Colours put forth at one of the lesser Castles, then entred by his men. Of whom he presently after spied a Troop that came to meet him, proclaiming Victory with loud shouts of joy. This instantly put him upon new resolutions of making new efforts to take the rest of the Castles that stood out against him : Especially seeing the chiefest Citizens were fled unto them, and had conveyed thither great part of their Riches, with all the plate belonging to the Churches, and other things dedicated to Divine Service. Unto this effect therefore he ordered ten or twelve Ladders to be made, in all possible haste, so broad, that three or four men at once might ascend by them. These being finished, he commanded all the Religious men and women whom he had taken Prisoners, to fix them against the Walls of the Castle. Thus much he had before-hand threatned the Governour to perform, in case he de- livered not the Castle. But his answer was, He would never sur- render himself alive. Captain Morgan was much perswaded that the Governour would not employ his utmost Forces, seeing Re- ligious women, and Ecclesiastical persons, exposed in the Front of the Souldiers to the greatest dangers. Thus the Ladders, as I have said, were put into the hands of Religious persons of both Sexes ; and these were forced, at the head of the Companies, to raise and apply them to the Walls. But Captain Morgan was fully deceived in his judgment of this design. For the Governour, who acted like a brave and couragious Souldier, refused not, in performance of his duty, to use his utmost endeavours to destroy whosoever came near the Walls. The Religious men and women ceased not to cry unto him and beg of him by all the Saints of Heaven, he would deliver the Castle, and hereby spare both his and their own lives. But nothing could prevail with the obstinacy and fierceness that had possessed the Governour's mind. Thus many of the Religious men and Nuns were killed before they could fix the Ladders. Which at last being done, though with great loss of the said Re- ligious people, the Pirats mounted them in great numbers, and with no less valour; having Fire-balls in their hands, and Earthen-pots full of Powder. All which things, being now at the top of the Walls, they kindled and cast in among the Spaniards. This effort of the Pirats was very great : Insomuch as the Span- iards could no longer resist nor defend the Castle, which was now entred. Hereupon they all threw down their Arms, and craved quarter for their lives. Onely the Governour of the City would admit nor crave no mercy ; but rather killed many of the Pirats with his own hands, and not a few of his own Souldiers, because they did not stand to their Arms. And although the Pirats asked him if he would have quarter, yet he constantly answer'd. By no means : I had rather die as a valiant Souldier, than be hanged as a Coward. 1 62 The Colonial Period They endeavoured, as much as they could, to take him Prisoner. But he defended himself so obstinately, as that they were forced to kill him ; notwithstanding all the cries and tears of his own Wife and Daughter, who begged of him upon their knees he would de- mand quarter and save his life. When the Pirats had possessed themselves of the Castle, which was about night, they enclosed therein all the Prisoners they had taken, placing the women and men by themselves, with some Guards upon them. All the wounded were put into a certain apartment by it self, to the intent their own complaints might be the cure of their diseases ; for no other was afforded them. This being done, they fell to eating and drinking, after their usual manner; that is to say, committing in both these things all manner of debauchery and excess. These two vices were immedi- ately followed by many insolent actions of Rape and Adultery committed upon many very honest women, as well married as Virgins: Who being threatned with the Sword, were constrained to submit their bodies to the violence of those lewd and wicked men. After such manner they delivered themselves up unto all sort of debauchery of this kind, that if there had been -found onely fifty courageous men, they might easily have retaken the City, and killed all the Pirats. The next day, having plundred all they could find, they began to examine some of the Prisoners (who had been perswaded by their Companions to say, they were the richest of the Town) charging them severely, to discover where they had hidden their Riches and Goods. But not being able to extort anything out of them, as who were not the right persons that possessed any wealth, they at last resolved to torture them. This they performed with such cruelty, that many of them died upon the Rack, or presently after. Soon after, the President of Panama had news brought him of the pillage and ruine of Puerto Velo. This intelli- gence caused him to employ all his care and industry to raise Forces, with design to pursue and cast out the Pirats from thence. But these cared little for what extraordinary means the President used, as having their Ships nigh at hand, and being determined to set fire unto the City, and retreat. They had now been at Puerto Velo fifteen days, in which space of time they had lost many of their men, both by the unhealthiness of the Country and the extravagant Debaucheries they had committed. Hereupon they prepared for a departure, carrying on Board their Ships all the Pillage they had gotten. But before all, they provided the Fleet with sufficient Victuals for the Voyage. While these things were getting ready, Captain Morgan sent an Injunc- tion unto the Prisoners, that they should pay him a Ransom for the City, or else he would by fire consume it to ashes, and blow up all the Castles into the air. Withal, he commanded them to send TJic Spanish Colonies: Fore'ujn Relations 163 speedily two persons to seek and procure the sum he demanded, which amounted unto one hundred thousand pieces of Eight. Unto this effect, two men were sent to the President of Panama, who gave him an account of all these Tragedies. The President having now a body of men in a readiness, set forth immediately towards Puerto Velo, to encounter the Pirats before their retreat. But these People hearing of his coming, instead of flying away went out to meet him at a narrow passage, through which of necessity he ought to pass. Here they placed an hundred men very well arm'd ; the which, at the first Encounter, put to flight a good party of those of Panama. This Accident obliged the President to retire for that time, as not being yet in a posture of strength to proceed any farther. Presently after this Reencounter, he sent a Message unto Captain Morgan, to tell him. That in case he departed not suddenly with all his Forces from Puerto Velo, he ought to expect no quarter for himself nor his Companions, when he should take them, as he ^hoped soon to do. Captain Morgan, who feared not his Threats, as knowing he had a secure retreat in his Ships which were nigh at hand, made him answer. He would not deliver the Castles before he had received the Contribution-money he had de- manded. Which in case it were not paid down, he would certainly burn the whole City, and then leave it; demolishing before-hand the Castles, and killing the Prisoners. [The ransom was finally paid and Morgan departed.] 6. ENGLISH INSTRUCTIONS TO GEORGE ANSON TO AID THE SPANISH COLONISTS TO REVOLT (1740)i AS IT has been represented unto Us . . . that the number of native Indians on the Coast of Chili, greatly exceeds that of the Spaniards, a,nd that there is reason to believe, that the said Indians may not be averse to join with you against the Spaniards, in order to recover their freedom, you are to endeavour to cultivate a good understanding with such Indians, as shall be willing to join and assist you in any attempt, that you may think proper to make against the Spaniards, that are established there. . . . And whereas there is some reason to believe, from private intelligence, that the Spaniards in the Kingdom of Peru, and especially in that part of it, which is near Lima, have long had an inclination to revolt from the King of Spain, (on account of the great oppressions and tyr- ranies exercised by the Spanish Viceroys and Governors), in favour of some considerable person amongst themselves, you are, if you should find, that there is any foundation for these reports, by all 1 From: R. Pares-, War and Trade in the West Indies (Oxford; The Clarendon Press, 1936), p. 76. 164 The Colonial Period possible means, to encourage, and assist such a design, in the best manner, you shall be able ; and in case of any revolution, or revolt from the obedience of the King of Spain, either amongst the Span- iards, or the Indians, in these parts, and of any new government being erected by them, you are to insist on the most advantageous conditions for the commerce of our subjects, to be carried on with such government, so to be erected : for which purpose you shall make provisional agreements, subject to our future approbation and confirmation. PART TWO REVOLUTIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE 7%r O BRIEF historical age is more replete with brave deeds and astonishing daring than are the first three decades of the 19th century in Latin America. Individualism was emphasised at every turn, and many men, and a few women, inspired or led thousands of their fellow beings directly or indirectly in the tran- sition from the colonial oppression of the mother countries to the national freedom of independent states. Fortunately the thoughts and actions of many of the political leaders zvere preserved for posterity by their contemporaries. The prime movers in the Latin American revolutions for independence found their prototypes in the leaders for independence in the British colonies in North America and in the leaders of the French Revolution. Human reaction to oppression was essentially the same then as nozv and we need only to put ourselves in their places to understand and appreciate the difficulties and discouragements which they en- countered. But will to achieve was everywhere evident, and the rewards and the results accomplished were sufficient justification for the human effort expended to attain them. The student of history should welcome the opportunity to become more intimately acquainted with these actors. (Chapter T'hirteen PRELIMINARY REVOLUTIONARY 1. FRICTION BETWEEN CREOLES AND PENINSULARS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY i THE excessive vanity and overbearing manners of the Creoles, and the forlorn and penniless condition of the Europeans arriv- ing in Peru from Spain. The latter accumulate a fortune with the aid of relatives and friends, as well as by dint of labour and in- dustry, so that within a few years they are enabled to form an alliance with ladies of distinction; but the low condition in which the Creoles first knew them is not wholly effaced from remembrance : and on the first occasion of misunderstanding between the European and his relatives, the latter expose, without the least reflection, the mean origin and profession of the former, and kindle the flames of discord in all hearts. The Europeans espouse the cause of their injured countrymen, and the Creoles that of the native women, and thus the seeds of dissension spring up, which had been sown in the mind from the remote period of the conquest. . . . [The descendants of the Spaniards spent much time in] dis- cussing the order and line of their descent ; so that it would appear, as it respects nobility and antiquity, they have nothing to envy in the most illustrious families of Spain; and, treating the subject with the ardour of enthusiasm, they make it the first topic of con- versation with the newly-arrived Europeans, in order to acquaint them with their noble origin ; but when this is investigated impar- tially, we are met at the first step we take with so many difficulties, that a family can rarely be found that has no mixed blood, not to mention objections of minor importance. In such cases it is amus- ing to observe how they become mutually the heralds of one 1 From: Juan and Ulloa quoted in Bernard Moses, The Spanish Dependencies in South America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 2 vols., 1914), Vol. II, pp. 405-407 passim. 167 i68 Revolutions for Independence another's low birth, so that it is needless to investigate the subject for one's self. . . . Hence it is they soon see the end of all that which their parents have left them, by wasting their money, and neglecting the cultiva- tion of their estates ; and the Europeans, availing themselves of the advantages which the neglect of the Creoles affords them, turn them to account, and amass an estate; for by engaging in trade they soon succeed in getting upon a good footing, enjoy credit, accumu- late money, and are solicited for marriage by noble families ; for the Creole women themselves, aware of the wasteful and indolent habits of their countrymen, hold Europeans in high esteem, and prefer to be allied with them. 2. CRITICISM OF SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY BY AN EXILED JESUIT (About 1800)i THE pretension of Spain to blind obedience to her arbitrary laws is based mainly on the ignorance which she has permitted and encouraged, especially in regard to the inalienable rights of man and the imprescriptible duties of every government. Spain has attempted to persuade the common people that it is a crime to reason upon matters of the greatest importance to every individual ; and consequently that it is always a duty to extinguish the precious flame which the Creator gave us for enlightenment and guidance. But despite the dissemination of such fatal doctrines, the entire history of Spain bears witness against their truth and legitimacy. . . . Nature has separated us from Spain by immense seas. A son who found himself at such a distance from his father would doubt- less be a fool, if, in the management of his own affairs, he constantly awaited the decision of his father. The son is emancipated by natural law. In a parallel case should a numerous people, who are not dependent upon another nation whom they do not need, remain subject to it like the vilest slave? Our distance from Spain, which proclaims our independence, is, however, less significant than the difference in interests. We im- peratively need a government in our midst for the distribution of benefits, the object of the social union. To depend upon a govern- ment two or three thousand leagues distant, is to renounce these benefits ; for such is the policy of the court of Spain, that it aspires only to give us laws which monopolize our commerce, our industry, our property, and our persons, and which sacrifice them to her ambition, her pride, and her avarice. . . . In fine, in whatever aspect our dependence upon Spain is con- sidered, one will see that every obligation impels us to terminate it. 1 From: Juan Pablo Viscardo y Guzman quoted in W. S. Robertson, Rise of the Spanish- American Republics (New York: D. Appleton and Company. 1918), pp. 23-24. Preliminary Revolutionary Movements 169 We ought to do so because of gratitude towards our ancestors who did not waste their sweat and their blood in order that the theater of their labors and their glory should become the scene of our miser- able servitude. We owe that to ourselves because of the indis- pensable obligation to preserve the natural rights granted by our Creator — precious rights which we cannot alienate — rights which no one can wrest from us without committing a crime. Can man renounce his reason, or can this be taken from him by force? Personal liberty is not less essentially his property than reason. The free enjoyment of these natural rights is the inestimable heri- tage which we ought to transmit to our posterity. . . . The valor with which the English colonists in America fought for the liberty that they gloriously enjoy shames our indolence. . . . There is no longer any pretext to excuse our resignation; and, if we longer endure the vexations which overwhelm us, people will truthfully declare that our laziness has merited them: our descendants will burden us with imprecations, when, champing the bit of slavery, ■ — a slavery which they inherited — they remember the moment in which ... we did not wish to become free. 3. NAPOLEON TELLS OF HIS PLANS TO SUBDUE SPAIN 1 IT IS of no use to speak to me of the difficulties of the enterprise. I have nothing to fear from the only power who could disquiet me in it. The Emperor of Russia, to whom I communicated my designs at Tilsit, which were formed at that period, approved of them, and gave me his word of honor he would offer no resistance. The other powers of Europe will remain quiet, and the resistance of the Spaniards themselves cannot be formidable. The rich will endeavor to appease the people instead of exciting them, for fear of losing their possessions. I will render the monks responsible for any disorder, and that will lead them to employ their influence, which 3^ou know is considerable, in suppressing any popular move- ment. Believe me, Canon, I have much experience in these matters. The countries where the monks are numerous are easily subjugated, and that will take place in Spain, especially when the Spaniards shall see that I am providing for the national independence, and benefit of the country, giving them a liberal constitution, and at the same time maintaining their religion and usages. Even if the people were to rise en masse I could succeed in conquering them by the sacrifice of two hundred thousand men. I am not blind to the risk of a separation from the colonies, but I have long kept up secret communications with Spanish America, and I have lately sent frigates there to obtain certain advices as to what I may expect. From: Elizabeth Wormelev Latimer, Spain in the Nineteenth Century (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1897), p. 48 ijo Revolutions for Independence I have every reason to believe that the intelligence will prove of the most favorable character. 4. NAPOLEON SAYS HIS SPANISH POLICY RUINED HIM i IT WAS that unhappy war in Spain that ruined me. The results have irrevocably proved that I was in the wrong. But there were serious faults in the execution of my plans. One of the greatest was that of having attached so much importance to the dethronement of the Bourbons. Charles IV. was worn out. I might have given a liberal constitution to the Spanish nation, and charged Ferdinand with its execution. If he had put it in force in good faith, Spain would have prospered, and put itself in harmony with our new in- stitutions. If he failed in the performance of his engagements, he would have met with his dismissal from the Spaniards themselves. "You are about to undertake," said Escoiquiz to me, "the labors of Hercules, where, if you please, nothing but child's play need be encountered.'' The unfortunate war in Spain proved a real wound, — the first cause of the misfortunes of France. If I could have foreseen that that affair would cause me so much vexation and chagrin, I would never have engaged in it. But after the first steps taken in the affair it was impossible for me to recede. When I saw those imbeciles quarrelling and trying to dethrone each other, I thought I might as well take advantage of it to dispossess an inimical family, but I was not the contriver of their disputes. Had I known at the first that the transaction would have given me so much trouble, I would never have engaged in it. 5. INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES UPON THE SPANISH COLONISTS^ THE Boston republic, isolated, and surrounded by many peoples desiring to imitate its ideas of liberty, recognizes and at the same time fears the weakness of its existence, and for this reason is making its greatest efforts to enlarge its boundaries and to ex- tend its system, as the only method of providing for its stability and maintenance. To this end it puts into action all imaginable means, without hesitating at the most iniquitous and immoral, in order to attract the Spanish colonists to its depraved designs. The freedom of conscience and the freedom of the press assist it in publishing and spreading subversive and seditious principles and maxims, 1 From: Elizabeth Wormeley Latimer, Spain in the Nineteenth Century (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1897), pp. 55-56. 2 From: Fray Melchor Martinez quoted in Bernard Moses, The Intellectual Background of the Revolution in South America (New York: Hispanic Society of America, 1926), pp. 39-41. Preliminary Revolutionary Movements 171 which always find reception with the majority of men, ruled by ignorance and malice. The clandestine trade and the permission to fish for whales introduce traders and adventurers from the United States into all the coasts, ports, islands, and other Spanish posses- sions, giving them opportunity to persuade the Spanish colonists of the flourishing state and advantageous situation of their country, decrying the Spanish Colonial government and subjection to the mother country in Europe as ignominious slavery. They magnify the riches and extent of these provinces; proclaim the injustice and tyranny with which the wealth is carried off to enrich Europe ; describe the state of obscurity, abandonment, and civil nullity in which the colonists live; and offer with impudence all the aid of their great power to the peoples who may wish to shake off the yoke of legitimate and just government. Moreover, they have adopted and put into execution the most powerful means to un- dermine and destroy the political and religious edifice of the Spanish colonies, sending clandestinely to all and each one of these posses- sions subjects for the purpose of establishing themselves and be- coming citizens, with the design of perverting and destroying alle- giance to the mother country. 6. LETTER FROM MIRANDA TO BERNARDO O'HIGGINS (1799)1 COUNSEL of an old South American to a young fellow country- man, given upon the occasion of his departure from England to his country. My young friend: The deep interest which I take in your welfare leads me to offer a few words of warning on entering into that great world upon whose waves I have been dragged for so many years. You know the history of my life and can judge whether or not my words of counsel are worthy of being heard. By always placing in you an unlimited confidence, I have given you ample proof of my high appreciation of your sense of honor and discretion, and in passing on to you these thoughts I evidence the conviction which I feel in your good sense ; for nothing can be more insane, and at times more dangerous, than to offer advice to a fool. After leaving England, do not forget for a moment that outside of this country, there is in all the world but another country where one may speak a word of politics, except in confidence to a tried friend, and that nation is the United States. 1 From: Francisco de Miranda quoted in Ramon Azpurua, Biografias de Homhres Notables de Hispano America (Caracas, 4 vols., 1877). 172 Revolutions for Independence Choose, therefore, a friend; but choose with the greatest of care, for if you mistake you are lost. Several times I have men- tioned the names of various South Americans in whom you may place your confidence, should you happen to meet one of them in your travels, an incident which I doubt, for you live in a different zone. Since 1 have only an imperfect picture of the country from which you come, I can not give you my views on the education, knowledge, and character of your countrymen; but, judging from their greater distance from the old world, I would believe them to be the more ignorant and the more prejudiced. During my long connection with South America you are the only Chilean with whom I have dealt and consequently I know nothing more of that country than what is stated in its history, recently pubHshed, . . . which presents it in a favorable light. From the facts mentioned in that history, I would expect much of your compatriots, particularly those of the south, where, if I am not mistaken, you intend to make your home. Their constant wars with their neighbors must make them apt in the use of arms, while the proximity of a free people must impart to them some idea of liberty and independence. . . . Returning to the subject of your future confidences, distrust every man who is past the age of 40, unless it is evident that he is fond of reading, particularly of reading those books forbidden by the Inquisition. In all others, prejudice is too firmly rooted to hope of their changing, and for which the proper remedy would be dangerous. It is also Vv^rong to believe that every man who wears a crown or sits in the chair of a canon, is an intolerant fanatic and a decided enemy of the rights of man. I know by experience that in this class may be included the most distinguished and liberal-minded men of South America ; but the difficulty lies in discovering them. They know what the Inquisition is, and their least word or act is weighed in its scales, in which, as easily as indulgence is granted for the sins of irregular conduct, there is not the least tolerance of liberal-mindedness. The pride and fanaticism of the Spanish are invincible. They will be unappreciative because you were born in America and dis- like you because you were educated in England. Therefore, main- tain yourself always at a distance from these men. The Americans, impatient and communicative, will exact with eagerness the story of your travels and adventures, and from the nature of their questions you can form an opinion as to the charac- ter of the person who asks you. Allowing the proper indulgence for their deep ignorance, you should weigh their character, the degree of attention with which they listen, and the greater or less Preliminary Revolutionary Movements 173 intelligence which they show in understanding you, and then taking them or not taking them into your confidence as a consequence. Do not ever permit either disgust or despair to fill your mind, for if you allow these sentiments to once take root, you will be im- potent to serve your country. On the contrary, fortify your mind with the conviction that not a day will pass, from the moment you set foot in your country, but that things will happen which will fill you with disconsolating ideas on the dignity and judgment of men, the depression increas- ing with the evident difficulty of correcting such evils. I have always tried to imbue you, above all else, with this prin- ciple in our conversations, and it is one of the things I would like to remind you of, not only every day in the year, but also every hour in the day. Love your country! Cherish that sentiment constantly and strengthen your love in every possible way ; because, to its duration and to its energy alone you owe whatever good you may do. The obstacles to serving your own country are so numerous, so formidable, so invincible, I will say, that only the most passionate love for your country will sustain you in your efforts in behalf of her happiness. In respect to the probable fate of your country, you already know my beliefs and even in case you ignore them, this is not the place to discuss them. Read this paper each day of your voyage and immediately after destroy it. Do not forget the Inquisition, nor its spies, nor its flog- gings, nor its tortures and executions. Francisco Miranda. 7. THE ORGANIZATION AND SAILING OF MIRANDA'S EXPEDITION TO FREE VENEZUELA (February 1806)i Ship Leander, at Sea, February 5th, 1806. Dear Friend: PUBLICK rumour has probably given you some information of a mysterious expedition, said to be fitting out at New- York, under the auspices of a celebrated character. I have been per- suaded by my friend Mr. **=«=** to commit myself to the chances of an enterprise, at once extraordinary and dangerous; and to leave my own country once more, in hope of honour and its reward. You may perhaps fear that I have been seduced by the glitter of fair promises, or the allurements of novelty ; or prompted by a spirit of adventure to speculate too largely on the favours of fortune. It 1 From: James Biggs quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, June 1933, pp. 508-511. 174 Revolutions for Independence may be so ; but I have deliberated much on the subject, and think I am justified in the resolution I have taken. I confess, however, that in forming it, the opinion of men, whose fortunes and charac- ters are staked on the issue, had great authority. . . . We have been out three days, the wind blowing hard all the time, till within two hours. I begin my epistolary journal by in- forming you that the Leander is a ship of about two hundred tons burden, commanded by capt. Thomas Lewis, who is reputed to be a man of intrepidity, and thorough master of his profession. He is said to have proved his spirit and bravery on occasions, which put them to the test; and his appearance and deportment are, in my estimation, strong indications of his possessing the character which report, and his own actions have established. From the little I have seen, I have no doubt of his seamanship; for I notice he manages the vessel with skill and ease ; and the ocean seems to be his element. There are nearly two hundred souls on board, so that as you may conceive, we are very much crowded, and on that ac- count, but ill accommodated. You naturally inquire what is the object and destination of this ship ? what do we propose and whither are we going ? I am unable to give a positive answer to either of these questions; for only a few confidential persons concerned are let into the secret; nor do I know the extent of that knowledge relating to it, that possibly might be obtained, were I to make it my business to importune for particular information. I deem it proper at this moment, to suffer my curiosity to remain unsatisfied till the period arrives when in- quiry will not be considered impertinent, or an exposure of our plans and intentions impolitic. This, I apprehend, will shortly be the case. I for one, and most others, have embarked upon general information and assurances that more shall be disclosed at a suit- able season. We rely much on our leader and on those who recom- mended him to our confidence. We know enough not to be angry with ourselves for joining the undertaking; we imagine and con- jecture much. Generally, I can say that we are engaged in an expedition to some part of the Spanish dominions, probably in South America, with a view to assist the inhabitants in throwing off the oppressive yoke of the parent country; and establishing a government for themselves, upon which we are told by our general they have resolved; and for which he says they are entirely dis- posed and prepared. For this purpose the Leander was engaged and fitted out, as we understand, by the credit and funds of Don Francisco de Miranda, the commander in chief of the expedition. The vessel is laden with arms of various descriptions, ammunition, cloathing, and every kind of military equipage necessary for a campaign. A number of Americans, some of them gentlemen, and persons of good standing in society, though mostly, I believe, of Preliminary Revolutionary Movements 175 crooked fortunes, have embarked. Few of us, before entering the ship, saw our leader, but had our communication with those, who were his acknowledged agents and advocates. We have, as yet, made no definite engagements with him, nor he with us ; and I presume, if upon further insight into the business, or experience of the service, we shall be dissatisfied, we may, if we please, withdraw ; though it must be confessed our destinies, now we have proceeded so far, are seriously joined with those of Miranda. Do you ask, whether our taking a part in this enterprise consists with our rela- tion to our country, or with moral right, to say nothing of common discretion ? I hope it is inconsistent with neither. I will not say that there are not some of our company desperate or base enough to disregard these weighty considerations. Perhaps it is a matter of indifference to many of the volunteers in what cause they act, if it do but promise them an opportunity of distinguishing themselves by martial achievements, and afford a chance of acquiring some portion of the riches, supposed to be in the hands of unworthy possessors in the south. By the issue of this undertaking they can hardly lose, and may gain. But the greater number of those who can reasonably look for high places or large emolument are not desperadoes, though they are adventurers; and although they are willing, from situation or temper, to try a bold and hazardous scheme, it would be illiberal as well as unjust to infer that they would act an unprincipled or dishonourable part. We are encouraged in the belief that our government has given its implied sanction to this expedition, and this circumstance, taken in connexion with the official language of the President, and the known sentiments of some of the political party that now prevails, leads us to suppose that our government expects or intends, very soon explicitly to authorise the use of force against Spain. Under such impressions, we think we shall not be called to account as violating the pacifick relations of the United States. The project of appearing for the relief of the oppressed, under the banners of a celebrated chief, who is said to be their greatest friend and favorite; of lending our assistance to found an independent state, in extensive, fertile and populous regions, where the spirit of the people is crushed and the resources of nature are kept down by a vile colonial policy, presents itself to our imaginations and hearts in the most attractive light, and makes us rejoice that it has fallen to our lot, to attempt the deliverance of a large portion of our fellow men. We flatter ourselves it is honourable and humane to be thus engaged ; still I am sensible that nothing short of complete success will ensure such a design the approbation of the mass of mankind. If we succeed, our fame will take care of itself. To quiet the revoltings of humanity and satisfy us that we are not going upon cruel work, we are told that a revolution can take place in the 176 Revolutions for Independence country proposed, with little violence and perhaps without the loss of much blood : the people are said to be now awake to their suffer- ings, and inclined and competent to remove the cause, as the gov- ernment by which they are oppressed is weak and inefficient. On this disposition of the inhabitants to join the standard of our leader in such number as to compel the few friends of the old order to make terms without delay, we place our expectations of success. It is also intimated that we shall receive, as far as occasion shall require, the countenance and co-operation of the British. After all, it must be confessed, we may be "plucking a thousand dangers on our heads :" but we presume our conductor knows what lie is doing, and will lead us to great exploits and splendid fortunes. March 12th, 1806 This day the Columbian colours were displayed on board for the first time. The Ensign is formed of the three primary colours which predominate in the rainbow. We made a fete on the occasion — a gun was fired and toasts were drank to the auspices of a standard, which is expected to wave to the triumph of freedom and humanity in a country long oppressed. 8. DESCRIPTION OF THE EARTHQUAKE IN VENEZUELA ON MARCH 26, 1812 1 THE inhabitants of Terra Firma were ignorant of the agitation, which on the one hand the volcano of the island of St. Vincent had experienced, and on the other the basin of the Mississippi, where, on the 7th and 8th of February 1812, the ground was day and night in a state of continual oscillation. At this period the province of Venezuela laboured under great drought; not a drop of rain had fallen at Caraccas, or to the distance of 311 miles around, during the five months which preceded the destruction of the capital. The 26th March was excessively hot ; the air was calm and the sky cloudless. It was Holy Thursday, and a great part of the population was in the churches. The calamities of the day were preceded by no indications of danger. At seven minutes after four in the evening the first commotion was felt. It was so strong as to make the bells of the churches ring. It lasted from five to six seconds, and was immediately followed by another shock of from ten to twelve seconds, during which the ground was in a continual state of undulation, and heaved like a fluid under ebullition. The danger was thought to be over, when a prodigious subterranean noise was heard, resembling the rolling of thunder, but louder and 1 From: Alexander Von Humboldt quoted in W. Macgillivray, The Travels and Re- searches of Alexander Von Humboldt (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1832), pp. 158-163. Preliminary Revolutionary Movements 177 more prolonged than that heard within the tropics during thunder- storms. This noise preceded a perpendicular motion of about three or four seconds, followed by an undulatory motion of somewhat longer duration. The shocks were in opposite directions, from north to south and from east to west. It was impossible that any- thing could resist the motion from beneath upwards, and the undu- lations crossing each other. The city of Caraccas was completely overthrown. Thousands of the inhabitants (from nine to ten thousand) were buried under the ruins of the churches and houses. The procession had not yet set out ; but the crowd in the churches was so great, that nearly three or four thousand individuals were crushed to death by the falling in of the vaulted roofs. The ex- plosion was stronger on the north side of the town, in the part nearest the mountain of Avila and the Silla. The churches of the Trinity and Alta Gracia, which were more than a hundred and fifty feet in height, and of which the nave was supported by pillars from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter, left a mass of ruins nowhere higher than five or six feet. The sinking of the ruins has been so great, that at present hardly any vestige remains of the pillars and columns. The barracks called El Quart el de San Carlos, situated further to the north of the church of the Trinity, on the road to the customhouse de la Pastora, almost entirely disappeared. A regiment of troops of the line, which was assembled in it un- der arms to join in the procession, was, with the exception of a few individuals, buried under this large building. Nine-tenths of the fine town of Caraccas were entirely reduced to ruins. The houses which did not fall, as those of the street of San Juan, near the Capuchin Hospital, were so cracked that no one could venture to live in them. The effects of the earthquake were not quite so disastrous in the southern and western parts of the town, between the great square and the ravine of Caraguata ; — there the cathedral, supported by enormous buttresses, remains standing. In estimating the number of persons killed in the city of Caraccas at nine or ten thousand, we do not include those unhappy individ- uals who were severely wounded, and perished several months after from want of food and proper attention. The night of Holy Thursday presented the most distressing scenes of desolation and sorrow. The thick cloud of dust, which rose above the ruins and darkened the air like a mist, had fallen again to the ground; the shocks had ceased ; never was there a finer or quieter night, ■ — the moon, nearly at the full, illuminated the rounded summits of the Silla, and the serenity of the heavens contrasted strongly with the state of the earth, which was strewn with ruins and dead bodies. Mothers were seen carrying in their arms children whom they hoped to recall to life; desolate females ran through the city in quest of a brother, a husband, or a friend, of whose fate they were 178 Revolutions for Independence ignorant, and whom they supposed to have been separated from them in the crowd. The people pressed along the streets, which now could only be distinguished by heaps of ruins arranged in lines. . . . There remained to be performed towards the dead a duty im- posed alike by piety and the dread of infection. As it was impos- sible to inter so many thousands of bodies half buried in the ruins, commissioners were appointed to burn them. Funeral-piles \vere erected among the heaps of rubbish. This ceremony lasted several days. Amid so many public calamities, the people ardently engaged in the religious exercises which they thought best adapted to appease the anger of heaven. Some walked in bodies chanting funeral- hymns, while others, in a state of distraction, confessed themselves aloud in the streets. In this city was now repeated what had taken place in the province of Quito after the dreadful earthquake of the 4th February 1797. Marriages were contracted between persons who for many years had neglected to sanction their union by the secerdotal blessing. Children found parents in persons who had till then disavowed them ; restitution was promised by individuals who had never been accused of theft ; and families, who had long been at enmity, drew together from the feeling of a common evil. But while in some this feeling seemed to soften the heart and open it to compassion, it had a contrary effect on others, rendering them more obdurate and inhumane. In great calamities vulgar minds retain still less goodness than strength ; for misfortune acts like the pursuit of literature and the investigation of nature, which exercise their happy influence only upon a few, giving more warmth to the feelings, more elevation to the mind, and more benevolence to the character. 9. THE FATE OF THE LIBERATORS OF SOUTH AMERICAi THE fate of the emancipators of South America is tragical. The first revolutionists of La Paz and of Quito died on the scaflfold. Miranda, the apostle of liberty, betrayed by his own peo- ple to his enemies, died, alone and naked, in a dungeon. Moreno, the priest of the Argentine revolution, and the teacher of the demo- cratic idea, died at sea, and found a grave in the ocean. Hidalgo, the first popular leader of Mexico, was executed as a criminal. Belgrano, the first champion of Argentine independence, who saved the revolution at Tucuman and Salta, died obscurely, while civil war raged around him. O'Higgins, the hero of Chili, died in exile, as Carrera, his rival, had done before him. Iturbide, the real liberator of Mexico, fell a victim to his own ambition. Montu- 1 From: Bartolome Mitre quoted in George W. Crichfield, American Supremacy (New York: Brentano's, 2 vols., 1908), Vol. I, pp. 219-220. Northern South xlitierica 179 far, the leader of the revolution in Quito, and his comrade Villavi- cencio, the promoter of that of Cartagena, were strangled. The first presidents of New Granada, Lozano and Torres, fell sacrifices to the restoration of colonial terrorism. Piar, who found the true base for the insurrection in Colombia, was shot by Bolivar, to whom he had shown the way to victory. Rivadavia, the civil genius of South America, who gave form to her representative institutions, died in exile. Sucre, the conqueror of Ayacucho, was murdered by his own men on a lonely road. Bolivar and San Martin died in banishment. Chapter Fourteen REVOLUTIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE IN NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA 1. HOW THE PEOPLE OF CARACAS RECEIVED THE FRENCH REPRESENTATIVE OF JOSEPH (July 19, 1808)1 Her Majesty's Ship 'Acasta/ La Guayra, 19th July, 1808 SIR, — Events of singular importance occurring at present in the province of Venezuela, I have thought it necessary to despatch to you, without loss of time, the late French corvette 'Le Serpent,' in order that you might, as early as possible, be made acquainted with those that have already occurred, as well as to be able to form some opinion of those which will probably follow. The latter port (La Guayra) I made in the morning of the 15th, and while standing in for the shore, with the cartel flag flying, I observed a brig under French colors just coming to an anchor. She had arrived the preceeding night from Cayenne with despatches from Bayonne, and had anchored about two miles below the town, to which she was now removing. I was never nearer than five miles to her, and could not have thrown a shot over her before she was close under the Spanish batteries, and therefore I attempted not to chase; but I claimed her of the Spanish Government, as you will perceive by my letter, No. L Just before I set out for the Caracas, 1 From: Captain Beaver to Alexander Cochrane quoted in F. Larrazabal, The Life of Simon Bolivar (New York: E, D, Jenkins, 1866), pp. 25-26. i8o Revolutions for Independence and presented your despatches, the captain of the French brig returned exceedingly displeased (I was told), having been publicly insulted in that city. About three o'clock I arrived at the Caracas, and presented your despatches to the Captain-General, who re- ceived me very coldly, or rather uncivilly, observing that the hour was very inconvenient to him and to me; and that, as I had not dined, I had better go and get some dinner, and return to him in a couple of hours. On entering the city I had observed a great effervescence among the people, like something which either pre- cedes or follows a popular commotion ; and as I entered the large inn of the city, I was surrounded by inhabitants of almost all classes. I have learned that the French captain, who had arrived yester- day, had brought intelligence of everything which had taken place in Spain in favor of France ; that he had announced the accession to the Spanish throne of Joseph Napoleon, and had brought orders from the French emperor to the Government. The city was immediately in arms ; ten thousand of its inhabitants surrounded the residence of the Captain-General, and demanded the proclamation of Ferdinand VII. as their king, which he prom- ised to do the next day ; but this would not satisfy them ; they pro- claimed him that evening, by heralds, in form, throughout the city, and placed his portrait, illuminated, in the gallery of the town- house. The French were first publicly insulted in the coffee house, whence they were obliged to withdraw; and the French captain left the Caracas privately, about eight o'clock that night, escorted by a detachment of soldiers, and so saved his life; for about ten o'clock his person was demanded from the Governor by the popu- lace ; and when they had learned that he was gone, three hundred followed him on the road to put him to death. Coldly received by the Governor, I was, on the contrary, surrounded by all the re- spectable people of the city, the military officers included, and hailed as their deliverer. The news which I gave them from Cadiz was devoured with avidity, and produced enthusiastic shouts of gratitude to England. 2. AN ACCOUNT OF MIRANDA'S ARREST BY BOLlVAR (July 30, 1812)1 M IRANDA was arrested in the following manner. Having as- certained that the general was sound asleep, the three leaders, after a short consultation, determined to seize him that night, and give him up to the Spanish commandant Monteverde. Casas, as military commandant at La Guayra, ordered a strong detachment 1 From: Ducoudray-Holstein quoted in Hezekiah Butterworth, South America (New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1904), pp. 61-63. Northern Soutk America i8i from the principal guard. This detachment he commanded to sur- round his own house in perfect silence, to suffer no one to pass, and to kill any one who attempted to escape. Not a word was said of Miranda. When all was ready, Pefia, Casas and Bolivar, at two o'clock in the morning-, with four armed soldiers, entered the unlocked room of General Miranda. He was in a profound sleep. They seized his sword and pistols, which he had placed hefore him. They then awakened him, and abruptly told him to rise and dress quickly, and follow them. Miranda, in surprise, asked them why they awakened him at such an early hour, it being not yet daylight. Instead of answering the question, they told him he was a traitor, who deserved to be hanged. Miranda, unable to resist, dressed himself, and was forced to follow. They escorted him to the fort called San Carlos, at some distance from La Guayra, and situated upon a strong hill, where he arrived, exhausted from fatigue and chagrin. Having borne all the invectives they chose to load him with on the road, which he was obliged to walk, as soon as they were come to the fort they ordered him to be put in irons, and notwithstanding his pathetic and fervent expostulations, he was locked in one of the darkest dungeons, and treated like the vilest criminal. The three chiefs returned, with their guard, to La Guayra, and the same night despatched an express with a letter to the Spanish general Monteverde, informing him of the arrest of Miranda. This commander was surprised at the intelligence. Instead of or- dering the immediate release of Miranda, and so preserving invio- late the faith of his own treaty, he received the news with his ac- customed indifference and apathy, and took no step in favor of Miranda, or against him. The day after Miranda's arrest, a Spanish column arrived in the fort of San Carlos, to relieve the independents. Its commander was surprised to find Miranda in irons, and sent him immediately, with an escort, back to La Guayra, where he was again shut up in a dark, mephitic prison in one of the walls of this place, where he remained in irons during several months. The Spanish command- ant Don Francisco Xavier Cerveres, who had relieved the patriot commander Casas, gave orders to send Miranda back to Porto Rico. He was thence transported to Cadiz, where he remained in irons, in the fort of La Caraca, for some years, and perished. Such was the miserable end of General Miranda. Without enter- ing into any political controversy, without inquiring whether Miranda was a traitor to his country (which well-informed men affirm not to have been the case), history will demand what right Dr. Miguel Pena, Don Maria Casas and Simon Bolivar had to arrest their former chief and superior. That they did so without 182 Revolutions fo7' Independence order, information or participation of the Spanish general-in-chief Domingo Monteverde, is an undoubted fact. 3. BOLIVAR GIVES REASONS FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE VENEZUELAN PATRIOTS IN 1812 (December 15, 1812)i WE HAD philosophers for leaders, philanthropy for legislation, dialectics for tactics and sophists for soldiers. . . . From this came the decided opposition to raising veteran troops, drilled, dis- ciplined and capable of presenting themselves on the field of battle to defend liberty with success and glory. In perverse fashion, in- numerable bodies of untrained militia were recruited which, in addi- tion to exhausting the national treasure-chests in paying out salaries to the staff, destroyed agriculture by drawing the country-folk away from their homes, and rendered hateful a government that obliged them to take up arms and abandon their families. Republics, said our statesmen, have no need of men paid to main- tain liberty. All the citizens will be soldiers whenever the enemy attacks us. Greece, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Switzerland, Holland, and recently North America, conquered their adversaries without the help of mercenary troops, ever prone to uphold despotism and subjugate their fellow citizens. With these unpolitical and erroneous maunderings they beguiled the simple-minded, but did not convince the men of foresight who well knew the immense difference that exists between the peoples, times and customs of those republics and our own. ... As to the modern ones that have shaken off the yoke of their tyrants, it is a matter of common knowledge that they kept the requisite number of veterans which their security demanded, except North America which, being at peace with all the world and protected by the sea, has not felt the necessity in recent years of retaining the comple- ment of veteran troops required for the defense of its frontiers and strongholds. The consequences made the error in its calculation severely plain to Venezuela; for the militia that sallied forth to meet the enemy, ignorant even of the use of arms, and not habituated to discipline and obedience, were overwhelmed at the beginning of the last campaign . . . which produced general disheartenment among soldiers and officers; for it is a military axiom that only armies accustomed to war are capable of recovering from the first unlucky incidents in a campaign. 1 From: Simon Bolivar qtioted in the Hispanic American Historical Revie-w, August. 1918, pp. 283-284. Northern South America 183 4. BOLiVAR DISAPPROVES OF THE FEDERAL SYSTEM (1812)1 THE federal system, though it may be the most perfect and most capable of assuring human happiness in society is, nevertheless, the most unsuited to the interests of our nascent states. Generally speaking, our fellow citizens are not yet fit to exercise their rights fully and freely, because they lack the political virtues that charac- terize the true republican — virtues that are not acquirable under absolute governments, where the rights and the duties of the citizen are unknown. ... I am disposed to think that, unless we centralize our American governments, our enemies will obtain the most complete advantage ; we shall be inevitably involved in the horrors of civil dissension and conquered ignominiously by that handful of bandits who infest our regions. 5. PROCLAMATION OF "WAR TO THE DEATH" BY BOLIVAR (June 8, 1813) 2 Valiant Meridans: " AFTER the disasters which the physical and political vicissitudes suffered by the illustrious Venezuela caused her to descend to her tomb, you have beheld again burn the light of liberty, which the unconquerable arms of New Granada have brought to you. An army of brothers have returned to the lap of the country which the tyrants had destroyed, and which your liberators have resur- rected. You are again citizens of the Federal Republic. You are now men, and you now return to be free under the shelter of your laws and magistrates which the Congress of New Granada has restituted to you so that you may defend until death the rights which you before lost, and who. usurped from you by the monster of Spain, who carried on against us an impious war, because we dispute to them the liberty, the life and the good which the clemency of heaven has given to us. Yes, Americans, the hateful and cruel Spaniards have introduced desolation in the midst of the innocent and peaceful people of the Colombian hemisphere, because the war and death which they justly merit has forced them to abandon their native country, which they have not known to preserve, and which they have ignominiously lost. Fugitives and wanderers, like the enemies of the Saviour God, they behold themselves cast away from all parts, and persecuted by all men. Europe expels 1 From: Simon Bolivar quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, May 1918, pp. 284-285. 2 From: Simon Bolivar quoted in F, Larrazabal, The Life of Simon BoUvar (New York: E. D. Jenkins, 1866), p, 113. 184 Revolutions for Independence them, America repells them; because their vices in both worlds have loaded them with the malediction of all human kind. All parts of the globe are tinged by the innocent blood which the fero- cious Spaniards have caused to flow ; as all of them are stained with the crimes which they have committed not for the love of glory, but in search of a vile metal, which is their supreme god. The executioners, who have entitled themselves our enemies, have most outrageously violated the rights of people and of nations, at Quito, La Paz, Mexico, Caracas and recently at Popayan. They sacrificed in their dungeons our virtuous brethren, in the cities of Quito and La Paz; they beheaded thousands of our prisoners in Mexico; they buried alive in the cells and floating prisons of Puerto Cabello and La Guayra, our fathers, children, and friends of Venezuela; they have immolated the President and commandant of Popayan, with all their companions of misfortunes, and lastly, Oh God! almost in our presence they have committed a most horrid slaugh- ter at Barinas of our prisoners of war, and our peaceful countrymen of that capital! . . . But these victims shall be revenged; these assassins exterminated. Our kindness is now quenched, and as our oppressors force us in a mortal war, they shall disappear from America, and our land shall be purged of the monsters who infest it. Our hatred will be implacable, and the war shall be to death. Simon Bolivar Headquarters of Merida, June 8th, 1813. 6. PROCLAMATION OF BOLfVAR INVITING FOREIGNERS TO SETTLE IN VENEZUELA (August 16, 1813)i T^HE Provinces of Venezuela having entered the second time into ■*- the enjoyment of their liberty and independence, which was momentarily usurped from them by a handful of Spaniards, who have characterized their Government by horrid crimes and infamous injustice, in which was included that of robbing, persecuting, and banishing those distinguished Foreigners who justly merited the protection and consideration of the Government, in our first politi- cal transformation ; and as the conduct of a Free People ought to be entirely oppositq to that which has been observed by our Enemies, who have been, and will always be, inimical to the prosperity and happiness of America, i have accordingly determined: First, to invite again all Foreigners, of whatever Nation and profession they may be, to come and establish themselves in these Provinces under the immediate protection of the Governmnt, who 1 From: Simon Bolivar quoted in the British and Foreian State Papers. Vol. T, pt. (1814), pp. 1142-1143, Northern South America 185 will dispense it to them openly and frankly, fully persuaded that the fertility of our soil, its various and precious productions, the mildness of our climate, and a prudent Administration, which will guarantee personal security and the sacred rights of property, will insure to all the advantages and comforts they could derive in their own Countries. Secondly, to declare, that any Stranger who enlists under our Flag to defend the cause of liberty and independence, is by right a Citizen of Venezuela, and that his services shall be recompensed in a suitable manner. Given at Head Quarters, Caracas; registered by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and sealed with the Seal of the Re- public, 16th of August, 1813 (3rd of Independence). Simon Bolivar Antonio Muiios Tebar, Secretary of State. 7. A SPANISH GENERAL RECOMMENDS THE EXTERMINA- TION OF AMERICANS (December 29, 1814)i Puerto Cabello, December 29, 1814. ESTEEMED Friend : Thanks be to God that we have concluded with the rest of this gang of knaves who had taken refuge in the impregnable Maturin ; there yet remain a few wandering in the mountains, and to say the truth, to extinguish this American rab- ble, it is necessary not to leave one alive ; and thus it is that in the last battles more than twelve thousand men have perished on one and the other side; fortunately the greater part CREOLES and Spaniards very rare. If it was possible to obliterate all Americans it would be better; for undeceive yourself, we are in the case of extinguishing the whole present generation, because they are all our enemies, and if the people have not risen, it is because they have not been able, it being wonderful to observe that the most exalted are those born of Spaniards. Finally, my dear friend, we should sow internal war between the Creoles, so that they may annihilate each other, and that we may have less enemies. If in the remaining regions of America there are found m^any Boves, I can assure you that our desires shall be granted because, as for Venezuela, there is not much wanting to see it realized, as we have finished with all who have presented themselves. They have now sufficient to remember us for a long time. You can, my friend, freely carry on your business on the coast, as now there are no fears ; and if you wish to invest in the country, 1 From: Manuel Fierro quoted from F. Larrazabal, The Life of Simon Bolivar (New York: E. D. Jenkins, 1866), pp. 176-177, note. 1 86 Revolutions for Independence we have here a number of farms to sell, which can be procured with the greatest^ commodity. Calculate it and give notice to your inti- mate friend and attentive servant, Manuel Fierro 8. BOLfVAR'S "PROPHETIC LETTER" FROM JAMAICA (September 6, 1815)i TF IT is justice which decides the lot of man, success will crown -^ our efiforts, because the destiny of America has been irrevocably fixed; the bond which united her to Spain has been severed. Its only strength was opinion : a state of mind, by which the parts of that immense monarchy were closely bound together. What for- merly joined, now divides them. Greater is the hatred inspired in us by the Peninsula than the sea which separates us from it. Less difficult is it to unite the two continents than to reconcile the spirits of the two countries. The habit of obedience ; a community of in- terests, of enlightenment, of religion ; a mutual good will ; a tender solicitude for the cradle and glory of our forebears ; in fine, every- thing which made up our inspiration came to us from Spain. From this sprang a feeling of loyalty well-nigh eternal, even when this sympathy, this forced attachment induced by the dominating rule, had been weakened by the misconduct of our overlords. At the pres- ent time the opposite is true — death, dishonor, everything evil threatens us and is feared by us ; we suffer everything from that unnatural stepmother. The veil has been rent asunder; we have seen the light, but our return to utter darkness is sought; the chains have been broken, we have been free, and our enemies at- tempt to again enslave us. Hence America is struggling desper- ately, and seldom it is that desperation has not brought victory in its wake. Because success has been partial and variable we must not dis- trust fortune. In some places the independents triumph, while in others tyrants obtain the advantage. And what is the final result? Is not the entire New World aroused and armed for its defense? Let us look about, and we shall observe a simultaneous struggle going on throughout the whole extent of this hemisphere. The Americans, without previous preparation or knowledge and, what is more deplorable, without experience in public affairs, have suddenly risen to assume before the world the eminent dignity of legislators, magistrates, administrators of the public treasury, dip- 1 From: Simon Bolivar quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, June 1926, pp. 581-583, Northern South America 187 lomats, generals, and all the supreme and subordinate authorities which form the hierarchy of an organized state. ... Events in the mainland have proved that perfectly representative institutions are not adequate to our character, habits, and present state of enlightenment. In Caracas party spirit originated in so- cieties, assemblies, and popular elections ; and these parties returned us to slavery. And just as Venezuela has been the American Re- public which has advanced farthest in its political institutions, Venezuela has likewise been the clearest example of the inefficacy of Federal democracy for our nascent States. In New Granada, the excess of executive power in the provincial governments and the lack of centralization in general have reduced that beautiful country to its condition of to-day. For this reason its enfeebled enemies have managed to subsist against all probabilities. Until our compatriots acquire the talent and the political virtues which distinguish our brothers of the north, I greatly fear that entirely popular institutions, far from helping us, will be our ruin. The American States need the care of paternal governments to heal the wounds and injuries inflicted by despotism and war. For example, the principal country might be Mexico, which is the only one capable, by reason of intrinsic power, without which a strong, central country can not exist. If we suppose that it should be the Isthmus of Panama, which is central to the most distant points in this vast continent; would not these continue to languish in their present weakness and disorder even . . . ? For a single govern- ment to impart life and courage, to bring into action all the springs of public prosperity, to correct, educate, and perfect the New World, it would need to be endowed with the powers of a god and at the very least possess the enlightenment and virtue of all mankind. . . . I am going to put to the venture the result of my cavilings as to the future of America : not its ideal future, but that most easily attainable. By virtue of the location, wealth, population, and character of the Mexicans, I imagine that they will first try to establish a repre- sentative republic, in which the executive branch will have wide powers, vested in one person who, if he fulfills his duty with ability and justice, would almost certainly hold his position for life. . . . The States from the Isthmus of Panama to Guatemala will form an association. This magnificent section, between two great oceans, may become in time the emporium of the world. Its canals will re- duce world distances; they will draw more closely the commercial relations between Europe, Asia, and America, and will bring to this rich region tribute from the four quarters of the globe. It may be that there, only, the capital of the world may some day be fixed. 1 88 Revolutions for Independence just as Constantine attempted to make Byzantium the capital of the ancient hemisphere ! New Granada will unite with Venezuela if they manage to agree on forming a central government. . . . This nation will be called Colombia as a tribute of justice and gratitude to the creator of our hemisphere. Its government might follow the English, with the difference that instead of a king it would have an elected executive to hold office, at most, for life, but never hereditary (if a republic is desired), an hereditary legislative chamber or senate which in time of political stress would serve as a buffer between the populace and the thunderbolts of the government, and a legislative body, freely elected, and no more restricted than the lower Chamber of England. This Constitution would partake of every form, but not, I hope, of every vice. Since I am referring to my country, I have an unquestionable right to wish for it everything which in my opinion is the best. It is very possible that Nevv? Granada may not agree to the recognition of a central government, because it is strongly in favor of a federation, and will proceed to form a state by itself which, if it survives, may become very happy because of its great resources of every kind. We know but little of the opinions which prevail in Buenos Aires, Chile, and Peru. Judging by what is reflected and by appearances, Buenos Aires will have a central government in which, because of internal division and external war, the military will be foremost. This constitution will necessarily degenerate into an oligarchy or a monocracy, with more or less restriction, and whose denomination no one can divine. Chile is destined by the character of its location, by the unspoiled customs of its virtuous inhabitants, by the example of its neighbors, the untamed republicans of Arauco, to enjoy the blessings of the just and wholesome laws of a republic. If any American country survives, permanently, I am inclined to think it will be Chile. The spirit of liberty there has never been extinguished, the vices of Europe and of Asia will never reach them or will reach them too late to corrupt the customs in that remote corner of the world. Its territory is limited ; it will always be beyond the infectious contact of the rest of mankind ; it will not change its laws, usage, or practice ; it will preserve its uniformity in poHtical and religious opinions ; in a word, Chile can be free. Peru, on the contrary, embodies two elements hostile to any just and liberal regime — gold and slaves. The first corrupts every- thing; the second corrupts itself. The soul of a slave is seldom capable of appreciating sound liberty. It rages in time of tumult or humiliates itself in chains. Although this is applicable to the whole of America, I believe that it applies with more justice to Lima, because of the ideas it has expressed and because of its co- Northern South America 189 operation with its rulers against its own brethren, the illustrious sons of Quito, Chile, and Buenos Aires. It is recorded that those who aspire to liberty will at the very least make an attempt to attain it. I take it for granted that the rich in Lima will not toler- ate democracy, nor the slaves and freedmen, aristocracy; the first named would prefer a single tyrant in order to escape the tyranny of the masses and, also, to establish an order which would at least be peaceful. Peru will have done much, if it manages to recover its independence. From all the foregoing we may deduce these consequences : The American provinces are fighting for their emancipation ; they will, ultimately, be successful ; some will constitute themselves regularly into either federal or central republics ; almost inevitably mon- archies will be founded in the larger sections, and some will be so unhappy as to devour their own constituent elements either in the actual or in future revolutions, for it is not easy to consolidate a great monarchy : a great republic — impossible. . . . How beautiful it would be if the Isthmus of Panama should be- come for us what the Isthmus of Corinth was for the Greeks ! Would to God that we may have the fortune some day of holding there some august congress of the representatives of the republics, kingdoms and empires of America, to deliberate upon the high interests of peace and of war not only between the American na- tions, but between them and the rest of the globe. 9. A DESCRIPTION OF THE PATRIOT TROOPS OF SAN FERNANDO IN NUEVA GRANADA^ SEDENO'S cavalry were composed of all sorts and sizes, from the man to the boy ; from the horse to the mule. Some of the troopers with saddles, very many of them without ; some with bitts, leather head-stalls and reins; others with rope lines, with a bit of the rope placed over the tongue of the horse as a bit ; some with old pistols hung over the saddle-bow, I cannot call it a pommel, either incased on tiger skin or ox hide holster pipes, or hanging by a thong of hide on each side. As for the troops themselves, they were from 13 to 36 or 40 years of age — black, brown, sallow complexion, according to the cast of their parents. — The adults wore large mus- tachios, and short hair, either woolly or black, according to the climate or descent. They had a ferocious savage look, which the regimentals they appeared in did not tend to humanize or improve. Mounted on miserable, half-starved, jaded beasts, whether horse or mule, some without trousers, small clothes, or any covering except a bandage of blue cloth or cotton around their loins, the ends of which passed between their legs, fastened to the girth 1 From: Gustavus Hippesley quoted in the Alexandria Herald, March 22, 1820. 190 Revolutions for Independence round the waist ; others with trowsers, but without stockings, boots or shoes, and a spur generally gracing the heel on one side; and some wearing a kind of sandal made of hide, with the hairy side outward. In their left hand, they hold the reins, and in their right a pole, from 8 to 10 feet in length, with an iron spear very sharp at the point and sides, and rather flat; in shape like a sergeant's halbert. A blanket of about a yard square, with a hole, or rather slit, cut in the center, through which the wearer thrusts his head, falls on each side of his shoulders, thus covering his body, and leav- ing his bare arms at perfect liberty to manage his horse or mule, and lance. — Sometimes an old musket, (the barrel of which has been shortened twelve inches) forms his carbine; and with a large sabre or hanger, or cut and thrust, or even a small sword, hanging by a leather thong to his side, together with either a felt hat, a tyger skin or hide cap on his head, with a white feather, or even a piece of white rag stuck into it, these troopers of the legion of Sedeno appear complete and ready for action. 10. JOSe ANTONIO PAEZ CHARACTERIZED (About 1818)i THE brave general Paez, although he did not know me, received me with the greatest cordiality. Seeing me weak in consequence of a wound I had received in a skirmish with the Spaniards, he oflPered generously to afford me the few comforts that he disposed of until I was completely cured of my wound. Only to nature does this heroic man owe his virtues and his ideas. Brought up in a completely savage country, without the advan- tages either of birth or fortune, and only by his personal merit, his prowess and indomitable courage shown in the various actions where he has been present during the revolutionary war, have raised him to the position of leader of the native levies that have been of so much help in all the territory of the republic. When the first revolutionary movement took place he was quite young, and served as a common soldier in one of the irregular bands that rose up in the Llanos ; but even in such a humble position he soon found means to distinguish himself amongst his comrades. His strength and courage always gave him the victory in the gymnastic exercises the Llaneros practise. The skill he had ac- quired with the lance, their favourite weapon, gave him the advan- tage in all disputes. With it (the lance) he had put hors de combat so many of the enemy in the skirmishes in which he had been en- gaged that he gained the respect of all his companions, whilst his affable and unpretentious bearing ensured their friendship. He is much attached to the English, whom he styles his brothers, and has 1 From: Laval Chesterton quoted in R. B Cunninghaine Graham, Jose Antonio Pdes (Philadelphia: Macrae Smith Company, 1929), pp. 132-134. Northern South America 191 always insisted that the gratitude of the country was due to them. His valour makes him dear to them, and with the exception of Mariiio, Paez is the leader in Colombia who is most popular amongst the English. Nature has endowed Paez with surprising strength. Sometimes, and only as an exercise, when his men are catching wild cattle with the lazo, he will single out a bull, and pursuing it on horseback seize it by the tail, and with a sharp jerk bring it to the ground. If on any of their excursions he comes across a tiger or a wild boar he instantly transfixes it with his lance. General Paez suffers from epileptic attacks, when his nervous system is excited, and then his soldiers have to support him during the combat or after it. When the attack comes on Paez is so con- vulsed that he falls from his horse, but it is so well trained that when he falls it never moves away until some of the soldiers come to lift him up. Then they carry him to the rear and sprinkle water on his face. Sometimes they dip him into water and shake him violently. After these fits, which have often put him in great danger from the enemy, he is generally very weak for several days. As soon as he is able to mount his horse he returns to the combat, although on some occasions the attack has been so severe as to deprive him of the power of speech. . . . He is a sincere, patriot and certainly a brilliant ornament to his country, which owes him the chief means of continuing as a republic. 11. JOS:^ DE SUCRE THANKED FOR HIS SERVICES BY THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT (June 6, 1825)i Excellency : SINCE the Executive Power received the important news of the glorious exploits of the army of freedom at Ayacucho, it has very urgently requested the Liberator, President of the Republic, to express to the conquering army and to Your Excellency the ad- miration and gratitude which it feels for the immense services for the cause of America in Peru. . . . After His Excellency, the Liberator, has expressed his feelings to the army and to Your Excellency, who so heroically led it on the field of its greatest for- tune ; after the Peruvian Congress has bestowed such well deserved homage of gratitude upon you ; and finally, after the Congress of Colombia has recognized the merited services of the conquerors of Junin and Ayacucho with memorials and satisfactory awards, the Executive Power can add nothing new or adequate to express its satisfaction and pleasure. From: Guillermo A. Sherwell, Antonio Jose de Sucre (Washington: Bryon S. Adams, 1924), pp. 140-142. 192 Revolutions for Independence His Excellency, the Vice President of the Republic, in charge of the Government, accepts with great joy, in the name of the country, the five Spanish flags which Your Excellency offers as a token of the obedience and esteem of the army. These flags will be kept in a public place, so that on seeing them the Colombians, to whom they now belong, may transport themselves in imagination to the fortunate field of Ayacucho and witness the heroism of their com- patriots, the wisdom with which Your Excellency led them to the gates of the temple of immortality, and the always heroic and gen- erous efforts of the Liberator President in favor of the cause of the peoples and for the honor of Colombia. The Executive Power highly appreciates this token of obedience, presented on behalf of the army. For the future wars of Colombia, it will surely be the symbol of reunion to support the institutions of the republic, to defend the rights of citizens, and to preserve the political independence of the country. There is nothing, General, comparable to the glory of an army consecrating its efforts to this dear object. If your glory and that of the victorious army are bril- liant on account of the destruction of an enemy army which had triumphed over the independent forces for fourteen years, their brilliancy is still further increased with the support of the rights of men and the placing of laurels, bravery and fame at the foot of the law. C^AP'T^R Fifteen REVOLUTIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE IN SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA 1. DESCRIPTION OF JOSfi ARTIGAS (June 1815)i TN NO way did he appear a general [the good priest wrote in his -■- diary]. His clothing was that of a civilian and very simple; his pantaloons and a blue jacket with neither lapel nor cuffs, shoes and white stockings, and a cape made of very heavy cloth, these were his best, and even they were poor and threadbare. He is a robust man of regular stature, of light complexion, of very good appearance, with an aquiline nose, black hair with few grey hairs ; he appears to be forty-eight years of age; his conversation is attractive; he 1 From: Father Larranaga quoted in A. Curtis Wilgus, ed.. South American Dictators (Washington: George Washington University Press, 1937), p. 47. Southern South America 193 speaks quietly and deliberately. It is not easy to confound him with long reasonings, for he reduces the difficulty to a few words, and, full of many experiences, has foresight and an extraordinary ability to hit the mark ; he knows the human heart very well, especially that of our countrymen, and therefore there is no one who can equal him in the art of controlling them. All surround him and all follow him with love, even though they live naked and full of misery at his side, not through lack of resources, but rather in order not to oppress the people with contributions ; he would prefer giving up the command to seeing that his orders were not carried out in this region. ... Our sessions lasted until suppertime. This meal was in keeping with the tone and manner of our general : a bit of roasted beef, soup, stewed meat, plain bread, and wine served in a cup for lack of glasses; four plated iron spoons, wnth no knives or forks save those each man brought with him ; two or three porcelain plates, a pewter platter whose borders were loose ; three chairs and a chest served as seats, the rest remained on their feet. Thus may be seen of what our table service consisted, with tablecloths of Misiones cotton, but without napkins and even, as I have learned, much of this was borrowed. After finishing dinner, we went to sleep, and the general gave me not only his leather cot, but also his room, and he himself retired to a ranch. He would not listen to my excuses, but strongly pooh-poohing me, would not give in. Very early ... we had the general in the house ; he surprised us while we were yet in bed ; we rose immediately ; I said mass ; then came breakfast, but this had neither tea nor cofifee nor milk nor eggs. Nor was there mate, but a gloriado, which is a sort of punch, very hot, with two beaten eggs which they had found with difficulty. . . . There was nothing else to do but accustom ourselves to this Spartanism. 2. MANIFESTO OF PEOPLE OF LA PLATA COMPLAINING AGAINST SPANISH COLONIAL ABUSES (October 25, 1817)i FROM the moment when the Spaniards took possession of these countries they preferred the system of securing dominion by means of extermination, destruction and degradation. The plans of this extensive mischief forthwith were carried into eflfect, and have been continued without interruption for a space of three hundred years. They began by assassinating the monarchs of Peru, and afterward they did the same with the other chieftains and dis- tinguished men who came in their path. The inhabitants of the 1 From: Elsie Spicer Eells. South America's Story (JJsTew York: Robert M. McBride and Company, 1931), pp. 208-211. 194 Revolutions for Independence country, anxious to restrain such ferocious intrusion, under great disadvantage of arms, became the victims of fire and sword, and were compelled to abandon their settlements as prey to the devour- ing flames which everywhere were applied without pity or dis- tinction. The Spaniards then placed a barrier to the population of the country. Under the most rigorous laws they prohibited the ingress of foreigners, and in every possible respect limited that of even the Spaniards themselves, although in more recent times the immigra- tion of criminals and immoral men, outcasts, was encouraged, the immigration of such as it was expedient to expel from the Peninsula. Neither our vast though beautiful deserts formed through the extermination of the native inhabitants, nor the advantages which Spain would have derived from the cultivation of regions as im- mense as they are fertile, nor the working of mines, the richest and the most abundant on earth, nor the stimulation of innumerable industries partly unknown till then but all estimable because of their value and variety, and capable of encouraging and carrying agricul- ture and commerce to their highest pitch of opulence ; in short not even the wanton wickedness of keeping these choice countries plunged into the most abject misery, were not any of them motives sufficiently powerful to transform the dark and ominous principles of the cabinet of Madrid. Hundreds of leagues do we still behold, unsettled and unculti- vated, in the space intervening between one city and another. Entire towns have in some places disappeared, either buried in the ruins of mines, or their inhabitants destroyed by the poisonous compulsory labor of working them. Nor have the cries of all Peru, nor the energetic remonstrances of the most zealous ministers been capable of reforming this exterminating system of forced labor car- ried on within the bowels of the earth. The art of working the mines has been utterly unattended by those improvements distinguishing the enlightened age in which we live, which could diminish the attendant casualties ; hence the rich mines, worked in the most clumsy and improvident manner, have sunk in and been submerged, either through the undermining of the mineral cliffs or the rush of waters which have totally inundated them. Other rare and estimable productions of the country are still neglected by the government, and if any enlightened observer among us has attempted to point out the advantages of these he has been reprehended by court and forced into silence. The teaching of science has been forbidden us and we were allowed to study only the Latin grammar, ancient philosophy, theology, civil and church law. Viceroy Joaquin del Pino showed great indignation at the Buenos Aires Board of Trade because it Southern South America 195 presumed to bear the expenses of a naval academy. In compliance with orders from court this was closed. An injunction, besides, was laid upon us that our youths should not be sent to Paris to become professors of chemistry with the view of teaching this science among their own countrymen. At all times commerce has been an exclusive monopoly in the hands of Spanish traders and the consignees they sent over to America. The public offices were reserved for Spaniards. By the laws these were open to Americans equally, but we seldom attained them and when we did so it was by means of satisfying court through the sacrifice of an immense sum of money. Among our four hundred and sixty viceroys who have governed in America only four are numbered who were natives of the country; of six hundred and two captain-generals and governors, all have been Spaniards with the exception of fourteen. The same proportion has happened in other important offices. Everything has been so arranged by Spain that the degradation of the natives should pre- vail in America. It did not enter into her views that wise leaders should be trained. She unceasingly diminished our population, apprehensive lest some day it should be in a state to rise. . . . She denied to us the advancement of industry so that we might be deprived of the means of rising out of misery and poverty. We were excluded from offices of trust so that Peninsulars alone might hold influence in the coun- try in order that we might be left in such a state of dependence that we might be unable to think or act unless according to Spanish forms. Such was the system upheld by the viceroys, each one of whom had the state and arrogance of a vizier. Their power was sufficient to crush any one who had the misfortune to displease them. How- ever great their outrages, we had to bear these with resignation. Complaints addressed to the throne either were lost in the vast space of the thousands of leagues which had to be crossed, or were buried in the offices at home by the relatives and patrons of the men who wielded viceregal power. This system, far from having been softened, has been strengthened. . . . In our own legislation we held neither direct nor indirect in- fluence. . . . Nor were we allowed the right of sending over persons who might point out what was fit and suitable. . . . We were aware that no other resource was left to us except patience, and that for him who was not resigned to endure everything even capital pun- ishment was not sufficient; since for cases of this kind, torments, new and of unheard-of cruelty, had been invented, torments such as make Nature shudder. Neither so great nor so repeated were the hardships which aroused the states of Holland to throw off the yoke of Spain, nor 196 Revolutions fo7' Independence were those of Portugal so great, nor so repeated. Less were the hardships which placed the Swiss under the leadership of William Tell in open opposition to the German Emperor. Less were those which made the United States of North America determined to resist the taxes placed upon them by a British King. 3. IMPRESSIONS OF SAN MARTiN (1821)i THERE was little, at first sig-ht, in his appearance to engage the attention ; but when he rose up and began to speak, his great superiority over every other person I had seen in South America was sufficiently apparent. He received us in very homely style, on the deck of his vessel, dressed in a surtout coat, and a large fur cap, seated at a table made of a few loose planks laid along the top of two empty casks. General San Martin is a tall, erect, well-proportioned, handsome man, with a large aquiline nose, thick black hair, and immense bushy whiskers extending from ear to ear under the chin : his complexion is deep olive, and his eye, which is large, prominent, and piercing, jet black ; his whole appearance being highly military. He is thoroughly well-bred, and unaffectedly simple in his manners ; exceedingly cordial and engaging, and possessed evidently of great kindliness of disposition : in short, I have never seen any person, the enchantment of whose address was more irresistible. In con- versation he goes at once to the strong points of the topic, disdain- ing, as it were, to trifle with its minor parts : he listens earnestly, and replies with distinctness and fairness, showing wonderful re- saurces in argument, and a most happy fertility of illustration; the eirect of which is to make his audience feel they are understood in the sense they wish. Yet there is nothing showy or ingenious in his discourse ; and he certainly seems at all times perfectly in earnest, and deeply possessed with his subject. Several times during this interview his animation rose to a high pitch, and then the flash of his eye, and the whole turn of his expression, became so exceed- ingly energetic as to rivet the attention of his audience bevond the possibility of evading his arguments. This was most remarkably the case when the topic was politics. . . . The contest in Peru, he said, was not of an ordinary description — not a war of conquest and glory, but entirely of opinion ; it was a war of new and liberal principles against prejudice, bigotry, and tyranny. "People ask," said San Martin, ''why I don't march to Lima at once ; so I might, and instantly would, were it suitable to my views — which it is not. I do not want military renown — I have no ambition to be the conqueror of Peru — I want solely to 1 From: Basil Hall quoted in W. S. Robertson, Rise of the Spanish- American Republics (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1918), pp. 207-208. Southern South America 197 liberate the country from oppression. Of what use would Lima be to me, if the inhabitants were hostile in public sentiment? How could the cause of Independence be advanced by my holding Lima, or even the whole country, in military possession? Far different are my views. I wish to have all men thinking with me, and do not choose to advance a step beyond the gradual march of public opinion. The capital is now ripe for declaring its sentiments, and I shall give them the opportunity of doing so in safety. It was in sure expectation of this moment that I have hitherto deferred ad- vancing ; and to those who know the full extent of the means which have been put in action, a sufficient explanation is afforded of all the delays that have taken place. I have been gaining, indeed, day by day, fresh allies in the hearts of the people, the only certain allies in such a war. In the secondary point of military strength, I have been, from the same causes, equally successful in augmenting and improving the liberating army ; while that of the Spaniards has been wasted by want and desertion. The country has now become sensible of its true interests, and it is right the inhabitants should have the means of expressing what they think. Public opinion is an engine newly introduced into this country ; the Spaniards, who are utterly incapable of directing it, have prohibited its use; but they shall now experience its strength and importance." 4. SAN MARTfN'S IDEAS REGARDING FREEDOM OF THE PEOPLE (About 1822) 1 'T^HE work of difficulty, and that which must be courageously, ■*- firmly and circumspectly undertaken, is to correct the vague ideas which the former government has left impressed on the minds of the present generation. It is not to be supposed, however, that this difficulty consists so much in the want of acquaintance with the adequate means by which the end is to be accomplished, as in the dangerous precipitancy with which new governments reform the abuses they find established. Liberty, the most ardent of our wishes, must be restored with caution, in order that the sacrifices which are made for the purpose of gaining it be not rendered use- less. Every civilized people is in a state to be free ; but the degree of freedom, which a country can enjoy, ought to bear an exact ratio to the measure of its civilization : if the first exceeds the last, no power can save them from anarchy; and if the reverse happen, namely that the degree of civilization goes beyond the amount of freedom which the people possess, oppression is the consequence. If all Europe were suddenly to be put in possession of the liberty 1 From: San Martin quoted in Bernard Moses, The Intellectual Background of the Revolution in South America (New York: Hispanic Society of America, 1926), pp. H2-144. 198 Revolutions for Independence of England, the greater part of it would present a complete chaos; and if, instead of their present constitution, the English were to be subjected to the charter of Louis XVIII, they would consider themselves enslaved. It is right that the governments of South America be free ; but it is necessary they should be so in the pro- portion stated ; the greatest triumph of our enemies would be to see us depart from that measure. 5. BERNARDO O'HIGGINS RESIGNS AS SUPREME DIRECTOR OF CHILE (January 28, 1823)i THE Authorities of the People of this Capital having assembled yesterday to deliberate with the Supreme Director, upon what was requisite for the publick tranquillity, the Session ended with the following Decree, issued by His Excellency. Believing that, under the existing circumstances, tranquillity may be restored to the Country, by my giving up the Supreme Com- mand of the State, and having agreed upon this point with the People of Santiago, the only step which could have that effect in the present crisis. I have resolved to abdicate the Supreme Direc- tion of Chile, and to surrender its provisional exercise to a Junta of Government, composed of Don Agustin Eyzaguirre, Don Jose Miguel Infante, and Don Fernando Errazuris, considering that there does not at present exist a National Representation before whom my renunciation can be made, and which the said Junta of Government will endeavor to assemble with all dispatch; it being understood that if, at the expiration of 6 months the difficulties which the Provinces of the State may have amongst themselves be not settled, the Junta of Government shall be at an end, in order that the People of Santiago may deliberate upon w^hat is best to be done. And in order that it may know what are its attributes and powers, the Commission proposed to me by the People, consisting of Don Juan Egafia, Dor. Don Bernardo Vera, and Don Joaquin Campino, will proceed to form a Regulation for fixing them. Let it be printed, published, and circulated. Given at Santiago, the 28th of January, 1823. Bernardo O'Higg'ins. 1 From: Bernardo O'Higgins quoted in British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. X (1850), pp. 1015-1016. Northern Hispanic America 199 Chapter 5'ixteen REVOLUTIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE IN NORTHERN HISPANIC AMERICA 1. HIDALGO PROCLAIMS THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AND OTHER REFORMS IN MEXICO (December 6, 1810)i ■r|ON MIGUEL HIDALGO of Costilla, Generalissimo of Amer- J-^ ica, etc. — From the auspicious moment when the valiant American nation armed itself to shake off the heavy yoke which it had borne for the space of nearly three centuries, one of its princi- pal objects has been to abrogate all taxes which impede the nation's progress; and while in the present critical circumstances complete measures to that end can not be taken because of the need of funds with which to pay the cost of the war, yet the following orders are given to relieve the most urgent necessities : First. All owners of slaves shall liberate them within ten days, under pain of death for violation of this article. Second. In the future, the payment of tribute hitherto required from certain races shall cease, as well as every exaction from the Indians. Third. In all judicial affairs, documents, writings, and proceedings, ordinary paper shall be used, stamped paper being hereby abolished. Fourth. All who are in- structed in the art of making powder may manufacture it freely, with the sole condition that preference, in its sale, be given to the government for the use of the army — all the ingredients contained in the powder being made likewise free. And that this may come to the notice of all, and be duly fulfilled, I command that it be pub- lished by proclamation in this city and in all other cities, villages, and towns under our jurisdiction, and that a sufficient number of copies be sent to the courts, judges, and other persons who should be informed of its contents and charged with its observance. — Given in the city of Guadalajara, the sixth day of December, 1810. — Miguel Hidalgo, Generalissimo of America. — By command of his Highness. — Licenciado Ignacio Rayon, Secretary. 1 From: Niceto de Zamacois quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Sep- tember 1921. p. 245. 200 Revolutions for Independence 2. THE AIMS OF HIDALGO'S REVOLUTION (1811)i OUR aim and purpose in arousing and furthering this Revolution was to effect a popular election to Congress in which would be represented every individual in this country, whether he live in town, or city, or village or farm. It was our intention that this Congress should promulgate laws for the welfare and happiness of the people, and for the purity of religion in a spirit of humanity, for the people must be governed with the sweetness of fatherly commands. By these law^s it was our intention to establish the brotherhood of man, the destruction of poverty and ignorance, the prevention of the ruin of the nation, and progress of the fine arts, industry, and commerce, recognizing in every one without excep- tion the right to enjoy the bounteous production of our rich lands, and the right to be happy, thus obeying God's commands to this country. 3. AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF MORELOS2 IN THE Holy Office of the Mexican Inquisition, on the twenty- third day of the month of November, 1815, the Inquisitor Doctor Don Manuel de Flores, having opened his morning audience, de- sired that I, the undersigned secretary, should question an ecclesi- astic held in the secret cells of this Holy Office ; and having therefore gone to the second court room, they presented him to me, and being interrogated, he said he was Jose Maria Morelos, born in the city of Valladolid, fifty-one years of age, an ecclesiastic by profession, in height a little less than five feet, stout of figure and full of face, having a thick black beard, a mole behind his left ear, two warts on the left side of his forehead, and a scar on the calf of his left leg; and furthermore he said he was wearing a shirt of fine linen, a waistcoat of black broadcloth, trousers of blue broadcloth, white cotton stockings, high shoes, a jacket of calico printed in blue on a white ground, a handkerchief of Toledan silk, and a silk cap ; and that in his cell he had a jacket of calico with a white ground, an old linen shirt, a striped sarape, a white handkerchief, two small bags, some Galician hose, and a quilted vest. And the warden said that he would put him in cell number one and that he would neither let him go free nor leave on bail v/ithout the express order of the Court. I recommended to him the moderation and good conduct with which he should bear himself in prison, the which he promised to observe, and with these wardens I signed this document, for 1 From: Miguel Hidalgo quoted in George Creel, The People Next Door (New York: The John Day Company, 1926), p. 34. 2 From: Genero Garcia quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, September 1921, pp. 244-245. Northern Hispanic America 201 which I vouch. — Esteban de Para y Campillo — Francisco Antonio Martinez de Pampillon. D. Casiano de Chavarri, Secretary. 4. ITURBIDE DESCRIBES POLITICAL CONDITIONS AND IDEAS IN MEXICO (1820)i THE new order of things, the ferment in which the Peninsula was placed, the machinations of the discontented, the want of mod- eration amongst the supporters of the new system, the vacillation of the authorities, and the conduct of the government and Cortes at Madrid, (who, from the decrees which they issued, and the speeches which some of the deputies pronounced, appeared to have deter- mined on alienating the colonies), filled the heart of every good patriot with the desire of independence, and excited amongst the Spaniards established in the country, the apprehension that all the horrors of the former insurrection were about to be repeated. . . . In such a state of things the richest and most beautiful part of America was about to become again the prey of contending factions. In every quarter clandestine meetings took place, for the purpose of discussing the form of government which ought to be adopted. Among the Europeans and their adherents, some wished for the establishment of the Spanish constitution. . . . There were some who conceived that it ought to undergo modifications, inasmuch as the constitution framed by the Cortes at Cadiz was inapplicable to "New Spain." Others there were who sighed after the old absolute government as the best support of their lucrative employments, which they exercised in a despotic manner, and by which they had gained a monopoly. The privileged and powerful classes fomented these different parties, attaching themselves to the one or the other, according to the extent of their political information, or the projects of aggrandizement which their imaginations presented. The Ameri- cans wished for independence, but they were not agreed as to the mode of effecting it, still less as to the form of government which they should prefer. With respect to the former object, many were of opinion that in the first place, all the Europeans should be ex- terminated, and their property given up to confiscation. The less sanguinary would have been contented with banishing them from the country, thus reducing thousands of families to a state of orphanage. The moderate party suggested only that they should be excluded from all public offices, and degraded to the condition in which they had kept the natives of the country for three centuries. As to the form of government, one party proposed a monarchy, tempered by the Spanish, or some other constitution; a second party wished for a federative republic ; a third for a central repub- 1 From: Agustin Iturbide quoted in W. S. Robertson, Rise of the Spanish- American- Republics (New York: D, Appleton and Company, 1918), pp. 116-117. 202 Revolutions for Independence lie; and the partisans of each system, full of enthusiasm, were impatient for the accomplishment of their different objects. 5. THE MEXICAN CONGRESS PROCLAIMS ITURBIDE EMPEROR (May 19, 1822)i MEXICANS, you have to-day on the imperial throne — Iturbide- the-Great; your most ardent wishes are realized. He has ascended the throne not to exercise over you his absolute authority, such as was exercised by the former Spanish monarchs, but to fulfil toward you the tender duties of a father toward his children ; to govern in conformity with the laws and constitution which your congress will adopt; to protect the weak; to do justice in an equit- able manner ; to maintain the integrity of the empire, and conserve in full vigor, the apostolic and Roman Catholic religion, tolerating no other. Here is what he has sworn to-day before the king of kings and nations, manifesting ... his hatred of tyranny and his respect for law ; protesting in the most solemn manner that he would die rather than fail to perform such sacred duties, and proclaiming the principle of the sovereignty of the people. 6. ACT OF ABDICATION OF AGUSTiN ITURBIDE AS EMPEROR OF MEXICO (March 19, 1823) 2 1 CONGRESS having recognized and approved the acts and • proceedings of Casa Mata, the causes of my retaining forces in the vicinity of the capital have ceased to exist ; and as my only view was to sustain and protect that body, the division heretofore existing on my account is therefore at an end. 2. I accepted the Crown with great reluctance, and only acqui- esced through a desire to serve my Country ; but from the moment I perceived that to retain it, would serve as an excuse or pretext for an intestine War, I determined to abdicate it. I did not adopt this course before, because there was not a body to represent the Nation generally recognized, and I considered that any step taken by me, unless there were one, would have been both useless and in- jurious to the Country. There now exists one, and I accordingly abdicate. 3. My presence in this Country would be always a pretext for disturbances; and projects, of which I might never have thought, might be attributed to me. In order, therefore, to remove suspicion, I will quit this Country, and direct my steps to a Foreign one. 1 From: Ernest Gruening, Mexico and its Heritage (New York: Century Companj', 1928), p. 46. 2 From: Agustm Iturbide quoted in British ai^d Foreign State Papers, Vol. X (1850). p. 1033. Northern Hispanic America 203 4. Ten or fifteen days will be sufficient to regulate my domestick affairs, and prepare the means of conveying myself and my family away. 5, I will only request of Congress to pay from the National Funds certain debts which I have contracted with some particular friends, which are not of large amount. Although Congress left it to my option to make use of such Funds as I thought proper, I could not appropriate them to my own private use, when the wants of the Army and those of the publick functionaries weighed heavily on my heart. Iturbide. 7. DECREE OF THE MEXICAN CONGRESS PROVIDING FOR THE DEPARTURE AND PAYMENT OF ITURBIDE AND HIS FAMILY (April 8, 1823)i THE Sovereign Constituent Congress of Mexico has decreed as follows : 1. That, the Coronation of Don Agustin Iturbide having been an act of violence and force, and not of right, there is no call for any discussion on the abdication he has made of the Crown. 2. That, consequently, the hereditary succession, as well as the titles emanating from that Coronation, are declared to be null and void ; and all the Acts of the Government, passed between the 19th of May and the 29th of last March, are pronounced illegal, or at least, subject to the revisal of the existing Government, in order to their being confirmed or revoked. 3. That the Supreme Executive Power shall hasten the departure of Don Agustin Iturbide from the Territory of the Nation. 4. That he shall depart at one of the Ports of the Gulph of Mexico, a Neutral Vessel being chartered, at the expence of the State, for conveying him, with his Family, to whatever place he may prefer. 5. That the sum of 25,000 dollars, payable in this Capital, be annually assigned to Don Agustin Iturbide, during his life, on con- dition that he shall establish his residence in any part of Italy; and, that after his death his Family shall receive 8000 dollars, accord- ing to the Rules established for Pensions from the Military Fund. 6. That Don Agustin Iturbide shall have the appellation of Excellency. 1 From: British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. X (1850), p. 1025, 204 Revolutions for Independence The Executive Supreme Power, etc., will consider all this as understood. Mexico, 8th of April, 1823 — Third Year of Independence, and Second of Liberty. Jose Mariano Marin, President etc. Chapter iSeventeen THE INDEPENDENCE OF BRAZIL 1. JOAO VI APPOINTS H;S SON PEDRO AS REGENT OF BRAZIL (April 22, 1821)i IT BEING indispensably necessary to provide for the Govern- ment and Administration of this Kingdom of Brazil, from which I separate myself with lively sentiments of regret, (as announced in my Decree of the 7th of March), in consequence of the existing political circumstances requiring my return to Portugal ; and being guided not only by motives of public utility and interest, but also by a particular consideration for my faithful Vassals of Brazil, who are anxious that I should establish the Government which is to rule them during my absence, and until the arrival of the Constitution, in a manner suited to the present state of affairs and the political rank to which this Country has been raised, as well as capable of consolidating the general and individual prosperity ; I think fit, and am pleased, to commit to the charge of my much beloved and valued Son, Dom Pedro de Alcantara, Prince Royal of the United King- dom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, the general Govern- ment and entire Administration of the whole Kingdom of Brazil; constituting him Regent and my Lieutenant, in order that he, with so pre-eminent a title, and adhering to the Instructions, which accompany this Decree, under my Signature, may, during my ab- sence, and so long as the Constitution shall not have established any other system, govern this Kingdom with wisdom, and with the love of the People. From the high opinion I entertain of his prudence and other good qualities, I take my departure, with the conviction that, in administering the aflfairs of Government, in strengthening the public security and tranquility, in promoting the general pros- 1 From: Joao VI quoted in British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. VIII (1820-1821V pp. 969-970. The Independence of Brazil 205 perity, and in fulfilling my wishes in every respect, he will conduct himself as a j[^ood Prince, the friend and father of this People, the recollection of whom is deeply engraven upon my heart, and from whose obedience to the Laws, as well as submission and respect to the Authorities, I hope to obtain a recompence for the great sacri- fice I make, in separating myself from my Son, my first born, Heir and Successor to the Throne, whom I leave to them as a pledge of the high estimation in which I hold them. The Prince will so understand and execute this Decree, and give Order for its promulgation. Palace of Boa Vista, 22d April, 1821. With the Signature of His Majesty. 2. DOM PEDRO I PROCLAIMS THE INDEPENDENCE OF BRAZIL (September 7, 1822)i LET no other shout issue from your lips but Union. . . . Let no other word be reiterated from the Amazon to La Plata but "In- dependence" ; let all our provinces be strongly chained in unanimity not to be broken by any force ; let our prejudices be banished, sub- stituting in their place the love of the public good — Brazilians ! Friends ! let us unite ourselves ; I am your companion, I am your defender; let us obtain »s the only reward of all our toils the honour, glory, and prosperity of Brazil ; for the accomplishment of which I shall always be at your front in the most dangerous places! Permit me to convince you that your felicity depends on mine. It is my glory to rule an upright, reliant and free people. Give me the example of your virtues and of your union, and be as- sured that I shall be worthy of you. 3. THE CHARACTER OF DOM PEDRO I (September 5, 1825) 2 THE personal character of the individual who is at the head of the Government of this country will have so great an influence upon their affairs that it may be agreeable to His Majesty's Gov- ernment to learn the result of the observations which my position at this Court has enabled me to make with respect to His Royal Highness. The jealousy of his father having deprived him of every kind of education, the boldness of character alone which he possesses in a great degree, without the cruelty of his brother, have enabled 1 From: Pedro I quoted in Clayton Sedgwick Cooper, The Brazilians (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917), p. 48. 2 From: Sir Charles Stuart quoted in C. K. Webster, Britain and the Independence of Latin America 181-2-18'30 (Oxford University Press, 2 vols., 1938), Vol. I, pp. 286-287. 2o6 Revolutions for Independence him to take advantage of a combination of circumstances to arrive at his present situation, and he seems disposed rather to avail him- self of events to maintain the position in which he has been placed than to follow any fixed system of policy. As no one among his own people dares to contradict him, the improvident measures adopted by the Government are the result of the fits of passion to which he gives way, but no man can regret more than himself the quarrels with our Navy respecting salutes, and the annulment of the amnesty published by Lord Cochrane, etc., etc., when the fit is over. Aware that his Ministers, either from incapacity or from the selfish feeling which had guided their whole conduct, take no real interest in the welfare of the country, he frequently says that their sentiments are of no value with him, except in so far as they may support his own views in cases which affect public opinion, and this feeling is strongly illustrated by his remark that notwithstanding the bad education which he has received, he considers himself the member of the Cabinet who is the most equal to the task imposed upon him. That he is thorough master of his temper, when properly sur- rounded, is shown by his personal intercourse with foreigners, from whom, as in my own case, although he hears truths which cannot but be extremely disagreeable, there is- no instance that he has forgotten himself either in language or in manner, for during the whole of the negotiation his moderation, combined with the advan- tage of his quick perception, has been so remarkable that I have no hesitation in declaring that affairs treated directly with himself are settled more rapidly and more satisfactorily than when referred to all or to any one of his official advisers. The numerous flatterers who surround His Royal Highness would lead him into the most dangerous excesses, if the experience of the past did not cause him to qualify his arbitrary notions by a constant reference to the benefits of a constitutional form of gov- ernment, and to temper his natural violence by so much discretion that I am sure that, had he been placed in the situation of the Prince of Orange during the Peninsular War, he w^ould have be- come a very distinguished personage; so few indeed are the dis- advantages which under these circumstances result from the defects of his character, compelling his Council, his family, and all around him to submit blindly to his will, that I think these very defects, in his present position (whatever changes may take place) must cause him to have great weight in the affairs of this portion of the world. The Independence of Brazil 207 4. METTERNICH'S OPINION REGARDING THE INDE- PENDENCE OF BRAZILi THE emancipation of Brazil was a necessary and inevitable con- sequence of the revolution in Portugal. The bonds which united the two kingdoms had become so weak that they depended on nothing more than the unity and strength of the royal power. The crown, shorn of its rights, dignity, and splendor by a group of demagogues, became a phantom in the eyes of the Brazilians. From that time on the pretensions of the Gortes of Lisbon to govern a distant country, fifty times as large as Portugal, necessarily ap- peared to this country absurd and monstrous . . , and one may be permitted to say that if ever the revolt of a colony against its me- tropolis has been justified, such was the case of the uprising of the Brazilians against an authority usurped by a revolutionary junta which had dethroned and shackled its sovereign and overturned from top to bottom the government of its country. 1 From: A. Curtis Wilgus, ed., Argentina, Brazil and Chile since Independence (Wash- ington: The George Washington University Press, 1935), p. 166. PART THREE THE NATIONAL PERIOD /^ EOGRAPHY and history prepared the Latin American stage for the political, economic, social, and intellectual actors of the past one hundred years. Each country, through its presi- dents and dictators, has achieved a degree of individuality and self- respect which sets it aside in the family of stations as something more than a geographical expression. Moreover, the individual- ism of the leaders within each state has brought about stages of national development which have attracted international attention everywhere. At no period in Latin American history have so many important names appeared or has such rapid progress been made in the development and emphasis of national characteristics. Rapid strides have occurred in economic, social, and intellectual betterment in mxiny of the countries, and even in those states left to drift in adverse currents of progress much has been accom- plished by individual or concerted effort. An appreciation of the human equation in Latin America by the student of history affords a key to an appreciation of contemporary life and civilisation. {Chapter 6^ighteen LATIN AMERICA AS A WHOLE 1. ANALYSIS OF LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS SINCE INDEPENDENCE! TN THE beginning a warlike and theocratic authority determines ■^ ritual, customs, dogma, and laws. The common conscience is potent; individuality accepts without discussion or scepticism the essential rules of social life. History is thereafter a struggle be- tween authority and liberty, a progressive affirmation of autono- mous wills, an assertion of destructive and censorious individualism. In America political development presents the same successive phases. Invariably we find the sequence of the two periods, one military and one industrial or civil. The Independence realised, the rule of militarism sets in throughout the republics. After a period of uncertain duration the military caste is hurled from power, or abdicates without violence, and economic interests become supreme. Politics are then ruled by "civilism." The military regime is not theocratic, as in some European monarchies; the President does not combine the functions of religion and empire. None the less, the civil period involves a fatal reaction against the Church — a period of anticlericalism or radicalism. The revolution is confined to a change of oligarchies: the military group gives way to plu- tocracy. As the generals of Alexander disputed, after his death, for the provinces of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the remains of the imperial feast, and founded new dynasties in the flood of Oriental decadence, so the lieutenants of Bolivar dominated American life for a period of fifty years. Flores in Ecuador, Paez in Venezuela, Santa-Cruz in Bolivia, and Santander in Colombia, governed as the heirs of the Liberator. So long as the shadow of the magnificent warrior lay upon the destinies of America, so long the caudillos triumphed, consecrated by the choice of Bolivar. The monarchial principle was 1 From: Francisco Garcia Calderon, Latin America: Its Rise and Progress (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913), pp. 86-96. 211 212 The National Period thus forced upon unconscious humanity. The Liberator left Amer- ica in the hands of a dynasty. The wars of the peoples were therefore civil conflicts ; the quar- rels of generals ambitious of hegemony. United in independence, united during the colonial period, the new nations were divided, and stood aside at the suggestion of these warriors ; as Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, in the name of Santa-Cruz or Gamarra, Castilla or Flores. The national conscience was roughly shaped upon the field of battle. The generals imposed arbitrary limits upon the peoples; they are the creators in American history; they impress the crowds by their pomp and pageantry; by miHtary displays as brilliant as the gaudy processions of the Catholic cult; by mag- nificent escorts and decorations and forms of etiquette; they call themselves Regenerators, Restorers, Protectors. This first period is troublous, but full of colour, energy, and violence. The individual acquires an extraordinary prestige, as in the time of the Tuscan Renaissance, the French Terror, or the English Revolution. The rude and bloodstained hand of the caudillo forces the amorphous masses into durable moulds. South- America is ruled by ignorant soldiers: the evolution of her republics must therefore be uncertain. There is, therefore, no history properly so called, for it has no continuity ; there is a perpetual ricorso brought about by successive revolutions ; the same men appear with the same promises and the same methods. The political comedy is re- peated periodically: a revolution, a dictator, a programme of na- tional restoration. Anarchy and militarism are the universal forms of political development. As in European revolutions, anarchy leads to dictatorship; and this provokes immediate counter-revolution. From spontaneous disorder we pass to a formidable tutelage. The example of France is repeated on a new stage; the anarchy of the Convention an- nounces the autocracy of Bonaparte, The dictators, like the kings of feudalism, defeat the local caciques, the provincial generals ; thus did Porfirio Diaz, Garcia Moreno, Guzman-Bianco, &c. And revolution follows revolution until the advent of the destined tyrant, who dominates the life of the nation for twenty or thirty years. Material progress is the work of the autocracy ; as witness the rule of Rosas, Guzman-Bianco, Portales, and Diaz. The great caudillos will have nothing to do with abstractions; their realistic minds urge them to encourage commerce and industry, immigration and agriculture. By imposing long periods of peace they favour the development of economic forces. In matters political and economic the dictators profess Ameri- canism. They represent the new mixed race, tradition, and the soil. They are hostile to the rule of the Roman Church, of European capital, and of foreign diplomacy. Their essential function, like Latin America as a Whole 213 that of the modern kings after feudalism, is to level mankind and unite the various castes. Tyrants found democracies ; they lean on the support of the people, the half-breeds and negroes, against the oligarchies ; they dominate the colonial nobility, favour the crossing of races, and free the slaves. Anarchy is spontaneous, like that which Taine discovered in the Jacobin Revolution. There is a movement hostile to organisation, to civilisation: thus Artigas fought at once against the King of Spain, the Argentine Revolution, and the Portuguese. He would have no subjection; he was a patriot to the death. Guemes fought against Spaniards and Argentines. ... The general ideas of this period are simple. There is a faith in the efficacy of political constitutions, and these are multiplied ; men aspire to ideological perfection. They believe in the omnipotence of congresses, and distrust the Government. Constitutions separate the powers and enfeeble the executive, rendering it ephemeral; they divide authority by creating triumvirates, consulates, and gov- ernmental juntas. The liberalism of the charters is notable. They usually establish three powers, according to the traditional rule of Montesquieu, in order to ensure political equilibrium; they recog- nise all the theoretical liberties — liberty of the press, of assembly, the rights of property, and industrial and commercial liberty. They accept trial by jury, popular petition, universal suffrage — in short, the whole republican ideal. They consecrate a State religion, Catholicism, thus paving the way for religious revolutions, and all the "Red and Black" revolts and conspiracies of South American history. Election is in some republics direct ; in others by the sec- ond degree, by means of electoral colleges which appoint the presi- dent and the members of the legislative chambers. From North to South institutions are democratic; they bestow political rights with a generous profusion. The judicial power is independent, sometimes elected by the people, generally by congress. The judges are often dependent on the executive. Justice and the law are in- effectual. The president cannot be re-elected. These constitutions imitate those of France and the United States in the democratic tendencies of the one and the federalism of the other; they are charters of a generous and hybrid species. The presidential regime exists in reality as in the United States; the parliaments are important in virtue of the constitution, but in actual political life are powerless in face of the pressure exercised by the military chiefs. The theory of the social pact and the ideology of the revolutionary are predominant in public speech. The motives of the civil wars vary. In Ecuador men fight for the caudillos; in Colombia, for ideas; in Chili, for or against the oligarchy. All the national forces are involved in these wars. Revolution is the common heritage of these nations. The races- 214 The National Period which peopled America were warrior races, both Indians and Spaniards, and their warlike spirit explains the disorder of the republics. Castes and traditions are inimical: the psychological instability characteristic of primitive peoples wars upon discipline and authority. Two social classes — the military class and the intellectual or university class — had been in opposition since the origin of the Republic. They disputed the supreme power, or sometimes the intellectuals sided with the generals. The "doctors," by aid of rea- sonings of Byzantine subtlety, justified the dictatorships as well as the Revolution. A Venezuelan deputy, Coto-Paul, in 1811, pro- nounced a lyrical eulogy of anarchy. The generals distrusted the lawyers, who represented the intel- lectual tradition of the colony: Paez hated the juriconsults as Napoleon hated ideologists. And the "doctors," vanquished by the military power, became the docile secretaries of generals and caii- dillos; they drafted laws and constitutions, and expressed in polished formulae the rude intentions of the chiefs. To the vio- lence of these latter they opposed subtlety; to the ignorance of despots, the scholastic ease and knowledge acquired in the univer- sities of Spain. To the struggles of classes was added the war of races ; the half- breeds fought against the national oligarchy; the new American class was hostile to the aristocracy of the capitals. The Indians lived in the towns of the interior, in which the colonial isolation was unchanged ; the metropolis — Buenos-Ayres, Lima, or Caracas — was still Spanish and increasingly alien. On the coast, where feeling was more mobile and will more variable, the ideas of reform took root; exotic ideas and customs were introduced; while the Sierra, more American than the coast, remained slow and gloomy, and ignorant of the brilliant unrest of the capitals. Thus a triple movement came into being ; inferior castes rose against the colonial aristocracy, the provinces against the all-absorbing metropolis, and the half-caste Sierra against the cosmopolitan seaboard. The provinces desired autonomy; the capitals, monopoly and unity; the metropolis was liberal, the Sierra conservative. The political conflict might know a change of names, but this antagon- ism was universal. The leaders disguised their deep-seated ambi- tions under a cloak of general ideas ; they supported unity or federation, the military or the civil regime, Catholicism or radi- calism. In Argentina the provinces fought against the capital ; in Venezuela the coloured middle class against the oligarchies; in Chile the liberals against the peliicones, the proprietors of the soil ; in Mexico the federals fought the monarchists ; in Ecuador the radicals opposed the conservatives; in Peru the conflict was be- tween the "civilists" and military cQudillos. In the diversity of Latin America as a Whole 215 these quarrels we see one essential principle: two classes were in conflict — the proprietors of the latifundia and the poverty-stricken people, the Spaniards and the half-breeds, or the oligarchs and generals of a barbarous democracy. In each republic the soil and the traditions of the country gave a diflFerent colour to the universal warfare. In the Argentine the provinces, under viceroys and intendants, enjoyed a partial auton- omy; there federalism had remote antecedents. Unity seemed an imposition on the part of Buenos-Ayres, which possessed the treas- ury and the custom-houses of the nation, and monopolised the na- tional credit and revenue. In Chili, the long, narrow country, with the Cordillera at the back, like a granite wall, naturally evoked a unitarian republic. The disputes between centralisation and fed- eralism were soon over. Unity was possible in Peru, a brilliant sub-kingdom, the centre of a long-established and powerful au- thority. But some aspects of these violent struggles remain obscure. In Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Mexico there was enmity be- tween the coast and the Sierra. Lima and Caracas were capitals near the seaboard; Mexico and Quito were far removed from it. Yet in Peru the struggle was civil and military; in Ecuador, con- servative and liberal ; and in Mexico, federal and central. Why do we not find the religious struggles, which lasted so long in Colombia, in Bolivia and the Argentine? To explain this diversity we must study the psychology of the different conquisfadores — Castilian, Biscayan, Andalusian, Portuguese — and of the dififerent subjected races : the Quechuas, Araucanians, Chibchas, Aztecs, and the pro- portion in which they were mingled ; for the action of the territory itself upon the various admixtures of blood would vary as it was tropical or temperate, coast or Sierra. The confusion of the struggles in some democracies was extreme. The oligarchs were not always conservatives, nor the half-breeds always liberal. There were reactionary autocracies, like that of Portales in Chili, and liberal autocracies like that of Guzman- Bianco in Venezuela. The federals were usually democrats and liberals, but they were occasionally conservative and autocratic. The democrats of Peru were reactionary in matters of religion; those of Chili were radical. The civil regime was conservative in Bolivia under Baptista and in Ecuador under Garcia-Moreno, but liberal in Mexico under Juarez and Chili under Santa-Maria and Balmaceda. Militarism was radical under Lopez in Colombia, but conservative under General Castilla in Peru. When political evo- lution followed its logical development, federalism, liberalism, and democracy formed a trilogy, and oligarchy was conservative and unitarian. Revolutions, in opposing castes and upHfting the half-breed, prepared the way for a new period. But a democratic society can- 2i6 The National Period not easily establish itself in the face of the established aristocracies, and slavery still survived, although softened by iberal institutions. The military class, accessible to all, replaced the old nobility. Con- fusion of races commenced as early as 1850, when generous laws enfranchised the negroes, and new economic interests arose to complicate these democratic societies. Revolutions, dictatorships, and anarchy were the necessary aspects of the dissolution of the old society. The age of generals gave way to an industrial period in which wealth increased, industries became more complex and numerous, and labour was sub-divided, while association becarne moi:e usual both in commerce and agriculture. Co-operation, organisation, and solidarity, unknown during the period of anarchy, were aspects of an intense economic development. The interests newly created sought for peace, and the internal order which favoured their expansion. Politics commenced to eschew and disdain the squabbles of ideol- ogfy, and constitutional liberties acquired precision and efficacy. Plutocracies came into being, and aspired to government in place of internal revolution and external warfare ; immigration, trans- forming the social classification, facilitated their advent. National progress was effected despite the governments ; it was an anony- mous and collective task. The energetic individualities of the mili- tary epoch were followed bv the laborious crowd. The caudillo receded to the background of politics ; the captains of industry re- placed him, the merchants and the bankers. Courage was once the supreme criterion of the man; now wealth is the touchstone by which individuals and peoples are judged. The table of human values changes : instruction, f oresieht, and practical common sense determine success in an industrial democracy. In the social ascen- sion of the generations which industry and commerce have thrown forward to the attack upon the old patrician society, the prejudices of class and religion grow feebler, and after a century of conflict the nations of the present day emerge. . . . It is hardly possible to determine the "historical moment" at which these republics passed from the military to the industrial system. The twilight of the caudillos-wsis a long one. . . . Even in the industrial field evolution is the work of a few caudillos who have been pacificators: General Pando in Bolivia, General Roca in the Argentine, Pierola in Peru, and Batlle y Ordonez in Uruguay, not to speak of the greatest of all, Porfirio Diaz. Economically speaking this period of development material is superior to the first period of sterile revolution ; it is superior also from the political point of view, for institutions have been per- fected and their constitutional action has defined itself. The muni- Latin America as a Whole 217 cipalities and the legislative power have acquired a relative auton- omy; they have been victorious over the executive, which was omnipotent during the military period. . . . Heroic audacity and perpetual and virile unrest characterise the struggles of the caciques. The military cycle closed, the republics lose this dramatic interest. 2. NATURE OF THE LATIN AMERICAN POPULATION 1 THE Spaniards who arrived in the New World came from dif- ferent provinces ; here alone is a prime cause of variety. Simultaneously with the languid Andalusian and the austere Basque, the grave Catalonian and the impetuous Estremaduran left Spain. Where the descendants of the Basque prevail, as in Chili, the political organism is more stable, if less brilliant, than elsewhere, and a strong will-power shows itself in work and success. The Castilians brought to America their arrogance, and the fruit- less gestures of the hidalgo ; where the Andalusians are in the majority their agile fantasy, their gentle non ctiranza, militates against all serious or continuous effort. The descendants of the Portuguese are far more practical than those of the Spaniards ; they are also more disciplined and more laborious. The psychologi- cal characteristics of the Indian are just as various ; the descendant of the Quechuas does not resemble the descendant of the Charruas, any more than the temperament of the Araucanian resembles that of the Aztec. In Chili, Uruguay, and the Argentine, there were war- like populations whose union with the conquerors has formed virile half-castes, an energetic and laborious plebs. In Chili Araucanians and Basques have intermingled ; and is it not in this fusion that we must seek the explanation of the persistent character of the Chilian nation, and its military spirit? The Aymara of BoHvia and the south-east of Peru is hard and sanguinary; the Quechua of the table-lands of the Andes is gentle and servile. It is by no means a matter of indifference whether the modern citizen of the Latin democracies is descended from a Guarani, an Aztec, an Araucan, or a Chibcha ; he will, as the case may be, prove aggressive or passive, a nomadic shepherd or a quiet tiller of the common soil. The Indian of the present time, undermined by alcohol and poverty, is free according to the law, but a serf by virtue of the permanance of authoritative manners. Petty tyrannies make him a slave ; he works for the cacique, the baron of American feudalism. The cure, the sub-prefect, and the judge, all-powerful in these young democracies, exploit him and despoil him of his possessions. The communities, very like the Russian mir, are disappearing, and 1 From: Francisco Garcia Calderon, Latin America: Its Rise and Progress (N$W York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913), pp. 352-360. 2i8 The National Period the Indian is losing his traditional rights to the lands of the col- lectivity. Without sufficient food, without hygiene, a distracted and laborious beast, he decays and perishes ; to forget the misery of his daily lot he drinks, becomes an alcoholic, and his numerous progeny present the characteristics of degeneracy. He lives in the mountains or table-lands, where a glacial cold prevails and the solitude is eternal. Nothing disturbs the monotony of these desolate stretches ; nothing breaks the inflexible line of the limitless hori- zons; there the Indian grows as melancholy and as desiccated as the desert that surrounds him. The great occasions of his civil life — birth, marriage, and death — are the subjects of a religious exploitation. Servile and superstitious, he finally loves the tyrannies that oppress him. He adores the familiar gods of the Cerros, of the mountain. He is at once a Christian and a fetish-worshipper; he sees in mysterious nature demons and goblins, occult powers which are favourable and hostile by turn. There are, nevertheless, regions where despotism has developed in the Indian a sort of passive resistance. There he is sober and vigorous, and by his complete adaptation to the maternal soil he has grown apathetic and a creature of routine. He hates all that might destroy his age-long traditions: schools, military training, and the authority that despoils him. Conservative and melancholy, he lives on the border of the Republic and its laws ; his heart grows hot against the tyranny from which he forever suffers. Dissimula- tion, servility, and melancholy are his leading traits ; rancour, hard- ness, and hypocrisy are the forms of his defensive energy. He sup- ports his slavery upon this cold earth, but he sometimes revolts against his exploiters. . . . In his songs he curses his birth and his destiny. In the evening he leaves the narrow valley where in his slavery he is employed in agricultural labours, to journey into the cerros and mourn the abandonment of his household gods. A weird lamentation passes over the darkening earth, and from summit to summit the Cor- dillera re-echoes the sorrowful and melodious plaint of the Indian as he curses conquest and warfare. The negroes of Angola or the Congo have mingled equally with the Spaniard and the Indian. The African woman satisfied the ardour of the conquerors ; she has darkened the skin of the race. The negroes arrived as slaves ; sold a usansa de feria (as beasts of burden), they were primitive creatures, impulsive and sensual. Idle and servile, they have not contributed to the progress of the race. In the dwelling-houses of the colonial period they were do- mestics, acting as peons to their masters' children ; in the fields and the plantations of sugar-cane they were slaves, branded by the lash of the overseer. They form an illiterate population which exercises a depressing influence on the American imagination and character. Latin America as a Whole 219 They increase still further the voluptuous intensity of the tropical temper, weaken it, and infuse into the blood of the Creole elements of idleness, recklessness, and servility which are becoming per- manent. The three races — Iberian, Indian, and African — united by blood, form the population of South America. In the United States union with the aborigines is regarded by the colonist with repugnance; in the South miscegenation is a great national fact; it is universal. The Chilian oligarchy has kept aloof from the Araucanians, but even in that country unions between whites and Indians abound. Mestizos are the descendants of whites and In- dians ; mulattos the children of Spaniards and negroes ; smnhos the sons of negroes and Indians. Besides these there are a multitude of social sub-divisions. On the Pacific coast Chinese and negroes have interbred. From the Caucasian white, bronzed by the tropics, to the pure negro, we find an infinite variety in the cephalic index, in the colour of the skin, and in the stature. It is always the Indian that prevails, and the Latin democracies are mestizo or indigenous. The ruling class has adopted the cos- tume, the usages, and the laws of Europe, but the population which forms the national mass is Quechua, Aymara, or Aztec. In Peru, in Bolivia, and in Ecuador the Indian of pure race, not having as yet mingled his blood with that of the Spanish conquerors, con- stitutes the ethnic base. In the Sierra the people speak Quechua and Aymara; there also the vanquished races preserve their tradi- tional communism. . . . In countries where the pure native has not survived the mestizos abound; they form the population of Colombia, Chili, Uruguay, and Paraguay ; in this latter country Guarani is spoken much more frequently than Spanish. The true American of the South is the mestizo, the descendant of Spaniards and Indians; but this new race, which is almost the rule from Mexico to Buenos-Ayres, is not always a hybrid product. The warlike peoples, like those of Paraguay and Chili, are descended from Spaniards, Araucanians, and Guaranis. Energetic leaders have been found among the mestizos : Paez in Venezuela, Castilla in Peru, Diaz in Mexico, and Santa-Cruz in Bolivia. An Argentine anthropologist, Senor Ayar- ragaray, says that "the primary mestizo is inferior to his European progenitors, but at the same time he is often superior to his native ancestors." He is haughty, virile, and ambitious if his ancestors were Charruas, Guaranis, or Araucanians ; even the descendant of the peaceable Quechuas is superior to the Indian. He learns Span- ish, assimilates the manners of a new and superior civilisation, ana forms the ruling caste at the bar and in politics. The mestizo, the product of a first crossing, is not otherwise a useful element of the political and economic unity of America; he retains too much 220 The National Period the defects of the native; he is false and servile, and often incapable of effort. It is only after fresh unions with Europeans that he manifests the full force of the characteristics obtained from the white. The heir of the colonising race and of the autocthonous race, both adapted to the same soil, he is extremely patriotic; Americanism, a doctrine hostile to foreigners, is his work. He wishes to obtain power in order to usurp the privileges of the Creole oligarchies. One may say that the admixture of the prevailing strains with black blood has been disastrous for these democracies. In applying John Stuart Mill's law of concomitant variations to the develop- ment of Spanish America one may determine a necessary relation between the numerical proportion of negroes and the intensity of civilisation. Wealth increases and internal order is greater in the Argentine, Uruguay, and Chili, and it is precisely in these countries that the proportion of negroes has always been low; they have disappeared in the admixture of European races. In Cuba, San Domingo, and some of the republics of Central America, and cer- tain of the States of the Brazilial Confederation, where the chil- dren of slaves constitute the greater portion of the population, in- ternal disorders are continual. A black republic, Hayti, demon- strates by its revolutionary history the political incapacity of the negro race. The mulatto and the sambo are the true American hybrids. . . . The inferior elements of the races which unite are evidently combined in their offspring. It is observed also that both in the mulattos and the sambos certain internal contradictions may be noted ; their will is weak and uncertain, and is dominated by in- stinct and gross and violent passions. Weakness of character cor- responds with a turgid intelligence, incapable of profound analysis, or method, or general ideas, and a certain oratorical extravagance, a pompous rhetoric. The mulatto loves luxury and extravagance; he is servile, and lacks moral feeling. The invasion of negroes affected all the Iberian colonies, where, to replace the outrageously exploited Indian, African slaves were imported by the ingenuous evangelists of the time. . . . But they are revenged for their enslavement in that their blood is mingled with that of their masters. Incapable of order and self- government, they are a factor of anarchy; every species of vain outer show attracts them — sonorous phraseology and ostentation. They make a show of an official function, a university title, or an academic diploma. As the Indian could not work in the tropics black immigration was directed principally upon those regions, and the enervating climate, the indiscipline of the mulatto, and the weakness of the white element have contributed to the decadence of the Equatorial nations. Latin America as a Whole 221 The mulatto is more despised than the mestizo because he often shows the abjectness of the slave and indecision of the hybrid; he is at once servile and arrogant, envious and ambitious. His violent desire to mount to a higher social rank, to acquire wealth, power, and display, is, as Sehor Bunge very justly remarks, a "hyper- aesthesia of arrivism." The sambos have created nothing in America. On the other hand, the robust mestizo populations, the Mamelucos of Brazil, the Cholos of Peru and Bolivia, the Rotos of Chili, descendants of Spaniards and the Guarani Indians, are distinguished by their pride and virility. Instability, apathy, degeneration — all the signs of ex- hausted race — are encountered far more frequently in the mulatto than in the mestizo. The European established in America becomes a creole; his is a new race, the final product of secular unions. He is neither Indian, nor black, nor Spaniard. The castes are confounded and have formed an American stock, in which we may distinguish the psychological traits of the Indian and the negro, while the shades of skin and forms of skull reveal a remote intermixture. If all the races of the New World were finally to unite, the Creole would be the real American. He is idle and brilliant. There is nothing excessive either in his ideals or his passions ; all is mediocre, measured, harmonious. His fine and caustic irony chills his more exuberant enthusiasms; he triumphs by means of laughter. He loves grace, verbal elegance, quibbles even, and artistic form; great passions or desires do not move him. In religion he is sceptical, indiflferent, and in politics he disputes in the Byzantine manner. No one could discover in him a trace of his Spanish forefather, stoical and adventurous. But is unity possible with such numerous castes? Must we not wait for the work of many centuries before a clearly American pop- ulation be formed? The admixture of Indian, European, mestizo, and mulatto blood continues. How form a homogeneous race of these varieties? There will be a period of painful unrest : American revolutions reveal the disequilibrium of men and races. Miscegena- tion often produces types devoid of all proportion, either physical or moral. 222 The National Period Chapter 2Yineteen ARGENTINA 1. AN EVALUATION OF THE POLITICAL ABILITY OF JUAN MANUEL ROSAS (1850)i ENDOWED with a reflective and persistent will, Juan Manuel is essentially an absolute ruler. Although force — that is to say, the principle of persons who have no principles — is the basis of his government, and although he constantly consults in his policies the necessities of his personal position, yet he is much pleased to be considered as a man of well-founded convictions. He professes a great horror for secret societies, lojias as they are designated, even though the Mazorca which he founded was nothing else than a secret society, which became publicly known because of its ex- cesses. He becomes indignant when one supposes that he has the least affinity with revolutionists who are enemies of the social order ; and as a statesman he assumes in his maxims a great auster- ity that does not exist in his private morals. "I know," he avowed in his interviews, "that a good example should be highly esteemed by all people." Up to a certain point he has justified his pretensions and his words by reestablishing material order throughout the dbuntry and in the administration, by causing the civil laws to be obeyed, and by enveloping his dictatorship with the constitutional formes that were observed before his advent. He busies himself with all the details of administration and carefully supervises them ; he la- bors assiduously from fifteen to sixteen hours every day in the transaction of public business, and does not allow anything to pass without a minute inspection. Thus, as he has said, the entire bur- den of governmental responsibility falls upon himself. . . . Raised to supreme power by astuteness. General Rosas has seen his domination violently attacked, and he has not known how to maintain himself except by force. Vindictive and imperious by ed- ucation and by temperament, he was precipitated into despotism, and has cheapened in the interior of the country that liberty of which he has spoken so much. He resembles those men portrayed by Tacitus who placed liberty to the fore in order thereby to over- 1 From: A. de Brossard quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, May 1930, pp. 135-136. Argentina 223 throw the existing order, and, who, when they became masters of the empire, turned upon their mistress. Because of this tendency he has committed those sanguinary acts that have surrounded him with an aureola of terror. Because of this tendency he has been obhged to concede extravagant favors to abandoned men, who are bound irrevocably to his chariot by their vices and crimes as well as by his favors and whose prosperity is an insult to morale and to public misery. From this tendency there has arisen the system of legal oppression by which he persecutes all his enemies, who, it must be said, compose the most polished and intellectual part of the nation. A man from the country, Rosas has in fact been the leader of the reaction of the men of the campo against the predominant in- fluence of the capital city. Imbued with the prejudice of Castilian pride, he detests en masse those foreigners whose labor and capital could enrich his country, and accords them only a niggardly hos- pitality. An agriculturist by birth, by education, and by taste, he does not appreciate industry. . . . Nourished in the monopolistic maxims of Spanish colonial law, he neither understands nor per- mits trade except when it is hemmed in by prohibitive tariffs and rigorous regulations. On the other side, General Rosas is much occupied with the means by which a government may influence the morale of a people. Thus it is that he attaches great importance to matters concerned with public education ; for he considers both education and religion as means of political influence. This same motive causes him to intervene actively in the periodical press. He subsidizes periodicals in France, in England, in Portugal, in Brazil, in the United States, and directs his journals of Buenos Aires, namely, the Gaceta Mer- cantil, the Archivo Americano, and the British Packet. 2. ROSAS DEFENDS HIS ADMINISTRATION IN ARGENTINA (February 1873) 1 ["Why did you not establish yourself as head of a constitutional government, when you could have so easily done so . . . ?" To this Rosas replied] : THAT was my ambition, but I spent my life and my energy without being able to realize it. I mounted to the governorship while the country was gripped in anarchy, divided into hostile and recalcitrant groups, dismembered already in part, and other por- tions in process of dismemberment, with neither a stable govern- ment in international affairs, nor with an internal national organi- 1 From: Ernesto Quesada quoted in A. C. Wilgus, ed., Argentina, Brazil, and Chile Since Independence (Washington: The George Washington University Press. 1935), pp. 431-433. 224 ^^^ National Period zation, without experience in government, converted into a thorough chaos, with the most complete subversion of ideas and ideals, and with the political parties furiously hating one another; a hell in • miniature. I decided that if it did not modify its foundations, our great country would definitely disintegrate in a chain of petty re- publics without importance and waste themselves thusly in the future : too much already had the colonial viceroyalty been broken up ! The Province of Buenos Aires, nevertheless, had a real basis of governmental organization and of orderly habits. I proposed to reorganize the administration, consolidate the economic system, and, little by little, see that the other provinces should do the same. If the Unitarian Party had allowed me to breathe I do not doubt that, in a little while, I would have carried the country towards a complete normalization ; but it was not possible, because the opposi- tion was permanent and in the neighboring countries the emigres organized constant invasions. It was thus that my whole period of government was spent in defending myself from these conspira- cies, these invasions, and the foreign naval interventions; this consumed the resources and prevented me from subduing the caudillos of the interior to a more normal and tranquil status. Furthermore, the habits of anarchy, developed in twenty years of governmental strife, could not be modified in a day. It was neces- sary first to govern with a strong hand in order to guarantee se- curity to life and to labor, in city and country, and to establish a system of order and tranquillity which would allow the exercise of a real republican life. ... I soon understood, however, that I had undertaken a task superior to the strength of a single man. . . . Those who have berated my tyranny and have suspected that I en- joyed the sensation of power, are but defamers, since I lived in sight of everyone, almost in a house of glass, and renounced all that which was not constant work on never ending business. The most scrupulous honor in the management of public moneys, abso- lute dedication to the service of the state, unlimited energy to decide upon acts and to assume full responsibility for such resolutions, required the people to have confidence with me, for which reason I was able to govern for so long. With my personal fortune and that of my wife, I could have lived privately with all the flatteries which money could attract, and without the least worry ; I preferred to renounce that and to deliberately convert myself into a slave of duty, consecrated in absolute and disinterested service to my coun- try. If I have committed errors — and there is no man who does not commit them — I alone am responsible. But the reproach of not having given the country a constitution seems to me always futile, because it is not enough to dictate a cuadernito [little note- book] , as Quiroga called it, but to apply it and to solve its difficul- ties ; it is necessary first to prepare the people for it, creating habits Argentina 225 of order and government, because a constitution ought not to be a product of an illusive dream without reflecting the needs of the country. Always I have disliked the farce of paper laws which cannot be carried into practice. The base of a constitutional system is the exercise of suffrage, and this requires not only a sane public that can read and write, but who feel that the vote is a right, and, at the same time, a duty, so that each elector knows whom he ought to elect ; in the United States itself very much was left to be desired when I left my government, as my minister Alvear communicated. On the contrary, the elections of legislatures and governments were iniquitous farces and they were tools of the cliques of interlopers, accompanied by scoffing from others and among themselves, fo- menting corruption and villainy, breaking down character and dis- turbing everything. One cannot put the cart before the oxen ; it is necessary to domesticate the latter, to habituate them to the yoke and goal, so that they can draw the cart after them. It is necessary, likewise, before dictating a constitution, to implant in the people habits of government and of democratic life, which is a long and heavy task ; when I retired, because of Caseros — for I had pre- viously prepared everything so that I could absent myself, packing papers and reaching an understanding with the British minister — the country found itself perhaps already partially prepared for an attempt at constitutional government. And you know that in spite of that, there still passed a good ten years in the conflict of desires between the city and the country population, w4th Buenos Aires separated with respect to the Confederation. . . . ["Then," interrupted my father (the elder Quesada), "you were tired of the work of such a long rule . . .?"] Certainly. There is no man who can stand a similar task too long a time. It is an honor to be the first servant of the country, but it is a formidable sacrifice, which reaps only ingratitude among contemporaries and among those who immediately succeed them. But I have a tranquil conscience that posterity will justify my effort, because without this continued sacrifice of mine, the state of anarchy would still be present, as one can yet observe it today in other sections of America. For the rest, I have always believed that forms of government are a relative matter, since a monarchy or republic can be equally excellent or pernicious, according to the state of a particular country ; this is the real kernel of the question : to prepare a people so that they can have a suitable form of gov- ernment; and for this, that which is needed is men who are true servants of the nation, statesmen of merit and not mere common officeholders, since, under any constitution, if there are such men the problem is solved, and if there are not, any constitution is use- less and dangerous. The cry of constitution, which ignores the condition of the country, is an empty word. I could never under- 226 The National Period stand this fetish for a written constitution which does not reflect practical life, but the opinions of the doctrinaires; if such a con- stitution does not reflect the real life of a people, it will always be useless, no matter what assembly or governmental decree sanctions it. And at the risk of scandalizing you, I will say that for myself, the happiest form of government would be the paternal, intelligent, disinterested and tireless autocracy, energetic and resolved to secure the happiness of the people, without favorites. For this reason never did I have any [constitution] ,; I sought to realize the single ideal of a paternal government, in the epoch of transition in which I handled the government. ... I have always scorned the petty tyrants and the local caudillos, who hide in the shadows; I have always admired the autocratic dictators who have been the first servants of the people. That is my great title ; I have wished always to serve my country, and that was my plan, and the responsibility for the measures employed to accomplish it is mine alone. To prescribe a constitution was a secondary matter ; the primary thing was to prepare the country for it — and that is what I believe I have done! 3. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF BARTOLOMfi MITRE (After 1868) i DOUBTLESS, in the case of the literary or scientific man, politics, in the common acceptation of the word as a mere struggle in the lust for power, has much of the brutal. But the fruitful labor of governing has also something of brutality even in time of peace, since brutality is inevitable in the clash of men and political passions and, if actual physical force is involved in the struggle of men and ideas, the blows given and taken are necessarily painful. Ideas themselves must clash with a certain force in order to produce efficient results, and neither the active combatant nor the passive worker should expect to be immune, nor should either complain of the blows received, or nurse his wounds instead of manfully and courageously returning the blows. Not even when the political standard of a country is debased, not even when the government is actuated entirely by sordid motives and its politicians become a byword, not even then should the combatant desert the arena, nor permit himself to become a renegade to public service, or regard righteous political passion as an evil or a mere human weakness. . . . ^Government,' as Guizot has said, 'will always be one of the noblest employments of human intelligence, and that which demands the loftiest souls.' As has already been observed, great men who have governed for the benefit of mankind, always 1 From: Bartolome Mitre quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, July 1921, pp. 21-22. Argentina 227 looked forward to retirement, because public office to them meant sacrifice; their Hfe, work; their only reward, the fruits reaped by others ; rest and discouragement being alike denied them. Remem- ber, my friend, that historical personage of whom Macaulay speaks (I think it was Temple), who, on retiring from his ministerial office, shut himself up in his library, forgetting the very existence of politics since it was no longer necessary to play a part therein ; but when, later, recalled to active life, he paused in his reading, placed a marker in the page so that, without bitterness, he might resume his reading when he had fulfilled his duty as a man and as a citizen of a free people, or of a people on the road to freedom. 4. DOMINGO FAUSTINO SARMIENTO DESCRIBES HIS INTEREST IN EDUCATION 1 THE inspiration to consecrate myself to the education of the people came to me here in my youth. My labor of thirty years, that of serving the countries where I resided with schools, turns now to its point of departure, to the very simple idea of the im- portance of primary-school education over all other education, to insure the happiness of nations. If I had been born in Buenos Ayres or Cordova, or in Santiago de Chili, the primary education of this part of the country would not have arrived at this point, when all are striving for that end. I should have been preoccupied with the brilliant university, and should have aspired to its honors. But I was born and educated amid the people of a province where there was no other education than that of the public school ; and the escuela de la patria was one of the first order, without a rival in any private one, conducted by a man so respected by the people and the government that at that time the schoolmaster was looked upon as one of the first magistrates of the province. Observe, then, by what singular circumstances the school, as an institution, was des- tined to acquire in my mind that supreme importance which I have never ceased to give it ; and how, at the close of my travels, I found in the United States that the school occupied the same place as in San Juan, and brought forth like results. The truth is that the first ideas in the child's mind keep the same relative position always, and, however slightly they meet with confirmation, grow and de- velop, and determine the career in life. If I should express all my thoughts I should say that the school of la patria, in San Juan, associated in my mind with the recollections of the only form of education with which I was acquainted, went forth with me from this province, and accompanied me in all my wanderings. In Chili it took the form of normal schools; in Europe I connected it with 1 From: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento quoted in Hezekiah Butterworth, South America (New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1904), pp. 193-195. 228 The National Period the study of legislation ; in the United States with the spectacle of its wonderful results, of its temple school-houses, and of the promi- nent place it holds among the institutions of that country. In Buenos Ayres I reproduced it as a seed sown in good ground, and I return to do the same to-day in San Juan, by reestablishing the school of la patria, completed as an educational institution, and also as a democratic one, and I bring to it all the acquisitions made in my long and various travels. No longer confined to three halls that contained in all but three hundred pupils, we have here an edifice that will enable us to throw ofif the swaddling-clothes of infancy. To-day we lay the stone which consecrates to education these be- ginnings of an unfinished temple. And that you may see how ad- vanced ideas have grown, I will repeat to you what I have replied to those who have wished this edifice kept to its first destination and who yet abandoned it to sterility and destruction. At the corner of the next block, thirty steps from here, thirty years ago, I was a merchant's clerk, and here pursued my solitary studies. Even at that time I saw that a spacious school-house might be erected within these walls, and, with your assistance, I now realize my thought after the delay of so many years. 5. DESCRIPTION OF SOME GAUCHO CHARACTERISTICS! IT IS well known that the guitar is the popular instrument of the Spanish race; it is also common in South America. The ma jo or troubadour is discoverable in the gaucho of the country, and in the townsmen of the same class. The cielito, the dance of the pam- pas, is animated by the same spirit as the Spanish jaleo, the dance of Andalusia; the dancer makes castanets of his fingers; all his movements disclose the ma jo ; the action of his shoulders, his ges- tures, all his ways, from that in which he puts on his hat, to his style of spitting through his teeth, all are of the pure Andalusian type. The name of gaucho outlaw is not applied wholly as an uncom- plimentary epithet. The law has been for many years in pursuit of him. His name is dreaded, spoken under the breath, but not in hate, and almost respectfully. He is a mysterious personage ; his abode is the pampa ; his lodgings are the thistle fields ; he lives on par- tridges and hedgehogs, and whenever he is disposed to regale himself upon a tongue, he lassos a cow, throws her without assis- tance, kills her, takes his favorite morsel, and leaves the rest for the carrion birds. The gaucho outlaw will make his appearance in a place just left by soldiers, will talk in a friendly way with the admiring group of good gauchos around him; provide himself with J From: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento quoted in Alfred Coaster, The Literary History of Spanish America (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916), pp. 133-135. Argentina 229 tobacco, yerba mate, which makes a refreshing beverage, and if he discovers the soldiers, he mounts his horse quietly and directs his steps leisurely to the wilderness, not even deigning to look back. He is seldom pursued ; that would be killing horses to no purpose, for the beast of the gaucho outlaw is a bay courser, as noted in his own way as his master. If he ever happens to fall unawares into the hands of the soldiers, he sets upon the densest masses of his assailants, and breaks through them, with the help of a few slashes left by his knife upon the faces or bodies of his opponents; and lying along the ridge of his horse's back to avoid the bullets sent after him, he hastens toward the wilderness, until having left his pursuers at a convenient distance, he pulls up and travels at his ease. The poets of the vicinity add this new exploit to the biography of the desert hero, and his renown flies through all the vast region around. Sometimes he appears before the scene of a rustic festival with a young woman whom he has carried off, and takes a place in the dance with his partner, goes through the figures of the cielito, and disappears, unnoticed. Another day he brings the girl he has seduced, to the house of her offended family, sets her down from his horse's croup, and reckless of the parents' curses by which he is followed, quietly betakes himself to his boundless abode. And now we have the idealization of this life of resistance, civili- zation, barbarism, and danger. The gaucho Cantor corresponds to the singer, bard, or troubadour of the Middle Ages. The Cantor has no fixed abode; he lodges where night surprises him; his for- tune consists in his verses and in his voice. Wherever the wild mazes of the cielito are threaded, wherever there is a glass of wine to drink, the Cantor has his place and his particular part in the festival. The Argentine gaucho only drinks when excited by music and verse, and every grocery has its guitar ready for the hands of the Cantor who perceives from afar where the help of his ''gay science" is needed, by the group of horses about the door. The Cantor intersperses his heroic songs with the tale of his own exploits. Unluckily his profession of Argentine bard does not shield him from the law. He can tell of a couple of stabs he has dealt, of one or two "misfortunes" (homicides) of his, and of some horse or girl he carried off. To conclude, the original poetry of the minstrel is clumsy, mo- notonous, and irregular, when he resigns himself to the inspiration of the moment. It is occupied rather with narration than with the expression of feeling, and is replete with imagery relating to the open country, to the horse, and to the scenes of the wilderness, which makes it metaphorical and grandiose. When he is describing his own exploits or those of some renowned evil-doer, he resembles the Neapolitan improvisatore, his style being unfettered, commonly prosaic, but occasionally rising to the poetic level for some moments, 230 The National Period to sink again into dull and scarcely metrical recitation. The Cantor possesses, moreover, a repertory of popular poems in octosyllabic lines variously combined into stanzas of five lines, of ten or of eight. Among them are many compositions of merit which show some inspiration and feeling. 6. STORY OF CHRIST AND ST. JOHN AS TOLD BY THE GAUCHOSi 6"pwID you fellows ever hear about how St. John come to be a ^ follower of Christ?' We said, *No.' So he told the story like this : St. John was a gaucho, and when Christ come along St. John followed him for a little out of curiosity and they travelled along, and it got on toward night, and Christ he says to St. John, 'You bein' a gaucho, there's a flock of sheep. See if you can catch a nice fat lamb for supper.' So St. John he took his lazo and went out and lazoed a nice fat lamb and took it to their camp and Christ says, T'm goin' up on the hill to pray with my disciples, and while we're up there you. can make an asado. Just save the kidneys for me, no mas. The rest'll be for you and the disciples.' So St. John he set in makin' an asado, and he got it all cooked nearly, and Christ and the disciples didn't come back. So he wondered if the kidneys was well done and he cut ofif a little sliver and it seemed to be well done, so he cut a sliver off the other kidney. He forgot himself and pretty soon both kidneys was et up. Christ come back with the disciples, and St. John he stuck the asador in the ground, before 'em, all drippin'. But just as soon as Christ looked at it he says, 'Why, where's the kidneys ?' Down there an asado's got to be perfect. I knew a capataz once that give a man the sack for servin' an asado without the kidneys. St. John, he says, 'This lamb didn't have no kidneys.' .'That's queer,' says Christ, 'he must've had 'em.' 'No, no, this lamb didn't have no kidneys.' They finished eatin' the lamb and Christ said no more about it and the next day they started marchin' on. They come to a river, and Christ and the rest started walkin' out on the water, and St. John, he says, 'I can't cross the river like that. I'll drown. I'll sink.' Christ, he says, 'Just spread your poncho on the water and step on the middle of it.' And he done that and started floatin' across, but when he got in the middle of the river he started to sink and when the water got to his knees, Christ he sung out from the other side of the river, 'Did that lamb have kidneys?' 'No, Seiior, it didn't have none.' By that time the water'd got up to his waist. Christ he .says again, 'Did that lamb have kidneys?' 'No, Sefior, he never had none.' The water come up to his chin. 'Once more I ask you, did that 1 From: Robert and Katharine Barrett, A Yankee in Patagonia. Edward Chacc (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1931), pp. 186-187. Argentina 231 lamb have kidneys ?' John he says, 'No, Sefior, no kidneys.' Then the water went over his head, but his hand was above, and he waved it and motioned *no' with it. Christ says, 'There's a man of char- acter. When he tells a lie he sticks by it. We'll have to save him.' And his poncho come up and he was saved and he followed Christ to the end. 7. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDENT MOVEMENT BEGUN IN ARGENTINA (1918)i IN THE Latin-American countries the students are carrying out a vast movement of ideological renovation which shows a very profound diflPerence between the thought of their old men and of the youth. Not only in their attitude toward politics and the social order, the students are forming new concepts and assuming new attitudes capable of being converted later into more precise forms of action. There exists in Latin America an opposition — almost a struggle — between the generation of yesterday and the generation of to- day. In reality the young are following no master — for they have denied all. Two or three men of great importance, such as Jose Vasconcelos in Mexico and Jose Ingenieros in the Argentine Re- public, have allied themselves to the movement, but the movement of youth is spontaneous, autonomous, and rebellious in every coun- try of the great continent. The origin of the actual student movement in Latin America was the so-called "University Revolution," which took place in 1918 in the University of Cordoba (Argentine Republic). As the first manifestations of the religious reforms of the sixteenth century were called "monks' squabbles," so the first episodes of this "Revo- lution of Cordoba" were called "students' squabbles." Very few thought of the transcendental nature of the movement, but the students had an admirable intuition of it when they proclaimed the revolution: "The Latin- American Revolution for Spiritual Au- tonomy." The universities of Latin America are almost all of Spanish origin, founded during the three centuries of colonial rule. Until the "University Revolution" the spirit of these universities re- mained antiquated, without appreciable progress, based on religious prejudices. Liberal ideas had scarcely entered them, and the peda- gogical system, as well as the spirit of these universities, was af- flicted with all the defects of the old Spanish universities, controlled by dogma and semiecclesiastical. The restless discontent of the Latin-American students carried them far beyond the intellectual 1 From: Haya de la Torre quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Novem- ber 1926, pp. 1105-1108. 232 The National Period I limits which, like rings of iron, the universities marked out for them. New ideas agitated the young brains, and there arose a de- sire to convert these old universities into new laboratories of science and of a full, complete life. The terrible spectacle of the European war, the intervention of America in the war of that continent, the Russian revolution (which Latin- American youth hailed as the be- ginning of the liberty of the world) stirred still more the con- sciences of the students. It can easily be understood that Latin America was obliged to shake itself free from old systems of edu- cation and to attempt a better life. But tradition, the interests of the dynasty of the "learned," Catholic influence, as changeless as a Spanish relic, all set their faces against the proposals of youth. The masters of the Latin-American universities exercised a truly implacable dictatorship. For them *'the old" was symbolic of wis- dom, and they denied all attention to every suggestion of the stu- dents, whatever it was. The opposition between the new spirit of youth and the very extreme conservatism of the university systems came to a head at the end of July, 1918, in the University of Cordoba (founded in 1614 by the Spanish friar Trejo y Zanabria) . The students launched a true revolution, demanding the abolition of the old university order, the change of professors, the suppression of ecclesiastical control of university instruction, professorships open to all, aca- demic freedom, and several other reforms. They demanded the right to have student representatives in the directing councils of the universities and their right to share in the election of professors. The movement was violent and full of curious episodes. The Uni- versity of Cordoba was invaded and occupied manu milifari by the students. The news of the revolution reverberated immediately throughout Latin America, and immediately there was recognition and sympathy. Messages of support and solidarity went to the rebelling students from all the universities. The strike committee of Cordoba issued an appeal to the Latin-American students in these words: "If in the name of order others desire to prosecute us, making game of us and brutalizing us, let us proclaim aloud that the sacred right of insurrection, the only door remaining open to us, the only door remaining open to hope, is the heroic destiny of youth. Sacrifice is our best stimulus, the spiritual redemption of American youth our only recompense, because we know that the ills from which we suffer are the ills of all the continent." The revolution soon propagated itself. In Buenos Aires, in La Plata, the two most important Argentinian universities, student strikes were proclaimed. The violent struggle between the students and professors continued during the whole of the year 1918. The intervention of the Government and of the police and military forces resulted only in increasing the sympathy of the public with Argentina 233 the insurrection. In the end the Government was obHged to yield ; new statutes were issued for the old universities, others were founded, and the organization of a modern university system, based on liberal principles, was started. In the first months of 1919 the ''University Revolution" broke out in the University of Lima, Peru, the oldest in America, founded in 1555. The University of Lima was completely dominated by an antiquated spirit. The students proclaimed the general strike, de- manding the dismissal of 16 professors, the suppression of courses in ecclesiastical law, the complete remaking of the regulations gov- erning the university, professorships open to all and free, and the participation of the students in the governing councils. The strike in Lima lasted more than four months. The campaign of the stu- dents was very intense, and there even came a moment in which the industrial workers of the country offered their adhesion to the movement. Faced by so strong an agitation, the Peruvian Parlia- ment was compelled to vote laws favorable to the students' de- mands. Similar movements took place in 1921, 1922, and 1923 in various Latin- American universities, the most notable being those of Habana, Cuba, and Santiag;o de Chile. In all the universities of Latin America since the "revolution" a change in method has taken place, and a new spirit has arisen through this rebellion of youth. In 1921 an international congress of students assembled in the city of Mexico. This congress was a true Latin- American congress, although there were present some representatives from Europe, Asia, and North America (Germany, China, and the United States). The true inspirer of the congress of Mexico was an Argentine student from the University of La Plata — Hector Ripa Alberdi. The first re^^olution of the congress says: "The Latin- American students proclaim that they are struggling for the advent of a new humanity founded on the modern principles of justice in the economic and political orders." The third resolution says : "The students of Latin America proclaim their optimism regarding the grave problems which are agitating the world and their absolute confidence in the possibiHty of attaining — by the renovation of economic and moral ideas — a new social organization which per- mits the realization of the spiritual goal of man." Among the Chilean students there developed, as well, an anti- militaristic campaign in their country. Between Chile and Peru national questions had thrust themselves ever since the war between the two countries in 1879. The students of the two countries have proclaimed their opposition to the politics of rivalry and discord which the two governments are carrying on. In 1920 the Chilean students were persecuted as antipatfiotic. There v/ere bloody clashes between the army and the police and the students. 234 The National Period In that same year the students of Peru, assembled on a national congress in the old city of Cuzco, resolved to found "popular uni- versities" for the workers, to study social problems, to demand the defence of the rights of the Indians, and to proclaim as the goal of their public acts "social justice." But the ideology of Latin-American students advances, exacting more of itself all the time. In Peru, in Chile, in Cuba, in Guatemala, in Mexico and in other countries, the students have founded "popu- lar universities" centers of education for the workers and peasants. The closer contact between workers and students has formed in each republic of Latin America a strong vanguard of youth, the manual and intellectual worker. The advance of the United States of North America over Latin America was immediately comprehended by the students. It is they who have given the cry of warning. The opposition between the old and the young is to-day stronger than ever. The old are nationalists, anxious to keep Latin America divided into 20 repub- lics ; but the students have declared themselves against this nation- alism and for the ideal of realizing a political union of America. The student accuses the old politicians of complicity with im- perialism. The Latin-American students are awake to a danger which threatens all their peoples. For this reason they are trying to bring about a union between themselves and the workers and peasants in order to make a great movement of resistance to every nationalistic division within Latin America itself. Solidarity with the people most menaced by American imperialism, such as Mexico, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua, and Panama, is to-day the motive of great campaigns of propaganda among the Latin- Ameri- can students. I believe the most precise idea among the students to-day is that of realizing this unity of Latin America, overcoming the double resistance which is opposing itself to this goal, the imperialistic policy of the United States, and the nationalism, which, in each republic, the governing classes keep alive. Bolivia 235 (Chapter Twenty BOLIVIA 1. THE PREDOMINANCE OF WOMEN IN SANTO CORAZ6N (About 1930) 1 SANTO Corazon to-day has exactly sixty inhabitants, poor, lazy and woman-ridden. The men, for the most part, are weedy, inconsequent, little creatures, muddle-headed from chicha, lacking that steel spring that makes a man realize that work is worth doing for its own sake. Yet the church has 400 cattle. The present birth rate in Chiquitos is an amazing affair. Not only in Santo Corazon but in Santa Cruz itself, there are nine girls to every one boy. What is the reason? Asuncion was in a like state seventy years ago, but Paraguay had just lost her manhood in a bloody war. Chiquitos is at peace, and has been since the ar- rival of the Jesuits. Is the province so inert and lifeless that girls are produced because their gentler natures are more in keeping with the times ? Is there so little manliness in man that Providence, tiring of the game, has adopted this method of ending it? Urrio and I talked it out on many occasions, and we came to the following conclusion : It is a physiological commonplace that boys predominate after the carnage of a war, but there are at least two possible reasons for it. Does the expectant mother's mind become so agonized with anxiety for her man that by very suggestion the sex of the child is determined? Or is it that the world has gone mad for a space, and man becomes in truth the dominant and masterful factor that he seldom is in peace time? At first sight there seems to be little difference between these theories, nor is there in time of war. But apply the ideas to the somnolent province of Chiquitos and the answer is otherwise. There is neither anxiety nor agony, nor is there any strong feeling of any kind. Man is entirely useless and would have long ago died out were he not slightly necessary for the procreation of children. As a potent and dominating factor he is dead. Wherefore it seemed to us that he had so far failed to im- press his personality on the women that they had given up heeding 1 From: Julian Duguid, Green Hell (New York: The Century Company. 1931), pp. 151-153. 236 The National Period him, and in consequence it was in the nature of an accident when a boy was born. The humorous side of the matter is the attitude of the men. They sit in the doorways of their mud and plaster houses, or lounge about the square and peevishly command their women to set about the business of the day. Theirs is the attitude of a conquering army, returning hot-handed with the loot of war, and too puf¥ed-up to be bothered with the matters of the field. With a little wave of their hands they indicate the maize patch and the banana grove, and point grandly to the water-pots. In a warrior, bursting with ardor, the sentiment would be sublime; in an under-sized Indian with drink-bleared eyes it is apt to be ridiculous. And the women take it in good part. They are not the least bit humble or subservient. They do not fear the wrath of their lords and masters. Why should they when physical labor has made them actually the stronger sex? They seem to accept the situation as a kind of grave joke, and treat their men with a good-humored toler- ation v/hich is most entertaining to watch. The men themselves fail lamentably to appreciate the matter, and the female children toddle about in the dust, a veritable banner of shame which their fathers are too dense to see. There, if anywhere in the world, man is a kept creature. 2. DESCRIPTION OF A NATIVE FUNERAL IN THE BOLIVIAN CHACO (About 1930) 1 FIRST, came three Indians, small, yellow, sad-eyed, each bearing an enormous candle whose naked flames stood upright in the stillness and gleamed dark and unnatural against the splendid background of green foliage. They were followed at a short dis- tance by two haggard and wrinkled old women dressed in ankle- long blue garments, wide and girdleless after the fashion of night- dresses. Coarse black hair tumbled over their shoulders in unbound disarray, and they twined their bony fingers in the ends. They walked with an erect dignity born of generations of water carriers, slow and solemn, eyes hollow and expressionless, hard and un- fathomable, like snakes. But for all the sinister repose of their demeanor it was their voices that caused the mules to strain at the ropes, and the men to cross themselves in hurried fear. Harsh, untrained, immeasurably scratchy and dreary, they prayed for the dead man's soul in tones that showed quite plainly that they cared for nothing beyond the fees. 1 From: Julian Duguid, Green Hell (New York: The Century Company, 1931), pp. 175-177. Bolivia 237 "Professional wailers," said Urrio. "We heard them practising at Santo Corazon." Whereupon, with a shuffle of naked feet, the principal actor made his bow. A silent, stiff figure, covered with a white cloth, he lay in a rough-hewn, open coffin, borne on the shoulders of six of his companions; and the tip of his nose was pressed against the shroud, giving a rough outline of his face. Occasionally one of the bearers trod on a thorn and, when the body rolled with an odd sound against the boards, a certain volume of anxiety broke from a number of women who walked immediately behind. These women, like the wallers, seemed to be more concerned with the ritualistic aspect of the matter than with any human sorrow. They neither wept nor beat their breasts, and the peculiar glitter of un- shed tears was absent from their eyes. Their very annoyance at the rolling body appeared to be a mixture of family pride in the proper conduct of a funeral and the desire to avoid unnecessary delay. Not one of them showed any regret for the dead man. That grief for the departed was no more than skin deep we saw when we passed his house. There, before the low doorway, were a number of buxom maidens disporting themselves in Botticellian attitudes, drinking chicha and singing, while a small boy worked a cane press in a corner of the clearing. This primitive machine stood between palm-trees, and consisted of two polished wooden rollers, upright and cogged at the ends, which crushed the cane stalks to pulp and squeezed the juice into a trough by the circular motion of a couple of bullocks yoked to a beam. The boy was en- joying himself intensely, swinging his raw-hide whip about his head and crashing it with loud yells of derision against the patient flanks of his charges. A very old man, quite toothless, sampled the liquor as it dripped from the wheels. "It's all rather horrible," said Urrio, soothing his mule which had not recovered from the whiff of the corpse. It was more than that. It was an extremely interesting study of the results of Christian interference, for it represented a cross between barbarism and Christianity with the spirit fled from each. Gone was the grief of breast-tearing that goes with savagery; gone, too, the calm majesty of sorrow with which a gentler faith consigns the dead to sleep. In this terrible procession I could see the stagnant soul of Chiquitos reaching back into the ages, far be- yond the Jesuits to the forgotten voices of strange deities whose power had faded through neglect, and whose rites had degenerated into mere senseless babble. 238 The National Period 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE RECOVA OR MARKET PLACE AND THE INDIANS WHO ATTEND IN THE BOLIVIAN ANDES (1934)i THE recova was at the very end of Main Street/and as Saturdays and Sundays were the favorite market days, Indians were com- ing in from every direction, with their goods either swung on their backs in gaily striped blankets or hung on any and every part of their little burros. The market was simply a walled enclosure, three sides of which were protected from the weather by a thatched roof. At one comer was a small room, properly equipped with a door that locked and a small window. In the center of the en- closure grew an unwilling thorn tree, knotted and twisted and in its way rather beautiful, as it lifted its sullen head against the blue sky. Back against the wall, under the protection of the roof, the Indians squatted with their wares spread out on brightly colored blankets ; and under the thorn tree burned the braseros over which the women cooked curious messes of meat and potatoes and aji in double handled earthen jars ; for most of these people came from far down the river in the warm country, and camped here in the market-place until they disposed of their meager wares. Children and dogs clambered in and out among the cooks, licking a plate here and stealing a tidbit there, or skirmished about among the merchants, now and then staging a rousing fight ; but no one seemed to bother about them. Children and dogs are always welcome in the lower ranks of Bolivian society. These traveling Indians are of many tribes — subdivisions of the two great divisions — and each clan has its distinctive garb, a fact that gives one a mighty respect for the ingenuity of the Senor God who devised them. One tribe wears very wide breeches held in at the waist by a bright sash wound tightly two or three times around the body, a loose, shapeless jacket of the same drab material as the pants, and a sort of peach-basket hat of drab felt. The legs are bare, and on the feet are sandals that are easily shaken off when the owner has to wade the numerous streams that harass the souls of all Bolivian travelers. The flowing pants, too, have their purpose, for I have seen these Indians passing below my windows, naked almost to the waist, their sandals in their hands and their wide-legged pants rolled high on their thighs. The men of this tribe wear their hair long and plaited at the nape of the neck ; and they have a peculiarly feminine cast of face — narrow faces, with long thin noses and thin straight mouths and smoldering eyes. 1 From: Alicia O'Reardon Overbeck, Living High. At Home in the Far Andes (New York: D. Appleton- Century Company, 1935), pp. 327-329. Brazil 239 Another tribe is much more dashing — ahnost rakish. The men wear close-fitting shorts that stop about three inches above the knee, and then are spHt another couple of inches to allow for high rolling when fording streams. Their upper garment is a sort of loose tunic, girdled at the waist by a wide leather belt, and over this tunic they usually wear a brilliant poncho striped with red and green and orange. The hair is cut in a longish bob, on top of which is perched saucily a large round hat, rather of the old fashioned Pinafore type, usually black faced with red. Their legs are always bare, and are most peculiar — slim at the ankle and knee, and bulg- ing at the calf into an immense knot of muscle. The men of still another tribe — the Rio Blancos — from whose ranks we drew our house servants, are very natty, not to say sur- prising in appearance. They wear suits made of the native hand woven stuff, a nondescript tan with black stripes. The jacket is a smart Eton, the vest is form fitting, and the pants hug the waist with amazing snugness, but flare out at the knee. And here comes the real climax of the costume. Hanging at least three inches below the cloth breeches is a pair of good old fashioned Victorian white drawers trimmed with ruffes of either embroidery or fringe. These panties seem to be a matter of much pride among the tribe, as they are almost invariably white and crisp, even though the rest of the clothes may be soiled and worn. Chapter Twenty-one BRAZIL 1. PEDRO I WRITES A FAREWELL LETTER TO HIS SON, THE LATER PEDRO II (April 12, 1831)i 11 yTY BELOVED son and my Emperor, very agreeable are the -L'-*- lines which you wrote me. I was scarcely able to read them, be- cause copious tears impeded my sight. Now that I am more com- posed, I write this to thank you for your letter, and to declare that, as long as life shall last, aflfection for you will never be extinguished in my lacerated heart. To leave children, country, and friends is the greatest possible sacrifice; but to bear away honour unsullied, — there can be no 1 From: tedro I quoted in Clayton Sedgwick Cooper, The Brazilians and Their Country (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917), p. 54. 240 The National Period greater glory. Ever remember your father ; love your country and my country ; follow the counsel of those who have the care of your education; and rest assured that the world will admire you, and that I will be filled with gladness at having a son so worthy of the land of his birth. I retire to Europe : it is necessary for the tran- quillity of Brazil, and that God may cause her to reach that degree of prosperity for which she is eminently capable. Adieu, my very dear son ! Receive the blessing of your affection- ate father, who departs without the hope of ever seeing you again. D. Pedro de Alcantara. On board the Warspite frigate, April 12th, 1831. 2. WHAT THE TUTOR OF PEDRO II WISHED HIM TO KNOW (1835)1 I DESIRE that my August Pupil become a profound and thorough scholar, versed in all of the arts and sciences, and likewise in mechanical matters, so that he may learn to love labor as the foun- dation of the virtues, and to honor equally the men who toil and those who serve the state through political office. But I certainly do not want him to become a superstitious literato, wasting his time in religious discussions like the Emperor Justinian ; nor that he become a political fanatic, squandering the money and blood of Brazilians in wars and conquests and in erecting luxurious buildings, like Louis XIV in France, completely absorbed by ideas of great- ness ; for the Senhor Dom Pedro II can well become a great mon- arch through being just, wise, honorable, and virtuous, a lover of the happiness of his subjects — without any need of vexing the people by tyranny and the violent extortion of money and blood. Finally, the teachers must not fail to tell the Emperor every day that a monarch who does not regard seriously his duties as a ruler will always become the victim of the errors, caprices, and iniquities of his ministers, which are always the cause of revolutions and civil wars. . . . Therefore it is of great importance that the Monarch read carefully all of the newspapers and periodicals of the capital and the provinces, and, furthermore, that he receive with attention all representations and complaints made by any one against the Ministers of State, since only through knowing the public and pri- vate lives of each one of his ministers and agents can he decide whe- ther he should retain them or should dismiss them immediately and appoint others who will perform better their duties and will work for the happiness of the nation. 1 From: The Marquez de Ttanhaen quoted in Mary Wilhelmine Williams, Dom Pedro the Magnanimous, Second Emperor of Brazil (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1937), p. ZZ. Brazil 241 3. DESCRIPTION OF PEDRO II AND THE EMPRESS (May 1865)1 IT OPENED into a long gallery and presently we heard some one coming down this entry in great haste walking very fast — as I supposed, an official of some kind to show us to the Empress. But it was the Emperor himself. . . . After about half an hour's chat he asked us to come in and see the Empress and himself, ushered us into a third drawing-room ("veels within veels"), where he went to the door and called his wife like any other mortal. In rolled a little lady with the sweetest possible expression, who seemed very kindly and cordial, who invited us to take seats, and, if I may so express myself in the presence of royalty, 'make ourselves generally at home.' Really if we had gone to make a social call on some friendly acquaintance at home, there could hardly have been more ease. This royal pair are so truly well bred that it is impossible to feel any embarrassment. Their simplicity and frankness are quite republican, though I am afraid we must admit that their high breed- ing partook more, perhaps, of the aristocratic element. There is something peculiarly lovable and lovely about the Empress. She looks so sympathetic and motherly. . . . After as long a call as we thought it discreet to make, we paid our parting respects. One thing about the Emperor's way. of saying good-bye is very funny, and Agassiz says he supposes it is to save strangers the embarrassment of backing out of his presence. He shakes hands and then rushes out of the room, as if he were going to walk a mile in a minute on some errand of life or death. At first I thought that he had gone for something and would be back again ; but it was the last we saw of him. 4. RESIGNATION OF PEDRO II AS EMPEROR OF BRAZIL (November 16, 1889) 2 TN VIEW of the written statement delivered to me at three o'clock Jl this afternoon, I have decided to yield to the force of circum- stances, and to depart, with my whole family, for Europe tomorrow, leaving this country, loved extremely by all of us, to which I have tried to give constant testimony of my affection and dedication for almost half of a century, during which I have discharged my duties as chief of the state. Absenting myself, then, I, with all the mem- bers of my family, will cherish for Brazil the deepest, most yearning 1 From: Elizabeth Cary Agassiz quoted in Mary Wilhelmine Williams, Dom Pedro the Maananimous, Second Emperor oj Brazil (Chapel Hill: The University of North Caro- lina Press, 1937),- pp. 94-95. 2 From: Pedro II quoted in Mary Wilhelmine Williams, Dom Pedro the Magnanimous, Second Emperor of Brazil (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1937), p. 345. 242 The National Period remembrance, while praying earnestly for its greatness and pros- perity. Rio de Janeiro, November 16, 1889. D. Pedro de Alcantara. POEM BY DOM PEDRO II WRITTEN AFTER HE RESIGNED FROM THE EMPERORSHIP 1 If I am pious, clement, just, I'm only what I ought to be; The sceptre is a weighty trust, A great responsibility; And he who rules with faithful hand, With depth of thought and breadth of range, The sacred laws should understand, But must not at his pleasure change. The chair of justice is the throne : Who takes it bows to higher laws; The public good and not his own, Demands his care in every cause. Neglect of duty, — always wrong — Detestable in young or old, — By him whose place is high and strong. Is magnified a thousandfold. When in the east the light of sun Spreads o'er the earth the light of day, All know the course that he will run. Nor wonder at his light or way: But if perchance the light that blazed Is dimmed by shadows lying near, The startled world looks on amazed, And each one watches it with fear. I likewise, if I always give To vice and virtue their rewards. But do my duty thus to live; No one his thanks to me accords. But should I fail to act my part. Or wrongly do, or leave undone, Surprised, the people then would start With fear, as at the shadow's sun. 1 From: Dom Pedro II quoted in A. Curtis Wilgus, A Caravan Tour to Argentina and Brazil (Washington, 1936), pp. 48-49. Brazil 243 6. BONIFACIO EXPRESSES HIS VIEWS ON NEGRO SLAVERY IN BRAZIL^ BUT how can there be a Hberal and lasting constitution in a coun- try inhabited by an immense multitude of brutal and hostile slaves ? It is time and more than time that we end a traffic so barbarous and cruel ; it is time that we should begin to end slavery gradually until it is absolutely eradicated ... so that in a few generations we may have a homogeneous nation, without which we shall never be free, respected and happy. It is absolutely essential that we end such physical and social heterogeneity . . . harmonizing . . . discordant elements into a whole . . . which will not crumble at the least touch of political commo- tions. . . . Luxury and corruption appeared in Brazil long before civiliza- tion and industry, and what is the cause of such a frightful phe- nomenon? Slavery, gentlemen, slavery, because he who Hves on the earnings of his slaves lives in indolence, and indolence brings vice in its wake. Blind cupidity, however, says that slavery is necessary in Brazil because its people are flabby and lazy. They most cer- tainly lie. The labor of slaves in Brazil does not produce the profits with which lazy and fantastic persons deceive themselves. ... It either makes one mad or laugh to see twenty slaves carry- ing twenty sacks of sugar which could be carried in one or two well built wagons drawn by two oxen or mules. . . . Twenty slaves require twenty hoes, all of . which could be saved by one plow. . . . The state loses because without slavery owners would use more intelligence and industry in caring for the patrimony of the nation. . . . Our woods full of precious lumber . . . would not be destroyed by the murderous axe of the negro or by the davastating flames of ignorance. . . . Cochin China has no slaves . . . and yet produced enormous quantities of sugar in 1750 . . . without the necessity of destroying the forests and sterilizing the soil as unfortunately is occurring with us. . . . 1 From: Jose Bonifacio quoted in tbe Hispanic American Historical Review, November 1928. pp. 545, 546. 244 ^^^^ National Period I do not wish to see slavery abolished abruptly . . . such an event would bring great evil ... it is necessary first to make them worthy of freedom. . . . Make the negroes free and proud, give them incentives, pro- tect them, they will reproduce and become valuable citizens. Chapter Twenty-two CHILE 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE CHILEAN EARTHQUAKE (January 24, 1939) i THE earthquake occurred at 11 :35 p.m. on the night of January 24. We felt quite a severe shock in Santiago and its vicinity, but there was no loss of life or serious damage done in that city. The following morning, however, the news spread through the capital that a major disaster had occurred and immediately the energies of the entire country were mobilized. The part of the country affected is the section known as the granary of Chile — the rich farming district largely devoted to the growing of wheat. The section affected by the earthquake is roughly one half the size of the State of New York, and contains in addition to a large rural population many cities and towns well populated. Concepcion, the largest city of the district, is a town of about 80,000 persons and the principal port for the central section of the country. The town of Concepcion itself was badly damaged, about a quarter of the city being destroyed. But the town hardest hit in the section was Chilian, a city of some 40,000 to 50,000 people, only two or three buildings remaining standing. Virtually all towns in the area and even the isolated farm houses were damaged, and as I flew over the area last week, it was a grim spectacle to see the havoc wrought in a few brief seconds by the destructive forces of nature turned against the work it had taken man many years to accomplish. The Chilean Government, as soon as word was received, des- patched troops to the area and order was soon reestablished. One of the great obstacles to be overcome, however, was the lack of communication. The railway line was severely damaged and it was 1 From: Norman Armour quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, March 1939, pp. 172-174. GhiL 245 impossible to use it for several days; even roads were almost im- passable due to the earth's upheaval. So planes played an important part from the beginning. Immediately Panagra, the American air^ plane service between the United States and Chile and other South American countries, generously placed several of its planes at the disposal of the Chilean Government and their pilots have done splendid work in transporting the more seriously injured from Chilian and Concepcion to Santiago and other cities where hospitals are located. You will recall that the earthquake occurred on Tuesday night and it was just six days later on last Monday afternoon that two of our large American army planes arrived in Santiago from the Panama Canal Zone carrying supplies generously contributed by the American Red Cross : Anti-gangrene and anti-tetanus serums and other medical supplies urgently needed. I joined the planes on their arrival in Santiago, accompanied by a representative of the American Red Cross. Although they had been in the air since four o'clock that morning, our American officers pushed on to the stricken area. Two hours later, we were flying over the ruins of what had once been prosperous and peaceful towns. In Chilian, we found almost no buildings standing. Most of the streets were blocked with debris, and men were still working on the ruins trying to reach the many bodies buried beneath those masses of masonry. But it will be weeks before those blocks can be re- moved and in the meantime the danger of pestilence and disease is one that is giving great concern. As the earthquake occurred at night, many adults and virtually all of the children were in bed. But since the night was fine, others were in the streets and public squares. Also a special gala per- formance was being given in the town theater. Of the several hun- dred people at this performance, few are alive today. Great tumbled blocks of brick and concrete mark their common tomb. I walked over the ruins of this theater. The walls had collapsed and the roof fallen almost at once so that the majority of the people were killed outright. But for several hours, even days, cries and groans came from below and only the day before I was there, five days after the disaster, a man was dug out alive but delirious from his terrible experience. As we went from house to house, pathetic sights met our eyes. Men and women were still working among the ruins in search of relatives and friends or sitting grief stricken and helpless, gazing at the debris. One man I spoke with told me that he had left his house the night of the earthquake for a few minutes to see a friend. He was on his way back when suddenly the earth rocked beneath him. "And where is one to go, Seiior," he said, "when the earth beneath your feet gives way? I staggered on," he added; "all the 246 The National Period world seemed to crash about me. Finally somehow I reached my house, or the place where my house had once been but there was nothing there, only brick and plaster and my wife and three little ones beneath. We have found only two of them ; the others are still there," he said, pointing to the ruins. One of the saddest features of the disaster was the high mortality among the children. I was told that about 70 percent of the dead were children, which is explained by the fact that the earthquake occurred at 11:35, and practically all of them were in bed. The hospitals in Santiago, in preparing to receive the injured, expected in general to find the numbers about equally distributed among men, women and children. But a doctor told me that there were very few children among the injured who had been brought in. Most of them were either killed by those falling walls as they slept or, routed out by the earth's rocking, were laid low as they sought to escape the horror around them. Temporary shelters have been erected; in many cases merely a lean-to of twisted corrugated iron over the ruins of what had once been a house. In the squares tents and shelters have been put up and relief workers are distributing food and boiled water to those who remain. The water question in all of the towns is a serious one. Practically all water mains were broken and what water there is is apt to be contaminated ; so every precaution must be taken if epidemic and disease are to be avoided. That is where the supplies of disinfectant and serums which the American Red Cross has gen- erously furnished will be a great help. For the fight has only just begun. • I must here refer to the fine spirit of solidarity and cooperation shown by all countries, particularly in the Americas. A great na- tional disaster, a blow like this, to one of our sister republics shows how closely knit we are in this hemisphere of ours. Physical barriers — great mountains and tropical jungles — may separate us ; we may from time to time differ in our points of view, but let a tragedy like that which Chile has suffered come to one of us and all else is for- gotten save the desire to do all we can to be of assistance. From Argentina came two train loads of supplies and ambulances ; food and supplies from Brazil, a ship from Peru. All the "good neigh- bors" rushed to aid, wishing to do their part to help and show their sympathy. And towards none is Chile more grateful than to the people of the United States for the ready response they have shown and the sympathy they have demonstrated through the American Red Cross. I made my decision to fly to Washington on short notice, but in the brief time after my plans became known, I had many calls from Chilean friends asking me to be sure to tell all of you in the United Chile 247 States how deeply Chile appreciates what is being done. They feel that those planes from the north rushing more than five thousand miles carrying supplies of all kinds are the symbol, the personifica- tion of the friendship of the people of our country for the people of Chile. One of our neighbors is in need ; his house is in ruins ; many of his family are dead. What more natural than that we should pack up what supplies we feel he may require and take them over to him with a friendly word of sympathy in his hour of sorrow. For the need of Chile is great. It is difficult to give any very definite figures as yet. I have been asked several times the n-umber of the dead and injured. The figures given for the dead range from 8,000 to 15,000, but until those stones and blocks are removed, no one will really know. Many are missing, but some of these may in the first shock of catastrophe have rushed off to friends and relatives outside the earthquake area. As to the injured, the list of medical and other supplies which was sent to Washington shortly after the disaster was based upon a figure of 18,000 injured given me by the Red Cross Society of Chile. As to property damage, this is estimated anywhere from $30,000,000 to $50,000,000, while 80,000 persons are said to be homeless and destitute. 2. DESCRIPTION OF CHRISTMAS CEREMONIES IN CHILE (1943) CHRISTMAS in Chile is not exactly what we call a typical home feast. This is probably due to the fact that it comes in a month when the weather is too warm for indoor celebration, so that the people prefer to go out-of-doors. At this time, the summer flowers — roses, gardenias, and sweetpeas — together with evergreens from the Andes, may be seen in profusion in every flower market. We find, as a result, that among the wealthy in the cities, the family, after attending Midnight Mass together, separates, each going to his own festivity. On the fundos in the country, however, Christmas is still the traditional home and family feast. The owners of the fundos organize a celebration for all the workers, together with their families. Generally a Christmas tree is arranged in the garden, illuminated with lights and filled with toys for the children, and other presents for the grown-ups. In Chile, the meaning of Christ- mas is ever closely linked with the Christ Child. It is customary to arrange a stable out-of-doors, representing Bethlehem and the birth of the Child Jesus. The figures in the manger are portrayed 1 From: Luz Ossa Pretot quoted in The Inter-American Action Note-book (Immaculata College, Pennsylvania: December 1943), p. 2, 248 The National Period by the humble peasant folk who are dressed in a classic way, and the most virtuous girl of the farm is chosen to represent Our Lady. On the night of the twenty- fourth, a procession is held in which all the people of the farm take part. They sing hymns to the Christ Child as they walk along to the manger where they continue until midnight. At midnight the Misa del Gallo, Cockcrow Mass, takes place. The poor, as well as the rich, united by a common feeling, receive with ardent devotion the One Who many years ago came to suffer and die in order to redeem the world. In the cities, cribs are also erected in the churches. In addition to the customary figures of Mary, Joseph, and the Child, together with the animals, one may also see fluffy white dogs, tiny red trains, dolls, and toys of all descriptions. The Church wishes to bring to the minds of all that the Christ Child is the giver of all gifts, and that He on this His Day, brings presents to the poor. In the cities also, gifts and clothing are distributed to the poor by many charitable organizations. A Chilean Christmas is typically Catholic. CHAPTER Twenty-three COLOMBIA 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE LLANURA AND THE LLANERO OF COLOMBIA 1 THE vastness of it, Hke that of the ocean, inspires one with a sense of adventure ; the seduction of the unknown is felt ; there comes the urging of wanderlust. The loneliness, the silence, the strong wind blowing like a messenger from empty regions ; the melancholy remoteness of the interminable lines of trees, all evoke the emotions of a parting. ... As they say at Villavicencio, ''leagues and hours are long on the Llanura" ; an inhabitant of these lowlands, wishing to express distance, whether in lineal magnitude or in the time spent in covering it, adheres naturally to the conceptions of space to which he is accustomed. The immensity teaches him that leagues and hours are here but steps and seconds of time. . . . Man on the savanna is less than an ant ; a kilometer away his sombrero 1 From: Miguel Triana quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, November 1922, pp. 453, 455. Colombia 249 is visible; at two kilometers he has disappeared among the tall grass. . . . This illusion of magnitude results in diminishing the panorama, and hence much of the magnificence of the landscape is lost on the mind of the beholder. . . . The extent of the horizon intensifying his senses, the Llanero can distinguish at a considerable distance a cow from a bull and one head of cattle from another. The shouting of the deer hunters and their signals are understood by him from one end of a savanna to another. The perception of noises in this son of the Pampa is really marvelous ; he hears and distinguishes the tread of swine, the cooing of peafowls, the rustling of wild beasts in the distant woods. The uniformity of the landscape, the always horizontal line of the ground, the simple life he leads develop in him, by the law of con- trast, a mental imagery that reflects itself in metaphorical language, in fantastic superstition, and in tales of the impossible. The Llanero speaks with slow cadence, but his conversation is seductive and anecdotal. His stories are graphic and full of movement; in his narratives one sees the tiger stalking majestically across the plain, hears the noise of the rattlesnake, perceives the swift running of the deer. . . . The muse is deserting the Llanura with the colonization from the Cordillera. The popular poets, who improvised the galer- ones (folk songs of the Llanura) to the sound of the local fiddle and tambourine in the fandango dances, have already disappeared, but their verses still linger in the memory of the light-hearted Llaneros, themselves destined to disappear. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDIANS OF THE ANDES IN COLOMBIA (About 1860)i THE character of the mass of the Andine population (purely indigenous) is notable for patient labour, religious sentiment carried to the point of idolatry and the grossest superstition, lack of every truly artistic sentiment, love of a sedentary life, of immo- bility and routine, a humility full of timidity, dissimulated malice which somewhat tempers the relative stupidity of the muisca, a certain impassibility which makes him indifferent to all strong emo- tions, a great curiosity respecting purely material or exterior things, spirit of hospitality but slightly developed, and a patent incapacity to obey the impulse of Progress. . . . The Indian of the plateaux is wanting in enthusiasm and passion, but loves marriage and is faith- ful to his hearth and wife. Moreover, he loves his little bit of soil to servility and likes chicha to an excess which frequently leads him to drunkenness. He adores processions and mummeries and dis- plays much credulity for the marvellous. Weak in hand-to-hand 1 From: Jose Maria Samper quoted in Phanor James Eder, Colombia (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913), pp. 223-224. 250 The National Period struggle because his strength resides only in his neck, back, and legs, and without any dash in combat, he displays nevertheless an astounding endurance in carrying enormous weights and exhibits the stupid valour of passive obedience. He can neither run nor ride a horse, but walks days without feeling any fatigue, provided he is given chicha, and he travels horrible roads and paths laden with some huge case of stupendous volume and weighing 150 kilograms or more, supporting himself on a heavy cane, bowed double with the load but never exhausted nor weakening. As poor a hunter as he is a fighter, because he lacks initiative, daring, and agility, he nevertheless makes an excellent soldier of the line. True, he rarely advances, but he never retreats, and ever knows how to die at his post, to which he seems nailed alike in victory as in defeat. Fo^ the Indian of the Andine countryside, the ties of society are perilous, the schoolmaster is an incomprehensible myth, the alcalde a useless personage, the parish priest a demi-god, and the tax- collector little less than the pest or thunderbolt. His life is concen- trated upon his primitive hut and half acre of farm, and his great festival day that upon which he goes to the market-place, principally Bogota, to sell his fruit and vegetables, his chickens and eggs, car- ried in reed cages laden on his back and strapped to his forehead. The muisca Indian is neither quarrelsome nor communicative, neither revengeful nor obsequious. Selfish, timid, and distrustful, he avoids written agreements, hides himself on recruiting days and elections and when a census is being taken, and does ever\^thing possible to evade taxes. In short, the descendant of the miiiscas is a passive being, a kind of deaf-mute in the presence of European civilization, incapable of either good or bad, thanks to the sad state in which he has lived since the Conquest and to the inelasticity of his intellectual and moral faculties. While the men are generally cold, suspicious, and hypocritical, the women on the contrary often show themselves frank, kind, un- selfish, accessible to kind treatment, grateful, and good mothers. The women have no less endurance relatively than the men for long journeys and carrying hea\7 weights. Both sexes are fond of money for money's sake : they haggle impertinently and look with suspicion at all coin tendered them. It is but justice to recognize that all their defects are rather the consequence of vicious prior institutions and of the exploitation more or less crafty or violent to which these poor natives have been subjected by the priests, the large landed proprietors, and influential men of their small localities. These defects are also due to the absolute lack of elementary edu- cation in many rural districts. . . . Ecuador 251 Chapter Twenty-four ECUADOR 1. CONCORDAT BETWEEN THE PAPACY AND ECUADOR (September 26, 1862)1 September 26, 1862. IN THE name of the most holy and indivisible Trinity, His HoH- ness the Supreme Pontiff Pius IX and the President of the Re- public of Ecuador name as their respective plenipotentiaries. His Holiness, his eminence the Sig. Jacobo Antonelli, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Deacon of Santa Agata de Suburra and Secretary of State and Foreign Relations. And His Excellency the President of the Republic, the most excellent Sefior Don Ignacio Ordofiez, Archdeacon of the Cathedral Church of Cuenca in the same republic and Minister Plenipoten- tiary near the Holy See. Who, after having exchanged their respective plenary powers, agree on the following articles: Article 1. The Roman Catholic Apostolic religion will continue to be the only religion of the Republic of Ecuador, and it [the State] will always protect all the rights and prerogatives which it ought to enjoy according to the laws of God and canonical dis- positions. Consequently there will never be permitted in Ecuador a dissident cult or any society condemned by the Church. Article 2. In each one of the present dioceses, and in those which will be erected later, there will be a diocesan seminary whose direc- tion, regime, and administration belong freely and exclusively to the diocesan ordinaries according to the dispositions of the Council of Trent and of the canonical laws. Rectors, professors, and others employed in the instruction and direction of said establishments will be freely nominated and removed by the ordinaries. Article 3. The instruction of the youth in the Universities, col- leges, faculties, and public and private schools will in all things conform to the doctrine of the Catholic religion. The bishops will have the exclusive right to designate texts for instruction in ecclesi- astical sciences as well as in moral and religious instruction. In 1 From: British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. LII (1868), pp. 76Z-172. 252 The National Period addition the bishops and the ordinaries will exercise freely the right to prohibit books contrary to religion and good customs, and to see that the government adopts proper measures to prevent the impor- tation or dissemination of said books in the Republic. Article 4. The bishops, in accordance with the duties of their pastoral ministry, will take care that there shall be no instruction contrary to the Catholic religion and proper customs. With this aim no one can instruct in any public or private institution in the subjects of theology, catechism, or religious doctrine without hav- ing obtained the authorization of the diocesan prelate, who can revoke the permit if he deems it opportune. For the examinations [of teachers] in the primary institutions the diocesan will always name an assistant to examine in religious and moral instruction. He cannot assume the discharge of this duty without the consent of the said diocesan. Article 5. Since by divine ri^ht the primacy of honor and jur- isdiction in the Universal Church belongs to the Roman Pontiff, all bishops, as well as clergy and the faithful will have free com- munication with the Holy See. Consequently no secular authority can place obstacles in the way of the full and free exercise of this right of communication by obliging the bishops, clergy and people to submit to the government as an intermediary in their commu- nications with the Roman See, or by subjecting bulls, briefs, and rescripts to the exequatur of the govenment. Article 6. The ecclesiastical ordinaries of the Republic can gov- ern their dioceses with full liberty, convoke and celebrate provincial and diocesan councils, and exercise the ri,s:hts which belong to them by virtue of their sacred ministry and current canonical provisions approved by the Holy See, without being interfered with in the performance of their duties. Thus the government of Ecuador will dispense with its patronal power, and will assist the bishops when solicited, particularly when they are confronted with the evil works of those people who seek to pervert the spirit of the faithful and corrupt their customs. Article 7. Appeals to the civil power (recursos de fuersa) are abolished, and sentences pronounced bv the ordinary ecclesiastical judges can only be appealed to the superior ecclesiastical tribunals or to the Holy See, according to the discipline established by the brief Exposcit of the Supreme Pontiff Gregory XHI, and likewise by canonical prescriptions. Matrimonial causes in particular must conform to the prescriptions of the constitution Dei Miseratione of Pope Benedict XIV. . . . The ecclesiastical judges will pronounce their judgments, without submitting them to the prior opinion of the secular assessors, to whom nevertheless they can go for advice when they deem it opportune. The ecclesiastics who are lawyers can discharge the office of assessor in this kind of judgment. Ecuador 253 Article 8. All ecclesiastical causes and especially those relating to faith, the sacraments (which includes matrimonial causes), cus- toms, holy functions, sacred rights and duties whether by reason of persons or subject, excepting the major causes reserved for the Holy Pontiff . . . will be heard in the ecclesiastical tribunals. The same will be tried as civil causes of ecclesiastics, and other matters included in the penal code of the Republic will be tried as crimes. To all ecclesiastical judgments the civil authorities will lend aid and protection, so that the judges can enforce the execution of pen- alties and sentences pronounced by them. Article 9. The Holy See consents that persons as well as ecclesi- astical properties shall be subject to the public imposts on a par with persons and properties of other citizens. The civil authority should enter into an agreement with the ecclesiastical to obtain the corresponding authorization whenever coaction is necessary. Ex- cepted from said imposts are seminaries, properties and things immediately destined for the cult, and charitable institutions. Article 10. Out of respect for the majesty of God who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the immunity of churches will be respected in so far as public security and the exigencies of jus- tice permit. In such event the Holy See consents that the ecclesias- tical authority, the parish priests, and prelates of the regular houses, permit the extraction of refugees on the request of the civil authori- ties. Article IL Since the income from the tithes is devoted to the support of the divine cult and its ministers, the government of Ecuador is obliged to maintain Catholic instruction in the Republic, and His Holiness consents that the government continue to receive a third part of the tithes. For the collection and administration of the tithes the two authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, will enter into an agreement. Article 12. By virtue of the right of patronage which the Su- preme Pontiff concedes to the President of Ecuador, the latter can propose for archbishops and bishops clerics, qualified in the sense of the sacred canons. Thus, immediately after an episcopal vacancy appears, the archbishop will ask the other bishops for their votes for the filling of the vacancy; if the vacancy happens to be that of the archbishop, the senior bishop will order the votes, and will present a list of three candidates to the President who will select one of these, and will propose it to the Supreme Pontiff so that he might confer canonical institution in the form prescribed by the sacred canons. In case the bishops fail to make the presentation within six months, for any cause whatever, the President of Ecua- dor may do it himself, and if he does not act within three months, the right of election is reserved to the Holy See, just as if it had been solicited. To facilitate this action, the government, or the 254 ^^^^ National Period ecclesiastical authority in the event of its failure to act, will notify His Holiness immediately after the designated time has elapsed. But those proposed cannot under any circumstance enter upon the performance of their duties and the administration of churches, without first receiving the bulls of canonical institution. In the erection of new bishoprics the President of the Republic will pro- pose directly for the first time the new bishops to the Holy See. Article 13. In the same manner His Holiness concedes to the President of the Republic the right of naming qualified ecclesiastics for prebends, dignities, and canons. . . . Article 14. Regarding the provision of parochial benefices, the ordinaries, complying with the prescriptions of the Holy Council of Trent, will send to the government a list of qualified ecclesiastics upon whom the parish can be conferred; and the President will directly by himself, or by means of his delegates in the provinces, elect one of them. ... If it is necessary to make territorial divisions in the parishes this can be done in agreement with the ordinary and the local civil authority. Article 15. When a vacancy occurs in an episcopal church the chapter will freely elect the capitular vicar in the time and form prescribed by the Council of Trent. . . . Article 16. The Holy See, in the exercise of its proper jurisdic- tion, will erect new dioceses and will establish new limits in those now in existence. Considering the too vast extent of the present dioceses in the Republic, as soon as this concordat is ratified, there will be conceded to a special delegate the necessary powers to pro- ceed with the aid of the government and the respective bishops to the territorial delimitation of the dioceses that can be conveniently established, and to fix the grants and income of the church, bishops, chapters, and seminary. Article 17. The executive decree of May 28, 1836, concerning the redemption of mortgages held in favor of pious causes remains abolished in Ecuador. The Holy See, in view of the benefits derived from the present concordat, and desirous of providing for the pub- lic tranquility, in order to remedy the evils caused by the transfer of the mortgages held by the Ecuadorean Church to the national treasury, accedes to the reiterated requests of the President ; and hereby decrees and declares that those who, from the year 1836 until the present promoted such transfer, as well as the possessors of the said redeemed funds and those who by any means acquired possession of same, will not be subjected at any time or in any manner, to the slightest molestation on the part of His Holiness or of the Roman Pontiflfs his successors. Article 18. Regarding the obligations contracted by the govern- ment with its creditors on account of the transferred mortgages, the Holy See consents that by paying a tenth part to the treasury, both Ecuador 255 of the transferred capital, as well as of the suppressed rents, the government can be free of all responsibility. As security for the payment of this amount, the government assigns a fourth part of the third which it derives from the tithes, which will be put in the hands of the ordinaries so that they may be divided by them in pro- portional parts in favor of their legitimate creditors, taking care that the principal will be capitalized in a secure and profitable manner. ... Article 19. The Church will enjoy the right to acquire property freely and by any just title, and the properties now in its possession or acquired later, will be guaranteed by law. The administration of ecclesiastical properties belongs to the persons designated by the sacred canons, who alone will examine the accounts and economic regulations. The property of ecclesiastical foundations of any kind, such as hospitals and other charitable institutions, which are not administered by the ecclesiastical authority, will be transferred to it, so that it can immediately make the proper investments. Regard- ing the old and new ecclesiastical foundations, none can be sup- pressed or combined without the intervention of the authority of the Holy See, excepting the right which belongs to the bishops according to the Holy Council of Trent. Article 20. In addition to the orders and religious congregations which now exist in the Republic of Ecuador, the diocesan ordinaries can freely and without exception admit and establish in their re- spective dioceses new orders or institutes approved by the Church in conformity with the necessities of the people. To facilitate this the government will lend its aid. Article 21. After the divine offices in all the churches of the Republic of Ecuador, the following prayer will be said: Domine salvam fac Rempiihlicam ; Domine salvam fac Praesidium ejus. Article 22. The government of the Republic of Ecuador is obli- gated to employ all proper measures for the propagation of the faith and for the conversion of people found in that territory ; and in addition, to lend all favor and aid to the establishment and prog- ress of the holy missions, which with laudable purpose, have been undertaken under the authority of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda. Article 23. All other things which pertain to ecclesiastical per- sons and things, and concerning which nothing is provided in the articles of the present concordat, will be directed and administered according to the present canonical discipline of the Church, ap- proved by the Holy See. Article 24. By virtue of this concordat all contrary laws and de- crees published up to the present in any manner and form in Ecua- dor are revoked ; and the same concordat ought always to be con- sidered as a law of the State. Therefore, each one of the contracting 256 The National Period parties promises for himself, and for his successors, the faithful observance of all and each one of the articles which it contains. If any difficulty arises at a future date, the Holy Father and the President of Ecuador agree to settle it in an amicable manner. Article 25. The ratification of the present concordat will take place within a year, or sooner if possible. In pledge of which the undersigned plenepotentiaries signs and seal the present convention with their respective seals. Given in Rome on September 26 ,1862. Jacobus Cardinal Antonelli. Ignacio Ordofiez. Chapter Twenty-five 1. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY (November 26, 1842)i IN THIS city of Asuncion, in the Republic of Paraguay, on the 26th of November, 1842, there being united in general extra- ordinary Congress, by special convocation of the Consuls who legally form the supreme Government, citizens Carlos Antonio Lopez and Mariano Roque Alonzo, 400 deputies ; in the exercise of the powers we hold, in the fulfilment of our duty, and with the con- stant and decided wishes of our fellow citizens, and with those which inspire us in this act Considering : That our emancipation and independence, during the period of more than 30 years, is a solemn and incontestable fact ; That during this lengthened period aiid ever since the Republic of Paraguay separated herself by her own efforts, from the Spanish metropolis forever, she likewise separated herself de facto from eveiy foreign Power, desirous ever since with one will to belong to herself alone and to form as she has formed a free and inde- pendent nation under the Republican system, and that no motive whatever shall appear to contradict this explicit declaration ; That this right inherent to every free State has been recognized to other provinces of South America by the Argentine Republic, 1 From: British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. XXXIV (1860), pp. 1320-1321. Paraguay 257 and it does not appear just to suppose that it would be denied to Paraguay where, besides the just titles on which she founds her right, nature has lavished her gifts with prodigality to render her a powerful nation, populous, and fertile in resources in every branch of industry and commerce ; That so many previous suiTerings and privations consecrated with resignation to the independence of our Republic and to save our- selves from the abyss of civil war, are also strong proofs of the indubitable general will of the people of the Republic for its eman- cipation and independence from every foreign Powerand dominion; That in accordance with these principles and tlie general desire of the Republic, that nothing may be wanting in the fundamental basis of our political existence, confiding in Divine Providence, we solemnly declare: Istly. The Republic of Paraguay, in the La Plata, is for ever in fact and in right a nation free and independent of every foreign Power. 2ndly. Never at any time shall it be the patrimony of a person or of a family. 3rdly. Henceforward the Government that shall be called to preside over the destinies of the nation shall be sworn in presence of the Congress to defend and preserve the integrity and independ- ence of the territory of the Republic, without which they shall not take command. The existing Government to be excepted as hav- ing taken the oath at their installation. 4thly. The military, civil, and ecclesiastical employes shall be sworn to the tenor of this declaration immediately on its publi- cation. 5thly. No citizen can hereafter fill any public office until he shall have taken the oath prescribed in the preceding Article. 6thly. The Supreme Government shall communicate officially this solemn declaration to the surrounding Governments and to that of the Argentine Confederation, and shall give account to the sov- ereign Congress of the results. 7thly. That this be communicated to the Executive Power of the Republic in order to its being published throughout the territory of the Republic with all possible solemnity and to its being duly ful- filled. Done in the Hall of Congress, signed with our hand and counter- signed by our Secretary. Carlos Antonio Lopez. Mariano Roque Alonzo. Benito Martinez Varela, Secretary. 258 The National Period 2. EARLY LIFE OF CARLOS ANTONIO LOPEZ (Before 1842) 1 THE first Consul, Don Carlos Antonio Lopez, is a rich landed proprietor. He received in his youth, at the College of Assump- tion, such education as during the first years of this century could be met with in the American colleges. When his studies were con- cluded, he gave lessons in theology at the same college, and was installed in a chair of, what at that time was termed, philosophy. He afterwards devoted himself particularly to the study of juris- prudence, and to the profession of an advocate, and exercised it, according to general report, with zeal, impartiality, and disinter- estedness, which acquired him credit, friends, and a select number of clients. When it became dangerous, under the tyranny of the Dictator, to exercise a profession so independent as that of advocate, M. Lopez retired to his estate, forty leagues from Assumption, and gave himself up entirely to agriculture, and to the perusal of the few books which he had been able to procure. He very rarely went to the capital, and then only for a few days. His retired life, the description of seclusion to which he had condemned himself, provi-. dentially saved him from the distrust and terrors of the Dictator, and from imprisonment or death, which were their usual conse- quences. M. Lopez has never quitted his country, and previously he had not taken the smallest share in public affairs. He was unable to make acquaintance with the excellent works published on numerous branches of public administration and political economy, or to ob- tain the least intelligence of the events which had occurred in Europe and America during the preceding twenty years, for the Dictator persecuted, with more rigour than the Inquisition itself, men of learning and their books, and neither one nor the other had been able to penetrate Paraguay. Nevertheless, the acts and writings of M. Lopez have shown that he was no stranger to sound doctrines of administration, and that he had meditated in his retreat on the situation of his country, its necessities, the evils it suffered and their causes, as well as on the remedies which it would be possible to apply to them. Such qualities would naturally acquire for him an ascendancy and preponderance in the management of affairs ; and, thus acquired, he has exercised them discreetly and vigorously. 3. PEOPLE AND SOCIETY IN ASUNCION (About 1850) 2 IT IS curious, to see some of the countrymen of the better sort coming into town on horseback, with no shoes or stockings, the long fringe of their calzoncillos dangling about their bare legs, and 1 From: William Hadfield quoted in W. H. Koebel, Paraguay (New York: Charles Scrlb- ner's Sons, 1916), p. 336. 2 From: C. B. Mansfield quoted in W. H. Koebel, Paraguay, (New York: Charles Scrib- ner's Sons, 1916), pp. 214-216. Paraguay 259 their toes stuck in massive silver stirrups, silver also decorating their bridles and headstalls with a considerable weight of metal. But the market itself, as 1 said, is a very pretiy sight, being crowded all the week round, Sundays included, with women in white (as snow) cotton dresses, their petticoats flounced with lace, coarse or fine according to the wearer, about a fool deep, and above the flounce a broad band of embroidery in black wool like that of the chemise, not to speak of the scarlet girdle; with here and there a man, equally in white, but with a scarlet or blue poncho slung over one shoulder, . . . The more I see of these simple people the more I like them : there are three or four families whom, though I have only known them a month, I should be sorry to see for the last time, if I were going away tomorrow. The artlessness of the young ladies is particu- larly pleasing; of course, they are utterly devoid of education, be- yond reading and writing. An elderly lady of one of the best families asked me confidentially the other day whether people went by land or by sea from Buenos Aires to the United States, displaying an amount of ignorance of the state of the country in their own vicinity which perhaps you will not at once appreciate. The ladies are al- ways visible from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., except between twelve and three; in the morning one commonly has to wait a little while till they are dressed ; in the evening they generally sit in state to receive visitors in the patios of their houses, or on the causeway in the street, under the corridor : their morning dress is about the style of an English housemaid on a workday, and that for the evening like ditto on Sunday ; their ball and holiday costumes about the same as that of an English lady of the sensible sort. One or two families, who are a little ahead of their neighbours in following the estilo de abajo (the 'style of below' — down the river, which includes Buenos Aires and all the rest of the world), I suspect have even introduced stays. A great deal of my time is consumed in visiting. The oftener you come to see any family the better they are pleased, and no length of time is too long for one to stay. . . . The Guarani forms a never- failing source of talk and fun ; for I make them tell me words, and when they have repeated them a sufficient number of times for me to be satisfied of the phonetics I write them down. . . . 4. DESCRIPTION OF FRANCISCO SOLANO L6PEZ 1 IN PERSON he was short and stout ; he dressed with great care and precision, and endeavored to give himself a smart and natty appearance. His hands and feet were very small, indicating his Ind- From: Charles A. Washburn quoted in Julian Hawthorne. Spanish America (Ne^y York: Peter Feneloti Collier, 1899), pp, 439-44L 260 The National Period ian origin. His complexion was dark, and gave evidence of a strong taint of Guarany blood. He also had many of the tastes peculiar to the savage. Before going to Europe, he dressed grotesquely, but his costume was always expensive and elaborately finished. He wore enormous silver spurs, such as would have been the envy of a Gaucho, and the trappings of his horse were so completely covered with silver as almost to form a coat of mail. After his return from abroad, he adopted a more civilized costume, but always indulged in georgeous display of gold lace and bright buttons. He conversed with fluency and had a good command of language, and when in good humor his manners were courteous and agreeable. His eyes, when he was pleased, had a mild and amiable expression ; but when he was enraged the pupil seemed to dilate till it included the whole iris, and the eye did not appear to be that of a human being, but rather of a wild beast goaded to madness. He had however a gross animal look that was repulsive when his face was in repose. His forehead was narrow and his head small, with the rear organs largely developed. He was an inveterate smoker of the strongest Paraguayan cigars. His face was rather flat, and his nose and hair indicated more of the negro than of the Indian. His cheeks had a fulness that extended to the jowl, giving him a sort of bulldog ex- pression. In his later years he grew enormously fat, so much so that few would believe that a photograph of his figure was not a caricature. He was very irregular in his hours of eating, but when he did eat, the quantity he consumed was enormous. His drinking was in keeping with his eating; he always kept a large stock of foreign wines, liquors and ale, but he had little discrimination in the use of them. Though he habitually drank largely, yet he often exceeded his own large limits, and on such occasions he was liable to break out in the most furious abuse of all who were about him. He would then indulge in the most revolting obscenity, and would sometimes give orders for the most barbarous acts. When he had recovered from these debauches he would stay the execution of his orders, if they had not already been enforced. . . . The cowardly nature of Lopez was so apparent that he scarcely took pains to con- ceal it. He never exposed himself to the least danger when he could possibly avoid it. He usually had his headquarters so far in the rear that a shot from an enemy could never reach him. He had another house built close adjoining the one in which he lived, sur- rounded on all sides with walls of earth at least twenty feet thick, and with a roof of the same material. While all was still alonp- the enemy's lines Lopez would bravely remain in the adjoining house; but so surely as any firing was heard in the direction of the enemy's nearest batteries, he would instantly saunter out in feigned care- lessness, trying hard to disguise his fear, and slink into his hole, and not show his face again outside until the firing had ceased. At the Paraguay 261 very time he was thus hid away from danger, he had his correspond- ents around him, writing the most extravagant articles in praise of his valor, his sacrifices, and his generalship ; and declaring that the people of Paraguay could never pay the debt they owed him, who, while they were living in security and abundance, was daily leading his legions to battle. 5. MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF PARAGUAY AT THE OPENING OF CONGRESS (March 5, 1865)i Very Honourable Representatives of the Nation: T FEEL the liveliest satisfaction in seeing you assembled in this -*- august place on an occasion so vital to the country. The public good, and grave matters to be laid before you, induced me to exercise the Law of 13th March, 1844, by calling you for extraordinary session, that your patriotism and wisdom may advise how to guide the Government, and your authority lend that strength which is expected by the nation. Since you entrusted to me the destinies of the Republic, one of my most constant studies has been to preserve friendly relations with foreign Powers, which still exist in a cordial manner with all except Brazil and the Argentine Republic. The Imperial Government, following an unwise and lamentable policy, has driven us to a recourse to arms, which neither our mod- eration nor efforts for peace have been able to avert. The Argentine Government, to which we have ever shown exuberant testimony of sincere friendship, has also created an uneasy feeling by an inter- change of notes in which that Government, far from reciprocating our loyalty and good faith, has thought fit to elude the amicable explanations demanded. A momentary difficulty also arose with the Republic of Uruguay, but that Government giving due satisfaction our friendly relations were renewed. The cause of our rupture with Brazil and coolness with the Ar- gentine Republic is owing to the sanguinary events of Uruguay, and the threatened violation of equilibrium in the River Plate. These two Powers, which guaranteed the independence of Monte Video, are now its assailants, and Brazil, after concluding a solemn Treaty in 1850 for the maintenance of existing nationalities in this part of South America, allies itself with the rebel band which started from Buenos Ayres, and is still supported by the Revolu- tionary Committee of that city, and which now devastates the Republic of Uruguay. Paraguay, although secure in its own importance and strength, could not overlook the question of equilibrium in the River Plate, 1 From: Francisco Solano Lopez in British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. LXVI (1882), pp. 1253-1256. (A translation.) 262 The National Period or view current events with indifference ; we did our best to avoid calamities by soliciting amicable explanations from the Argentine Government in the Oriental question, and offering our mediation to Brazil to bring about a peaceable arrangement with Monte Video when that country was menaced by the land and sea forces of the Empire. It was, however, impossible to prevent bloodshed, for Brazil re- jected our mediation, and declared that its questions of grievances for the last 12 years must be confided to the army and navy to make "reprisals," and under this name is carried on the war which now afiflicts Uruguay. So serious a resolution was not communicated to this Government, whose friendly offer of mediation was disregarded. Until then the Paraguayan Government hoped that the Emperor would adopt wiser counsels, and offer honourable explanations to quell the serious fears about a rupture of equilibrium in the River Plate which was the basis of law and order in these countries. This hope was notified to the Imperial Government, but proved in vain, and Brazil openly proceeded to the occupation and conquest of the Banda Oriental. The national honour and dignity being thus outraged, and the security and integrity of the Republic compromised, the Govern- ment saw itself in the imperious necessity of accepting war with Brazil in the maintenance of its own vital interests, and in order to avenge the national honour so often slighted by the Empire. Military and political reasons, as well as the safety of our frontier, urged the Government to occupy a part of Matto Grosso which Brazil had usurped, although belonging to the Republic by virtue of discovery, possession, and Treaties, and collected their great military resources to prepare new inroads on Paraguay. The Government ordered the occupation of those territories, and our military expeditions have had occasion to confer fresh glory on our arms and give proof of their valour and discipline. It was necessary to repel in this manner the aggression of Brazil, and in this the Government was encouraged by the decision of the Council of State and the public manifestations of the people. Foreseeing that a conflict might occur with Brazil on our eastern frontier, and in order to prevent any misunderstanding with the Argentine Government, and show still further proofs of respect for that nation, my Government, laying aside all motives of resentment, solicited permission from the Argentine Cabinet to cross the terri- tory of Corrientes when events might oblige. But the latter not only refuses this permission, and aids Brazil by allowing her free passage by water for her army and navy, but prohibits our crossing the national territory of Misiones del Parana, calling moreover, for urgent explanations about the presence and purpose of our forces in that quarter. Peru 263 The situation of the countiy required the adoption of means for its defence; and the army of the hne has been considerably aug- mented by a general call to arms, which the citizens answered with enthusiasm, enrolling themselves in the ranks. The Government now solicits your sovereign approbation and advice how to act in so grave an emergency. . . . Francisco S. Lopez. Chapter Twenty- six PERU 1. HOW AGUSTO B. LEGUfA WAS REMOVED FROM THE PRESIDENCY OF PERU (August 25, 1930)i THE night was Ethiopian. You could have cut it with a knife, and, except for the lapping of the waves against the ship, as quiet as a morgue. I had come aboard at 11 o'clock. Early in the evening I had called at the presidential palace in Lima, and they had told me of the defection in the garrison at Arequipa. No doubt that the situa- tion was well in hand, though. Anyhow, the strong man was at the helm. Many a disturbance such as this had been put down in the 11 years of Leguia's regime. 'The Roosevelt of South America" knew his Peruvians ! So to sleep. A knock at my door. A message from the President ? Strange, I thought. Surprising when I read it. I leaped into my uniform, sent orders to all the officers, dispatched a launch and waited. Finally the chug of the motor and the return of the launch. Up the ladder came the diminutive figure of a very old man. The crew stood at attention. Officers saluted. The President was aboard ! Rumors spread. Nobody knew what it was all about. The Presi- dent had said nothing. Was he still the President? And what was his mission on board a warship in the small hours of the morning ? There was a hurried conference of officers. Each contributed the rumors he had collected and offered his suggestions. Finally we invited his excellency to tell us the state of affairs. Haggard and nervous he came before us, a group of officers of the Peruvian Navy, at 4:30 in the morning, and told us of the dramatic incidents of the last few hours — a haggard and nervous 1 From: A Peruvian Naval Officer quoted by Edward Tomlingot! in the Washington Eve- nivfg Star, November 30, 19^0* 264 The National Period old man, who until recently had been the most powerful figure of the Andean republics. His cabinet had been forced to resign. A group of army officers had urged a military cabinet in its place. Yielding, he appointed one and went to bed. Shortly they called him to his office and demanded changes. Inviting their suggestions, he appointed another and started to swear it in. Some one objected. The colonel at Arequipa, Sanchez Cerro, who had started the revolt in the army, should be in the cabinet. The President acceded. But there were further objections on the grounds that some of the appointees were not present, notably the colonel from Arequipa. Several spoke in a disrespectful manner, some were even intoxicated. Suddenly a lieu- tenant pushed his way in and with revolver drawn demanded the immediate resignation of the Chief Executive. The entire group then flopped and joined in the demand. The resignation was penned and the President fled to the cruiser Almirante Grau. "But," said the President, ''only the Congress has the right to accept my resignation. Until Congress meets and accepts it in the constitutional way, I am President of Peru !" And there was a momentary spark of the old Leguia. The group snapped to atten- tion and saluted. The President returned the salute and went back to his quarters. Immediately he sent for me, and there, as the first streak of dawn crept over the mountains, he complained that he was tired. He looked it — not only tired, but broken. His hands twitched. His eyes were sunken and blood-shot. What should he do? Imagine the Leguia of other days asking such a question — the Leguia who more than once had defied mobs and resisted assassins. The power of decision was gone. Nearly 80 years of a vigorous and eventful life had exacted their toll. The na\y would have stood by him. He could have held the chief seaport and the key to the capital. One word and he would have been master of the situation and maybe still master of Peru. But the final punch was lacking. One word and the ship could have pro- ceeded to a foreign port. But no word ! Later the old man confessed he did not know what to do. He couldn't go away, for he hadn't a penny to his name. Besides, he wanted to leave Peru in the hands of a constitutional government. Later in the day orders came from the military junta w^hich had taken over affairs at Lima, ordering the ship to proceed with the former President to Panama. An hour later the colonel at Arequipa ordered it back. He did not recognize this group of senile and fat old generals. And Leguia came back, to be sent in disgrace first to the bleak island of San Lorenzo and later to the historic old prison in Lima, there to await the fate that has overtaken many another man in the stormy career of Peru, and, curiously enough, the fate Peru 265 he himself has meted out to scores of his enemies. And in his own words, "another period in Peruvian history is closed." 2. PROBLEMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE INDIANS IN PERU (1920)1 THE race-question must be solved in Peru, if that country is to progress as it should. Raising the cultural level of the Indian will not do so, but rather will give rise to a series of vindictive struggles like those in Mexico. Great immigration of foreigners followed by a general mixing of blood will nat do anything toward achieving a final solution of the problem. Still less can the desired end be gained by a total annihilation of the Indian, for he is a necessary factor in the economic development of the country. The solution is not a one-sided matter. In large measure it re- volves upon the legal points involved. The life of the Indian unrolls itself through a series of problems relating to the stability of his communal or individual property, to his salary as a laborer or as a worker on a landed estate, and to his relations with antagonistic social classes which surround him and perturb his natural con- servatism. The present laws of Peru, and the minor officials who execute them, far from affording to the Indian the protection he requires, constitute a veritable safeguard to those who desire to exploit and victimize him. The condition of the Indian has changed Httle if any since the colonial period. He still occupies the lowest place in the social scale. His intellectual activity is very light. Passion dominates thought- fulness, though his physical activity controls his passion to some extent. These factors cooperate with his utter isolation from the classes which benefit by the laws to make him excessively conserva- tive and shy. Today the lot of the Indian hardly differs from that of colonial times. If there is no mita and no encomienda, if there are today no exactions by Indian curacas, there are the demands made by gov- ernors, sub-prefects, judges, and other officials and there are such irritating things as labor on the large estates, military conscription, the enganche (deceiving and unfair contracts to labor which the Indian is tricked into signing), contracts which, deceitfully worded, tend to do away with Indian property entirely. For the rest, his huts, his hygiene, and his physical surroundings remain in the same state as that in which the Spaniards left them. 1 From: Jose A, Encinas and Philip Ainsworth Means quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Reznew, November 1920, pp. 529-531. 266 The National Period This social inferiority of the Indian, united with the individual- ism distinctive of Peruvian laws, shows clearly the need of reforms calculated to meet his needs. The reforms should be motivated by a conception of the Indian's social disabilities and not by any idea of the anthropological inferiority of his race. The Indian suffers from a series of social factors which cause the inferiority of his race's position. He has a clear and fixed idea of what justice is, and he is at his best when fighting for his rights. But the present laws afford him very little chance to see his concept of justice realized. He has, on the contrary, but a vague idea of nationality, patriotism, and so on. He hates forced military service. He has very little racial spirit. Any change of work which causes him to move to new surroundings and to live after the manner of some other race, is sufficient to make his own people and his former habits seem odious to him. If the social situation itself of the Indian were such that he enjoyed full legal guarantees, that he had the means for increasing his ways of gaining a livelihood, and that his labors were justly paid for, he would find no cause for finding his own people and his own old home adverse to his new conceptions of what life is. But a show of superior force attracts the Indian and subjects him, more through fear than through convincing him that he will be better off so. He prefers, ofttimes, to be a tenant on a large landed estate to being a comunero in some Indian community where he is a free man and a land-holder. He renounces his property in favor of some land-magnate in order to protect himself from other land-magnates. For his own livelihood, the products of his small truck garden (chacra or chacara) suffice. He is in constant fear of vagabondage, the prison and want, so he turns over his little farm to the great estate, and he has little to do with the comuneros from whom he sprang through fear of suffering the same fate as they. No memory of the ancient greatness of his race lingers in his mind to alleviate his wretchedness. Thus, a strong potential force for creating a healthy racial pride is lost. Nor has he any conception of an immaterial God. His religious ideas are a jumble of surviving animistic elements combined with the outward practices of Catholicism wherein the saints, or rather their effigies, are conceived of as the gods who are destined to avenge his wrongs and these patron saints of the tribes are merely a new form of tribal token. The Indian's only bond is that to the soil, and the soil is too often the cause of lawsuits and the object of strife with landlords. The latter frequently foment trouble, knowing well that the land of orphans and of the worsted will fall to their hands. Uruguay ' 267 Chapter T'wenty-seven URUGUAY • 1. DESCRIPTION OF A URUGUAYAN ESTANCIA (About 1910)1 SOME of the largest and most imposing of the Uruguayan es- tancias are situated in the western districts of the RepubHc. Many of these, such as the Bichadero, Ombu, and others, are owned by the Lemco Company, and constitute most imposing estates, stocked by pedigree cattle. The San Juan estancia is situated in the neighborhood of Colonia, and, under the able management of Mr. J. Booth, affords one of the best possible examples of an estate whose lands have been aptly utilised to serve various purposes. The estancia is noted in the first place for the quality of its live stock — and with no little reason, since it harbours over a thousand head of pedigree shorthorn and Hereford cattle. But the energies of the San Juan estancia are not confined to the raising of cattle and the production of maize. Viticulture is a mat- ter of great importance here, for the place enjoys a great repute for the quality of its wine. Its vineyards, as a matter of fact, repose on a siibsoil of iron-stone rocks, which lends a particularly pleasant flavour to the vintages. In addition to the great vineyards that spread themselves over portions of the estate, the cellars of its bodega are well worth a visit. The building is specially constructed for the purpose, and contains air-spaces between the inner and outer walls, thus rendering the interior to all intents and purposes damp-proof. The cellars contain forty-two large casks, each with a capacity for holding 3,600 litres, and, beyond these, twelve giant specimens, in each of which eight thousand litres of wine may be stored. The extent of the vineyards on the place is thirty hectares, and from this area an average 250,000 litres of wine are produced annually. Thus it will be seen that the vineyard industry of San Juan is of no mean importance. Among the other branches of general industry in which San Juan is interested is that of stone-quarries, the quality and extent of the 1 From: W. H. Koebel, Uruguay (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911), pp. 248-249. 268 The National Period deposits here being considerable. A large bee-farm is also attached to the place. In addition to this comprehensive programme there are, of course, the ordinary side-issues of estancia production in the way of both live stock and agriculture. Among the horses bred are not a few racers of pedigree stock that have given a good account of themselves in the neighbourhood and elsewhere. The estancia-house of San Juan is delightfully situated amidst orange, wattle, and paraiso trees, from whose trunks and branches hang festoons of airplants and masses of yellow orchids. From the picturesque, shaded building itself the view embraces miles of un- dulating country on all sides, with a few distant peeps of the waters of the River Plate to the south-west. It would be difficult to con- ceive a pleasanter or a better managed spot. Such estancias as these, of course, represent the cream of the land, and Uruguayan "camp" life must not be judged as a whole by such particularly favourable examples. 2. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN URUGUAY (1912-1937)1 TN 1912, through the efforts of Sefior Batlle y Ordonez and Dr. -■- Juan Blengio Rocca, Minister of Education, a new and important impetus was given in Uruguay to secondary education. Eighteen secondary schools, to be established in all the Departmental capitals having a sufficient school population, were created by a special law. At that time there was but one public secondary school in the whole Republic, an institution connected with the University of Monte- video, and only a few private institutes, including the Institute Politecnico of Salto, founded in 1873. Montevideo now has eight public coeducational secondary schools — six with day and two with night classes, founded in 1920 — as well as the "Women's University," an institution with 1.500 stu- dents. Furthermore, the Alfredo Vazquez Acevedo Institute, the school for girls, and the evening school offer fifth and sixth year university preparatory courses. There are also in Montevideo sixteen private institutions ap- proved by the Government which have the same standing as public secondary schools. After Montevideo and the Departmental capitals had been pro- vided for, other high schools, including three approved private schools, were established in cities having a large school population. In 1936 Montevideo had 7,000 students enrolled in secondary 1 From: Jose Pereira Redriguez, Inspector of Secondary Education, quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, December 1937, pp. 896-901. Uruguay 269 schools, besides more than 2,000 taking preparatory courses. The enrollment in the rest of Uruguay was over 6,000. About 500 addi- tional students are availing themselves of the preparatory courses offered in Salto, Paysandii, and Mercedes. II The secondary school system has been gradually improved. The original lavi^ of January 5, 1912, provided for regular inspection, but this part of the act was indifferently observed until the new and competent Inspection Bureau for Secondary Education began to function in 1930. Small groups of untrained inspectors, who were lacking in centralized organization and uniform methods and failed to apply educational principles, were then replaced by a corps of inspectors with long experience as high school principals or teachers. The progressive measures taken by public and recognized private high schools have had a definite influence throughout the Republic. The extension of education, on a democratic basis, has been most effective. The student body — 1,100 in 1912 — numbered 15,000 by 1936, the enrollment showing a steady increase from year to year, larger proportionately than the rise in population, from 1,400.000 to 2,100,000. This can be explained by the fact that the high schools, as legally constituted, are cultural centers, both a continuation of primary education and a preparation for more advanced studies. Moreover, public secondary education is completely free ; a law of January 18, 1916, exempted all students from matriculation and examination fees, and a later decree provided for loans of textbooks The greater secondary school enrollment brought about a cor- responding increase in the number of teachers from a bare 100 to over 1,200. More than 2,000,000 pesos in the national budget are allotted annually to the salaries of teachers and administrators. Ill From 1912 on, every Minister of Education and every Dean of Secondary and Preparatory Education tried, without success, to modify or make fundamental changes in the existing courses of study and in educational administration. Each attempt, however, was attacked by university and political factions. Nobody was sat- isfied, though all, privately, desired a radical change. At a memorable session held by the Committee for Improving Secondary Education July 10-17, 1922, Dr. Carlos Vaz Ferreira presented a verbal report, and with impressive and irrefutable argu- ments called for a change from "the horrible confusion which we have at present," referring to the 1912 and 1917 courses of study. Yet a long interval followed with minor changes in administration only, rather than in educational practice. 270 The National Period In 1932 a new plan, prepared under Dean Jose Pedro Segundo, was launched and put into operation. But its benefits could not be fully realized, for the measure, directed toward definite cultural aims, was subjected to later modifications demanded by the exigen- cies of the moment. The constitutional organization of the Republic was radically changed by the political events of March 31, 1933. The new Minis- ter of Education, Dr. Horacio Abadie Santos, was a former mem- ber of the Council for Secondary and Preparatory Education. Dr. Abadie Santos, in the face of political and university opposition, secured the enactment of a law of March 2, 1934, which reorgan- ized th^ University on a basis of autonomy for the first time in its 85 years of existence. . . . Dr. Martin R. Etchegoyen (now Minister of Public Works) then became Minister of Education; he was a devoted secondary school teacher, a University authority of established reputation, and a conscientious worker in the field of education. It was inevitable that Dr. Etchegoyen should openly proclaim his intention of re- forming secondary education. The Minister began by seeking expert advice and requesting the cooperation of all teachers whose ability and experience would be of value. Political feeling still ran high, and educational reform suffered in consequence. Finally the ad- visory committees, after lengthy meetings and deliberations, re- ported to the Minister, who presented a bill embodying their conclusions to Congress. The measure was hotly attacked and as ardently defended. The controversy took on a political tone, but finally, on December 9, 1935, the law was passed. On the 11th it was signed by President Terra in the presence of both houses, and on the 15th the regulations for its immediate enforcement were approved. The present law completely reforms secondary education, both in administration and in educational practices, as described below. IV The Section of Secondary and University Preparatory Educa- tion, formerly a part of the University, has been made an inde- pendent body known as "Secondary Education." The administration of this new entity has been entrusted to the National Council for Secondary Education, which is composed of the following : one representative of the Central University Council (which has charge of higher education) ; one representative of the National Council of Primary and Normal Education; one repre- sentative of the Superior Council of Industrial Education; and three members, elected by direct, compulsory, secret ballot by the high school instructors throughout the country. Uruguay 271 The presiding officer of the National Council for Secondary Edu- cation is a Director General — who also acts as Chief of the Sec- ondary Education Administration — nominated by the Council and appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate. The Director General and all members of the Council hold office for four years and may be reelected only once. The law now in force entrusted to the National Council for Sec- ondary Education two tasks, to be completed within a year after it started functioning: to draft a new curriculum, and to submit a Teachers' Statute to the Ministry of Education, for approval by Congress. The Council fulfilled these obligations in exemplary fashion ; the new curriculum is now in force, and a bill containing the Teachers' Statute has been submitted to the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare for consideration. Just what should secondary education include to meet present day demands and social and geographic conditions in Uruguay ? The Director General of Secondary Education, Professor Ed- uardo de Salterain Herrera, decided that before taking action he should have a full knowledge of the facts and of the views of two groups : the teachers as a whole, and the First National Congress of High School Principals. Accordingly, he consulted both, with the consent of the National Council for Secondary Education, The teachers voted almost unanimously for immediate changes. The First National Congress of High School Principals, which met in July 1936, laid down certain fundamental principles. Thus, for instance, it approved a statement presented by the author of this article on the purposes of secondary education. A categorical defi- nition of that branch of education had been needed since 1912. According to this statement, "secondary education aims at stimu- lating the mental and physical development of the adolescent, help- ing him to find his place in the social and geographical environment in which he is to live, guiding him in his choice of a vocation, and instilling in him an appreciation of learning and an understanding of ethical principles." Other important resolutions approved by that congress dealt with general trends in education, promotions without examination, the curriculum, etc. In view of these facts, the National Council for Secondary Edu- cation, after arduous sessions, approved the new course of study, which went into efifect last April. The salient features of this course have been outlined in the Andes de la Ensenansa Secundaria, sl new official publication, as follows : 1. The curriculum has been graded to conform to: the mental age of the student; the primary instruction he has already received; 272 The National Period the extent and thoroughness of his knowledge ; and the number of hours he should spend in school. 2. An effort has been made to correlate the different subjects and to arrange them so that -each year's courses may be as unified as possible." 3. Ethics, physical education, and choral singing have been in- cluded in the first three years. 4. The main idea behind the course of study has been that of a modern humanism, with a proportionate allowance of time for courses in science, philosophy and letters, and civics. 5. Different courses of study for boys and girls have been planned. The differences will be more marked, however, as the con- tent of certain courses, such as natural history, hygiene, civics, and general law, is worked out. A special course in domestic science and child care has been planned for girls in the fifth year. 6. In the sixth and last year, the curriculum has been divided into two courses : that for the .student preparing to take professional studies, and that for the student who desires training to fit him for commerce or industry. Students should begin their secondary education at the age of twelve, either upon the satisfactory completion of previous studies or after passing an entrance examination. The subjects studied during the first five years are as follows : Spanish, mathematics, geography, elementary science, drawing, ethics and social sciences, choral singing, physical education, history, philosophy, civics, law, art appreciation, industrial arts, French, English, biology, hygiene, child care, and domestic science. The course of study has been so arranged that the student spends an average of 28 hours a week on these courses, including recreation, ethics, choral singing, and phy- sical education. The sixth-year pre-professional or pre-technical courses consist of a central general course of 14 hours a week, comprising the his- tory of philosophy and science, literature (the development of lit- erature from romanticism to the present), history (great social problems of the present day), and science (a study of contempo- rary scientific knowledge) ; and of specialized courses, 11 hours additional, including the general divisions: law and the profession of notary public; engineering and surveying; medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and pharmacy; architecture; agronomy, eco- nomics, and industrial chemistry; and trades. The traditional university-preparatory course, which, for many reasons, tended to be merely a stepping stone to the university and was restricted to a chosen few, has thus been replaced by a demo- cratic system of secondary education which is intended to benefit a larger number and is continually widening its scope. Venezuela 273 Besides the administrative and educational changes just summa- rized a vast building program has been begun, at the instigation of Don Victor Haedo, Minister of Education and Social Welfare. By the end of 1937 nine new schools will be completed in as many cities. Such is the present state of Uruguayan secondary education. Chapter Twenty-eight VENEZUELA 1. CHARACTER OF JOS^ ANTONIO PAEZ AND VENEZUELAN CAUDILLOS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 1 FEW have had the gift, as did Paez, of enslaving the vi^ills of other men and of leading men docile everywhere — to war, to sacri- fice, to rebellion, to the support of a legal order or to the overthrow of it — the strange faculty of suggestion which in Venezuela con- stitutes the prestige of the warrior caudillos and explains the plot (trama) of our history. Paez, through his race, a mixture of the white and the Indian, was born of the same parentage as the vast majority of the Venezu- elan people. He inherited warlike instincts from both of these factors. From the indigenous element came the instinct of the gen- erality of the Venezuelan soldiers — the subconscious nostalgia for the nomadic life, the desire to wander through the forests in those small parties we call guerillas, which are but the recrudescence of the spirit of pre-Columbian hordes. In Paez the atavistic desire for war, the innate necessity for tumultuous activity of the camps, by virtue of that unknown con- junction of circumstances that makes unequal individuals even within the circle of common hereditary characteristics, developed into such intensity, so strong was the nervous force of his organism, that in the tumult of battle it overflowed in convulsions similar to epileptic attacks. The psychological origins of his temperament made him adopt the habits of the rude shepherd of the plains. The war came and the humble shepherd made himself lord of the selvas. A singular process in which we see how the born chief makes him- self the effective leader of a large human flock. In the first clashes, he exposes life audaciously. In his hand the 1 From: Pedro M. Arcaya quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, February 1935, pp. 27-29. 274 The National Period heavy lance accomplishes prodigies of valor and force. In battle, wherein is established the prestige of Paez and the other valorous patriotic leaders, he triumphs. His rivals are converted into sub- alterns. On occasion it is necessary for him to reaffirm his triumph by personal deeds that declare that the superiority of his strength and courage continues. In the end he is the chief acknowledged (indiscutible) , the cau- dillo obeyed and loved. They proclaim him so in 1816. Now he can lead those men to all the heroicidades. They are not mere sol- diers he commands, in the technical sense of the word. They are his people (gente). Let him command it and immediately in his train 150 cavalrymen launch themselves in combat against the entire horse of Morillo. Let him order them, and they will hurl themselves into the river to attack enemy gunboats. Let him lead them to the battle of Carabobo, and they will fall like a thunderbolt on the opposing hosts. The war stirring in those men the hereditary sediment of their warlike instincts has stirred also their spirit in all the ethnic depth. The loose earth is borne on the torrent, that is to say, the respect for legal formulas, superimposed during the colonial period, and there is left naked the foundation rock, which as Taine says deter- mines the lay of the land. There was revived the psychic necessity of submitting to a chief, of obeying him blindly, as formerly, in the pre-Columbian epoch, they obeyed a regulo or cacique. And this chief, this caudillo, demanded by the voice of the race, resounding silently in the unthinking regions of the soul, would not be he whom others, working in the name of legality and of the regular military hierarchy wanted to impose on those people, would not be the squill- driving Santander, but Paez, who with his achievements had spoken to their imagination, with his words had gained their affection, and who by his physical strength, in fine, represented for that group the hombre del palo, of whom Letourneau tells us, the strongest man of the primitive human horde. No one could govern them but Paez, and he it was who in final analysis had title to prestige. This word is one that indicates a psychological phenomenon peculiar to the Venezuelan people. Here, as we have already said, prestige is suggestion, it is the dominion which a man exercises over the will of a determinate group of other men, who follow him wherever he wants to lead them and who constitute his people {gente). It is affection and respect. Undoubtedly this suggestion is powerful, and in order for such a phenomenon to be produced there must be found in the masses of inhabitants special circum- stances of race and education. These circumstances exist in Venezuela, on whose people gravi- tate with an enormous weight the psychic inheritance from the barbarous tribes from which we descend. In the ladder of our Venezuela 275 evolution, a few rungs back, that is to say a few centuries back, we find the Indian of our forests and the Negro of the African plains. The one and the other lived under the regime of absolute chiefs and their caciques or kings they venerated at times as gods. In the subconscious depth of the popular soul, as art hereditary stratum of that multi-secular, psychical process of the submission of men to a man, has remained the susceptibility to suggestion, the easy subjection, voluntary in appearance, determined in reality by remote causes as explained, to the love of a chief. When there are several caiidillos who aspire to impose themselves on the soul of the multitudes, it is understood that some will follow a definite chief and others will go away with a rival of that leader, but it is to be noticed that at bottom the same unthinking tendency works in all. . . . From France and the United States came to us the dogmas of the republic, democracy, equality, liberty, and all the rest of the analogous concepts, which have not succeeded in penetrating the popular mind, that is to say, have not been able to alter the psy- chical foundation, the basis of human actions; but which, ruling, although superficially, in the spirit of educated people and trans- lated into written laws, have constituted a set of ideas and persons hostile to the development of the plant that tends to grow spontan- eously in Venezuela — military feudalism, similar to that of medi- eval Europe and to that of Japan up to recent times. . . . It is certain that there was also at that time a great number of legalistic spirits who retained the traditions of order and regularity of the colonial period and who inspired, moreover, by the philo- sophical ideas of the time had faith in the possibility of establishing in Venezuela an ordered, democratic and republican regime. That faith made them capable of doing great things for the success of their ideals. In our days scientific criticism, explaining to us the origin of man and of societies, their slow evolution, the fixity of the characters, both physical and psychological of races, if it brings to the mind sufficient light to. render possible the discovery of the secret of sociological processes, it leaves in the soul the disconsola- tion that one is in each case in the presence of a fact determined by remote causes. With the conviction of this truth, one cannot be encouraged to struggle with unimpressionable nature. 2. HOW PRESIDENT CRESPO RECEIVED FOREIGN DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIVES! THE President of Venezuela lives in the Casa Amarilla, or Yel- low House, so called because of the color of the paint upon its exterior walls. It stands opposite the Plaza Bolivar, one of the 1 From: William Eleroy Curtis, Venezuela (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1896), pp. 124-126. 276 The Natiofial Period handsomest little parks in the world, with a brown statue of the great Liberator in the centre, and broad walks that are thronged nightly with the belles and beaux of Caracas, who come out to hear the band play and enjoy flirtations. Opposite is the great cathedral, and, adjoining, the building in which are most of the offices of the government. The Casa Amarilla is a two-story structure of plainly stuccoed stone, surrounding a large court, or patio. It is furnished with some elegance, and the executive salon, in which ambassadors are received, and official ceremonies held, is very nearly as large as the East Room of the White House at Washington. I first saw this room when the South American commission pre- sented their letters of credence from President Arthur to President Crespo, and a description of that ceremony will convey an idea of the formality with which official transactions are attempted in most of the Spanish-American republics. When the President of the United States receives an ambassador from a foreign power there is considerably less ceremony. The ambassador is called for at his hotel by the secretary of state, who escorts him to the Blue Room at the White House. A messenger is then sent to summon the presi- dent, who comes down-stairs in his morning-coat, listens to the reading of an address by the ambassador, and makes a brief and complimentary reply. But our less populous neighbors enjoy more "ceremony." At eleven o'clock one rhorning we were waited upon at our hotel in Caracas by a gentleman in a gorgeous uniform, who bore the rank of official introducer of ambassadors. He conducted us to a gilded coach, which, with an escort of gayly caparisoned cavalry, was waiting at the door. We were then driven to the Casa Amarilla. At the entrance the minister of foreign affairs, in court costume, was waiting to receive us. We followed him up-stairs to an anteroom, where a couple of aides-de-camp were in attendance. Then a procession was formed, the minister of foreign affairs es- corting the senior commissioner, the official introducer of ambassa- dors the second in rank, one aide-de-camp, the resident United States minister, and another, the secretary of the commission. As the column was formed thus, by twos, the wide doors were thrown open by servants, "and we saw at the end of the long room, on a low platform. President Crespo in the full uniform of a general, with wide yellow sash, seated upon a gilded throne with the coat-of-arms of Venezuela above him, and his cabinet, also in uniform, with similar sashes, sitting around their chief. As the doors were opened we made a low bow, which w^as re- sponded to by the group at the other end of the room. Then we marched slowly towards them. Half-way across the intervening space we stopped and made a second bow, to which the president and his cabinet responded and rose from their chairs. Then, having reached the foot of the throne, we made a third bow, and, after a Venezuela 277 few words of introduction from the United States minister, the senior commissioner read an address, conveying to the President of Venezuela expressions of profound friendship from the President of the United States, congratulations upon the peace and prosper- ity of the country, and earnest wishes for its continuance. President Crespo, in reply, read an address of welcome, which reciprocated the sentiments of the President of ''La Grande Republica," as they call the United States, and expressed his desire to receive, at our pleasure and convenience, any further communications we might have to make. Then the commission made its best bow, the pro- cession formed again and marched away. At the centre of the room we wheeled around, made another bow, and, having reached the doors, wheeled again and made a third. 3. DESCRIPTION OF JUAN VICENTE G6MEZ 1 FROM the days of the Pacification Gomez was "the General," a military man in his dress and all his habits. His fighting years, comparatively few, actually only four out of his whole life, left a lasting mark upon him, obliterating the outward traces of all the other years of his early life. He fitted so naturally into the military life. His orderly habits of thought and actions, his simple tastes, his natural self-discipline and most of all, his insistence upon blind obedience always, which had been characteristic from the days when he ruled the tribe at La Mulera, made the military life per- fectly suited to him. So, from now on, a uniform was his regular dress. He had uni- forms of many types, some of them quite ornate, as nearly like the grand ones of Bolivar, with the high, gold-braided collars, huge epaulettes, skin-tight trousers and jack-boots and cocked hat, as he could come without being too ridiculous ; but mostly they were very simple. In the years before the war he admired Teddy Roosevelt and his uniforms were designed to make him look as much 'like Teddy as possible — the Teddy of the African game-hunts ; khaki breeches, fieldboots, wide hat turned up at the side, his foot on a dead lion. In some of the photographs of Gomez taken during this period, especially those in which he wears glasses, the resemblance to Roosevelt is striking. Later, when the war in Europe broke out, he conceived a great admiration for the Kaiser and his uniforms became very German. There are pictures of him wearing a spiked helmet, carrying a sword, his mustaches trained upward, and in these he looks almost exactly like the Kaiser. . . . His way of life was always that of the soldier. His room was as bare and simple and orderly as a barracks-room. He rose at From: Thomas Rourke, G6mes Tyrant of the Andes (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1936), pp. 139-143. 278 The National Period daybreak and retired early. He never drank nor smoked. From the Andes he had brought a short, bow-legged, dark-skinned Indian named Tarazona, who was his body-guard, valet and orderly till he died. Tarazona cleaned his room, laid out his uniforms, took off his boots and stood guard at his door. He was given the rank of colonel. Later, when attempts were being made constantly upon the dictator's life, Tarazona tasted all the food, water and medicine that was given him. Even in the matter of his women, he was like a general in cam- paign. He never had what you might call home-life. His established mistress lived in another part of the house or in a different house, where she ran her home and looked after his children, coming to his bare room when she was sent for. He would visit her and her children when it pleased him, arriving like an honored guest, throw- ing the establishment into hushed turmoil. He visited other women, too, in other houses. Many of them. And many attractive young girls were brought to his bare room and taken away again, after a short stay. No one woman, of all the women he had, ever exerted any influ- ence upon him. He had no weakness in his character, not even for women, though he indulged in them. He did raise two women above the status of the others, making them his official mistresses in their respective times, maintaining them and their families in wealth; but that was because he needed a large blood-clan in the carr}dng- out of his plans and because his egotism demanded an extension of his life-stream through sons begotten on the bodies of especially worthy women. That he was indulgent with these sons, even affec- tionate, is not incompatible with an essentially cruel nature, for parental love is a form of egotism. If any women had any influence upon him, they were his mother, Hermenegilda, and one of the older of his sisters, Regina, who never married and who was always close to him. These were the only women with whom he did condescend to talk of serious sub- jects and affairs of policy and government. But even with these, there is no known case of his being influenced by their counsel. But he did listen to them. His chief companion v/as Antonio Pimentel. Castro had had his Tello Mendoza, pimp and court jester, and Gomez had his Pimentel. But there was a vast difference. Mendoza was a sly, undistinguished opportunist. Pimentel was wealthy, educated, aristocratic, capable. Gomez could have had nothing but contempt for Mendoza, while he respected Pimentel probably more than any other man among his associates. He always had negocios with him, to their mutual benefit. Pimentel was a small, keen man, very witty, a great dancer, a linguist and a favorite among the foreign diplomats and their wives. Venezuela 279 He was corrupt, gleefully cynical. He was a pimp because the role delighted him. A little, dancing satyr, whispering filthy jests into the ears of the lovely ladies from Paris and London. He believed in the essential baseness of human beings and his chief pastime was bringing it out. Gomez enthralled him. He was the only man who ever made Gomez roar with laughter. He was the only man ever permitted to embrace Gomez with the casual shoulder-pat that is the common form of greeting in Vene- zuela between friends. Pimentel owned estates in the country and buildings in the cities. These he used for staging parties. In the buildings in the cities, in Caracas and Valencia and later, in Maracay, they were evening affairs, somewhat after the nature of Roman or czarist-Russian orgies, and at the haciendas, particularly Trumpillo, southeast of Lake Valencia, they were all-day, sometimes week-end picnics. The men invited were always a certain few, the women, many and ever- changing. Pimentel had a vast list of attractive young girls lined up for these affairs, most of them from the lower strata but some of them discontented ladies of good family. They were given fine clothes and gifts of money. Pimentel had a staff of maricos and city loafers employed in seeking out likely girls. The girls would be taken to the scenes of the parties in coaches, later in automobiles, and sent home afterward in the same way. The General was always invited. Frequently he attended. Pim- entel delighted in watching the effect, on this austere, self-disciplined mountain man, of his refined orgies. He delighted, too, in sending to his room, unannounced, some particularly charming morsel he had discovered. At the evening parties the General would sit quietly, listening to the orchestra, watching the dancers, playing with his gloved fingers. Occasionally he would respond to the urging of one of the girls and dance a bit, perhaps take her to one of the bedrooms. At ten o'clock he would rise from his chair, wave his hand, bidding everyone to go on having a good time, and leave for his barracks-room. At the haciendas there would be cock-fights, in which the General always took a great interest, sometimes fighting his own birds. Here, the atmosphere would be less refined, the girls of a rougher, louder type, sometimes mountain girls from the vicinity. There would be a barbecued steer, rum, brandy and champagne, served out-doors. A peon orchestra would play joropos. The General would sit under a tree in the shade, Tarazona at his side. Pimentel had no fear whatever of Gomez. That is why he could take the liberties that would have been disastrous for anyone else. He chided Gomez about his ignorance and dared to relate to him the latest jokes that the Caraquefios were making about him. 280 The National Period 4. HOW THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT SEIZED MEN FOR THE ARMY (1901)i EVERY dictatorship is based upon the power of an unbridled army, the nucleus or heart of which is composed of criminal elements, but the body of which is usually made up, in war times, of raw soldiers obtained by the "recluta." That the reader may form some definite idea of what "la recluta" means, I will describe one exactly as it occurred in my presence. I was building an asphalt refinery and some other buildings on the banks of the Rio Limon in Venezuela in the summer of 1901 ; also a railroad from that point to an asphalt deposit in the interior, a distance of twenty-seven miles. Some 400 or 500 men were at work at the grounds on the bank of the river. These consisted of carpenters, blacksmiths, workmen, peons, etc., mostly Venezuelans, but including also quite a large proportion of Colombians, Cura- <;oans, and other nationalities. On the railroad, about ten to twenty kilometres from the Rio Limon, were about 1000 additional men, divided up into squads of 20 or 30, each with its foreman, cook, tent, etc. Many of these squads were cutting the right of way through the dense tropical forest; others were throwing up the embankment or cutting through the hills, building bridges and cul- verts, cutting ties, laying track, etc. The tents of these men were formed into encampments covering a space of, say, ten kilometres along the right of way. One night, a little before dark, a steam boat came up the river. It tied up at our landing-place. In a few moments our grounds, comprising about twenty acres, were surrounded by soldiers. The men working in the grounds were caught in a trap. They were completely unarmed and defenceless, while the soldiers had orders to shoot any one rnaking the slightest sign of an efifort to resist or escape. These men were driven like cattle on board the steamboat and held there all night. Women and children were shrieking and crying, and a scene of indescribable confusion prevailed. In the mean time several squads of soldiers had been sent out along the line of the railroad track to capture and bring in the laborers there. Arriving before daylight, while the men were asleep, small bodies of soldiers surrounded the tents, with their Mausers cocked; the men were then awakened, and under cover of the Mausers, made to march like so many cattle down to the Rio Limon. Along the railroad track, however, the recluta had not been so successful, for hundreds of the peons had sprung from their hammocks and fled into the woods Hke startled deer. Mauser shots were sent after them, but, owing to the density of the forests and the darkness of 1 From: George W. Cn'chfield, American Supremacy (New York: Brentano's, 2 vols., 1908), Vol. I, pp. 278-281. Venezuela 2»l the early hour, they usually went wide of the mark. One thing a fleeing peon never forgets to take, and that is his trusty machete. He might not have time to put on his pants or his hat, but the machete is never forgotten. All these machetes were the property of the company. They were worth about $2 apiece. In this raid more than a thousand machetes were stolen, either by the fleeing peons or by the soldiers. None of them was ever recovered, and the manager of the company was wise enough to know that the least said about it, the soonest mended. As misfortunes never come singly, so the poor peons fared doubly ill on this occasion. The only practical way in which pay- ment could be made to the peons was to give their wages to their foreman, or caporals. Payment was made in this manner so that the caporal could settle the provision accounts of his gang of men and adjust their other innumerable debts, the residue being divided among the peons according to what was due them. The company had found b}^ experience that it was impracticable to make direct settlement with the peons individually ; so that all the peons of a gang gave the caporal full authority to collect and receipt for them and pay their just debts. In normal times this system worked well; but on the day in question the caporals had all just received their money from the company, but had not yet had time to settle up with the individual peons of their respective gangs. When the recluta came, every man who could do so took to his heels, the caporals first of all, carrying the money of the peons with them. As payday was only once every two weeks, the caporals had quite large sums with them. It is hardly necessary to add that many of them were never heard of again. The men were now herded on the boat like cattle, with nothing to eat or drink, for at least two days, until they should reach Mara- caibo. Many of them attempted to escape by jumping overboard, but they were promptly shot. Dead bodies were washed ashore for wrecks afterward. Once in the army these poor fellows are nothing more than hogs in the shute of an Armour's slaughter-house. Their food is obtained principally by robbing the small farmers of the country through which they pass. During the terrible rainy season, oftener than otherwise they have no tents or covering of any kind, but sleep on the ground or on a few pieces of wood under a tree, soaking wet half of the time. Naturally their ranks are decimated by fevers, and the terrible scourge of dysentery thins them out worse than the battle's blast. These are the men who are put in the van of a battle. There are alv/ays a few trusty troops in the rear, so that if they start to run they are between two fires. Gen- erally speaking, these recruits do not know what they are fighting for and do not care. They obey orders in the stubborn spirit of a mule; they may resent, but they are compelled to yield without 282 The National Period stopping to argue. The recluta takes many forms. A peon may start to market with his burro, when he will be seized by soldiers, and without one word hurried into the army. His provisions will be confiscated, for they are always needed, and-so will his burro if they require it, otherwise it will be turned loose. When the j>eon fails to return home, his family will learn the facts of his impress- ment from someone who witnessed the affair. In tens of thousands of cases this is all that is ever known of the poor fellow, for the government which has seized him takes no further interest in the matter. Whether fevers, dysentery, or the enemy's bullets lay him low, is never known. The wife and children weep for a time, the old mother's gray hair becomes whiter still, and the eternal hope- lessness which envelops all South America hovers a little closer over them. One strange thing about these reclutas, noted by every observant foreigner, is the fact that it is the honest, working peons, who are engaged in some occupation, who are always caught. The drunk- ards, the loafers, the gamblers, the semi-criminals, always seem to escape. The government always has its attention directed to any enterprise where men are employed, and when soldiers are needed, that is the first place to be raided. A saloon or a gambling hell may be filled with peons a street distant, but it will not be molested. It is literally true that all conditions in South America tend to stultify ambition to work or own property, and the recluta is no exception to the rule. 5. DESCRIPTION OF THE LLANOS AND LLANEROS OF VENEZUELA 1 THE cultivated mountain valleys and plateau lands of the fertile north form the agricultural zone; the pastures of the llanos, the pastoral zone ; the hosque, or wooded lands, from the Orinoco south, the forest zone. The central zone, the llanos, stretches probably 120,000 square miles east and west almost the entire length of Venezuela, from the Meta in Colombia to the delta of the Orinoco ; and from near the coast (10° N.) to the Rio Guaviare within two and a half degrees of the equator. In summer the heated "Trades" spread some relief over the feverish earth-cracked llanos, but during the greater part of the winter vast floods render extensive regions impassable. Thus the llanos have been a great barrier to communication, a sequesterer of their scattered inhabitants, and an obstacle to the union of the political provinces they separate, and they will for a long time be an important factor in the military and political events of Vene- zuela. . . . 1 From: C. W. Furlong quoted in the Bulletin oi the Pan American Union, May 1914, pp. 741-743. Venezuela 283 Over these grassy plains the little armadillo ferrets its way, and graceful Venezuelan deer abound. The jaguar ventures a short distance from the wood edges, where may be heard the dismal noise of the araguatos (howling monkeys). But nature uses these savan- nas mainly for a vast aviary. Flocks of parrots flew screeching over our heads, there were cuckoos galore, and daily we saw on these feeding grounds innumerable herons, aigrettes, cranes, flamingos, plovers, finches, hawks, wrens, and numerous gorgeous water and marsh birds of many varieties, which piped, sang, whistled, and trumpeted. Numerous carcasses eaten by the zamuros (the vulture ibises of South America) indicated that hundreds of horses suc- cumb to the floods, while scars on the flanks of many live ones bear evidence of pursuit by crocodiles. The sun shone like a bowl of brass through a dark, murky sky, brushed the cloud-edges golden, and fine-streaked the innumerable trunks of the palmettos which were mirrored in the muddy waters through which our little caravan splashed, scattering myriads of glistening showers, and leaving a diverging, ever-widening wake of gold and purple wavelets which were lost amid the blue-violet palm shadows. . . . Mysteriously echoing from every wood and copse and across each broad savanna we heard the resonant, far-off cries of the Uaneros — "H'oh! h'ah! H'oh! h'ah!" — as illusive as the llano mirage, and finally caught up with the herd, slushing at will under palms through the yellow mush. "Oy ! oy ! Ah-hee !" the Uaneros urged on the laggards, when we, too, lent a hand, for often we were with cattle all day, or took hours to work through a big herd, which usually traveled 5 to 6 leagues a day, from 6 to 6. The llanero, like the gaucho, tells time and direction by his shad- ow, and the hours to sunset by holding the arm outstretched, bend- ing the open hand inward, holding it so that its lower edge coincides with the horizon. The number of hands, one over the other, to the sun, indicates the hours to sunset, allowance of a half hand to a hand being made for the rapid declination of the sun during the last two and three hours. Each llanero carried his meager requisites — a cup of horn, or a calabash, and a chunk of sun-dried beef, not forgetting the cigarillos, smoked on the drive and always during the daily half dozen stops for rest and feed. At night, when the llanero's fire rises against the dark recess of a wood copse, one sees him more intimately, as, contemplative or loquacious, he lounges in the illusive lights of the flaring, sputtering tasajo. The llanero is affected by the isolated conditions of his environ- ment; romantic, ingenious, he sings stories of llano life to the ac- companiment of the guitar, often adeptly improvising. The flames 284 The National Period lick up the dripping fat; quick, shifty eyes gHtter and long knives gleam silver as their owners slash the red meat and seize it between glistening teeth, grazing their nose tips as indifferently as, under due provocation, they would sever an enemy's terrestrial associa- tions. So expert are they with the knife that with a single thrust back of the center of the horns of a wild steer they will, at break- neck speed, drop it dead in its tracks. 6. HOW THE LLANEROS OF VENEZUELA THROW A BULL 1 ANOTHER method of arresting a bull in his flight is by a bold maneuver termed "colear," and which consists of availing them- selves of the animal's tail to overthrow him when at full speed ; but this is not easy of accomplishment, as the bull has then such entire freedom of movement. The horse also must be perfectly well trained to the hazardous undertakings and should obey instantly the slightest pull of the bit, for if the bull turns suddenly upon his pursuer, the chances are ten to one that the horse will be seriously wounded. The rider first gallops close to the rear of the bull and, seizing his tail with one hand, gives it a turn or two around his wrist to prevent its slipping. When thus prepared he urges his horse forward until the heads of the two animals are on a "dead heat," then quickly turning in an oblique direction, and exerting all his strength, he pulls the bull toward him, but does not relinquish his hold until he perceives that the enemy is tottering, when he is easily overthrown from the great impetus imparted by their rapid pace. Some men are so dexterous that they can **colear" with both hands at the same time, which necessarily gives greater power, enabling the rider to bring him down much more readily. The horse in this case, left to his own well-taught guidance, assists the ma- neuvers of his master, pushing forward at the instant he perceives that his master is prepared for the pull and turning about also at the right moment. ... If too powerful resistance is offered at the outset by the bull, as is sometimes the case, the rider still clinq-s to the tail of his adversary and throwing himself off the horse while at full speed, the impetus, combined with his weight and strength, never fail in bringing the bull like a fallen giant to the ground; then the man, quickly drawing the tail between the hind legs, awaits the arrival of his companions to assist in securing the prize. 1 From: Ramon Paez quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, January 1910, pp. 52-53. Mexico 285 (Chapter Twenty-nine MEXICO 1. SPEECH OF GENERAL SANTA ANNA TO CONGRESS AT HIS INSTALLATION AS PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (May 16, 1833)1 Citizens Representatives of the Nation, ELECTED as the depository of the Supreme Executive Power by the United States of Mexico, I have sworn before God and the People to the exact and faithful discharge of my duties. This sincere vow of my heart cannot be fulfilled without the aid of a benevolent Providence who rules the fate of societies. That Providence assisted us in the struggle which preceded the triumph of our Independence ; it favoured us in recovery of our lost liberty ; and it has this day conceded to us, as a further boon, that my Administration should commence under the flattering auspices of peace, — which happily exists amongst an immense majority of our Fellow-Citizens. Humbly do I implore that His blessings may be continued upon this Nation, which honours me with its fullest confidence, and that I may be permitted to co-operate to the extent of my wishes towards its prosperity and aggrandizement. The constant support of the Mexicans is also necessary to me in the attainment of this object. Their irresistible will confers upon me a post of sublime honour, and in the arduous task of governing the destinies of 7,000,000 of Freemen, I require the talents and ex- perience which they suppose me to possess. Placing my reliance upon the People, the only source of authority and power, I give a frank and solemn proof of my submission to its mandates. Representatives, Magistrates, Soldiers, Citizens ; — the sole and sacred object of my whole life has been, I swear it to you, to secure to the Mexicans the full enjoyment of those rights which constitute pubHc happiness, and to burst asunder the triple yoke of ignorance, tyranny, and vice. My heart has been overwhelmed with delight at the triumph of liberty, which no one has the power to wrest from us, and under 1 From: Santa Anna quoted in British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. XX (1836), pp. 1286-1288. 286 The Natiojial Period whose benign shade, principles truly social are fostered and con- solidated. My promise, to observe and cause to be observed the Constitu- tion of the Republic, is another guarantee of its inviolability. I consider it as the authentic title of the supreme command, as the principle of organization and the foundation of stability, as it was the basis of hope during our political convulsions. Without con- tradicting myself, 1 could not yield to the illusions of ambition. An admirer of true glory, I consider its essence to consist in securing to the People the tranquil possession of that Code which they have chosen to adopt for their happiness. The tutelar genius of Mexico inspired her Legislators with tact and prudence to prefer a system of Government which, by sub- dividing the exercise of power, has rendered vain all the pretentions of tyranny. In this system the general interests are upheld by their wise combination with the local interests. It abounds in suitable elements for reconciling political passions without producing disorder, because by multiplying the number of Public Functionaries it opens a wider field to talent and merit, at the same time that it augments the number of the Government Agents, and of the defenders of our established rights. Let those who fear the total want of energy in a system which, they say, excludes force and activity, turn their attention towards Tampico, and recall to their memory the humiliation of the Spanish General at that point. Let those who predicted, in the adoption of this system, the perpetual reign of anarchy, confess that to it we are indebted for the extraordinary facility with which calm is restored after the raging of our destructive tempest. The problem of its suitableness being now solved, I never will allow the repetition of dangerous experiments, or that any one should dare to offer to us, as a hope of safety, the sceptre of any foreign or domestic Tyrant, or other forrn of Government than, that spontaneously approved of by the Nation. The moment for securing our repose has arrived, and I shall never cease in my efforts to obtain this end, which humanity and philosophy have promised as the results of the late Revolution. Political liberty, free from the excesses of anarchy, — civil lib- erty, without injury to individual rights, — the liberty of the press, exempt from its abuses, — equality in the eye of the Law, without the innocent being confounded with the guilty ; — these are the fruits of 12 years of painful experience, and these are the blessings which we must labour to hand down to our remotest posterity. My Administration will be lenient, as my character is mild and tolerant. I solemnly declare that the exercise of the Public Authority shall never become, in my hands, the instrument of vengeance or oppres- Mexico 287 sion; and, having myself raised an insurmountable barrier against the abuses of power, I shall know how to erect another against those who may attempt the subversion of society. The Convention of the Farm of Zavaleta, framed at a moment when the Country was in the deepest affliction, terminated the horrors of Civil War ; it reconciled opinions which were deemed as everlastingly alienated, it has given new vigour to the Constitutional system, and has frustrated the perverse attempts of the Enemies of our Independence, who rejoice in the evils of anarchy. . . . Rehgion, which was given by its Author as a benefit to Mankind, — the best legacy of our Ancestors, the curb to anti-social passions, the prop and support of the liberty of Man, of the rights of the Citizen, and of the independence of Nations, — shall be respected, from duty and conviction. The Army composed of permanent, active, and National Troops, shall continue to be the firm upholder of our Institutions ; and my Government, bearing in mind their merit and former glory, will obtain from the Legislature its re-organization, conformably to our wants, and the recompense of which it is deserving. Education, the vital element of national prosperity, shall be en- titled to the first attention of my Government ; in order that it may be suited to the elevated rank which Mexicans hold in the World, and that it may form a People capable of estimating the memory of their Benefactors. My policy towards those Nations which live in peace and har- mony with us, shall be founded upon the most strict, just, impartial, and invariable basis of reciprocity. Peace is a blessing to the human race, and so long as the dignity of the Nation will permit, it shall continue to be preserved. Representatives of the Sovereignty of the Nation! my political faith is simple, and my intentions are upright. Aid me with your wisdom and the favour of the People, of whom you are the chosen part, in my ardent desire to advance, at the cost of life itself, the liberty and welfare of my Country. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Mexico, 16th May, 1833 2. THE MEXICAN CROWN IS OFFERED TO MAXIMILIAN AT MIRAMAR (October 3, 1863)i PRINCE: The powerful hand of a generous monarch had hardly restored liberty to the Mexican nation when he des- patched us to your imperial highness, cherishing the sincerest wishes and warmest hopes for our mission. We shall not dwell 1 From: Senate Documents, 38tli Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 261-262. 288 The National Period upon the visitations Mexico has had to undergo, and which, as they are notorious, have reduced our country to the verge of despair and ruin. There is no means we have not employed, no way we have not tried, to escape a situation full of misery for the present and foreboding catastrophes for the future. We have long endeavored to extricate ourselves from the fatal and ruinous posi- tion into which the country had fallen on adopting, with credulous inexperience, republican institutions, at variance with its natural arrangements, its customs and traditions; institutions which, though they resulted in the greatness and prosperity of a neighbor- ing nation, have only become a source of trials and desperate dis- appointments in our case. Nearly half a century. Prince, has elapsed, carrying with it for Mexico barren tortures and intoler- able humiliation, but without deadening the spark of hope and in- domitable vitality in our breast. Full of unshakable confidence in the Ruler of human destinies, we never ceased to look out for a cure of our ever-growing national malady. We may say we awaited its advent true to ourselves. Our faith was not in vain. The ways of Providence have become manifest, opening up a new era, and exciting the admiration of the greatest minds by an un- expected turn of fortune. Once again master of her destinies, Mexico, taught by experience, is at this moment making a last eflfort to correct her faults. She is changing her institutions, being firmly persuaded that those now selected will be even more salutary than the analogous arrangements which existed at the time she was the colony of a European state. This will be all the more certain if we should be destined to see at our head a Catholic Prince, who, with the high and recognized worth of his character, with the nobility of his feelings, knows how to couple that firmness of will and self-sacrificing devotion which are the inheritance of those only who have been selected by God Almighty, in decisive moments of public danger and social ruin, to save sinking peoples and restore them to a new life. Mexico expects much from the spirit of those institutions which have governed it for three centuries, and which, when they fell, left us a brilliant, but, alas ! now spoiled inheritance. The democratic republic en- deavored to do away with the traces of former grandeur. But whatever may be our confidence in such institutions, their efficiency will be only perfect when crowned in the person of your imperial highness. A king, the heir of an old monarchy, and representing solid institutions, may render his people happy, even in the absence of distinguished qualities of mind and character ; but very different and exceptional qualities are required in a prince who intends to become the founder of a new dynasty and the heir of a republic. Without you, Prince — believe it from these lips which have never served the purposes of flattery — without you, all our efforts Mexico 289 to save the country will be in vain. Without you will not be realized the generous intentions of a great sovereign, whose sword restored us to liberty and whose powerful arm now supports us in this de- cisive hour. With you, however, experienced in the difficult art of government, our institutions would become what they ought to be, if the happiness and prosperity ol our country are to be guaranteed. With you they would have for their foundation that genuine liberty which is coupled with justice and moderation — not the spurious counterfeit we have become conversant with during half a century's ruinous wars and quarrels. Such institutions, equally as they are in harmony with the spirit of the age, will also become the un- shakable corner-stone of our national independence. These senti- ments, these hopes, which have been long entertained by all true friends of Mexico, are now in the hearts of all in our country. In Europe, too, whatever sympathies or antipathies may have been roused on the occasion of our present step, there is only one voice in regard to your imperial highness and your noble consort, who, shining by personal worth and high virtues, will share your throne and rule over our hearts. The Mexicans require only to see you in order to love you. Faithful interpreters of the longing desire and the wishes of our country, in its name we ofifer to your imperial highness the crown of Mexico — that crown which a solemn resolution of the Assembly of Notables has of its free will and accord handed over to your imperial highness. Even now that resolution has been confirmed by the assent of many provinces, and will soon be sanctioned by the entire nation. Nor can we forget, Prince, that by a fortunate coincidence of circumstances this great national act is taking place on the day on which Mexico celebrates the anniversary of the vic- torious appearance of the national army, carrying high the banner of independence and monarchy. May it please your imperial high- ness to fulfil our prayers and accept our choice. May we be enabled to carry the joyous tidings to a country awaiting them in longing anxiety; joyous tidings not only for us Mexicans, but also for France, whose name is now indissolubly bound up with our history, and gratitude for England and Spain, who began the work of re- vival, and for the illustrious house of Austria, connected by time- honored and glorious memories with a new continent. We do not undervalue the sacrifice to be made by your imperial highness in entering upon so great a task with all its consequences, and in severing yourself from your friends in Europe — that quarter of the globe which, from its centre, diffuses civilization over the world. Yes, Prince, this crown which our love offers you is but a heavy burden to-day, but it will soon be made enviable by your virtues, our zealous co-operation, our loyal devotion and inex- tinguishable gratitude. Whatever may be our faults, however deep 290 The National Period our fall, we are still the sons of those who, inspired by the sacred names of religion, king, and country, hesitated not to run the great- est risks, engage in the grandest enterprises, combat and suffer in their course. These are the sentiments which, in the name of our grateful country, we lay at the feet of your imperial highness. We offer them to the worthy scion of that powerful dynasty which planted Christianity on our native soil. On that soil, Prince, we hope to see you fulfil a high task, to mature the choicest fruits of culture, which are order and true liberty. The task is great, but greater is our confidence in Providence, which has led us thus far. 3. REPLY OF MAXIMILIAN TO THE OFFER OF THE MEXICAN CROWN (October 3, 1863)i GENTLEMEN : I am deeply touched by the washes which were expressed by the assembly of the notables of Mexico, at their sitting of the 10th of June, and which you have been charged to bring me. It can only be flattering to our house that, at the first mention of the word monarchy, the eyes of your countrymen were at once turned to the race of Charles V. Although the task of as- suring the independence and well-being of Mexico, by means of durable and free institutions, is a very noble one, still I must ac- knowledge, in full understanding with his Majesty the Emperor of the French, whose glorious initiative makes the regeneration of your beloved country possible, that the monarchy cannot be restored, on legitimate and lasting foundations, unless the whole nation, of its own free will, ratifies the wish of the capital. Therefore, I must make my acceptance of the throne which is offered to me depend, first, on the result of the vote of the entire country. On the other hand, my comprehension of the sacred duties of the ruler over the restored empire makes it necessary for me to ask for those guar- antees which are indespensable to protect it from the dangers which threaten its integrity and independence. Should the assurances of a well-grounded security in the future be obtained, and should the universal choice of the noble Mexican people fall upon me, I shall be ready to accept the throne, supported by the acquiescence of the high chief of my family, and confiding in the protection of the Almighty. In case that I should be called by Providence to the high mission of civilization connected with this crown, I must, gentle- men, declare to you, even now, my firm determination, following the wise example of my imperial brother, to open to the country the path of progress founded on law and order, by means of a con- stitutional government, and as soon as the whole realm has been restored to peace, to seal the fundamental fact with the nation by 1 From: Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, Vol. Ill (1865), p. 787. M exico 291 my oath. Only in this way could a new and truly national policy be called into life, in which all parties, forgetting their ancient en- mities, would help to raise Mexico to that conspicuous rank among the nations to which she would seem to be destined under a govern- ment which held as its highest principle to let moderation and law govern. Gentlemen, will you communicate to your countrymen these reso- lutions, which I have freely imparted to you, and strive that it may be made possible to the nation to declare what government it wishes to see established. 4. PROCLAMATION OF MAXIMILIAN ON ENTERING MEXICO AT VERA CRUZ (May 28, 1864)i MEXICANS : You have desired my presence. Your noble na- tion, by a universal vote, has elected me henceforth the guardian of your destinies. I gladly obey your will. Painful as it has been for me to bid farewell forever to my own, my native country, I have done so, being convinced that the Almighty has pointed out to me, through you, the great and noble duty of devot- ing all my might and heart to the care of a people who, at last, tired of war and disastrous contests, sincerely wish for peace and pros- perity — a people who, having gloriously obtained their independ- ence, desire to reap the benefits of civilization and of true progress to be attained through a stable Constitutional Government. The reliance that you place in me, and I in you, will be crowned by a brilliant triumph if we remain always steadfastly united in cour- ageously defending those great principles which are the only true and lasting basis of modern government, those principles of in- violable and immutable justice, the equality of all men before the law; equal advantages to all in attaining positions of trust and honor, socially and politically; complete and well-defined personal liberty, consisting in protection to the individual and the protection of his property; encouragement to the national wealth, improve- ments in agriculture, mining, and manufactures ; the establishment of new lines of communication for an extensive commerce; and lastly, the free development of intelligence in all that relates to public welfare. The blessing of God, and with it progress and lib- erty, will not surely be wanting if all parties, under the guidance of a strong National Government, unite together to accomplish what I have just indicated, and if we continue to be animated by that religious sentiment which has made our beautiful country so prom- inent even in the most troublous periods. The civilizing flag of France, raised to such a high position by From: Diplcmattc Correspondence of the United States, Vol. Ill (1865), pp. 456-45?, 292 The National Period her noble Emperor, to whom you owe the new birth of order and peace, represents those principles. Hear what, in sincere and dis- interested words, the chief of his army told you a few months since, being the message of a new era of happiness : "Every country w^iich has wished for a great future, has become great and powerful." Following in this course, if we are united, loyal, and firm, God will grant us strength to reach to that degree of prosperity which IS the object of our ambition. Mexicans! the future of your beautiful country is controlled by yourselves. Its future is yours. In all that relates to myself, I ofTer you a sincere will, a- hearty loyalty, and a firm determination to respect the laws and to cause them to be respected by an un- deviating and all-efiicient authority. My strength rests in God and in your loyal confidence. The banner of independence is my symbol ; my motto you know already : ''Equal justice to all." I will be faithful to this trust through all my life. It is my duty conscientiously to wield the sceptre of authority, and with firmness the sword of honor. To the Empress is confided the sacred trust of devoting to the country all the noble sentiments of Christian virtue and all the teachings of a tender mother. Let us unite to reach the goal of our common desires ; let us for- get past sorrows; let us lay aside party hatreds, and the bright morning of peace and well-deserved happiness will dawn gloriously on our new empire. Maximilian. 5. REASONS FOR THE NECESSITY OF EXECUTING EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN (1867)i THE death of Maximilian is the death of the spirit of foreign intervention, which, under leniency, will revive again and or- ganize new armies under the pretext of saving the Mexican people, but in reality to bring another usurper to Mexico. It is necessary that the existence of Mexico as an independent nation be not left to the good will of foreign potentates ; it is necessary also that the reform, progress and freedom of the Mexican people be not ham- pered and jeopardized by some European sovereign, who, in patron- age of the so-called Emperor of Mexico, might plan to regulate the degree of slavery or liberty of the Mexican people to suit his own taste. The return of Maximilian to Europe would be used in the hands of the enemies of Mexico as a weapon for the restoration of a regime disastrous to the democratic institutions of this country. For fifty years Mexico has used a system of pardon and leniency X From: Benito Tuarez quoted in George Creel, The People Next Door (New York: The John Day Company, 1926), pp. 246-247. Mexico 293 with a resultant anarchy at home and loss of prestige abroad. Never thus can the Republic be consolidated. 6. DESCRIPTION OF THE INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT PORFIRIO DfAZ OF MEXICO (December 1, 1884)i IT WAS nine o'clock on the morning that the ceremonies were to occur. Lono^ lines of bayonets and sabres .s^littered in the streets around the theatre, regiments of cavalry and infantry were drawn up in the Alameda and Plaza, squads of police, on foot and mounted, were marching here and there. Bands of students yell "Viva!" and ''Mira!" Some were fired into, and several students wounded. The shops were nearly all closed early in the day; huge iron padlocks and bolts that would resist a sledge-hammer for half a day hung on doors that but a few days ago were thronged with customers, and the few that remained open were merely ajar, ready to be slammed shut in a minute, and the ponderous bars swung into place. The attendance at the theatre was not large, and consisted almost entirely of officials, foreign ambassadors, and the personal friends of the President, who, like the members of the Congress, were nearly all in full dress, but carried revolvers in their pockets for use if the occasion demanded. In a gilded box over the stage was the wife of General Diaz, of girlish years and striking beauty, at- tended by a party of lady friends and two military officers resplen- dent in gold lace. There was no crush, no confusion, but a sup- pressed excitement and anxiety, made tense by the recollection that such incidents in the history of Mexico had been usuallv attended by war. The outgoing President was the bitter enemy of his successor, and the Congress was about equally divided in its allegiance. The former was not present, and his movements and intentions were unknown. The members of the Senate sat in a double row of chairs which had been placed around the sides of the parquet for their accommo- dation, and all of them wore white kid gloves. The members of the Lower House, the Deputies, sat in their accustomed seats, and their chief officer presided. Promptly at nine o'clock General Diaz, in full evening dress, with white gloves, was escorted to the plat- form by a committee of Senators, took the oath of office with his back to the audience, and passed rapidly out of the building. The whole proceeding did not last more than five minutes, and when the clerk announced that the oath of office had been taken in accordance with the law, and declared Diaz "Constitutional President," the audience quietly left the chamber as if nothing more than the ordinary routine had taken place. 1 From: W. E. Curtis, The Capitals of Spanish America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1888), pp. 27-30, 294 The National Period But the excitement was not abated. The oath had been taken, but the outgoing administration by its absence from the ceremonies had intensified the anxiety lest the admission of Diaz to the Palace might be denied. Accompanied by a committee of Senators and an escort of cavalry, President Diaz drove half a mile to the Govern- ment building, and to his gratification the column of soldiers which was drawn up before the entrance opened to let him pass. The plaza which the building fronts was crowded with thousands of people, who announced the arrival of the new President by a deafening cheer, and the chimes of the old cathedral rang a melodious wel- come. In the centre of the old palace, which stands upon the foundation of the heathen temple Cortez destroyed, is an enormous court, in which the President's party alighted and ascended the marble stairs. The sentinels which lined the staircase saluted them respectfully, and this omen relieved their minds. At the entrance of the Execu- tive chamber, where relics of the luxurious taste of Maximilian still remain, Diaz was received by an aide-de-camp of Gonzales, who ushered him into the presence of the retiring administration. Surrounded by his Cabinet, Gonzales stood, and as Diaz entered stepped forward to welcome him, and according to the ancient practice, handed him an enormous silver key, which is supposed to turn the bolts that protect authority. Short formal addresses were made upon either side, and after wishing the new administration a peaceful and prosperous term, Gonzales and his ministers retired. 7. DESCRIPTION OF PORFIRIO DfAZi FROM his childhood he gave evidences of being active, energetic, and hard working. Two of his principal qualities and traits of character are his memory and his ability to judge and pass upon the qualifications and aptitudes of other men. It is stated that Gen- eral Ulysses S. Grant never forgot a face. The same may be said of President Diaz. Any one who knows him, who has met him several times, will really wonder at his remarkable memory. Inci- dents of apparently no importance, facts that to others may be deemed unnecessary to be remembered, will be recalled in all their details by the President, many years after the events to which they refer may have happened. His clear insight into the character of men has enabled him to choose his chief advisers and those who have aided him in his governmental work from persons who he knew would be most apt to ably perform the services required. Another of the most prominent traits of his character is sincerity. . . . His astonishing good health and his strong constitution are 1 From: Jose F. Godoy, Porfirio Diaz (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1910), pp. 97- 101, 103-104. M extco 295 also distinctive of this wonderful leader of men. At an age when most people would be incapacitated from work, either through dis- ease or the impairment of some of their faculties, President Diaz attends to his business, takes violent exercise, goes out hunting, endures great fatigue, and does a vast amount of work. Undoubt- edly his regular and abstemious habits greatly contribute to attain the result to which we refer. He generally rises at six o'clock in the morning, and after his bath he takes a slight repast, and is ready for work. He then de- votes one or two hours to his private correspondence and to the reading of the press, sometimes noting with pencil some of its most striking passages. - All the winter and spring he remains in the City of Mexico at his private residence in Cadena Street, while he spends the summer at Chapultepec Castle, although then he comes down to the city regularly, on the days set aside for public receptions or for any pri- vate or public functions at which he may have to be present. When in the city, he is usually at the Palace at nine o'clock, and at that hour either there or at Chapultepec he attends to his private correspondence with his efficient private secretary, Mr. Rafael Chousal, whose many years of constant service at the side of the President peculiarly fit him for the prompt despatch of his corre- spondence. At ten or half -past ten o'clock, he begins to confer with his ministers, each one of whom has separate days of the week to meet the President for the resolution of public matters entrusted to the appropriate department, although he usually receives daily for such purpose the Secretaries of Finance and War. At about half-past one in the afternoon, he returns as a general rule to his private residence on Cadena Street, and takes lunch with his wife and some members of his family, and afterwards enjoys a slight rest. He returns to the National Palace at four o'clock on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, to receive all persons with whom he may have a special appointment, and whose names have been inscribed in a register. From the list thus made, he selects the names of those whom he is able to receive according to the time that he may have at his disposal. He does this also when residing at Chapultepec Castle. It is sometimes eight and even nine o'clock when his task of re- ceiving visitors is terminated, and then he returns to his home, and after supper, when not going to the theatre or to fill some other engagement, he converses with his family and receives a few friends who perhaps may bring some public matter to his attention. On the afternoons when he does not receive the public, he visits some public establishment or attends to some other matter of im- portance. 296 The National Period He usually devotes Sunday afternoons to visiting his intimate friends. He rarely ever takes a vacation of more then a few days at a time ; generally devoting that period to his favorite pastime of hunting. Of late years he has gone to Lake Chapala, where he has spent his few days' vacation in boating and riding. . . . President Diaz knows thoroughly his own country, because, both before and after becoming President, he made himself acquainted even with some of the outlying districts and places, which other Mexican statesmen have never visited. This knowledge of his country has been most useful to him for the proper administration of the public affairs of the nation. Perhaps there is no man living who has been shown such honors and received so many marks of distinction from foreign sover- eigns. . . . Being brought up as a soldier, President Diaz did not devote him- self to public speaking during his early life, but since he assumed the presidency, he has become a fluent and eloquent speaker, ready at any time to give his views clearly and with proper effect on any question brought before him, and with relation to any event or cir- cumstance. 8. ACCOUNT OF VILLA'S RAID UPON MEXICAN TOWNS 1 T SHALL never know exactly why Villa took it into his head to -*- force Slim and myself into his gang of bandits. Throughout the three months that we rode with him we were both puzzled to think of a reason, and all I can suppose is that it must have been some whim, some ironic gesture to show his contempt of the white man. Yet even that theory is not borne out by the actual circumstances, for if he had had any grudge against the whites he would have made us suffer. Instead of which, once we had tacitly become part and parcel of his personnel, he treated us in just the same way as he treated all his men. Perhaps he was afraid to let us go because we would lay infor- mation with the Federates as to his whereabouts? That is a very doubtful theory. Plenty of people in Mexico were always telling the Federal troops where Villa had been and in what direction he was heading, but that did not help the soldiers to catch him. The bandit was always sufficiently clever to lead his pursuers a fine dance before he outwitted them. The essential facts are that Villa hitched us on to his band, and took it for granted that we would work with him. Neither he nor his men singled us out at any time for any special attention, and the 1 From: Fred Walker, Destination Unknown (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1935), pp. 129-132. Me^ XI CO 297 only point about our capture that made our lot in any way different from that of a peon was that Villa never called upon either of us actually to instigate or lead any of his raids. I cannot feel that we were very useful to Pancho Villa, and that makes our situation all the more puzzling, for although we were so much dead weight in the outfit, there was never any question o£ our being able to ride away when we felt like it. There we were, and there we had to stay, whether we liked it or not. This does not mean to say that we were guarded or imprisoned, but we were never our own masters, and it was soon obvious to us that Villa, for his own abstruse purpose, did not wish us to be given any freedom at all. He was a fine general and a great leader of men, which was just as well, for he controlled a tough gang of hillmen, who had no scruples and were cruel in the extreme. But they worshipped and admired him, and he knew exactly how to keep them loyal. It was he, of course, who mapped out the route we were to travel, his intimate knowledge of the country telling him the safest villages to attack and the best grazing land to make for towards nightfall. When we were nearing civilization he would send out scouts to explore the country, and to find out whether there were any Fed- eral troops in the vicinity. So good was his espionage system that it seldom happened that the scouts reported the presence of an enemy, for when the Federates were chasing him in Chihuahua he was cheerfully making mischief a hundred miles away. Much of Villa's mischief was concerned with pouncing on vil- lages and extracting such commodities or wealth as he needed. If we were at any time short of food we would raid a village to get some, but that was not all. These village raids were the regular holidays of the unspeakably cruel Yakis, and during our three months with the band we saw sights that I would give much to forget. I shall always remember the first raid that we made, although I do not know the name of the village. Shouting blood-curdling oaths, we galloped into the main street, and saw the frightened villagers dart terror-stricken into their houses. "Pancho!" The cry went up on all sides. Women screamed it hysterically. Men shouted it, and swore. Children heard it, and cried. Doors were bolted. Shops and stores were hastily vacated, on the princi- ple that the rifling of one's till or safe was better than the loss of one's Hfe. Villa seemed to know the geography of every village that v/e came to. We wanted food — he knew where we could get it. As we reined in our horses he barked instructions, and men darted into 298 The National Period shops and stores to bring him what was needed. That was purely the busniess part of the raid, and foolish shopkeepers who tried to protect their goods were given short shrift. It was after our immediate necessities had been provided for that the raids developed into orgies. If the village or small town hap- pened to possess a bank, so much the better — money was needed at all times. That was also part of the business, and cashiers or bank managers who put the interests of the bank before the interests of Pancho Villa had to pay the consequences — consequences that usually took the form of an inert body lying across a desk with blood gushing from its head. And, of course, the r urates (country police) were pests at the best of times ; it was an unwritten law with Villa's men to shoot down every member of this body that they came across. So, with rifles blazing, and screaming and shouting to greet them, Pancho Villa and his men paid their visit, and after the commercial possibilities of the village had been exhausted, the men were tacitly left to their own devices. Then it was that I saw sights that I would like to forget. Most of the bandits were half-breeds with a strain of Yaki Indian blood — the worst type of Indian — and they had no scruples whatsoever. As soon as they realized that the object of the raid had been achieved, and that they could enjoy themselves, they emitted whoops of animalistic delight, and went for the women. The men -folk who tried to defend wives and daughters were shot without compunction, and the lust seemed to develop into a general lust for blood and damage. Rooms were pillaged and looted; old men were killed for no reason other than that they protested ; and when the air resounded with the moaning of the dying and the weeping of the living, Pancho rode out with his men in triumph from the village. Yet there was another side to these men's nature, as I used to see when, round the fire at nightfall, to the strumming of a guitar, they would sing sweet old Spanish songs about cattle and horses. Robbing churches was a favourite pastime of Villa's, because the Spanish churches in Mexico contain many gold antiques of great value, but deep down in his black heart there was just a trace of sentiment, for he never personally witnessed or carried out this vandalism, nor did he ever force any of his men to carry out such raids against their will. The Mexicans themselves were sufficiently superstitious not to dare to take part in any such escapades ; Villa respected this attitude, and delegated the task to the Yaki Indians, who care as little for the sanctity of a church as they do for the sacredness of human life. As far as Slim and I were concerned. Villa was most friendly. He used to try to talk to us, and we would exchange the few Mexico 299 phrases of each other's language that we knew, but he never actually gave us any work to do ; in fact, it is not too much to say that he treated us rather like honoured guests. He did not at any time order us to be searched, or deprive us of any of our money or be- longings, and he even let us keep our revolvers. But beneath his friendliness there was a menacing undercurrent as time went on, for we now knew sufficient about his activities to be dangerous if we got away. 9. DESCRIPTION OF A MEXICAN HOME (About 1840)i npHE day of plush sofas, candlesticks, canopies and china pots -■■ was over. Now a new epoch had dawned, and while European importations were gradually being introduced into the grand draw- ing-rooms and boudoirs, the lower class still clung fondly to the petate and the tlecuill, while the middle class, making many innova- tions, still retained much of the indigenous and colonial. I can still see one of the principal residences in our neighborhood, its steep stairway, its corridor in front, its parlor, sitting room, dining room and kitchen, and in the rear, like a short postscript, the rest of the necessary offices. In the corridor there never failed cages holding canaries, mock- ing birds or sparrows, tin hoops with hanging strips of glass that made music in the wind, and very seldom were stuffed birds and squirrels lacking. In a corner of the corridor could be seen colossal varnished red jars and the cool and porous stone filter offering its refreshing contents. The under flooring was of cross beams, but painted red with a mixture of cinnabar, red earth and I do not know what else ; but it gave the floor a certain freshness and gaiety which was most agreeable. It was not uncommon to find frescoes on the walls of the corridor representing the castle and woods of Chapultepec, the Viga with its canal and canoes carrying musicians and singers, or a "tail- twister," with his trick bulls, balancing himself so as to twist a bull's tail and so overturn him. . . . Sometimes ridiculous and other times passable, these frescoes were always pleasing to the host and his visitors. The parlor furniture was ordinarily composed of chairs and sofas, with rush seats, painted red or brown and called apple and pear furniture on account of having these fruits painted in gold on the back. At the foot of the sofa could be seen oval-shaped tin cuspidors, with their covers full of symmetrical holes, and a nar- 1 From: Guillermo Prieto quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, September 1921, pp. 246-247. 300 The National Period row piece of matting with a striped edge which took the place of a carpet. . . . In the center of the parlor, on appropriate brackets and small tables, it was the correct thing to have images of the Divine Shep- herdess, the Divine Child and Our Lady of Sorrows in high glass cases before which an oil lamp constantly burned . . . and, of course, a figure of the Christ of Guatemala surrounded by silver charms with the respective certificate and 200 days' indulgence. . . . On the walls hung pictures of the Blessed Trinity, St. John Nepomuceno, protector of honor, St. Joseph with the Child in his arms and the devoted St. Sebastian of Aparicio with his oxen kneeling before him. A small brazier of red-hot coals covered with ashes for Hght- ing cigarettes was absolutely obligatory in one corner of the parlor. The most striking features of the bedroom were the curtains, which hung on four iron rods, a bed made of fine wood, a little font of Holy Water, a large armchair for the exclusive use of the more sedate members of the family. Bureaus and wardrobes played an important part, the clothes rack being used only by the head of the house. At the entrance of the dining room was an apparatus fastened to the wall, consisting of a washbowl and spigot with a receptacle for waste water beneath it, a towel hung at one side, a native cup hold- ing the Puebla soap, a bunch of hemp fibre for scrubbing and a small tezontle for those interested in scraping the marks of cigar smoke ofif their fingers. The walls of the kitchen, no matter how poor, were decorated with flourishes and fancy designs outlined in saucepans, stewing- pans and those flat earthenware receptacles for cooking maize cakes, flowers formed with fans, spoons and toys, all worked and bor- dered in vivid colors, giving a very eflfective appearance. . . . Only families who held a certain position owned bathtubs, al- though they were beginning to be used, being made of tin or of wood covered with lead, accompanied by a heater with its three boilers and their covers, this being the essential piece of furniture which, at times, created a veritable upheaval in the family because of the much hauling of water and coal ; the fire and smoke not un- frequently causing dangerous burns. 10. DESCRIPTION OF A BULL FIGHT (About 1840)i A BOX in the centre, with a carpet and a silver lamp, had been prepared for us ; but we went with our friends . . . into their box adjoining. The scene, to me especially, who have not seen the . magnificence of the Madrid arena, was animating and brilliant in 1 From: Mme. Calder6n de la Barca, Life in Mexico (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1931), pp. 78-80. Mex ICO 301 the highest degree. Fancy an immense amphitheatre, with four great tiers of boxes, and a range of uncovered seats in front, the whole crowded almost to suffocation; the boxes filled with ladies in full dress, and the seats below by gaily-dressed and most enthu- siastic spectators; two military bands of music, playing beautiful airs from the operas ; an extraordinary variety of brilliant costumes, all lighted up by the eternally deep-blue sky ; ladies and peasants, and officers in full uniform, — and you may conceive that it must have been altogether a varied and curious spectacle. About half-past six, a flourish of trumpets announced the presi- dent, who came in uniform with his staff, and took his seat to the music of ''Guerra! Guerra; I bellici trombi." Shortly after the matadors and picadors, the former on foot, the latter on horseback, made their entry, saluting all around the arena, and were received with loud cheering. Bernardo's dress of blue and silver was very superb, and cost him five hundred dollars. The signal was given — the gates were thrown open, and a bull sprang into the arena ; not a great, fierce- looking animal, as they are in Spain, but a small, angry, wild-looking beast, with a troubled eye. "Thrice sounds the clarion ; lo ! the signal falls. The den expands, and expectation mute Gapes round the silent circle's peopled walls. Bounds with one lashing spring the mighty brute, And, wildly staring, spurns with sounding foot The sand, nor blindly rushes on his foe ; Here, there, he points his threatening front, to suit His first attack, wide waving to and fro His angry tail ; red rolls his eye's dilated glow." A picture equally correct and poetical. That first pose of the bull is superb ! Pasta, in her Medea, did not surpass it. Meanwhile the matadors and the banderilleros shook their coloured scarfs at him — the picadors poked at him with their lances. He rushed at the first, and tossed up the scarfs which they threw at him, while they sprung over the arena ; galloped after the others, striking the horses, so that along with their riders they occasionally rolled in the dust ; both, however, almost instantly recovering their equilibrium, in which there is no time to be lost. Then the matadors would throw fireworks, crackers adorned with streaming ribbons, which stuck on his horns, as he tossed his head, enveloped him in a blaze of fire. Occasionally the picador would catch hold of the bull's tail, and passing it under his own right leg, wheel his horse round, force the bullock to gallop backwards, and throw him on his face. Maddened with pain, streaming with blood, stuck full of darts, and covered with fireworks, the unfortunate beast went galloping 302 The National Period round and round, plunging blindly at man and horse, and frequently- trying to leap the barrier, but driven back by the waving hats and shouting of the crowd. At last, as he stood at bay, and nearly ex- hausted, the matador ran up and gave him the mortal blow, con- sidered a peculiar proof of skill. The bull stopped, as if he felt that his hour were come, staggered, made a few plunges at nothing, and fell. A finishing stroke, and the bull expired. The trumpets sounded, the music played. Four horses galloped in tied to a yoke, to which the bull was fastened, and swiftly dragged out of the arena. This last part had a fine effect, reminding one of the Roman sacrifice. In a similar manner, eight bulls were done to death. The scene is altogether fine, the address amusing, but the wounding and tormenting of the bull is sickening, and as here the tips of his horns are blunted, one has more sympathy with him than with his human adversaries. It cannot be good to accustom a people to such bloody sights. Yet let me confess, that though at first I covered my face and could not look, little by little I grew so much interested in the scene, that I could not take my eyes off it, and I can easily under- stand the pleasure taken in these barbarous diversions by those ac- customed to them from childhood. The bull-fight having terminated amidst loud and prolonged cheering from the crowd, a tree of fireworks, erected in the midst of the arena, was lighted, and amidst a blaze of coloured light, ap- peared, first the Arms of the Republic, the Eagle and Nopal ; and above, a full-length portrait of C n ! represented by a figure in a blue and silver uniform. Down fell the Mexican eagle with a crash at his feet, while he remained burning brightly, and lighted up by fireworks, in the midst of tremendous shouts and cheers. Thus terminated this "juncion extraordinaria;" and when all was over, we went to dine at Countess C- a's; had some music in the evening, and afterwards returned home tolerably tired. 11. CONDITIONS OF INDIAN LABOR ON MEXICAN HACIENDAS (1865)i I HAVE seen men struck with switches until they bled; I have literally put my fingers in the scars ; I have fed families, dying of hunger, and led to work under the whip of the majordomo; I have seen men dying of exhaustion, charged with chains, dragging themselves into the open in order to end their lives under the eye of God, then thrown into a hole like dead dogs. The hacendado specu- lates even on the food of these wretched people, and on the rag which half covers them. He compels them to buy from him all their 1 From: Burnouf quoted in Ernest Gruening, Mexico and its Heritage (New York: Century Company, 1928), p. 123. Mexico 303 provisions, and at a price higher than that of the town market ; he sells them at usurious rates all the poor fahrics they need, so that, when the account is settled, the Indian does not receive a real, for fourteen hours of labor. It is, therefore, necessary that the Indian get deeper and deeper into debt; in this the master is powerfully aided by the priests, who make all pay an exorbitant price for the formulas of religion, and exploit to tne limit the superstitious credu- lity of the Indian. The liquidation for Holy Week, in particular, is arranged always to the peon's loss, and his condition is steadily worsening. Under this system, it has been fixed that not a native family but owes at least a hundred pesos. 12. MEXICAN RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS (1867)i RELIGIOUS ceremonies are carried on with a regrettable want of decorum and laisser-aller. . . . The Indians go to mass with the chickens and merchandise they are carrying to market. I had to desert the Mexico Cathedral, where I went every morning, be- cause I could not collect my thoughts. The gobbling of turkeys, the crowing of roosters, the barking of dogs, the meowing of cats, the flapping of birds who lodge in the vaulting, the biting of fleas — make it impossible for one, unaccustomed to live in such a men- agerie, to compose oneself. ... The mysteries of the Middle Ages are at times exceeded by the burlesque Mexican ceremonies. The accouchement of the Virgin on Christmas night strikes me as indecent; in France the police would forbid this ceremony as offensive to public morality. But public morality being unknown in Mexico, the custom of present- ing in many churches the delivery of the virgin offends no one. No father of a family considers it improper to take his daughter where one sees Mary, with an enormous abdomen, paraded around the church. After the procession, a priest pulls from under the skirts of the Virgin a swaddled Child Jesus who is placed on the altar and then carried around the church. ... I have spoken of the custom of dressing up deceased children, of decorating them with silk wings, paper crowns, flowers and ribbons, of displaying them seated on a chair or stretched on a table, of bury- ing them to the noise of petards, or of instruments playing polkas and quadrilles. In Mexico City, and in the interior, I have seen even more revolting things. Pulque merchants hired these corpses called angelitos (little angels) to attract trade: First there were prayers; then one drank ; young girls made these occasions for rendezvous with their beaux. The corpse would serve several merchants and be buried only when putrefaction was well advanced. 1 From: The Abbe Domenech quoted in Ernest Gruening, Mexico and its Heritage (New York: Century Company, 1928), pp. 251-252. 304 The National Period 13. HOW MEXICANS ARE AFFECTED BY DRINK (About 1910)1 WHEN a Mexican has any trouble he goes to a pulqueria to talk it over with a friend. In the morning he likes his capita for a starter. Children taste alcoholic drinks out of their fathers' glasses. On fete days bloody assaults are frequent, due to drunkenness. Mexico used to be free of the sight of a drunken woman up to 1876, but since then, unfortunately, the increasing proportions are alarming. Today we have a national type of psychiatric (men and women). They particularly drink tequila and do not show drunken effects, but their nerves are shattered, their disposition becomes most irritable, everyone annoys them, a look from anyone seems insulting to them. Their eyes are dejected, their hair is thin (men lose their beards), their color is yellow, the pulse is shaky, they are nauseated in the mornings, they eat only meat and rice, they work only in a cloud of smoke and alcohol. 14. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MEXICAN MESTIZO 2 THE mestizo has inherited some of the qualities and faults of the Spaniards of the early days. He is vain and brave, but he is not superstitious, nor is he deceitful in swearing allegiance to his king, his ladies, his God, as the Spaniard did. The mestizo is polyg- amous, unfaithful to all the ladies, to his gods and his kings. He is skeptical, disinterested as the Indian, but he has one great virtue, he envies no one. He loves the rights of man without knowing what justice is ; he loves his country and has the true sentiment toward a great nation ; he is faithful as an Arab when it has to do with a promise to fight, and is as informal as an astrologist when he promises to pay his debts. In matters of money he neither col- lects, loans, nor pays ; he hates usury, soap, the external and inter- nal use of w^ater, combs, economy, and the gachupines (his name for the Spaniards). 15. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE "ACTIVITY SCHOOLS" IN MEXICO (1923) 3 I. The New School should be a constant pedagogical laboratory. II. It should be located, whenever possible, in the country where the child's spirit may find its world of observation, experi- ence, and beauty. 1 From: Julio Guerrero quoted in Wallace Thompson, The People of Mexico (New York: Harper and .Brothers, 1921), p. 378. 2 From: Francisco Bulnes quoted in Wallace Thompson, The People of Mexico (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1921), pp. 51-52. 3 From: C. D. Ebaugh, The National System of Education in Mexico (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1931), pp. 48-49. Mexico 305 III. It should be based on action rather than words. IV. Observation and experience should always precede oral lessons. V. Individual experience should be accorded first importance. VI. Collective activity should be connected with individual ex- perience to educate the child to the idea of ''community." VII. Yearly projects, especially gardening, woodwork, and mod- eling, constitute an essential part of the program of the New School. VIII. In the New School, the breeding and care of domestic animals are a source of learning, because of the opportunity they afford for the observation of life in all its phases, and because of the systematic activities they require of the children. IX. Geography and History should be taught by relating what is learned by observation and experience with what man has veri- fied in the various stages of his existence and with what actually exists in the different regions of the world. X. Chorus singing and music help to provide the artistic atmos- phere with which the New School should be impregnated. XI. Physical exercises and games should be held out of doors. XII. Schedules and programs must be flexible, to adapt them- selves to the environment, the experiences, and the needs of the child. XIII. Classes should be held on the field of observation and experience : in the country, the factory, the shop, the museum, etc. XIV. Classrooms should be real workshops in which the child investigates, works, or thinks carefully about the observations or experiences he has had. XV. The New School should be, if possible, a boarding school in which the pupils, guided by their teachers, live as in a community. XVI. The New School should be co-educational, to accustom the pupils of both sexes to treat each other as companions and to hold due consideration for each other. XVII. In the New School the teacher plays the role of guide : only apparently is the pupil the active factor and the teacher the passive one. XVIII. In the New School, excursions and outings are the most active means of instruction. XIX. In the New School rewards and punishments do not exist : descipline is based on freedom of work and play. 3o6 The National Period XX. In the New School the spirit of service and cooperation supplants the spirit of struggle or of competition : brotherhood takes the place of egoism; the idea of war gives way to that of peace; violence is put aside for love. XXI. The New School adopts the natural method of phrases in the teaching of reading and writing, and of construction as the auxiliary of arithmetic and geometry. Manual activities including the construction of pens for animals, articles of furniture, and gar- den plotting and making are the source of numberless problenis of great interest. XXII. In the New School the teachers are free to develop their personality and educational initiative and must be conscious of the need for so doing. There are no principals, and those in the present organization of the school system who are called inspectors (super- visors) should be real advisors. The teachers should make their own decisions and help each other concertedly. XXIII. The New School should function in constant relation with the home and with society in general. 16. THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF A MEXICAN CHILD (About 1936)1 The Mexican child has a right: TO healthy parents, able to pass on to him the greatest possible vitality and to be born surrounded by hygienic conditions per- mitting his steady physical development. To parents who recognize perfectly the needs of the home for good up-bringing and the best means for a complete education. To be helped in any trouble which arises and which is beyond his strength. To all the culture that he is capable of receiving, regardless of his economic, ethnic, and religious position. To respect for his mental processes in order that he may acquire a feeling of responsibility for his social acts. This right prohibits the imposition of disciplines or concepts which may impede the healthy growth of the child's conscience. To reject any teacher who is not in sympathy with the Revolu- tionary ideals, who is not enlightened, or who has no aptitude for her vocation. To school surroundings that accord with modern pedagogical practise. To coeducation in the school as naturally as in the home. To demand that his parents and teachers cooperate in the work of the school for the betterment of the school environment. 1 From: Francisco Berumen Encisco speaking before the Progressive Education Associa- tion in Mexico City. Mexico 307 To demand that society avoid and correct those things which cause him misfortune in his relations with the world. The Mexican child must: Consider all children his kin, without distinction for race, creed or sex. Indentify himself with his companions' needs, sharing food, shel- ter, home, education and amusement whenever possible. Care for his own health because he is the hope of the nation. Love justice, truth and duty and defend them always. Refuse to accept dogmatic statements regarding natural and so- cial phenomena but investigate all such statements in order to dis- cover the causes of these phenomena. Love, respect and assist his parents, brothers and sisters and teachers. Demand absolute respect for the rights of the proletariat and ap- preciate their aspirations for economic and social betterment. Fight idleness and vice by ethics, esthetics and athletics. Organize in school such cooperatives as will educate him in col- lective production. Carry out ef^ciently and loyally all duties that his companions and teachers appoint him to do, for these are related to the well- being of his family, his school and his nation. 17. INTEREST OF PRESIDENT CALLES IN MEXICAN EDUCATION (December 1, 1924)i THE fundamental bases for the betterment of the great com- munities of my country, and of the rural masses in particular, — the workingmen and the indigenous folk, — are their economic freedom and their educational development until they are fully in- corporated into civilized life. The land problem, settled in the fashion I have indicated, will increase agricultural production and will bring economic freedom to the countryman; the education of the rural districts of the nation, the consolidation of rights, and the legal protection of the working element of the cities and industrial centers, will be the special aims of my administration which, in all other respects, will proceed on a basis of equity and justice for all social classes. The problem of the education of the rural masses will be one to occupy my particular attention. The special systems in this con- nection will be studied in detail by the Secretariat of Public Educa- tion ; but I am even now able to outline the general features of the 1 From: Plutarco Elias Calles quoted in C. D. Ebaugh, The National System of Education in Mexico (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1931), p. 23. 3o8 The National Period work, which will consist not only of combating illiteracy, but also of achieving a harmonious development of the spirit of our rural and indigenous population, so that this great part of our people may, as I have already said, form a responsible part of civilization. In brief, the rural school extended to the limit of our economic pos- sibilities, will be our constant preoccupation. 18. AIMS OF MEXICAN EDUCATION (1930)i THERE is in Mexico a cultural tradition which the school cannot and should not fail to recognize. In former times, our land was the seat of noble and admirable civilizations. They declined in power and disappeared, but unmistakably they left behind a sedi- ment of culture. It would be foolish to ignore it, and even more foolish not to take advantage of it. To preserve the worthwhile ele- ments of the indigenous cultures and to amalgamate them with the new concepts and new manners of modern civilization is, therefore, a task which directly concerns the Mexican educator. The Cas- tilianization of the Indian, that is to say, to give a medium of com- munication to a third of the Mexican population who cannot under- stand us because they do not speak our language, is, within the same order of ideas, another of the most transcendental problems we must work out. To so organize the schools that they may retain their [the Indians'] friendship and acquire a clear understanding of the great contemporary problems of Mexico — those relating to the Land, to Labor, to the Indian, to a democratic form of gov- ernment — and to bring it about that by preserving this under- standing they may avoid factions and petty bands, is yet another of the essential problems in the Mexican schools. It is also necessary to achieve economic improvement for our people. The Mexican school is gradually coming to see that it must make itself eminently vocational. This obligation is placed upon the school from three different viewpoints : because it was formerly theoretical and liter- alist and must be made real and practical ; because our peoples have evident genius for the manual arts; and because they have been starving for centuries and only by production can their hunger be sated. 19. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION IN MEXICO (1936) 2 THE aspiration of the Revolution is that every man in every village shall find work, so that human life may be pleasanter, less miserable, and nobler in this sense : that it shall allow the in- 1 From: Moises Saenz quoted in C. D. Ebaugh, The National System of Education in Mexico (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1931), p. 129. 2 From: Lazaro Cardenas quoted in Current History, October 1936, p. 110. Mexico 309 dividual to cultiA^ate his ph3^sical and intellectual faculties, and therefore achieve full realization of his own personality. I should deem it very hard indeed to carry into effect the princi- ples of the Six- Year Plan, if I did not rely on the cooperation of organized rural and industrial workers, disciplined and united. Capitalism ncA^er fails to take advantage of a single conflict be- tween labor unions. Divisions between workers are criminal and sterile in results. Workers and peasants must remove all obstacles in the way of union between them. I shall always be at the service of workers and peasants. The fundamental problem calling for immediate solution is that of the Land. . . . The Six- Year Plan deals in the first place with the agrarian problem . . . which is acute in all the States of the Republic. Every measure of a political nature must rest on an economic foundation and have an economic sense. Formation of our own economy will free us from a certain kind of capitalism, the incentive behind which is none other than to obtain raw materials by means of cheap labor. . . . Higher education must abandon its tendencies in favor of the Hberal professions in order to become eminently technical. In every industrial center and by the side of every factory, there must be a technical school for wage-earners. For many years our governing classes looked on the Indian as a being beyond the pale of humanity. Upon the Revolution rests the sacred responsibility of not forgetting the blood shed by the Indians . . . for the triumph of its social cause. Women must organize. Home for them must cease to be a prison. They must become a factor in production and the increase in wealth. They must improve standards of domestic economics and, in fine, be man's companion in every aspect of his existence. 20. PRESIDENT AVILA CAMACHO OF MEXICO DESCRIBES THE ANTI-ILLITERACY CAMPAIGN (August 21, 1944) 1 Fellow patriots: TODAY the Mexican Government has made a decision of importance. I want tO' ask all of you to consider it with fervent patriotism as a decision expediting an emergency law by virtue of which all Mexicans over eighteen and under sixty years of age who can read and write Spanish and who are not incapaci- tated should teach reading and writing to at least one illiterate person. 1 From: Mexico News, September 3, 1944. 3IO The National Period Because it is believed that this obligation can be fulfilled suc- cessfully, the Secretary of Education — together with the authori- ties which the law determines — will organize a national campaign against illiteracy, a campaign whose initial period of preparation will last six months, and whose second period of teaching will begin on the first of March 1945 and will continue through the first of March 1946. During this first period of preparation ten million pamphlets, destined to teach reading and writing to the illiterate, will be printed. Categories will be established of persons who should be freed from their function as instructors in cities and towns where illiteracy is in the minority, to take over teaching in cities and towns where illiteracy predominates. The maximum of equality will be used to determine the number of students assigned to each instructor. In order that the campaign to which I refer be as successful as we wish, I have personally contacted to date all the governors of the states and territories, and all the municipal presidents of Mexico, asking them for not only the cooperation which the law designates, but for something more — the help of their initiative action, the stimulation of a well directed program of propaganda, and a forceful, firm, and smooth action of progress. I am sure that this action with its cooperative stimulation be- hind it will not be refused to us by the authorities to which I have just referred. Nevertheless, neither the clauses of the law nor the active aid of the governors and the municipal organizations will succeed in obtaining by themselves the results we want to see. We must be able to count on from the beginning the complete coopera- tion of all the Mexican people. This cooperation is something which T am hoping from all of you, and which I am imploring from all of you. If successful, such a triumph will be unique in the history of our education. We are at war, and we realize that in a total war such as the world is now undergoing, every country has two kinds of enemies : enemies from the outside — in our case the nazi-f ascistic forces ■ — and enemies from the inside. With reference to Mexico, this last type of enemy is more than any a product of grave and dangerous insufiiciencies. These insufficiencies are our internal enemies: political — a lack which is still very much obscured in the march of our institu- tional life; economic — an insufficiency which proves the lack of intensive industrialization, the low produce of our agriculture, the inequilibrium of conditions throughout the country and in the cities, the wealth of certain minorities and the misery and poverty of enormous human masses which form the very basis and frame- work of a nation; technical — a lack derived from a backward and M exico 311 narrowmlnded tendency to scorn direct material work and to prefer, in education, the concrete knowledge of indispensable formulas for the better advancement of our resources, the academic forms which lead to the exercise of free professions. All these insufficiencies spring, however, from one very grave source of insufficiency — that of instruction. The governors of revolutionary extraction have done much in an attempt to carry teaching and education to all the towns of Mexico, and the sums of money which we dedicate year after year toward the fulfillment of such an urgent mission, are great. Never- theless, our results from such expenditures have not even been successful enough to obtain a sufficient number of teachers and schools for the total Mexican population of school age. Hundreds of thousands of children lack the complete element of education. That is why the percentage of illiterate people has not diminished in the proportion which would be desirable in order to raise the heighth of culture to that point which our country aspires. I know very well that the education of a town and of a people is not rooted exclusively in eliminating illiteracy, but I know, with equal clarity that the first indispensable step to that education is the teaching of reading and writing. And since half of Mexico is composed of illiterates, no other social problem which we confront could be more completely planned with the hope of' a perfect logical solution. It is thus that we confirm ignorance as being the most fearful of internal enemies. Consequently, in this era of conflict, one of our most urgent tasks ought to consist of fighting, by all possible means, against this enemy. A struggle of such significance will not and cannot be won without the cooperative enlistment of allthe men and women who possess the necessarv arms, even though they be of modest and elemental characteristics. It is, then, to all the Mexicans who have received the benefits of an education, that I plead. Present yourselves in a campaign which we are proposing to your enthusiasms and your feelings of duty. I myself will participate in this work, and together with me all my fellow workers. And together with us, our wives. And I refuse to believe that there is a single patriot among us who, cap- able of helping us in this undertaking, resists through egotistical selfishness. Do we want to be so situated that in the postwar era we will be* able to conquer all the obstacles which can be glimpsed now during this period of war? I have here one of the most powerful ways of preparing ourselves for that task. The w^ork is hard : not so much through the individual difficulties which it represents as through the work of coordination, cooperation, and determination. But 312 The National Period Mexico is worthy and capable of encountering great tasks and experiences. And the confidence which I have in you, my com- patriots, strengthens in me the conviction that we will come out of this experience more united, more capable, and more completely Mexican citizens. Shortly after the President's speech. Secretary of Education Jaime Torres Bodet made the following statements to the press. The law which has just been divulged to the Mexican people, and the words which President Avila Camacho just used to urge tonight that all Mexicans enlist to serve their country in an essen- tial struggle against the most reproachful form of ignorance — illiteracy in which half of the population of our Republic lives — point out the new era in the cultural formation of Mexico. I heartily accept the task which has been committed to me by our Prime Magistrate, to be the executive director of the National Campaign against Illiteracy. I too have complete faith in the ability of our teachers. To them this battle will culminate not with an individual place of honor, but with a feeling of self-satisfaction and completed duty. With this indispensable technical aid and with the full coopera- tion of everyone, I sincerely hope that I will be able to fulfill my duty. 21. THE REASONS FOR GENERAL PERSHING'S EXPEDI- TION INTO MEXICO AS STATED BY PRESIDENT WILSON (March 25, 1916)i A S HAS already been announced, the expedition into Mexico -^^ was ordered under an agreement with the de facto Govern- ment of Mexico for the single purpose of taking the bandit Villa, whose forces had actually invaded the territory of the United States, and is in no sense intended as an invasion of that Repubhc or as an infringement of its sovereignty. I have, therefore, asked the several news services to be good enough to assist the Administration in keeping this view of the ex- pedition constantly before both the people of this country and the distressed and sensitive people of Mexico, who are very susceptible, indeed, to impressions received from the American press not only, but also very ready to believe that those impressions proceed from the views and objects of our Government itself. Such conclusions, it must be said, are not unnatural, because the main, if not the only, sourse of information for the people on both sides of the border is the public press of the United States. 1 From: President Wilson quoted in George Creel, The People Next Door (New York: The John Day Company, 1926), pp. 395-397. M exico 313 In order to avoid the creation of erroneous and dangerous im- pressions in this way I have called upon the several news agencies to use the utmost care not to give news stories regarding this ex- pedition the color of war, to withhold stories of troop movements and military preparations which might be given that interpretation, and to refrain from publishing unverified rumors of unrest in Mexico. I feel that it is most desirable to impress upon both our own people and the people of Mexico the fact that the expedition is simply a necessary punitive measure, aimed solely at the elimination of the marauders who raided Columbus and who infest an unpro- tected district near the border, which they use as a base in making attacks upon the lives and property of our citizens within our own territory. It is the purpose of our commanders to cooperate in every possible way with the forces of General Carranza in remov- ing this cause of irritation to both Governments and retire from Mexican territory as soon as that object is accomplished. It is my duty to warn the people of the United States that there are persons all along the border who are actively engaged in origi- nating and giving as wide currency as they can to rumors of the most sensational and disturbing sort, which are wholly unjustified by the facts. The object of this traffic in falsehood is obvious. It is to create intolerable friction between the Government of the United States and the de facto Government of Mexico for the pur- pose of bringing about intervention in the interest of certain American owners of Mexican properties. This object can not be attained so long as sane and honorable men are in control of this Government, but very serious conditions may be created, unneces- sary bloodshed may result, and the relations between the two Re- publics may be very much embarrassed. 22. A MEXICAN HYMN OF HATE SUNG WHEN UNITED STATES FORCES INVADED MEXICO TO CAPTURE PANCHO VILLA (1916) 1 Mother of mine of Guadalupe, Bless this soldier of your nation, Tomorrow I march to war. The war against intervention. Oh beautiful Guadalupe, Sacred and beloved Virgin, You must not let the gringoes Consume the blood of your children. 1 From: Anita Brenner, Idols behind Altars (New York: Payson and Clarke, Ltd., 1929), p. 212. 314 The National Period Maybe they think that the Indians Have by now all disappeared, But there are plenty of us To whom liberty is still dear. Maybe they have guns and cannons, Maybe they are a lot stronger, We have only rocks and mountains But we know how to last longer. Go look somewhere else for riches, Must you with greed be so blind That you can't see that you have left us Nothing except the rind? {^HAPTER Thirty CENTRAL AMERICA _ 1. DESCRIPTION OF PRESIDENT RAFAEL CARRERA OF GUATEMALA (About 1839)i CARRERA was living in a small house in a retired street. Senti- nels were at the door, and eight or ten soldiers basking in the sun outside, part of a body-guard, who had been fitted out with red bombazet jackets and tartan plaid caps, and made a much better appearance than any of his soldiers I had before seen. Along the corridor was a row of muskets, bright and in good order. We entered a small room adjoining the sala, and saw Carrera sitting at a table counting money. . . . He is a native of one of the wards of Guatimala. His friends, in compliment, call him a mulatto ; I, for the same reason, call him an Indian, considering that the better blood of the two. In 1829 he was a drummer-boy in Colonel Aycinena's regiment. When the Liberal or Democratic party prevailed, and General Morazan en- tered the city, Carrera broke his drum and retired to the village of Matasquintla. Here he entered into business as a pig-driver, and for several years continued in this respectable occupation, probably as free as one of his own pigs from any dreams of future great- ness. . . . 1 From: John L. Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central America .... (New York: Harper and Brothers, 2 vols.. 1841), Vol. I, pp. 223-225, 247-249. Central America 315 When I entered the room he was sitting at a table counting six- penny and shining pieces. Colonel Monte Rosa, a dark Mestitzo, in a dashing uniform, was sitting by his side, and several other per- sons were in the room. He was about five feet six inches in height, with straight black hair, an Indian complexion and expression, with- out beard, and did not seem to be more than twenty-one years old. He wore a black bombazet roundabout jacket and pantaloons. He rose as we entered, pushed the money on one side of the table, and, probably out of respect to my coat, received me with courtesy, and gave me a chair at his side. My first remark was an expression of surprise at his extreme youth ; he answered that he was but twenty- three years old; certainly he was not more than twenty- five; and then, as a man conscious that he was something extra- ordinary, and that I knew it, without waiting for any leading ques- tions, he continued, that he had begun (he did not say what) with thirteen men armed with old muskets, which they were obliged to fire with cigars ; pointed to eight places in which he had been wounded, and said that he had three balls then in his body. At this time he could hardly be recognised as the same man who, less than two years before, had entered Guatimala with a horde of wild In- dians, proclaiming death to strangers. Indeed, in no particular had he changed more than in his opinion of foreigners, a happy illus- tration of the effect of personal intercourse in breaking down preju- dices against individuals or classes. He had become personally acquainted with several, one of whom, an English doctor, had ex- tracted a ball from his side ; and his intercourse with all had been so satisfactory, that his feelings had undergone an entire revulsion; and he said that they were the only people who never deceived him. He had done, too, what I consider extraordinary; in the intervals of his hurried life he had learned to write his name, and had thrown aside his stamp. . . . He seemed intelligent and capable of improvement, and I told him that he ought to travel into other countries, and particularly, from its contiguity, into mine. He had a very indefinite notion as to where my country was; he knew it only as El Norte, or the North; inquired about the distance and facility for getting there, and said that, when the wars were over, he would endeavour to make El Norte a visit. But he could not fix his thoughts upon any- thing except the wars and Morazan; in fact, he knew of nothing else. He was boyish in his manners and manner of speaking, but very grave ; he never smiled, and, conscious of power, was unosten- tatious in the exhibition of it, though he always spoke in the first person of what he had done and what he intended to do. One of the hangers-on, evidently to pay court to him, looked for a paper bearing his signature to show me as a specimen of his handwriting, but did not find one. My interview with him was much more inter- 3i6 The National Period esting than I had expected ; so young, so humble in his origin, so destitute of early advantages, with honest impulses, perhaps, but ignorant, fanatic, sanguinary, and the slave of violent passions, wielding absolutely the physical force of the country, and that force entertaining a natural hatred to the whites. At parting he accom- panied me to the door, and in the presence of his villanous soldiers made me a free offer of his services. I understood that I had the good fortune to make a favourable impression ; and afterward, but, unluckily, during my absence, he called upon me in full dress and in state, which for him was an unusual thing. 2. DESCRIPTION OF PRESIDENT JUSTO RUFINO BARRIOS OF GUATEMALA (About 1885)i GENERAL BARRIOS was always dramatic. He was dramatic in the simplicity and frugality of his private life, as he was in the displays he was constantly making for the diversion of the people. In striking contrast with the customs of the country where the garments and the manners of men are the objects of the most fastidious attention, he was careless in his clothing, brusque in his manner, and frank in his declarations. It is said that the Spanish language was framed to conceal thoughts, but Barrios used none of its honeyed phrases, and had the candor of an American frontiers- man. He was incapable of duplicity, but naturally secretive. He had no confidants, made his own plans without consulting any one, and when he was ready to announce them he used language that could not be misunderstood. In disposition he was sympathetic and affectionate, and when he liked a man he showered favors upon him ; when he distrusted, he was cold and repelling; and when he hated, his vengeance was swift and sure. To be detected in an intrigue against his life, or the stability of the Government, which was the same thing, was death or exile, and his natural powers of perception seemed almost miraculous. The last time his assassination was at- tempted he pardoned the men whose hands threw the bomb at him, but those who hired them saved their lives by flight from the country. If caught, they would have been shot without trial. He was the most industrious man in Central America; slept little, ate little, and never indulged in the siesta that is as much a part of the daily life of the people as breakfast and dinner. He did everything with a nervous impetuosity, thought rapidly, and acted instantly. The ambition of his life was to reunite the republics of Central America in a confederacy such as existed a few years after inde- pendence. The benefits of such a union are apparent to all who understand the political, geographical, and commercial conditions 1 From: W. E. Curtis, The Capitals of Spanish America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1888), pp. 100-104. Central America 317 of the continent, and are acknowledged by the thinking men of the five States, but the consummation of the plan is prevented by the selfish ambition of local leaders. Each is willing to join the union if he can be Dictator, but none will permit a union with any other man as chief. Diplomatic negotiations looking to a consolidation of the five Central American republics extended over a period of several years, but were fruitless because of local jealousies. The leading politi- cians in the several States feared they would lose their prominence and power, and distrusted Barrios, although he assured them that he was not ambitious to be Dictator. He thought he was the right man to carry out the plan, but as soon as it was consummated he proposed to retire and permit the people to frame their Constitu- tion and elect their Executive, promising that he would not be a candidate. As he told me shortly after his coup-d'etat, he desired to retire from public life and reside in the United States, which he considered the paradise of nations. He had already purchased a residence in New York, and invested money there, and was educat- ing his children with that intention. 3. SOME GUATEMALAN RECIPES 1 ENCHILADAS. — Take hominy instead of ground corn and make flat tortillas (pancakes). Fry them in deep fat and drain them. In the middle of each one put chopped and well-seasoned meat, over this some chopped beets and a tablespoon of tomato sauce; over the whole sprinkle a few capers or cucumbers and mashed cream cheese with some minced parsley. Serve very hot. String Beans A La Guatemala. — Fry string beans in tgg batter a few at a time. Serve with tomato sauce into which a teaspoon of onion has been chopped. Tamales. — Use hominy instead of ground corn ; cook it well so that it can be handled like dough and mix with fat. Separate enough for each tamal and put into the center of the flat cake a goodly por- tion of cooked turkey meat. Mix a sauce of tomatoes, capers, olives, several kinds of peppers if you like it hot, a little flour, a few raisins and spices. Take a tablespoon of this sauce and pour over the turkey meat, then roll the whole tamal in corn husks or plantain leaves (you might use small pudding cloths), tie in the middle just as you would a small parcel, doubHng back all the edges to avoid leakage, and cook in a large kettle of boiling water until well done. Serve very hot with hot cofifee. Chiles Rellenos (Stuflfed Peppers). — Take large green peppers, clean well and put into water to soak over night. Fry some chopped meat (preferably pork), add chopped onions, tomatoes, salt and 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, April 1935, pp. 321-322. 3i8 The National Period pepper, and any left over vegetables you may have, some cooked rice and cayenne pepper. Stuff the peppers with this mixture, dip each pepper into well-beaten tgg batter, and fry in deep fat. Serve with thin tomato sauce well seasoned with pepper, salt and- onion. Empanadas de Platano. — Take large plantains, or if not avail- able, take large bananas which are not too soft, cut into two-inch pieces and boil in the skin until tender and well done. Peel and mash with a silver fork, add salt, pepper and a bit of flour — enough to make a paste which can be handled. Take small pieces of this and flatten out into small cakes ; into the middle of each put some fresh cream cheese or some well-cooked and mashed black beans. Fold over and drop into deep fat, cooking till they are a deep brown. Sprinkle a little sugar over the top and serve hot with cream. Rice A La Guatemala. — Wash the rice well and let it dry. Put a lump of fat into a frying pan; when hot fry several pieces of onion and some pieces of tomato. When this is all very hot drop the rice into it and let it brown, but not burn, then cover it with stock or boiling water. Set the pan at the back of the stove to simmer until the liquid has been completely absorbed. If a fork proves the rice to be still hard, repeat the hot water or stock till the rice is soft enough to eat, but be very careful not to touch the rice while it is simmering, or it will become a spongy mass. After tast- ing this variety of rice you will never want to eat plain boiled rice again. It is good when browned in the oven after the above cooking, or when plenty of tomatoes are added to left-over rice and then browned in a baking dish with a bit of grated cheese over the top. It may also be well mixed with cooked chicken, pimentoes, red peppers, hard boiled eggs, and garnished with parsley, red peppers, and capers, with a little cream cheese sprinkled over the top. Then it is called "arroz con polio." 4. THE STRONG AGRICULTURAL POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF NICARAGUA (1940)i ON THE basis of experience gained in agricultural cooperation during the few years the National Bank has been functioning as an official economic organism, and by special resolution of the Government, a rapid development of the natural wealth of the country, which has so long lain dormant, is getting under way. Irrigation wherever possible and a satisfactory and adequate mechanization of farm labor by means of modern implements and power are beyond doubt the two great factors which will serve as the foundation of the anticipated development of our agricultural production. 1 From: El Mercurin of Leon quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Feb- ruary 1941, pp. 83-84. Central America 319 The waters of our rivers and slopes, artificially turned into the fields, can be scientifically drafted into the struggle to produce, and the fields, benefited by the waters, will give crops which in turn will mean wealth and economic strength for the republic. Tractors and other agricultural implements, if efficiently handled, will pre- pare the earth for greater yields and better quality of crops, ease the labor, and considerably reduce the cost of production. Day by day there is a widening of the concept of according due honor and importance to the **man with the hoe," to the sturdy and valiant laborer who, with his face turned toward the sun, ploughs the fields and by his strength and the sweat of his brow wrests from the earth the fruits of the soil. Nevertheless, it is well to remind the leaders of the nation — the President, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Treasury, and the Director of the National Bank — that in order to put these good intentions into action for the benefit of next season's crops, no time must be lost in meeting requests already made for tractors and other equipment. Delay and hesitation now mean that an entire year will be lost. If these requests are filled adequately and soon, this year will mark a tremendous step forward in the development of our agriculture. If our workers, who always approach any task at hand with courage and resolution, are supplied with the tractors and tools they need, they will be able to produce — and at a lower cost — abundant crops for both home consumption and exportation, thus rendering a double service to the country. Then, as soon as possible, definite work should be started on the irrigation projects, to free us from the tyranny of winter, a season now, unhappily, the lord and master of our crops, for it possesses the imfortunate faculty of causing famines and other related ills if there is insufficient rainfall. We trust that the understanding and good will of our public officials will cause them to give substance to these hopes and, re- minding them of the old saying that "he who gives quickly gives twice," we trust above all that they will act soon. 5. SCHOOLS AND DEMOCRACY IN COSTA RICA DESCRIBED BY THE SECRETARY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION (1936)i TO MY mind there is no doubt as to what is the chief aim of our primary and secondary education : this is not the training of the citizen, but the training of the citizen of the Costa Rican democracy. I shall not go into the reasons why our form of government seems to me to be one of the highest expressions of world democracy. I shall say, however, that our system of government has given to the 1 From: Teodoro Picado Michalski quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, April 1936, p. 309. 320 The National Period greatest number of Costa Ricans the greatest number of privileges and guarantees, and that the Costa Rican is so imbued with the sys- tem of government to which he is accustomed that he feels stifled when he lives in countries which do not offer the same advantages that he enjoys at home. Costa Rican democracy has deep traditions which go back, although it seems paradoxical, to our colonial era, but it has grown stronger and stronger in recent years and we hope that every day will show it evolving toward greater perfection. We must try to see that all our efforts are directed to the end that the child of today shall tomorrow be a citizen conscious of and devoted to his country. Since the child will be called upon when he is a citi- zen to increase the store of our political rights, he should also in- crease the store of national wealth by preparing himself to improve methods of production in our industries, especially agriculture, our leading occupation. . . . Our form of Government rests, as does that of all Governments, on force, but while in some it is armed force, with us it is the strength of public opinion. Therefore, to be well governed we need a vigilant and upright public opinion which will keep watch of and guide the acts of the Government and support them when they express the people's will and mind. There should be an uninter- rupted contact between the people and those in charge of the Gov- ernment. When this contact unfortunately disappears, it is because public liberty has disappeared ; and if the Government takes one side and the majority of public opinion the other, unrest and disaster will result. Governors and the governed should guide each other, but in order to make this desideratum a reality the school must prepare the citizen and train the child always to devote attention to public affairs. These he should discuss and study without failing in re- spect for the law, for in countries where the principle of popular sovereignty is not a myth, if the law is bad there are always ways of abrogating or amending it. There should be no doubt or hesita- tion in carrying out this principle. By social and political tradition, we are democrats, and our ideals of humanity are, and must be, the great ideals of Christianity. We cannot possibly accept the Asiatic conception of a despotic and all-inclusive State beyond the bounds of good and evil, nor could we accept the doctrine that economic forces alone give form and substance to institutions, since there are other great forces which also rule our destinies. In this point of view we can accept no compromise. Taught by experience and the sufferings of other nations, we may truly say that in the exercise and evolution of our democracy we Costa Ricans shall find for ourselves and for future generations the greatest number of advan- tages and guarantees for the free development of human person- ality, a sacred development which cannot be subordinated to any enslaving influence. The West Indies 321 Chapter Thirty-one THE WEST INDIES Citiiba 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CUBAN 1 THE Cuban is . . . changeable, superficial, inconstant, adaptable to place and circumstances according to the law of least effort ; intensely sensual; basically an unbeliever, but superstitious and fetishistic; violent and passionate; contentious and contradictory; disinterested, hospitable and openhanded to the point of prodigality and. liberal to the point of waste. He is without great concrete ideals or aspirations. He is sober, especially the countryman, but lives more for the day than for the morrow, devoted to the pleasant, comfortable life, to the enjoyment of whatever little may be ac- quired with a minimum of effort. Despite this he is always a non- conformist, an eternal rebel. . . . Although conscious of his weakness of physique and of character, although dominated by those stronger and more powerful than he, he is never submissive. He is possessor of formidable weapons of mockery and irony ; . . . but lacks force and constancy to realize tasks whether individual or collective for renovation and reform. He is indifferent and indi- vidualistic, sacrificing with difficulty for the collectivity. Thus there is produced a constant lack of union and organization — obstacles which are formidable and which turn up in all our civic campaigns both as colony and as republic. The Cuban is disposed ever to de- stroy, but not to construct ; to criticise, but not to resolve. He trusts in some one else or others to solve problems of a general character. 2. THE PLATT AMENDMENT (1901) 2 That in fulfilment of the declaration contained in the joint resolu- tion approved April twentieth, eighteen hundred and ninety- eight, entitled "For the recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba, and to withdraw 1 From: Roig de Leuchsenring quoted in A. C. Wilgus, ed.. The Caribbean Area (Wash- ington: The George Washington University Press, 1934), p. 159. 2 From: World Affairs, March 1933, p. 46. 322 The National Period its land and naval reserve forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect," the President is hereby authorized to "leave the govern- ment and control of the island of Cuba to its people" so soon as a government shall have been established in said island under a con- stitution which, either as a part thereof or in an ordinance appended thereto, shall define the future relations of the United States with Cuba, substantially as follows : I. That the government of Cuba shall never enter into any treaty or other compact w4th any foreign power or powers which will impair or tend to impair the independence of Cuba, nor in any manner authorize or permit any foreign power or powers to obtain by colonization or, for military or naval purposes or otherwise, lodgment in or control over any portion of said island. II. That said government shall not assume or contract any pub- lic debt, to pay the interest upon which, and to make reasonable sinking fund provision for the ultimate discharge of which, the ordinary revenues of the island, after defraying the current ex- penses of government, shall be inadequate. III. That the government of Cuba consents that the United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the treaty of Paris on the United States, now to be assumed and under- taken by the government of Cuba. IV. That all Acts of the United States in Cuba during its military occupancy thereof are ratified and validated, and all law^- ful rights acquired thereunder shall be maintained and protected. V. That the government of Cuba will execute, ^nd as far as necessary extend, the plans already devised or other plans to be mutually agreed upon, for the sanitation of the cities of the island, to the end that a recurrence of epidemic and infectious diseases ma}'" be prevented, thereby assuring protection to the people and commerce of Cuba, as well as to the cornxUierce of the southern ports of the United States and the people residing therein. VI. That the Isle of Pines shall be omitted from the proposed constitutional boundaries of Cuba, the title thereto being left to future adjustment by treaty. VII. That to enable the United States to maintain the inde- pendence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defence, the government of Cuba will sell or lease to the The West Indies 323 United States land necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points, to be agreed upon with the President of the United States. VIII. That by way of further assurance the government of Cuba will embody the foregoing provisions in a permanent treaty with the United States. 3. UNITED STATES TREATY WITH CUBA ABROGATING THE PLATT AMENDMENT (May 29, 1934) 1 THE United States of America and the Republic of Cuba, being animated by the desire to fortify the relations of friendship between the two countries, and to modify, with this purpose, the relations established between them by the Treaty of Relations signed at Havana, May 22, 1903, have appointed, with this intention, as their plenipotentiaries : The President of the United States of America, Mr. Cordell Hull, Secretary of State of the United States of America, and Mr. Sumner Welles, Assistant Secretary of State of the United States of America, and the . Provisional President of the Republic of Cuba ; Sefior Dr. Man- uel Marquez Sterling, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipo- tentiary of the Republic of Cuba to the United States of America; Who after having communicated to each other their full powers, which were found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles : Article I. The Treaty of Relations which was concluded be- tween the two contracting parties on May 22, 1903, shall cease to be in force, and is abrogated, from the date on which the present treaty goes into effect. Article II. All the acts affected in Cuba by the United States of America during its military occupation of the island, up to May 20, 1902, the date on which the Republic of Cuba was estab- lished, have been ratified and held as valid ; and all rights legally acquired by virtue of those acts shall be maintained and protected. Article HI. Until the two contracting parties agree to the modi- fication or abrogation of the stipulations of the agreement in regard to the lease to the United States of America of lands in Cuba for coaling and naval stations signed by the President of the Republic of Cuba on February 16, 1903, and by the President of the United States on the 23rd day of the same month and year, the stipulations of that agreement v/ith regard to the naval station of Guantanamo shall continue in effect. The supplementary agreement in regard \ From: World Affairs, June 1934, pp, 113-114. 324 The National Period to naval or coaling stations signed between the two governments on July 2, 1903, shall continue in effect in the same form and on the same conditions with respect to the naval station at Guantanamo. So long as the United States shall not abandon the said naval sta- tion at Guantanamo or the two governments shall not agree to a modification of its present limits, the station shall continue to have the territorial area that it now has, with the limits that it has on the date of the signature of the present treaty. Article IV. If at any time in the future a situation should arise that appears to point to an outbreak of contagious disease in the territory of either of the contracting parties, either of the two gov- ernments shall, for its own protection, and without its act being considered unfriendly, exercise freely and at its discretion the right to suspend communications between those of its ports that it may designate and all or part of the territory of the other party, and for the period that it may consider to be advisable. Article V. The present treaty shall be ratified by the contract- ing parties in accordance with their respective constitutional meth- ods; and shall go into effect on the date of the exchange of their ratifications, which shall take place in the city of Washington as soon as possible. 4. REPRESSION AND CENSORSHIP IN CUBA UNDER MACHADO (January 26, 1933) 1 HAVANA, Jan. 25 — Little outward evidence of the true con- ditions in Cuba is apparent to the casual visitor, but when one begins to look closer, facts are found which explain the political unrest and secret plotting. Two great stone castles, now used as military prisons, command Havana Harbor, and almost every Cuban looks at them with fear. Machine gun nests occupy the top of the Presidential Palace, and at night no one is permitted to walk or drive within two blocks of the palace, although this cuts off two approaches to the Malecon. The whereabouts of President Gerardo Machado are kept as secret as possible, and the public seldom knows whether the man who commands every move it makes is in the town or the country. Policemen and soldiers stroll about the city in pairs, free to shoot zvhenever they see fit, zvitJiout fear of punisliment from any source except a friendly military court. Gatherings on the street are for- bidden. Tliere is an atmospJiere of oppression, foreign to fJi-e spirit of the Latin race. Congress at Machado' s Call. The Cuban Congress, which is sup- 1 From: Tom Pettey of the New York Herald-Tribune quoted in press release of the Cuban-American Friendship Council. The West Indies 325 posed to begin a long session in April of each year, now meets at any time President Machado calls it, and its members enjoy consti- tutional immunity from arrest or punishment for- crimes through- out the period of their election, regardless of zuhcther Congress is in session. Their immunity is one of the grievances which the aver- age Cuban wants most of all to see ended. President Machado names the higher members of the judiciary, and his appointees in turn select the judges of the lower courts. This, it is pointed out, gives Machado control of the courts, as well as of Congress and the army, and establishes him in a position of almost imlimited power. The newspapers of Havana are permitted to print only news which the government approves, and are suppressed the minute they overstep the bounds. This form of censorship has been described as one of Machado's greatest mistakes. The curtailment of freedom of speech and of personal liberties also has aroused resentment among Cubans. "We do not dare to buy automobiles, purchase new homes or invest in anything here, even if we have the money," a v/ealthy Cuban told this reporter. "Suppose the people of the United States had been unable to hold their general election last fall? What if they felt that they might have to flee the country any day, or that their property might be seized? We would like to have the same kind of revolution the United States had in its election, but we are denied the right to change our President when we want to by the vote of the people. ''Cuba is not broke. There is still money in this island. But zve cannot go on indefinitely with such unsettled political conditions!' Refugees in Embassy. Out in the suburb of Miramar, at the Mexican Embassy, there is a little group of revolutionists who have taken refuge under the provisions of the treaty of asylum among the Latin- American countries whereby persons accused of political crimes may escape persecution by taking residence in any embassy which is party to the treaty. This treaty was proposed by the present Cuban government at a Pan-American conference and was adopted. Now it is causing Machado considerable embarrassment. . . . Colonel Carlos Mendieta, one of the leaders of the unsuccessful 1931 revolution, along with Colonel Roberto Mendez Penate, for- mer Governor of Santa Clara Province, and Colonel Aurelio Hevia, now are the only refugees in the Mexican Embassy ; but they can- not talk to any one, except by special permission of the Cuban government. Efforts to find some other leader of the 1931 revolution' — which was described to this reporter by General Mario G. Menocal, for- mer President, as "not a revolution at all, but just an attempt to 326 The National Period have a revolution" — revealed the fact that few were remaining in hiding in Cuba, most having gone to the United States. . . . . . . More than 200 other Havana revolutionaries have fled to the same Miami colony, and those remaining in Cuba do not dare to talk except privately. Depression Cramps Revolutionaries. Cubans who are not particu- larly interested in revolutionary propaganda but who would like to see a new political deal for the republic if it can be accomplished in any manner, believe the economic difficulties will presently cause drastic changes in the government, regardless of what is done by the outsiders. Others hold the opinion that if the revolutionary forces are able to raise $500,000 they will go ahead with a revolt some time in the early spring, but with the idea of bringing the plight of Cuba to the attention of the new President of the United States rather than in hope of actually overthrowing Machado. Still another group of followers of General Menocal here are confident that the oppositionists will be able to obtain arms and boats in a short time, land at Havana, and seize the palace and government within four hours. These men are firm in their belief that the army will desert Machado the minute it has a real leader, to join. Meanwhile Havana on the surface is as placid as the unruffled Gulf of Mexico — but just as likely to be visited by an unheralded storm. 5. MACHADO'S EFFECT UPON CUBAN EDUCATION (February 14, 1933) 1 Our educational system has been thoroughly disrupted and we have regressed several decades from our cultural standards. For years, dating back to the closing of the National University and the Normal and high schools, Cuba's youth has borne the brunt of the political and military oppression enhanced by the Machado regime. It has been persecuted in a relentless manner and decimated in ghastly numbers, unprotected and unarmed ; this must be stopped, regardless of means or cost. Solely as^a matter of humanity, if nothing else! The high percentage of Cuba's intelligentsia now in exile is an eloquent reminder that despotism flourishes in darkness and illiter- acy. Many intellectuals and professors have been assassinated, while others now in exile are prevented from peacefully residing in their own country. Feudalism and oligarchy have gained a foot- hold in Cuba through the elimination of all the pure and idealistic 1 From: Carlos de la Torre and Ramon Grau San Martin quoted in press release of the Cuban-American Friendship Council. The West Indies 327 longings represented by the youth of the Nation and its mentors. Cuba's fundamental problem is one of education and culture and the destruction of these mighty weapons of civilization has brought us to our present impasse of savagery and ruthlessness. The Cuban University has unsuccessfully endeavored to stem the rising tide of debauchery first, and later on, of usurpation and oppression. The first signs of restlessness v^^ere observed against the political invasion of our educational centers ; the students fought back against this unwelcome filtration in an orderly and peaceful manner. But the governmental determination to subdue all opposi- tion knew no bounds. On the 30th of March 1927, the day following the coup d'etat when the Prorrogue Law — extending all elective offices and allow- ing Machado's re-election without opposition for six years — was enacted in Congress, parading students were clubbed and disbanded by Machado's minions. On the 10th of April 1928, coincident with Machado's announcement of his six year re-election, the University was occupied militarily and eighty students were expelled without possible justification. In September 1930 the National University, founded in 1729 by the Dominican Fathers, was definitely pad- locked. Even the Spanish military governors during the colonial regime kept their hands off the University and regarded our Alma Mater with undisguised aw^e and reverence. Cuba's youth has been driven to cover, trailed and run down without quarter, convicted by discriminating court-martials, jailed with hardened criminals or victimised through the "Ley de Fuga" and left abandoned on lonely and deserted roads, hideously mutilated and riddled with bullets. Even within the prisons and fortresses, with official complicity and sanction, it has been attacked and seri- ously injured by convict gangs. Girl students have been stripped in the public thoroughfares by pardoned criminals enlisted in Porras or Black-jack gangs for that purpose. There is no doubt that the Cuban people are eager for a new deal, for the cleansing of present political methods and for a new era of freedom, liberty and justice. That this can be attained through normal evolution is open to question. But on one point the entire Cuban opposition unanimously agrees ; Machado intrinsically represents the sole cause for the latent Cuban revolt with its con- comitant manifestations and no solution may be arrived at without his removal from power as a first and preliminary step. Once this is attained all other subsidiary measures may be arrived at by easy stages without great difficulty, provided that justice is assured and the punishment of wrongdoers may become an unim- peachable fact. The present struggle is far from being a family budgetary squabble between the Ins and the Outs; it has spread to the entire neutral and non-political population and particularly 328 The 'National Period to the new Cuban generation. They frantically demand new names, new methods and totally new ideals of administrative dignity and integrity. And Cuba's 3^outh and its mentors will co-operate un- reservedly with that ultimate and unselfish object in view. Miami, February 14th, 1933. Dr. Carlos de la Torre, Ex-Dean, Havana University Dr. Ramon Grau San Martin, Professor, Havana University 6. AN INTERVIEW WITH COLONEL FULGENCIO BATISTA (February 15, 1939)i AST entered his office, Colonel Batista rose from a flat-topped ■^"^ desk and greeted me with smiling cordiality. A simple army uniform set oft his robust figure. His handshake was warm. His handsome brown face reflected friendliness and intelligence. A powerfully-built man in the thirties, I found him one of the most attractive personalities I had ever encountered. With his straight black hair and black eyes, his countenance had that suggestion of the Asiatic which seems to mark almost all the American aborigines. Batista was entirely lacking in that affectation so characteristic of Mussolini, the Italian dictator. There was no glaring or rolling of the eyes, no theatrical out-thrusting of the chin or chest, no bluster or strut. The Cuban dictator was simple and dignified in manner. Through an interpreter I began to inquire into the political ideas of Colonel Batista and his broad social philosophy. He replied frankly and understandingly. 'T have risen from the people," he said, acknowledging his peas- ant origin, "and I remain faithful to the principles of Abraham Lincoln. I believe in democracy when it is based on an honest and intelligent people." I reminded the Colonel that he has sometimes been termed "the Mussolini of Cuba" and asked him his views regarding the Euro- pean dictators, Hitler, Stalin and the Italian premier. "Indeed I am greatly interested," he replied, "in Hitler and Mus- solini, their doctrines and their lives, and in all human life. No, I am not afraid of giving my opinion of their regimes. Such political doctrines and methods are not suited to Cuba. As for communism, I sympathize with its high idealism but I am opposed to that doc- trine. It is impossible and impracticable here. 1 From: Plautus I. Lipsey, Jr. quoted in the fortnightly release of the Southern Council on International Relations, Chapel Hill, N. C. The West Indies 329 "When the leaders consider the feeling of their people, liberal thought will prevail. ''Like Jefferson, I believe in having as little government as pos- sible — as little restraint laid upon the people as possible." I called attention to the Cuban army, in size and equipment far stronger than a nation of Cuba's size should, require for defense. Batista admitted that the army's function was chiefly for police purposes. When I spoke of Cromwell and his democratic army which eventually became a military dictatorship, he declined to accept the parallel. "The role of the Cuban army," he said, "is to watch to see that the principles of democracy are respected." "And who will watch the army ?," I demanded. "The people," he rejoined, smiling at my gesture of skepticism. To a citizen of the United States, this arrangement — in which the army and the people are watching each other in behalf of de- mocracy — seems far from ideal. But true it is that Batista and his army have restored order in Cuba after a succession of bloody disturbances, and that too without complete suppression of indi- vidual liberty or democratic forms. I turned to economic life in Cuba, where poverty prevails to a tragic degree, acute and wide-spread. The tragedy is the greater because the tropical island is bountiful in its lush productivity. "Sugar," said the Colonel, "is the great sorrow of Cuba, as well as its basic industry. Our public men are now studying the pos- sibilities of diversification. We must expand our tobacco and coffee industry. We ought to increase production of minor fruits, and of beans and other vegetables." "What is your chief food import," I queried. "Ah, you are now touching the main point in the great tragedy of Cuba," Batista repHed, his face growing more animated. "We import each year twenty-two milHon dollars worth of rice — a basic food which our soil and our climate are well fitted to produce in abundance." The complicated economic organization of the country said he, is "a tragic fact." Repeatedly in discussing the economic situation of the island he used the words "tragic" and "tragedy." The government, he said, is attempting to increase rice produc- tion, and some experiments are being carried out with official as- sistance. Batista declared he^would seek every means to correct the fundamentally vicious condition in which Cuba, a superbly rich agricultural country by natural endowment, is unable to feed its own citizens. Batista told me with enthusiasm of the new educational program his army had just launched — one of the moves which excited the outcry of "fascism." 230 The National Period "Seventy thousand children and 30,000 adults are already attend- ing the new army schools," the military chief explained. "These schools are supplementary to the civic school system, displacing them in no way and making it possible for more young Cubans to get the fundamentals of education. "There is no political indoctrination in these army schools. Our teachers -are, for the most part, non-commissioned officers and they teach the simple rudiments of reading, writing and figuring. "Other trained teachers also go about the rural and village areas, giving instruction in health, domestic science and horticulture." The army school curriculum contains some military exercises, but from my inquiries I judged that they were the same disciplinary^ kind, teaching order, physical smartness and cleanliness, and obedi- ence to authority. I found no evidence of the inculcation of mihtar- ism (such as prevails in Italy) into juvenile Cuban minds. "The problem of public health," Colonel Batista went on, "is closely connected with the educational problem. We are trying to teach the individual to preserve his ov/n health, assisting him with all possible mechanical and other methods. "Hospitals are not our greatest need ; we must go to the source of the trouble, which is the primitive style of living of our poor people. We are receiving the co-operation of all social groups for installation of bacteriological laboratories. We are sending health missionaries, both women and men, through the rural districts, giving instruction in the simplest principles of hygiene. "Already we can guarantee conditions of hygiene in the cities. Tuberculosis as a rampant scourge has already been routed." In closing my talk with the dominant figure in Cuba, I put him to a test. I had provided myself with two photographs of him, one of them in a stern mihtary pose, bedecked with medals, the other showing him in a simple, unadorned and smiling attitude, I asked him to autograph the one he liked better. With a grin at my ruse, he chose the simple picture and signed with a flourish. Batista works at his desk 18 hours a day, he told me as he walked with me to the door, eats a single tremendous meal (shortly after midnight) and frolicks with his two adored children in the morning after only four or five hours in bed. The West Indies 331 Haiti and The Dominican Republic 7. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HAITIAN PEOPLE (About 1935)1 WHAT is, from a social and political point of view, the present condition of the people of Haiti? One cannot answer this question without reviewing briefly the conditions under which the young State came into existence. On the day following January 1, 1804, the date of the proclama- tion of its independence, the Haitian nation was nothing but a herd of slaves who had suddenly acquired their liberty. At the top were a few chiefs whose authority rested solely on brute force. At the bottom was the mass of liberated slaves. There was no cohesion, no hierarchy. Nothing but hatred of the colonial system had united for an heroic effort these Negroes coming from various and often inimical tribes. From a material point of view, there was nothing left of the marvellous prosperity of Saint Domingue. The incendiary torch had been the red flag that Dessalines and his lieutenants had waved over the rich plantations where the Negroes had so long groaned in the most horrible servitude. The colonists had never thought of creating an economic organization which might serve as a model for the new freedmen ; their system had rested entirely on servile labour, and to enjoy the fruit of the labour of others had been their sole aim. They had lost the incentive for personal effort which competition develops, and they had completely effected the divorce between property and labour. "The master is he who does not work ; to be free is not to work" ; was the detestable gospel which had been bequeathed to the freed Negroes by the colonial system. From a moral and intellectual point of view, the situation was even worse. The colonists of Saint Domingue had set the example for all sorts of vices, and a French author (Moreau de St.-Mery) says that the white men had created no schools in the colony, neither for themselves nor for their slaves. The founder of Haitian independence, Dessalines, could not read and write. For more than twenty years Haiti remained in complete isolation and with the apprehension of an offensive return of the French. This enervating expectation kept all the nation in arms and pre- vented it from attempting any serious effort toward organization. 1 From: Dantes Bellegarde quoted in the West Indian Review, February 1935, pp. 30-32. 332 The National Period There is certainly not one among the modern States which started under such adverse conditions. The Haitian nation no longer presents, as is evident at first sight, the aspect gf the amor- phous crowd of 1804. It rapidly created its organs of life. It is today provided with all the elements which, in the political as well as in the economical sphere, will give it definite scope. It has its planters, its skilled workmen, its industrial workers, its traders, its intellectual class. In Europe, as in the United States, the most erroneous ideas prevail concerning Haiti: they are accepted without question and are repeated with complacency, thereby causing considerable wrong to a young nation which, to develop itself, needs the benevolent support of the richer and more enlightened nations. First, the chief accusation made against the Haitians is that they practise "Voodooism." In certain American minds the word "voodoo" evokes terrific scenes of orgies and massacre. What must one think of the odious accusation of cannibalism which some writers have dared to formulate against the Haitians? "It is caused," writes Dr. Leon Audain (a great Haitian Scientist) "either by an unpardonable error, by malignity, or by notoriously bad faith. A few crimes of this sort, the result of individual aberra- tions, were committed and punished by penalty of death; but it is supremely unjust to incriminate a whole country for purely isolated occurrences abhorred by the general conscience of the population of Haiti." The Voodoo dance is, in fact, nothing but an amusement. At cer- tain periods of the year, some of the people meet to dance to the beat of a drum, the ringing of bells, of a triangle and of the cata. They kill a goat, a lamb, chickens, or guinea fowls ... to be eaten. With these gastronomic meetings are doubtless mingled supersti- tious practices, the importance of which, however, must not be ex- aggerated. The beliefs of the lower class are indeed childish and can be explained by ignorance. They are just like those of the people of Martinique described by Lafcadio Hearn in his pictur- esque book, Two Years in the French West Indies (1905). To those who wish to be better acquainted with the Haitian voodoo I recommend Ainsi Parla UOncle by Dr. Price-Mars. It is important to note that all our people are Christians. Even those who remain most strongly addicted to reHgious practices brought from Africa during the period of slavery place the Church's God far above their African deities. Christianity has deep roots and long traditions in Haiti. It was introduced in the Island with the discovery by the Spaniards in 1492. Under the French regime the Catholic organization was definitely consolidated around 1681. Three religious Orders were established in Saint Dominigue, the French section of the island: the Carmelites, the The West Indies 333 Capucins and the Jacobins. The Constitution of Toussaint Lou- verture, promulgated May 9, 1801, declared that *'the Roman Catholic Apostolic religion is the only one publicly professed in Haiti," although this Constitution granted freedom of conscience and worship. As a result of the Concordat signed by the Haitian Government and the Holy See, March 28, 1860, a complete organ- ization of the Catholic clergy was effected in the country. From a religious standpoint, Haiti is divided into five dioceses located in the five capitals of the departments and presided over by an Archbishop or a Bishop. The dioceses are sub-divided into parishes, which correspond to the political communes, with a curate and vicars. Almost all the members of the secular clergy are French, graduates of the St. Jacques Seminary, maintained by the Haitian Government at Finistere, France. In 1918, an Apostolic School was established in Port-au-Prince for the preparation of a native Catholic clergy. Five Catholic teaching and charitable organizations exercise their ministry in Haiti : the Fathers of the Holy Ghost, who conduct the important institution of secondary education known as St. Martial College; the Brothers of Christian Instruction, who established the St. Louis Institution and have many primary schools of the Government under their direction; the Nuns of St. Joseph de Cluny, who have a large high school for girls and likewise are in charge of many public schools ; the Daughters of Wisdom conduct an important establishment for girls and many schools in the country: they are also in charge of the services at the hospitals; the Sisters of Mary (of Louvain, Belgium) manage professional schools for girls, notable among which is the Ecole Elie-Dubois at Port-au-Prince. The Protestant Missions were brought to the North by King Christophe who entrusted to the direction of the schools at Cap Haitien to Anglican pastors. The first Wesleyan missionaries ar- rived in the West in 1816 and were cordially received by President Petion. As the Constitution guarantees the freedom of worship and religion, the Protestant Missions have developed in Haiti and, although the majority of the people are Catholics, they have estab- lished important organizations, such as the Episcopal Church of Haiti (with a Bishop at Port-au-Prince), the Baptist Church, the Wesleyan Church, the African Episcopal Church, the Haitian Mis- sion of Seventh Day Adventists and various others. What no traveller has ever denied in regard to the people of Haiti is their great gentleness and the simplicity of their customs. Hospitable and kind, the Haitian receives the foreigner with cor- diality. Any foreigner travelling in the interior of the country can call on the occupant of any cabin ; he is always sure to be greeted with the most eager welcome. He can, without fear, cross over the 334 ^^^ National Period island from end to end, travel day after day and night after night on our deserted roads, enter our thick forests, climb up the steep gorges of our mountains, and nowhere will he find any bandits, waylayers or assassins. Haiti has no venomous reptiles, nor gang- sters, racketeers, nor kidnappers .... William Powell, former coloured minister from the United States to Port-au-Prince, who liA^ed for a long time in Haiti, has given out this opinion : "The Haitians are industrious and generally honest. Great crimes and felonies are rare." Unfortunately, the excesses which were brought about by our too frequent revolutions and so greatly exaggerated by many mal- evolent writers, have created in the world for our people a most regrettable reputation, whereas their sociable habits and manners and their undeserved misfortunes should on the contrary arouse the sympathies of every one. In order to understand Haiti and to sympathise with its people, you will have pleasure in reading the charming book of Blair Niles Black Haiti afid The Story of Haiti of Harriet Gibbs Marshall. Let us now consider the intellectual condition of the people. In 1804, there was not one school in the whole country. In 1843, there were eleven of them. Now, jthe Republic of Haiti possesses numerous public and private establishments, some corresponding to the "lycees" of France and giving secondary instruction, some providing higher instruction or university courses, such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, law, applied sciences, commerce, etc. The teachers of the lyceums and higher schools use exclusively the French methods of instruction, and it has often happened that a young Haitian, leaving one of our colleges, has been admitted to a corresponding class of the lyceums of France. Many Haitians have been educated in France, a few in the United States. A large number of our doctors, engineers and jurists have obtained their diplomas in French or American schools. I am proud to say that all my own classical education has been obtained in Haiti, from the elementary school to the law school, with Haitian teachers, without costing a penny, for Haiti is one of the rare countries where, after our own Constitution, "public instruction is gratuitous in all its grades." Obviously, all is not perfect in this picture. We know well that there still remains much for us to do before the Haitian people as a whole will rise to the highest degree of civilization in enlighten- ment and industry. The country people are still steeped in ignor- ance: they must be redeemed by the light of education. It is also necessary to give to our national education a new direction in order to better adapt it to the economic and industrial needs of the coun- try and the necessities of modern civilization. It is said in the United States, and believed, that Haitians despise The West Indies ' 335 manual labour, vocational education, and they have taste only for literature, the arts, the liberal professions, and especially politics. Nothing could be more exaggerated. Every nation must liave an intellectual elite. The Haitian people began its career in a most frightful servitude, and has sought to give itself a governing class. What could be more natural than this? But this elite is not numer- ous compared with the mass of the population composed of peas- ants who are producers and control the lands they cultivate, of merchants, of industrial workers, mechanics and artisans. Those who labour with their hands form the great majority of the Haitian people. It is they who have built our towns, constructed our houses, manufactured our furniture, cultivated our fields. Our trades, our small industries and commercial enterprises are in the hands of a middle class which is very numerous. Some of the members of this class have remarkable ability. Too many lack technical training. For this reason Haitians had the idea — from the day on which their independence was proclaimed — of estab- lishing a school system in which vocational education would have an important place. The first Constitution (1805) — that of Dessa- lines — prescribed that "every citizen must acquire a mechanical art." It was the custom for every boy child to learn a trade. One of our greatest poets, Oswald Durand, was a tinner by trade. In the course of our history many efforts have been made to perfect the organization of this vocational and industrial education. But these efforts were not successful largely for lack of money and of trained teachers. These defects, and the lack of good roads in the interior of the country, have made it impossible for us to or- ganize perfectly our primary education. But those who reproach the Haitian people with these things have not thought of comparing Haiti with certain nations of Europe who have centuries of civiliza- tion behind them but whose countries continue to tolerate a most shameful illiteracy. About the year 1820, says a French writer, Gustave d'Alaux, few persons in Haiti had French books. The first French grammar used in the Haitian schools was written and printed in Port-au- Prince by a Haitian, Juste Chanlatte. Today there is not one Hai- tian having any education who does not possess his little library. French newspapers and reviews have in our towns numerous sub- scribers eager to be informed of the details and occurrences of contemporaneous life. Of late a great deal of interest has also been taken in American publications, and the great periodicals of the United States have [circulated] among the Haitian readers whose number increases as fast as the knowledge of the English language is propagated. The Hst of Haitians who have distinguished themselves in litera- ture, in the arts and in the sciences is already a long one. In every 336 " The National Period branch of intellectual activity the coloured race has given in Haiti the highest proof of its capacities not only for assimilation but for invention. The French Academy, guardian of the best traditions of French language and literature, rendered some years ago an elo- quent testimony to the merit of Haitian \vriters by awarding a prize to a collection of their selected works of poetry and prose. More recently, the Academy of Medicine of Paris, whose high scientific standing is appreciated the world over, granted two of its most coveted prizes to the books of two Haitian physicians, Dr. Leon Audain and Dr. S. Nemours. Haitians are justified in being proud of the results which they have achieved under conditions so unfavourable. But they know there is a long way to social progress and happiness. On the rocky road of civilization, they have made their sHps and backslidings, have had their follies and civil strife. Ushered into liberty by vio- lence, without political experience and traditions, without intellec- tual and material capital, Haiti has had to serve a hard apprentice- ship in self government. But what nation has not? And what other, placed in such conditions, would have done better? Is it because Haiti is Negro that the World expected her to be perfect, when in seasoned Europe and immemorial Asia, peoples with long centuries of civilization, even to this very hour, display the sad spectacle and shame of civil strife and revolution? Haiti claims proudly her place among the sovereign nations of the world. She has always been wholehearted and enthusiastic with ever}^ aspect of international solidarity which has taken place in the course of her history. Eight hundred sons of Haiti — when she was yet a French colony — went and fought for the independ- ence of the United States, and among them was Christophe, the "Black Majesty" who built the marvellous Citadelle Laferrierre. Haiti contributed to the political emancipation of the Spanish Colo- nies and to the abolition of slavery in Latin America. Haiti wants peace and happiness for all, assured by co-operation of all — co-operation among the citizens of the same nation, co- operation among social classes, co-operation among the peoples, co-operation among the races. 8. DESCRIPTION OF A COCK FIGHT IN HAITIi SINCE it was Sunday, there was a mob, and fights were already in progress. Osmann, Constant, and I sat on low stools in a corner of the square ring with its palm-thatched canopy upheld by poles, while the crowd squeezed five deep around the railings. We had the whole day before us. We were in no hurry to start our own 1 From: W. B. Seabrook, The Magic Island (New York: Hafcourt, Brace and Company, 1929), pp. 212-214. The West Indies 337 dirty work, and it was a lot of fun to watch the other fights, to offer advice, to bet Httle sums on the side when we hked the looks of a bird. It was even more fun to watch the arguments and antics which led up to the combats. These peasant gaguerres in Haiti are highly democratic. The most ragged and poverty-stricken, but hope- ful field hand with a dilapidated rooster and a few pennies as his total capital has as much right to his turn in the ring as the gros negre, the landholder, with his string of favorite cocks and his pockets full of money. But first, of course, he must make his match. To ask for a fight is called mander. This is done in the crowd outside the ring, where men whose cocks are unmatched sit with them tethered. The challenger crouches before the bird he wishes to challenge, and places his own before it, held by a string attached to its foot. If the challenged man is interested, the birds are al- lowed to fly at each other, but jerked back by the strings. Violent disputes arise. Groups collect, offering suggestions. It is as exciting as a curb market just before closing. ''Filer done, pour de gourdes T shouts a challenged one finally. ("File, therefore, for two gourdes" — or whatever sum has been agreed on as the bet.) Steel gaffs are unknown in Haiti, but the natural spurs of the bird are pared or filed to needle sharpness just before each combat. Side betting adds to the pandemonium. People rush about, waving small coins or bills, sometimes as little as a single penny — the girls and women too — screaming, "Twenty-five centimes on the red !" "Fifty cen- times on the speckled one!" There are no stake-holders. If you wish to accept one of these bets screamed and held aloft, you simply reach up and seize the money. If you win, you keep it; if you lose, you return it double. Filing finished, the two opponents enter the ring with their birds. Each man takes a piece of ginger root, chews it violently, takes a mouthful of rum, then sprays this mixture through his teeth like a laundering Chinaman all over the cock's body, under its wings, in between the feathers, which he rufiles with his fingers. This heats and excites the bird — gives him Dutch courage. Next, each man tastes the bird of his opponent. Sometimes a tricky fellow, sacrificing the lining of his own mouth, has mixed red pepper with the ginger, which is forbidden, or has smeared his bird with a caustic which will not penetrate its own feathers but may get in the eyes or beak of the other. Usually one does this tasting by simply tapping the bird here and there and tasting one's own finger- tips, but if there is reason to be unduly suspicious, you lick him over with your tongue. Each man watches every move of the other, hugging his own bird jealously, reluctantly permitting him to be touched. Even if the best of friends, they are noisy, quarrelsome, and seem angry. 338 The National Period When the combat begins, the two owners remain in the ring. They are permitted to do anything except touch or obstruct the birds. As the battle progresses, they gesticulate, crouch, and leap about, shout, scream, plead, weep, curse, beat their own breasts and Mother Earth. The crowd also shouts and screams while blood and feathers fly. The Haitian cocks usually begin by leaping at and over one another, each seeking to use its spurs in the classic manner, and occasionally a fight ends quickly with a clean spur-thrust, but ordinarily they soon give up these classic gladiatorial tactics and fight it out with their beaks. Battles to the death are therefore unusual. More often one bird finally turns tail and runs, while the other, after pursuing him two or three times around the ring, stops, struts, and crows shrilly in victory. Occasionally there is something grand about this crowing — a thrill in it like brazen bugles. I have seen a cock flap its v/ings, lift its head to the sky, and shrill its paean of triumph, only to fall dead a moment later in the dust beside its conquered enemy. 9. INFLUENCE OF HAITIAN EDUCATION UPON THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE COUNTRY (1925) 1 UP TO the time of the American intervention the entire school system of Haiti, from the grades up, emphasized classical studies almost to the complete exclusion of industrial education. As a consequence, the children and young men of Haiti have been guided jrom, rather than toward, productive industry. This is the primary cause of the low productivity of Haiti as contrasted with neighboring countries with soil no more fertile nor climate more favorable than that of Haiti. This emphasis of classical studies and practical exclusion of agricultural and industrial education has necessarily led to the creation of a class of young men who desire to take up professions such as law and medicine, or commercial and clerical occupations, a great portion of the latter seeking gov- ernmental positions. The members of this class do not know how to use their hands and have no idea of the dignity of labor. As a result there is a regrettable shortage of agriculturists and skilled workers. It is among such a class that revolutions are bred. 1 From: United States High Commissioner quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, August 1927, p. 315. PART FOUR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF LATIN AMERICA ^T^ HE fact that twenty Latin American countries in such close geographical proximity have been able to live together for so long in relative peace and co-operation is astonishing to many ob- servers. Not only have they achieved continental co-operation among themselves, despite inmimerable boundary disputes and a few bloody wars, but they have given concrete evidence of a desire and an ability to co-operate fully with the nations of the world. During the I9th and 20th centuries the states of Latin America have taken their rightful places in the family of nations with an individuality zvhich has commanded international respect. In the achievement of these results individuals have played a prominent part. All the countries have produced statesmen of a high order; and the initiative and ideology in international matters, born in the minds of their political and intellectual leaders, have been widely acclaimed. Their joint participation in two world wars and their participation in the League of Nations and in the United Nations have shown their desire for world-wide co-operation. Few countries have originated more individually inspired plans for international co-operation than have the Latin American republics. An under- standing of the human equation and personalismo behind this fact is essential to an appreciation of Latin American progress. f^HAPi'^^ Thirty-two LATIN AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES 2 GENERAL RELATIONS 1. HENRY CLAY DESIRES THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE SPANISH AMERICAN COLONIES (January 1817)i FOR my part, I wish their (the Spanish colonies') independence. . . . Let them have free government, if they be capable of enjoy- ing it; but let them have, at all events, independence. ... I may be accused of an imprudent utterance ... on this occasion. I care not; when the independence, the happiness, the liberty of a whole people is at stake, and that people our neighbors, and brethren, occu- pying a portion of the same continent imitating our example, and participating of the same sympathies of ourselves, I will boldly avow my feelings and my wishes in their behalf, even at the hazard of such an imputation. 2. UNITED STATES INSTRUCTIONS TO THE COMMISSION VISITING LATIN AMERICA, 1817-1818 (July 18, 1817) 2 IN OTHER respects we have been made to feel sensibly the prog- ress of this contest. Our vessels have been' seized and condemned, our citizens made captives and our lawful commerce, even at a distance from the theatre of war, been interrupted. Acting with impartiality towards the parties, we have endeavored to secure from each a just return. In whatever quarter the authority of Spain was abrogated and an independent government erected, it was essential to the security of our rights that we should enjoy its friendship. Spain could not impose conditions on other powers incident to 1 From: Henry Clay quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, November 1927, p. 462. 2 From: Richard Rush quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, February 1929, pp. 40-42. 341 342 International Relations complete sovereignty in places where she did not maintain it. On this principle the United States have sent agents into the Spanish colonies, addressed to the existing authority, whether of Spain or of the colony, with instructions to cultivate its friendship and secure as far as practicable the faithful observance of our rights. The contest, by the extension of the revolutionary rhovement and the greater stability which it appears to have acquired, becomes daily of more importance to the United States. It is by success that the colonists acquire new claims on other powers, which it may comport neither with their interest nor duty to disregard. Several of the colonies having declared their independence and enjoyed it some years, and the authority of Spain being shaken in others, it seems probable that, if the parties be left to themselves, the most permanent political changes will be eflfected. It therefore seems incumbent on the United States to watch the movement in its sub- sequent steps with particular attention, with a view to pursue such course as a just regard for all those considerations which they are bound to respect may dictate. Under these impressions, the President deems it a duty to obtain, in a manner more comprehensive than has heretofore been done, correct information of the actual state of afifairs in those colonies. For this purpose he has appointed you commissioners, with author- ity to proceed, in a public ship, along the coast of South America, touching at the points where it is probable that the most precise and ample knowledge may be gained. . . . It is the President's desire that you go first to the River la Plate, visiting Buenos Ayres and Monte Video. On your way thither, you will call at Rio Janeiro delivering to our minister at that court the despatches which will be committed to your hands. . . . In the different provinces or towns which you visit, your atten- tion will be usefully, if not primarily, drawn to the following objects. 1. The form of government established, with the amount of population and pecuniary resources and the state and proportion as to numbers intelligence and wealth of the contending parties, wherever a contest exists. 2. The extent and organization of the military force on each side, with the means open to each of keeping it up. 3. The names and characters of leading men, whether in civil life or as military chiefs, whose conduct and opinions shed an influence upon events. 4. The dispositions that prevail among the public authorities and people towards the United States and towards the great nations of Europe, with the probability of commercial or other connections being on foot, or desired, with either. Latin America and the United States 343 5. The principal articles of commerce, regarding the export and import trade. What articles from the United States find the best market? What prices do their productions, most useful in the United States, usually bear? The duties on exports and imports; are all nations charged the same? 6. The principal ports and harbors, with the works of defence. 7. The real prospect, so far as seems justly inferrable from existing events and the operation of causes as well moral as physical in all the provinces where a struggle is going on, of the final and permanent issue. 8. The probable durability of the governments that have al- ready been established with their credit, and the extent of their authority, in relation to adjoining provinces. This remark will be especially applicable to Buenos Ayres. If there be any reason to think, that the government established there is not likely to be permanent, as to which no opinion is here expressed, it will become desirable to ascertain the probable character and policy of that which is expected to succeed it. . . . Your stay at each place will not be longer than is necessary to a fair accomplishment of the objects held up. You will see the pro- priety, in all instances, of showing respect to the existing authority or government of whatever kind it may be, and of mingling a conciliatory demeanor with a strict observance of all established usages. ... You will . . . not go further south than Buenos Ayres. At this point it is hoped that you may be able to obtain the means of ob- taining useful information as respects Chili and Peru. . . . Your observation and enquiries will not be exclusively confined to the heads indicated, but take other scope, keeping to the spirit of these instructions, as your own view of things upon the spot may suggest. 3. PRESIDENT MONROE EXPLAINS HIS RECOGNITION OF SPANISH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE (About 1823)i THE U States having recognized the Independence of the new govts, in this hemisphere, to the South, on a thorough convic- tion that they could sustain it, and on a presumption, that the con- siderations which induced that measure would soon have great weight with other powers, and with the parent country itself, it has become the object of this government, to promote that result, by amicable negotiations, with every power with whom a diplomatic intercourse is preserved. . . . Our position in this hemisphere bounded as we are by the new States, and connected in commerce 1 From: James Monroe quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, August 1918, p. 258. 344 International Relations with both parties, and as well with the European dominions, as with the remaining American possessions of the parent country, we have been, and still are from many causes, more deeply inter- ested in that event, than any other people. 4. SECRETARY OF STATE ADAMS EXPLAINS UNITED STATES RECOGNITION OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF BRAZIL (June 9, 1824)i r 'T^HE reception of the Brazilian charge d'affaires, Jose Silvestre I- J- Rebello] was, in no wise intended as an act unfriendly to the Government or people of Portugal. It was the recognition of a Government existing in fact. . . . The United States have never encouraged and supported the differences between the European powers and their possessions in America, nor have they availed themselves of any such differences to take by force to themselves, any part of those possessions. In recognizing as independent States, some of the countries which had been Spanish Colonies, they have done no more than has been done by His Majesty the King of Portugal, himself. The recognition of the Independence of those States was, in no wise induced by any existing differences between the United States and Spain ; nor was it deemed, in any manner incompatible with her sovereign rights. Such was "the opinion of the Portuguese Government itself, with reference to the Ex-colonies of Spain ; and such, by an application of the same principles, must it ultimately be, as is presumed, with regard to its own relations with Brazil. The negotiations between the United States and the Portuguese Government at Lisbon, hav- ing for their object the commercial relations between the United States and Portugal, cannot be unfavorably affected by the recog- nition of the Independence of Brazil, Nor is it expected that the Allies of His Majesty, the King of Portugal, any more than the United States, will pretend to the right which they explicitly dis- claim, or to exercise the power of fixing, irrevocably, the term when the legitimate rights of Sovereigns should be abandoned without appeal, or arrested in defiance of the fact. . . . Faithful to the principle that every Independent people have the right to form, and to organize their government as to them shall seem best, in the pursuit of their own happiness, and without en- croaching upon the rights of others, they have recognized the Brazilian Government, as existing in fact, and exercising all the authorities essential to the maintenance of the usual relations be- tween the United States and other foreign Independent Powers. 1 From: John Quincy Adams quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, August 1918, p. 268. Latin America and the United States 345 5. PROVISION IN THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY CON- CERNING MUTUAL RIGHTS IN REGARD TO A SHIP CANAL IN CENTRAL AMERICA (April 19, 1850)i THE Governments of the United States and Great Britain hereby declare that neither the one nor the other will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over the said ship canal; agreeing that neither will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same, or in the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or for- tify, or colonize, or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicara- gua, Costa^Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America; nor will either make use of any protection which either affords or may afford, or any alliance which either has or may have to or with any State or people for the purpose of erecting or main- taining any such fortifications, or of occupying, fortifying, or colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America, or of assuming or exercising dominion over the same ; nor will the United States or Great Britain take advan- tage of any intimacy, or use any alliance, connection, or influence that either may possess, with any State or Government through whose territory said canal may pass, for the purpose of acquiring or holding, directly or indirectly, for the citizens or subjects of the one any rights or advantages in regard to commerce or naviga- tion through the said canal which shall not be offered on the same terms to the citizens or subjects of the other. 6. VIEWS OF PRESIDENT HAYES REGARDING UNITED STATES RIGHTS TO CONSTRUCT AND CONTROL AN ISTHMIAN CANAL (1880)2 THE poHcy of this country is a canal under American control. The United States cannot consent to the surrender of this con- trol to any European power, or to any combination of European powers. If existing treaties between the United States and other nations, or if the rights of sovereignty or property of other nations stand in the way of this policy — a contingency which is not appre- hended — suitable steps should be taken by just and liberal negoti- ations to promote and establish the American policy on this subject, consistently with the rights of the nations to be affected by it. The capital invested by corporations or citizens of other countries in such an enterprise must, in a great degree, look for protection to one or more of the great powers of the world. No European power can intervene for such protection without adopting measures on this 1 From: The Hispanic American Historical Review, November 1926, pp. 211-212. 2 From: Rutherford B. Hayes quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, November 1926, pp. 117-118. 346 International Relations continent which the United States would deem wholly inadmissible. If the protection of the United States is relied upon, the United States must exercise such control as will enable this countrv^ to protect its national interests and maintain the rights of those whose private capital is embarked in the work. An interoceanic canal across the American isthmus will essentially change the geographical relations between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, and between the United States and the rest of the world. It will be the great ocean thoroughfare between our Atlantic and our Pacific shores, and virtually a part of the coast-line of the United States. Our merely commercial interest in it is greater than that of all other countries, while its relation to our power and prosperity as a nation, to our means of defense, our unity, peace, and safety, are matters of paramount concern to the people of the United States. No other great world power would, under similar circumstances, fail to assert a rightful control over a work so closely and vitally affecting its interests and welfare. Without urging further the grounds of my opinion, I repeat, in conclusion, that it is the right and the duty of the United States to assert and maintain such supervision and authority over any inter- oceanic canal across the isthmus that connects North and South America as will protect our national interests. This I am quite sure will be found not only compatible with, but promotive of, the widest and most permanent advantage to commerce and civilization. 7. PRESIDENT CLEVELAND OPPOSES UNITED STATES EXPANSION IN LATIN AMERICA (December 8, 1885)i MAINTAINING, as I do, the tenets of a line of precedents from Washington's day, which proscribe entangling alliances with foreign states, I do not favor a policy of acquisition of new and distant territory or the incorporation of remote interests with our own. The laws of progress are vital and organic, and we must be con- scious of that irresistible tide of commercial expansion which, as the concomitant of our active civilization, day by day, is being urged onward by those increasing facilities of production, transportation, and communication to which steam and electricity have given birth ; but our duty in the present instructs us to address ourselves mainly to the development of the vast resources of the great area committed to our charge, and to the cultivation of the arts of peace within our own borders, though jealously alert in preventing the American hemisphere from being involved in the political problems and com- plications of distant governments. Therefore, I am unable to rec- 1 From: Grover Cleveland quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, November 1926, p. 230. Latin America and the United States 347 ommend propositions involving paramount privileges of ownership or right outside of our own territory, when coupled with absolute and unlimited engagements to defend the territorial integrity of the state where such interests lie. 8. ORIGINAL STATEMENT OF THE DRAGO DOCTRINE (December 29, 1902) 1 Buenos Aires, December 29, 1902. Mr. Minister : T HAVE received your telegram . . . concerning the events that -*- have taken place between . . . Venezuela and Great Britain and Germany. . . . The origin of the disagreement is, in part, the damages suffered by the subjects of the claimant nations during the revolutions ... in Venezuela, and in part, also, the fact that certain payments on the external debt of that nation have not been met at the proper time. Leaving out of consideration the first class of claims . . . this government [Argentine] . . . transmits some considerations with reference to the forcible collection of the public debt. . . . At the outset it is to be noted in this connection that the capitalist who lends his money to a foreign state always takes into account the resources of the country, and the probability . . . that the obli- gations contracted will be fulfilled. All governments thus enjoy different credit according to their conduct in business transactions ; and these conditions are weighed and measured before making any loan. . . . In the first place the lender knows that he is entering into a con- tract with a sovereign entity, and it is an inherent qualification of all sovereignty that no proceedings for the execution of a judgment may be instituted or carried out against it, since this manner of collection would compromise its very existence. The acknowledgment of the debt, the payment of it, can and must be made by the nation without diminution of its rights as a sovereign entity but the summary and immediate collection at a given moment, by means of force, would occasion nothing less than the ruin of the weakest nations ... by the mighty of the earth. ...The eleventh amendment to its (the United States) consti-. tution provided . . . that the judicial power of the nation should not be extended to any suit in law or equity prosecuted against one of the United States by the citizens of another state, or by the subjects 1 From: Luis M. Drago in the Hispanic American Historical Review, May 1928, pp. 208- 210. 348 International Relations of any foreign state. The Argentine government has made its prov- inces indictable, and even . . . that the nation itself may be brought to trial before the Supreme Court on contracts . . . with individuals. What has not been established ... is that, once the amount for which it [the state] may be indebted has been determined by legal judgment, it should be deprived of the right to choose the manner and time of payment. This is in no wise a defense of bad faith, disorder, and deliberate and voluntary insolvency. The fact that collection cannot be accomplished by means of violence does not . . . render valueless the acknowledgment of the public debt, the definite obligation of paying it. ... It [Argentina] has felt alarmed at the knowledge that the failure of Venezuela to meet the payments of the public is given as one of the determining causes of the . . . blockade along its shores. The collection of loans by military means implies territorial occupation . . . and such occupation signifies the suppression or subordination of the . . . countries on which it is imposed. Such a situation seems obviously at variance . . . with the Monroe Doctrine. ... ... In very recent times . . . various expressions of European opinion . . . call attention to these [South American] countries as suitable fields for future territorial expansion. . . . The simplest way to . . . easy ejectment of the right authorities by European powers is just this way of financial intervention. . . . The principle which it [Argentina] would like to see recognized is: That the public debt cannot occasion armed intervention nor even the actual occupation of the territory of American nations by a European power. The loss of credit and prestige experienced by states which fail to satisfy the rightful claims of their lawful creditors . . . renders it unnecessary for foreign intervention to aggravate with its oppres- sion the temporary misfortunes of insolvency. Please accept, etc. Luis M. Drago. Latin America and the United States 349 9. STATEMENT CONCERNING THE DOMINANT POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE AMERICAN CONTI- NENT AND ESPECIALLY IN THE CARIBBEAN AREA BY THE UNITED STATES ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE (1904)i THE position of the United States on the American continent is in the process of determination. The question presents itself to us from time to time in direct and practical ways that cannot be avoided. The sum of the efforts of the government and of the people of the United States to meet these questions as they become vital and pressing is the history of our position on this continent. This history we are making from year to year, sometimes slowly and sometimes with great rapidity and definiteness. That the un- selfish purpose of this government, and the soundness and purity of its intention to refrain from land-grabbing, are beginning to have abundant understanding and appreciation, is evidenced in very many and satisfactory ways. I do not think there are longer any fair, open-minded, thoroughly intelligent people south of us, who are honest intellectually, that believe that this country wishes any- thing else than the peace and well-being ,of all of its southern neighbors. . . . To many of us who have had to give close practical consideration to these matters, and to deal with specific cases, it seems plain that no picture of our future is complete which does not contemplate and comprehend the United States as the dominant power in the Caribbean Sea. . . . In considering the position of the United States on the American continent you will ultimately have to reckon with that new and great factor, the interoceanic canal, and with the fact that circumstances have forced us to depart from our position of political and com- mercial isolation. The vastly augmented power of production on the part of the American people has rendered insufficient the home market. We are being driven, by necessity, to find new markets, and these economic problems must be given due, if not commanding place, in considering in a rounded, broad and comprehensive way the relations of the United States to the rest of this hemisphere and to the rest of the world. 1 From: F. B. Loomis quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, November 1926, p. 226. 350 International Relations 10. PRESIDENT WILSON'S PLEA FOR BETTER RELATIONS WITH LATIN AMERICA, AT MOBILE (October 27, 1913)i THERE is one peculiarity about the history of the Latin-Ameri- can States which I am sure they are keenly aware of. You hear of "concessions" to foreign capitalists in Latin America. You do not hear of concessions to foreign capitalists in the United States. They are not granted concessions. They are invited to make invest- ments. The work is ours, though they are welcome to invest in it. We do not ask them to supply the capital and do the work. It is an invitation, not a privilege ; and States that are obliged, because their territory does not lie within the main field of modern enterprise and action, to grant concessions are in this condition, that foreign inter- ests are apt to dominate their domestic aflPairs, a condition of afifairs always dangerous and apt to become intolerable. What these States are going to see, therefore, is an emancipation from the subordi- nation, which has been inevitable, to foreign enterprise and an assertion of the splendid character which, in spite of these difficul- ties, they have again and again been able to demonstrate. The dignity, the courage, the self-possession, the self-respect of the Latin-American States, their achievements in the face of all these adverse circumstances, deserve nothing but the admiration and applause of the world. They have had harder bargains driven with them in the matter of loans than any other peoples in the world. Interest has been exacted of them that was not exacted of anybody else, because the risk was said to be greater; and then securities were taken that destroyed the risk — an admirable arrangement for those who were forcing the terms ! I rejoice in nothing so much as in the prospect that they will now be emancipated from these conditions, and we ought to be the first to take part in assisting in that emancipation. . . . We must prove ourselves their friends and champions upon terms of equality and honor. You can not be friends upon any other terms than upon the terms of equality. You can not be friends at all except upon the terms of honor. We must show ourselves friends by comprehending their interest whether it squares with our own interest or not. It is a very perilous thin^ to determine the foreign policy of a nation in the terms of material interest. It not only is unfair to those with whom you are dealing, but it is degrading as regards your own actions. Comprehension must be the soil in which shall grow all the fruits of friendship, and there is a reason and a compulsion lying behind all this which is dearer than anything else to the thoughtful men of America. I mean the development of constitutional liberty in the 1 From: President Wilson quoted in Georee Creel, The People Next Door, (New York; The John Day Company, 1926), pp. 389-391. Latin America and the United States 351 world. Human rights, national integrity, and opportunity as against material interests, that ... is the issue which we now have to face. I want to take this occasion to say that the United States will never again seek one additional foot of territory by conquest. She will devote herself to showing that she knows how to make honorable and fruitful use of the territory she has, and she must regard it as one of the duties of friendship to see that from no quarter are material interests made superior to human liberty and national opportunity. I say this, not with a single tliought that any one will gainsay it, but merely to fix in our consciousness what our real relationship with the rest of America is. It is the relationship of a family of mankind devoted to the development of true constitutional liberty. We know that that is the soil out of which the best enter- prise springs. We know that this is a cause which we are making in common with our neighbors, because we have had to make it for ourselves. Reference has been made here to-day to some of the national problems which confront us as a Nation. What is at the heart of all our national problems? It is that we have seen the hand of material interest sometimes about to close upon our dearest rights and possessions. We have seen material interests threaten consti- tutional freedom in the United States. Therefore we will now know how to sympathize with those in the rest of America who have to contend with such powers, not only within their borders but from outside their borders also. I know what the response of the thought and heart of America will be to the program I have outlined, because America was created to realize a program like that. This is not America because it is rich. This is not America because it has set up for a great popula- tion great opportunities of material prosperity. America is a name which sounds in the ears of men everywhere as a synonym with individual opportunity because a synonym of individual liberty. I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty. But we shall not be poor if we love liberty, because the nation that loves liberty truly sets every man free to do his best and be his best, and that means the release of all the splendid energies of a great people who think for themselves. A nation of employees can not be free any more than a nation of employers can be. In emphasizing the points which must unite us in sympathy and in spiritual interest with the Latin-American peoples we are only emphasizing the points of our own life, and we should prove our- selves untrue to our own traditions if we proved ourselves untrue friends to them. Do not think, therefore . . . that the questions of the day are mere questions of policy and diplomacy. They are shot through with the principles of life. We dare not turn from the 352 Interiiational Relations principle that morality and not expediency is the thing that must guide us and that we will never condone iniquity because it is most convenient to do so. 11. DOLLAR DIPLOMACY IN LATIN AMERICA (July 4, 1916)1 THE Department of State at Washington is constantly called upon to back up the commercial enterprises and the industrial enterprises of the United States in foreign countries, and it at one time went so far in that direction that all its diplomacy came to be designated as ''dollar diplomacy." It was called upon to support every man who wanted to earn anything anywhere if he was an American. But there ought to be a limit to that. There is no man who is more interested than I am in carrying the enterprise of American business men to every quarter of the globe. I was inter- ested in it long before I was suspected of being a politician. I have been preaching it year after year as the great thing that lay in the future for the United States, to show her wit and skill and enter- prise and influence in every country in the world. But observe the limit to all that which is laid upon us perhaps more than upon any other nation in the world. We set this Nation up — at any rate, we professed to set it up — to vindicate the rights of men. We did not name any dififerences between one race and another. We did not set up any barriers against any particular people. We opened our gates to all the world and said, ''Let all men who wish to be free come to us and they will be welcome." We said, "This independ- ence of ours is not a selfish thing for our own exclusive private use. It is for everybody to whom we can find the means of extending it." We can not with that oath taken in our youth, we can not with that great ideal set before us when we were a young people and num- bered only a scant three millions, take upon ourselves, now that we are a hundred million strong, any other conception of duty than we then entertained. If American enterprise in foreign countries, par- ticularly in those foreign countries which are not strong enough to resist us, takes the shape of imposing upon and exploiting the mass of the people of that country, it ought to be checked and not en- couraged. I am willing to get anything for an American that money and enterprise can obtain except the suppression of the rights of other men. I will not help any man buy a power which he ought not to exercise over his fellow beings. You know, my fellow countrymen, what a big question there is in Mexico. Eighty-five per cent, of the Mexican people have never 1 From: President Wilson quoted in George Creel, The People Next Door, (New York: The John Day Company, 1926), pp. 397-399. Latin America and the United States 353 been allowed to have any genuine participation in their own govern- ment or to exercise any substantial rights with regard to the very land they live upon. All the rights that men most desire have been exercised by the other fifteen per cent. Do you suppose that that circumstance is not sometimes in my thought? I know that the American people have a heart that will beat just as strong for those millions in Mexico as it will beat or has beaten for any other mil- lions elsewhere in the world, and that when once they conceive what is at stake in Mexico, they will know what ought to be done in Mexico. I hear a great deal said about the loss of property in Mexico and the loss of the lives of foreigners, and I deplore these things with all my heart. Undoubtedly upon the conclusion of the present disturbed conditions in Mexico those who have been un- justly deprived of their property or in any wise unjustly put upon ought to be compensated. Men's individual rights have no doubt been invaded, and the invasion of those rights has been attended by many deplorable circumstances which ought some time in the proper way to be accounted for. But back of it all is the struggle of a people to come into its own ; and while we look upon the inci- dents in the foreground let us not forget the great tragic reality in the background, which towers above the whole picture. 12. A VENEZUELAN CRITICIZES THE UNITED STATES 1 SOUTH AMERICA detests the United States because of its fraudulent elections, its commercial deceit, its ridiculous Colonel Roosevelt, its shirt-sleeve diplomacy, its University professors who write about Spanish America with extreme ignorance, its sinking of the Maine, the secession of Panama, its seizure of the finances of Honduras, its usurpation of the customs of Santo Domingo, the blood that it shed and the independence that it frustrated in Nicara- gua, the revolutions which it fomented in Mexico, the invasion of Vera Cruz; its extravagant claims against Venezuela, the Alsop claim against Chile, its poorly concealed designs on the Galapagos Island of Ecuador and the Chichas Islands of Peru ; its daily affir- mation that Argentine statistics are unworthy of credence; its at- tempt to prevent the valorization of coffee in Brazil ; the appropri- ation of Porto Rico; the Piatt amendment to the constitution of Cuba ; its conversion of its cables and newspapers into instruments of discredit for each of the Spanish American republics ; its agres- sive imperialism; its conduct toward Spanish America during the past half-century. 1 From: Rufino Blanco Fombona quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, May 1920, p. 180. 354 International Relations 13. A COLOMBIAN CONDEMNS UNITED STATES IMPERI- ALISM IN LATIN AMERICAi WILSON and Roosevelt have torn the glorious flag ; they flaunt the insolent rag over the affliction of the Latin race of Amer- ica, which they dream of exterminating, in the savage ferocity of their barbarous souls ! English imperialism makes for civilization. Proof of this may be seen in great and prosperous India, in Egypt, in Australia and in Canada, rich and almost free. American filibus- terism makes for brutality. Proofs of this are seen in the FiHpinos, hunted like wild beasts ; in the disappearing Hawaiians, in the despoiled natives of Panama and in the Porto Ricans, compelled by oppression to emigrate. . . . Wherever the Englishman goes, a vil- lage is born ; wherever the Yankee goes, a race dies. Why not make Latin America see what in truth this race and people are ? A lustful race, hostile and contemptuous ; a countless people, false and cruel, insolent and depreciatory toward us, with monstrous ideas of their superiority, and an unbridled desire for conquest ! . . . Such are the men of the North, descendants of the Norsemen J pirates of the Baltic who in crudely built boats crossed black waters, under misty skies, to pillage peoples. 14. STATEMENT ABOUT YANKEES IN ARGENTINE GEOGRAPHY TEXTBOOK 2 THE Yankee. Of the Anglo-Saxon race, the Yankee, or Ameri- can as he calls himself, is of large stature and in general, of rude manners. He shows by his manners, as Carnegie says, that he thinks the American superior to all other men because he is a composite of all other nations. This boastful sentence engraved in the char- acter of the citizen of the United States gives him a valor, a bold- ness, a thirst for action which in all his movements are the out- standing marks of his character. Initiative, developed by education and by training, is characteristic of his temperament. The American has one purpose on which his whole will is centered ; that purpose is to acquire riches. Always the American is lying in wait for an opportunity to throw himself into business affairs and make a for- tune; he does not get discouraged; he does not draw back in the presence of danger, because, as P. Adams says : "The American disdains failure as the hero disdains death." Says J. Eraser, "The youth have no other ambition than to make their own way, start 1 From: Vargas Villa quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, February 1920, pp. 27 and 31. 2 From: Elsie Spicer Eells, South America's Story (New York: Robert M. McBride and Company, 1931), pp. 309-310. Latin America and the United States 355 business and get rich by their own efforts. " This activity, this thirst for riches, is aided by a practical intelhgence developed by an education ad hoc. Culture and instruction must always serve in the acquisition and further the use of riches. "Primary and sec- ondary instruction is characterized in the United States," says G. Blondel, "by methods primarily practical, whose tendency is to make men in the economic and not in the humanitarian sense, as in European countries." 15. HOW UNITED STATES FIRMS MAKE LOANS TO LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS 1 TUESDAY night's dinner — given at the Hotel Bolivar [in Lima] by S. A. MacGinniss to 50 odd guests, was a fair sample of what the local society folk are treated to at rather close intervals — namely — entertainment by promoters seeking favors of one sort or another from the Government. Our host — who was Minister to Bolivia during the Wilson ad- ministration, is here with a big entertainment fund in the interest of (J. & W. Seligman) a New York banking firm, to bid on the securities shortly to be issued as a part of a big refunding loan. The ex-Minister is a big chap of about 50 — ex-newspaper man probably a lawyer by present profession — loud voiced — glad- handed — just a little short of being offensive in his jovial famili- arity. One wonders how and why such a person is selected as a representative of important Latin American interests. A reason- able guess is that the bankers are led to believe that a person having intimate knowledge of what is represented to them as a delicate but well-organized graft system, of which the President and high officials of the local Government form a part — is the only agency through which they can accomplish their objective. It would be — I suspect — a revelation of gullibility to listen in on the confidential talks betv/een the bankers and MacGinniss as he outlined to them his particularly unique fitness for the game of getting the best of all competitors on this job of securing the coveted securities to be resold to American investors. 'Being an ex-Minister/ I can hear him say, 'I naturally have an already established entree to the President. This game of fixing Presidents and officials of South American republics is one in which I am expert. Sure, they all take graft — but it must be handed over in just the right way so that no evidence is left upon which a future scandal can be built — and it must be done with delicacy to avoid hurting the peculiar type of sensibility common to Latin American Presidents/ 1 From: Oliver C. Townsend quoted in the Washington Star^ January 12, 1933. 356 International Relations The bankers swallow it — line the promoter's pocket with ex- pense money — agree to pay him a commission if he succeeds and pass unquestioned what sums he says he paid out to state officials who are of the system. If he brings home the contract he's a great negotiator — if he doesn't he manufactures an alibi as specious and untrue as was his original representation. It's a great life — the promoter's. However, his dinner was picturesque. Our Ambassador, his lady, the secretaries and attaches represented our embassy force. Col. Juan Leguia was asked so that the home folk might have evidence of the negotiator's familiarity with the family of the President. Don Juan plays his part well, even, it is said, to the point of going 50-50 with the promoters who charge their clients with certain round sums as paid out for graft. Those who have watched the part played by the President's son say that he is clever — takes his share of the swag — never bothers father by asking favors in behalf of his promoter friends, and is always willing to serve as blind tiger to ambitious negotiators who know the ropes — and he's doing a good business these days. There were present a dozen Peruvians representing the official and social life, but no cabinet members — the rest just plain society folks recruited from all nationalities — younger married people of the dancing set mostly — and they danced until 2, when the orchestra folded its various types of noises for the night. The host took advantage of the occasion to make a speech ex- pressing his joy in meeting his Latin American friends again. His face beamed, his voice rolled in what were meant to be emotional cadences but weren't, his arms waved in an attempt at unison with the voice, and he looked the part of ward politician at a Fourth of July picnic. Col. Juan Leguia responded on behalf of the Peru- vians, saying he didn't know what his host had come to Peru for, but he was glad to welcome him, particularly as he had succeeded in gathering so many attractive ladies about his table and he had displayed a discriminating taste in his selection of champagne — that he hoped his stay would last as long as his money did, and that in the end he would leave, if leave he must, feeling that both his time and money had been well spent. Ex- Ambassador Pezet (Peru to the United States) also spoke some dignified words of welcome to the Americans in Peru, after persistent urgings by the host of the evening, but the American Ambassador steadfastly declined to rise from his seat. The puzzle suggested to my mind is : Why has all this undignified scramble and promotion atmosphere become an accepted feature of the program for disposing of an issue of government bonds ? There is something about scrambling that is highly appealing to Latin American officials — who encourage the intrigue and delays accom- Latin A ?n erica and the United States 357 panying them — as a coy maiden flirts with a group of suitors — for the long-drawn-out pleasure afforded by the game. One would think that more satisfactory results might be achieved by the government if it were itself to first fix the terms of its loans in accord with international usage, and call for bids for the issues of which it desired to dispose. Not only would it secure all of the advantages of competitive bidding — but it would conceivably save itself something of the time and annoyance which its representa- tives must suffer at the hands of the importunate salesmen pro- moters by whom it is beset, under the system now followed, and the dignity of the proceedings would be vastly greater. South American officials must realize that their methods of pro- cedure in negotiating public contracts give color to the suspicion prevalent among foreigners — that graft really is an inherent factor in all official negotiations. James Brown, a senior partner of Brown Bros. & Co. — New York and London — passing through on the *Lacania Tour' Thurs- day talked about bond buying in South America — in which he has had a large experience. His attitude is that the antiquated methods of negotiation take so much time and effort that his policy has be- come one of 'Let George do it.' On occasions his firm participates in such loans after they have been negotiated by other bankers — but he regards the actual negotiations as undignified and the 'costs' as unnecessary burdens upon the borrowing peoples. Mr. Brown further explained that in his opinion bankers should avoid the practice of offering such bonds to the general public be- cause of the uncertainties of interest and principal payments. As investment they belong in the safe deposit boxes of the rich who make yearly investments in diversified lists of securities from ex- cess incomes. On the theory that even South American states do not go permanently bankrupt, such investors are secure in the ultimate recovery of both principal and interest, but the small investor who buys for income and is forced to take a loss when interest is de- faulted should not be advised by bankers to buy such issues. The experience of English investors in Argentine bonds sponsored by Baring Bros, in 1890 was cited to illustrate the uncertainties from which investors for income should be protected by bankers. 16. THE GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY DESCRIBED AND DEFINED (December 10, 1934)i I AM going to outline to you this evening the essential features in the basic policy which your Government has determined upon in its relations with our sister republics of this hemisphere, as well as 1 From: Sumner Welles, Assistant Secretary of State, quoted in the Department of State Latin American Series, No. 8, Washington, 1935. 358 International Relations some of the practical results accomplished during the past 18 months. In doing so, I wish to be regarded as placing before you for your consideration an objective statement, and I hope that the wisdom of the policy so outlined will commend itself to you because of its practical advantages to the United States. Any sane foreign policy is determined upon by a government because of the advan- tages which that policy is believed to hold for that government. I do not believe that anything has done more harm to our inter- American relations than the myriad speeches that have been made and the innumerable articles that have been written on Pan Ameri- canism, based solely upon flowery sentiment. The tendency has been to concentrate upon high-flown rhetoric, involving, nearly always, a patronizing attitude of "big brother" superiority, and to ignore completely the fundamental foundations upon which relationships between nations have to be based, namely, the reciprocal value of their pohtical relationship, and the benefits derived from their commercial intercourse. Until very recently, our after-dinner ora- tors seem to have overlooked the fact that while 100 years ago the republics to the south were small nations passing through the same vicissitudes through which we passed in the early years of our in- dependence, many of these republics today are among the powers of the world ; that they have already reached, in territory, in wealth, and in population, equal rank with the older nations of Europe and of the East, and are in all certainty destined for further immeas- urable progress. Sentimentality and rhetoric do not determine in- ternational relationships. Inter-American relations will only be strengthened by the realization on the part of the nations involved that their self-interest is at stake. In the first place, the inter-American policy adopted by this ad- ministration is founded squarely upon the general foreign policy of the good neighbor proclaimed by President Roosevelt in his inaugural address : "the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, be- cause he does so, respects the rights of others — the neigh- bor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors." In my judgment, while that is a policy applicable by the United States to all of the nations of the world in its dealings with them, it is peculiarly appropriate in the relations between the United States and the republics of the Western Hemisphere. We are neighbors ; and it is up to all of us on this continent to see that we are good neighbors. I am frank to say, and I say it with the utmost regret, that there have been many occasions in the past when I be- lieve that the United States has been a pretty poor neighbor. A worthwhile policy does not seek to condone or to excuse past errors Latin America and the United States 359 of omission or commission ; it seeks to rectify them — and that is pre- cisely what the pohcy of the Roosevelt administration toward the republics of this continent has tried to do. It is desirable to view our continental policy in two phases, the political and the commercial ; although, necessarily, those two phases are inextricably linked together. I shall first take up the commer- cial phase and show you its practical applications. Since the days of the Wilson administration, the tariff barriers of the United States have been continuously raised. It is true that in the case of some of the American republics, their chief articles of export to the United States, such as coffee, remained on our free list. But in the case of many other republics, the increasing duties imposed by the United States upon their chief articles of export eventually resulted in an almost complete shutting of the doors of the United States to those exports, with the result that in the case of some of the great agricultural republics of the south, imports into the United States dwindled to nothing, and in the case of others, like Cuba, whose sugar had always found its chief market in this country, when the United States market was increasingly restricted and no substitute market could be found, the nation con- fronted ruin. I am sure that Mr. Hoover's good-will tour of South America in 1929 was made in all sincerity and for the purpose of enhancing good feeling between the American republics, but it was a sorry travesty of his intentions in taking that trip when, by sign- ing the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act a few months after he returned to the United States, he made effective an act which has done more to destroy good will toward the United States on the rest of this continent than almost any act that I can think of in our history. No country can make it impossible for its neighbors to sell to it their products and expect to retain their good will; and, what is equally important, no nation can refuse to buy the products of its neighbors and expect for any length of time to continue to sell them its own products. And it is exactly that dual result which was the logical outcome of the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act. As the result of that misguided policy, our exports to Latin America have con- sistently dwindled. Our exports must be paid for, and they can- not be paid for — unless, what is highly improbable, our bankers are going to continue to make uncollectible loans for financing this trade — without having a corresponding volume of imports come back to us. As a concrete and striking example of what I am trying to convey to you, let me recall to your attention that in 1924 the total value of our imports from Cuba was $362,000,000, and the total value of our exports to Cuba $191,000,000. In 1933, after the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act had been in operation for 2 years, our imports from Cuba had diminished to $57,000,000 and our total exports to Cuba were $23,000,000, a total shrinkage in per- 360 International Relations centage of exports of 88 percent. By assisting in the impoverish- ment of Cuba, we killed our own trade to that Republic and lost one of the largest and most valuable markets that we have ever enjoyed anywhere in the world. That was the picture with which the Roosevelt administration was confronted when it came into office. There is no more essential factor in the domestic recovery program envisaged by President Roosevelt than the regaining of our foreign trade, and there is no more effective way of realizing that objective than in the trade-agreement policy which the Presi- dent has been authorized by Congress to undertake and which is being undertaken so effectively by Secretary Hull. To correct the evils to which I have called your attention, it is our purpose to negotiate with every republic of this hemisphere a trade agreement based upon those general principles which we believe should govern international trade. We have not in mind the seeking of narrow bilateral preferences, which, for all their apparent momentary ex- pediency, would only serve to hamper the rapid recovery of world trade. We seek to take the initiative in furthering the eventual application of the unconditional most-favored-nation policy, which, in our judgment, is the only policy that will result in the removal of all those countless artificial restrictions and barriers which have done so much to retafd world progress and to bring about com- mercial enmities and rivalries which, in their turn, result in dis- turbance of world peace. Of course, in our negotiations we seek first of all the advantage of our own agriculturists, or our own manufacturers, but we do not seek them to the exclusion of others in such a manner as to lose sight of the benefits to be derived from triangular trade. It has often but aptly been said that the surest means of pro- moting friendship between peoples is the promotion of commercial relationships and of communications between them. There is nothing which can do more to promote good feeling between the American republics than the destruction as soon as may be prac- ticable of all of those barriers and hindrances to trade from which we have sufifered such disastrous consequences. The lack of ade- quate communications between us is of almost equal import. You are all familiar with the keen interest which President Roosevelt has demonstrated in the construction of the Pan-American High- way, and the practical assistance which the Congress has authorized him to extend to those of the American nations which desire our cooperation in their share of the construction. The completion of this great highway will make it possible for the average citizen of each one of our countries to know his neighbors better. It requires little imagination to grasp how healthy that would be. Furthermore, our shipping communications leave much to be Latin America and the United States 361 desired. We frequently hear that travelers from Buenos Aires, Montevideo, or Rio de jfaneiro prefer to travel to the United States by way of Europe because the facilities thus obtainable provide a more rapid and a more comfortable voyage. That is a state of affairs w^hich should not continue. We must bend every effort to make this continent the first in air, road, and steamship communi- cation. I wish now to take up the other and presumably the better-known phase of the new inter-American policy established by President Roosevelt, namely, the political phase. In order to make this more clearly understandable, I feel I should refer briefly to some of the events affecting our inter- American relationships which have occurred since the United States Civil War. During this period there was demonstrated occasionally, unfortunately, by the United States in its dealings with the other American republics a very marked disregard, not only of the fun- damental principles of international law as it has been evolved, but also of the sovereign rights as well as of the susceptibilities and of the prejudicies of our neighbors. Some of you may remember the determined efforts made by President Grant to annex the Dominican Republic through a deal with the dictator of Santo Domingo and how this attempt was only prevented through the determined opposition of a fearless group in the United States Senate. You are also familiar with the political repercussions of the manner in which the construction of the Panama Canal was made possible. You will likewise remember the results of the so- called "dollar diplomacy" undertaken by Secretary of State Knox ; the continued intervention, both political and military, of the United States in Nicaragua ; the long-continued military occupation of the United States in Haiti; and the occupation from 1916 to 1924 by the United States of the Dominican Republic, which entailed the establishment of an American government of the Dominican people headed by a United States admiral. The reasons and the explana- tions for these various occurrences have frequently been given, and there is no advantage to be gained from elaborating upon them now. There is no partisan political question raised in these references, since they occurred when both the Democratic and the Republican Party were in power in Washington. However, whatever explana- tion there may have been for these occurrences, the fact remains that the Unitted States because of its preponderant position inter- vened by force in sovereign and independent republics of this hem- isphere, and upon frequent occasions the intervention so initiated continued over a period of many years. Under these circumstances, can it be a cause for wonder or aston- ishment on our part that the belief that the United States would continue to disregard the most inalienable rights of sovereign peo- 362 International Relations pies in the American continent was wide-spread, caused bitter and lasting resentment, not only on the part of the nations directly affected, but on the part of the other republics of this hemisphere, and created an attitude of hostility toward the United States which it will take some time to overcome? For all of these reasons I believe that no more heartening statement has ever been made by any American President than that which President Roosevelt made last winter when he declared at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation : "It therefore has seemed clear to me as President that the time has come to supplement and to implement the declaration of President Wilson by the further declaration that the definite policy of the United States from now on is one opposed to armed intervention." That declaration creates a precedent which, in my belief, will never be abandoned. It is a complete answer to all further allegations that the policy of the United States is one of imperialism. It has the unmistakable appeal of that which is right. In complete harmony with the principle embodied in that declara- tion was the course pursued by the United States Delegation at the Seventh Inter-American Conference at Montevideo under the notable leadership of Secretary of State Hull. The public state- ments made by the Secretary of State of the United States and the official acts of the delegation were invaluable in bringing about a clear understanding on the part of the other nations of this con- tinent of the new policy adopted by this Government. As a necessary corollary to the declaration of President Roose- velt comes the fact that in the new policy now evolved, the United States, in its dealings with its neighbors of this continent, will no longer recur to that indirect intervention in the domestic affairs of its sister republics which has so frequently in the past given rise to suspicion, to misunderstanding, to antagonism. The time has come when the United States realizes that in its American relationships it is an equal among equals, and no more and no less. As an instance of the indirect intervention in the affairs of these republics, mention may be made of the pressure brought, particu- larly during the era of ''dollar diplomacy," to compel rigid com- pliance with the letter of loan contracts entered into by these countries, regardless of their ability to meet these obligations with- out seriously impairing vital governmental services. The depression has brought about a situation in which many of these republics have found themselves unable to continue to pay debts service without so reducing expenditures that government itself could not adequately perform the services essential for any country. This Government recognizes that the questions involved in this problem are questions that should primarily be dealt with by the x\merican Latin America and the United States 363 bondholders with the governments concerned, and for that reason took the initiative in the creation of the Foreign Bondholders Pro- tective Council, which,, though in no sense under governmental control, nevertheless receives the warm support of the Government. The Council, in behalf of our bondholders, has already succeeded in negotiating several adjustments satisfactory both to the govern- ments of certain American republics and to their bondholders in this country. In the practical application of our new policy during the scant year and a half since its determination, I desire to mention a few concrete examples. There are few more significant than the ter- mination last August of the military occupation of Haiti with the withdrawal of American military forces of occupation. In the near future a further stage should be reached when Haiti will be bound to the United States solely by bonds of close and warm friendship and of commercial intercourse. For many years past, certain of the provisions of the treaty of 1903 between the United States and Panama and, perhaps even more, the interpretation given to those provisions by officials of this Government, have created considerable resentment on the part of the citizens of Panama, and have not engendered that close coopera- tion between our two peoples which should exist in the case of two sovereign and independent nations bound together by the peculiarly close ties which the construction and operation by the United States of the Panama Canal necessarily entail. I am happy to say that, by our invitation, at the present time delegates of the Republic of Panama are consulting with this Government here in Washington for the purpose of discussing in the fullest detail all matters of common interest to the two countries, and that it is my sincere belief that as a result of these deliberations there will soon be completed new agreements which will remove all well-founded ground for complaint which Panama has had. At the time of the visit to Washington last year of President Arias, a joint declaration was issued by President Roosevelt and President Arias which made evi- dent the sincere desire of the United States to rectify all of those conditions to which Panama justly raised objection, and it is in the spirit manifested in that joint declaration that our new agreements are being negotiated. In our relations with Central America I am particularly happy to call attention to the fact that after a lapse of 2 years this^ Gov- ernment last year entered once more into cordial and friendly official relations with the Government of El Salvador. With regard to Nicaragua, we have officially made it clear that no special rela- tionship of any kind or description exists between our two coun- tries and that the days of our mterference in the destinies of that people have passed. 364 International Relations In March 1933, conditions in the Republic of Cuba — that coun- try which is pecuHarly close to the United States by reason of ties of intimate friendship and understanding, by the remembrance of American and Cuban blood which was jointly shed to gain Cuban independence, and by the ties of geographical proximity — had reached a stage of desperation. As I have already pointed out, the Cuban national economy was confronted by ruin ; politically, the nation was prostrate under a dictatorship which had brought in its train murder, terrorism, and revolt. I have publicly given in full detail the complicated chain of events which occurred in Cuba during the past 18 months, and there would be no purpose in enlarging now to any degree upon the statements which I then made. The confusion and bitterness of the times have given rise to much propaganda, part of it deliberately malicious, and to many myths and unfounded rumors regarding the policy of the United States and the acts of its accredited representatives. Some of these rumors have been sedulously fostered by certain Cuban political agents because the United States Government and its representatives were unwilling to support their individual ambi- tions. Others have been equally sedulously propagated by that small group of Americans who labor under the delusion that this Gov- ernment should further the installation in foreign countries of the type of government in which these individuals believe, whether the people of those countries desire that form of government or not. I would like to take this occasion publicly to state the policy of the United States has been determined solely by its desire to assist, not this group nor the other group, nor one party nor the other party in Cuba, but the Cuban people as a whole, and in so doing to abstain completely from interference in the determination of the political destinies of Cuba. In carrying out that policy the United States has moved swiftly and effectively to help the Cuban Government to better conditions in the Republic. As I said before, Cuba has been granted a fair share of the American market for her sugar under the terms of the Costigan- Jones Act. The trade agreement has been of immediate benefit to Cuba. The facilities of our Export-Import Bank have been placed at the disposal of the Cuban Government. Finally, there have been removed from our con- tractual relations with Cuba all of those special rights and privileges granted to this Government as contained in the Piatt Amendment and incorporated in our original treaty with the Republic of Cuba. It is difficult to conceive how the policy of the good neighbor could have been demonstrated more swiftly or more practically than it has in this instance. In reply to the destructive criticisms of our policy toward Cuba, I need merely point out the difference in con-' ditions which obtain today and conditions which existed 2 years ago. Only those naive souls who believe in earthly miracles could imagine Latin America and the United States 365 that, after the long period of tyranny, social disturbances, and economic prostration which the Cuban people have suffered, they could from one day to the other enjoy maximum prosperity and complete social and political order. No man privileged, as I have been, to live among them can doubt the fine capacity of the Cuban people to govern themselves. . . . Economic conditions are rapidly improving, and unemployment is fast diminishing as a consequence thereof. May the Cuban people soon enjoy complete recovery, political as wtW as economic. During these past years the attention of the American republics has been draw^n time and again to the continuing tragedy of the Chaco war. We have always hoped that a peaceful solution of that controversy might be found. This Government, notably at Monte- video through Secretary Hull, has offered the full measure of its cooperation to the various peace moves which have been made. Now a new formula of solution has been adopted by the League of Nations and unanimously supported by all of those American republics which are members of the League. Only a few days ago the Government of the United States made public its announced intention to participate with the other American republics in this effort to the full extent which was practicable, provided the League proposal was accepted by the two belligerents. A few months be- fore, the Leticia dispute between Colombia and Peru, which gravely threatened peace on this continent, was adjusted, due to the con- ciliatory spirit of the two Governments concerned, but also in no small part to the wise counsel offered by that distinguished Brazilian statesman. Dr. Mello Franco. It is the hope of all of us that a fair and peaceful solution may soon terminate the Chaco war, which has already cost so much in terms of human life and in the destruc- tion of the material wealth of the two nations engaged therein. When that happy day comes, I trust that the initiative may rapidly be taken by all of the American republics to see to it that such peace machinery may be created on this continent as to make always available appropriate and effective means whereby the threat of future wars in the Western Hemisphere may be dispelled. The peace of the continent is a matter of joint concern to every Ameri- can nation, and the responsibility for its maintenance should be assumed as a common necessity. In conclusion let me recur to the assurance I made at the outset of my address this evening that the policy above outlined to you was a practical policy based upon the real advantage of the Ameri- can people. What more practical benefit to the United States can there be than a political relationship between the 21 sovereign and independent republics of the Western World, free from suspicion, from mistrust, from needless friction and misunderstanding, and based upon confidence and common advantage ? What more practi- 366 International Relations cal benefit can there be than the stimulation and development of trade opportunities between us through the elimination of all those barriers and obstacles which have been permitted to grow up? Our continental policy is at last made of durable material. I hope it may forever be the keystone of the foreign policy of the United States. Chapter Thirty-three THE MONROE DOCTRINE 1. LETTER OF SECRETARY CANNING TO UNITED STATES MINISTER RICHARD RUSH SUGGESTING PRINCIPLES LATER EMBODIED IN THE MONROE DOCTRINE (August 20, 1823)1 My Dear Sir : BEFORE leaving town, I arn desirous of bringing before you in a more distinct, but still in an unofficial and confidential, shape, the question which we shortly discussed, the last time that I had the pleasure of seeing you. Is not the moment come when our governments might under- stand each other as to the Spanish American colonies? And if we can arrive at such an understanding, would it not be expedient for ourselves, and beneficial for all the world, that the principles of it should be clearly settled and plainly avowed? For ourselves we have no disguise. 1. We conceive the recovery of the colonies by Spain to be hopeless. 2. We conceive the question of the recognition of them as independent states to be one of time and circumstances. 3. We are, however, by no means disposed to throw any impedi- ment in the way of an arrangement between them and the mother- country by amicable negotiation. 4. We aim not at the possession of any portion of them our- selves. 5. We could not see any portion of them transferred to any power with indifference. 1 From: George Canning quoted in Inter- America, June 1922, pp. 289-290. The Monroe Doctrine 367 If these opinions and feelings are, as I firmly believe them to be, common to your government with ours, why should we hesitate mutually to confide them to each other, and to declare them in the face of the world? If there be any European power which cherishes other projects, which looks to a forcible enterprise for reducing the colonies to subjugation, on the behalf or in the name of Spain ; or which medi- tates the acquisition of any part of them to itself, by cession or by conquest; such a declaration on the part of your government and ours would be at once the most effectual and the least offensive mode of intimating our joint disapprobation of such projects. It would at the same time put an end to all the jealousies of Spain with respect to her remaining colonies; and to the agitation which prevails in those colonies: an agitation which it would be but humane to allay; being determined (as we are) not to profit by encouraging it. Do you conceive that under the power which you have recently received, you are authorized to enter into negotiation and to sign any convention upon this subject? Do you conceive, if that be not within your competence, you could exchange with me ministerial notes upon it? Nothing could be more gratifying to me than to join with you in such a work, and, I am persuaded, there has seldom, in the history of the world, occurred an opportunity, when so small an effort, of two friendly governments, might produce so unequivocal a good and prevent such extensive calamities. I shall be absent from London but three weeks at the utmost; but never so far distant, but that I can receive and reply to any communication, within three or four days. 2. THE ORIGINAL STATEMENT OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE (December 2, 1823)i AT THE proposal of the Russian Imperial Government, made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the Minister of the United States at St. Petersburg to arrange, by amicable nego- tiation, the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of. this continent. A similar proposal has been made by His Imperial Majesty to the Government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. . . . In the discussions to which this interest has given rise, and in the arrangements by which they may terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for asserting as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States 1 From: James Monroe quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, July 1931, p. 713, note 1. 368 International Relations are involved, that the American Continents, by the free and inde- pendent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. . . . In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to them- selves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our de- fense. With the movements in this hemisphere, we are, of necessity, more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments. And to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and ma- tured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole Nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable rela- tions existing between the United States and those powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great con- sideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view 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. . . . Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers ; to consider the government de facto as the legitimate gov- ernment for us ; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to pre- serve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy, meeting, in all instances, the just claims of every power, submitting to in- juries from none. But in regard to those continents, circumstances are eminently and conspicuously different. It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political svstem to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness ; nor can anyone believe that our southern brethern, if left to them- selves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such interposition, in any form, with indifference. The Monroe Doctrine 369 3. VIEWS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT ON THE MONROE DOCTRINE (August 1905)i 'T^HE Monroe Doctrine is not a part of international law. But it -^ is the fundamental feature of our entire foreign policy so far as the Western Hemisphere is concerned, and it has more and more been meeting with recognition abroad. The reason why it is meet- ing with this recognition is because we have not allowed it to be- come fossilized, but have adapted our construction of it to meet the growing, changing needs of this hemisphere. Fossilization, of course, means death, whether to an individual, a government, or a doctrine. It is out of the question to claim a right and yet shirk the respon- sibility for exercising that right. When we announce a policy such as the Monroe Doctrme, we thereby commit ourselves to accepting the consequences of the policy, and these consequences from time to time alter. Let us look for a moment at what the Monroe Doctrine really is. It forbids the territorial encroachment of non-American powers on American soil. Its purpose is partly to secure this nation against seeing great military powers obtain new footholds in the Western Hemisphere, and partly to secure to our fellow republics south of us the chance to develop along their own lines without being op- pressed or conquered by non- American powers. As we have grown more and more powerful, our advocacy of this doctrine has been received with more and more respect ; but what has tended most to give the doctrine standing among the nations is our growing willing- ness to show that we not only mean what we say and are prepared to back it up, but that we mean to recognize our obligations to for- eign peoples no less than to insist upon our rights. We cannot permanently adhere to the Monroe Doctrine unless we succeed in making it evident in the first place, that we do not intend to treat it in any shape or way as an excuse for aggrandize- ment on our part at the expense of the Republics to the south of us ; second, that we do not intend to permit it to be used by any of these Republics as a shield to protect that Republic from the consequences of its own misdeeds against foreign nations ; third, that inasmuch as by this doctrine we prevent other nations from interfering on this side of the water, we shall ourselves in good faith try to help those of our sister Republics, which need such help, upward toward peace and order. As regards the first point we must recognize the fact that in some South American countries there has been much suspicion lest we should interpret the Monroe Doctrine in some way inimical to their 1 From: Theodore Roosevelt quoted in George W. Crichfield, American Supremacy (New York: Brentano's, 2 vols., 1908), Vol. II, pp. 418-420. 370 International Relations interests. Now let it be understood once for all that no just and orderly government on this continent has anything to fear from us. There are certain of the Republics south of us which have already reached such a point of stability, order, and prosperity that they are themselves, although as yet hardly consciously, among the guarantors of this doctrine. No stable and growing American Republic wishes to see some great non-American military power acquire territory in its neighborhood. It is to the interest of all of us on this continent that no such event should occur, and in addition to our own Republic there are now already Republics in the regions south of us which have reached a point of prosperity and power that enables them to be considerable factors in maintaining this doctrine which is so much to the advantage of all of us. It must be understood that under no circumstances will the United States use the Monroe Doctrine as a cloak for territorial aggression. Should any of our neighbors, no matter how turbulent, how disregardf ul of our rights, finally get into such a position that the utmost limits of our forbearance are reached, all the people south of us may rest assured that no action will ever be taken save what is abso- lutely demanded by our self-respect; that this action will not take the form of territorial aggrandizement on our part, and that it will only be taken at all with the most extreme reluctance and not with- out having exhausted every effort to avert it. As to the second point, if a Republic to the south of us commits a tort against a foreign nation, — such, for instance, as wrongful action against the persons of citizens of that nation, — then the Monroe Doctrine does not force us to interfere to prevent punish- ment of the tort, save to see that the punishment does not directly or indirectly assume the form of territorial occupation of the of- fending country. The case is more difficult when the trouble comes from the failure to meet contractual obligations. Our own govern- ment has always refused to enforce such contractual obligations on behalf of its citizens by the appeal to arms. It is much to be wished that all foreign governments would take the same view. But at present this country would certainly not be willing to go to war to prevent a foreign government from collecting a just debt or to back up some one of our sister Republics in a refusal to pay just debts, and the alternative may in any case prove to be that we shall ourselves undertake to bring about some arrangement by which so much as is possible of the just obligations shall be paid. Personally I should always prefer to see this country step in and put through such an arrangement rather than let any foreign country under- take it. I do not want to see any foreign power take possession perma- nently or temporarily of the custom houses of an American Repub- The Monroe Doctrine 371 lie in order to enforee its obligations, and the alternative may at any time be that we shall be forced to do so ourselves. Finally, — and vv^hat is, in my view, really the most important thing of all, — it is our duty, so far as we are able, to try to help upward our weaker brothers. Just as there has been a gradual growth of the ethical element in the relations of one individual to another, so that with all the faults of our Christian civilization it yet remains true that we are, no matter how slowly, more and more coming to recognize the duty of bearing one another's burdens, similarly I believe that the ethical element is by degrees entering into the dealings of one nation with another. Under strain of emotion caused by sudden disaster this feeling is very evident. A famine or a plague in one country brings much sympathy and some assistance from other countries. Moreover, we are now beginning to recognize that weaker people have a claim upon us, even when the appeal is made not to our emotions by some sudden calamity, but to our consciences by a long-continuing condi- tion of affairs. I do not mean to say that nations have more than begun to ap- proach the proper relationship one to another, and I fully recognize the folly of proceeding upon the assumption that this ideal condi- tion can now be realized in full, — for in order to proceed upon such an assumption, we would first require some method of forcing recalcitrant nations to do their duty, as well as of seeing that they are protected in their rights. In the interest of justice, it is as necessary to exercise the police power as to show charity and helpful generosity. But something can even now be done toward the end in view. That something, for instance, this nation has already done as regards Cuba and is now trying to do as regards Santo Domingo. There are few things in our history in which we should take more genuine pride than the way in which we liberated Cuba, and then, instead of instantly abandoning it to chaos, stayed in direction of the afifairs of the island until we had put it on the right path, and finally gave it freedom and helped it as it started on the life of an independent republic. 4. MEANING OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE (January 6, 1916)i THE Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed by the United States on her own authority. It always has been maintained, and always will be maintained, upon her own responsibility. But the Monroe Doctrine demanded merely that European Governments should not 1 From: Woodrow Wilson quoted in J. Reuben Clark, Memorandum on the Monroe Doctrine (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1930), p. 178. 372 International Relations attempt to extend their political systems to this side of the Atlantic. It did not disclose the use which the United States intended to make of her power on this side of the Atlantic. It was a hand held up in warning, but there was no promise in it of what America was going to do with the implied and partial protectorate which she apparently was trying to set up on this side of water; and I be- lieve you will sustain me in the statement that it has been fears and suspicions on this score which have hitherto prevented the greater intimacy and confidence and trust between the Americas. The States of America have not been certain what the United States would do with her power. That doubt must be removed. And lat- terly there has been a very frank interchange of views between the authorities in Washington and those who represented the other States of this hemisphere, an interchange of views charming and hopeful, because based upon an increasingly sure appreciation of the spirit in which they were undertaken. These gentlemen have seen that if America is to come into her own, into her legitimate own, in a world of peace and order, she must establish the founda- tions of amity so that no one will hereafter doubt them. I hope and I beHeve that this can be accomplished. These con- ferences have enabled me to foresee how it will be accomplished. It will be accomplished in the first place, by the States of America uniting in guaranteeing to each other absolutely political inde- pendence and territorial integrity. In the second place, and as a necessary corollary to that, guaranteeing the agreement to settle all pending boundary disputes as soon as possible and by amicable process ; by agreeing that all disputes among themselves, should they unhappily arise, will be handled by patient, impartial investi- gation, and settled by arbitration; and the agreement necessary to the peace of the Americas, that no State of either continent wiH permit revolutionary expeditions against another State to be fitted out on its territory, and that they will prohibit the exportation of the munitions of war for the purpose of supplying revolutionists against neighboring Governments. 5. SUGGESTIONS OF DR. BRUM FOR ALL OF THE AMERI- CAN NATIONS TO SUPPORT THE PRINCIPLES OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE (1921)i IT MAY be afifirmed that the European conquests in America have been prevented hitherto by the influence of the Monroe doctrine. Neither in the nineteenth century nor at the beginning of the present century has there existed in Europe any power strong enough to venture to annex American territories at the cost 1 From: Baltasar Brum quoted in Inter-America, June 1922, pp. 292-293. The Monroe Doctrine 373 of a war with the United States. I do not mean to say that some of them were not stronger than that country, but, because of rival- ries that existed amid the passions of the Old World, none of them would have attempted to provoke her, because the situation in which this would have involved such a power would have been used against it by its traditional enemies. Under these conditions conquests in America would have been difficult, sanguinary and expensive, and therefore the expansionist peoples of Europe have preferred to satisfy their needs and desires with the easier solution afforded them by the almost undefended territories of Africa, Asia and Oceania, which were also possessors of great natural wealth. In this manner, throughout all the past, the Monroe doctrine has constituted an effective safeguard for the territorial integrity of many American countries, and it acquired characteristics of marked timeliness when the Pan Germanic propaganda, based on the miH- tary preparation of Germany, caused to be discerned the possibility that this power might, in case of a victorious war in Europe — which would wipe out the martial effectiveness of her rivals and free her of all concern regarding them — decide to effect the con- quest of rich American lands without fear then of the power of Washington's countiy. The German danger to the territorial integrity of Latin America, already glimpsed in 1914 and in 1917, was accentuated in 1918, when the German offensives of March and April — and the en- trance of the United States into the war — came thus to have the meaning of an anticipated application of the Monroe doctrine, it being done not only in her own defense, but also in that of the American peoples, threatened by the ambition of Pan Germanism. Uruguay understood the gravity of that historic moment, and she did not hesitate to join North America. The condition of the European powers since the war has been such that it may be affirmed that danger of conquests by them in America has been removed for many years. Is this, however, the ground on which to become careless as to the future by repudiating the Monroe doctrine on the pretext that it is not now necessary to us ? I think it is not, for to-day, more than ever, we ought to display our foresight by seeking formulas that will for ever assure the peace and full independence of the American countries. In order to achieve this result, it is necessary to intensify and direct our sentiments of solidarity. The Monroe doctrine is the only permanent manifestation of solidarity of one American nation with the others of the continent ; and I say this because it is the only one that has persisted for a century, inasmuch as those formulated by other countries only 374 Iiiternational Relations meet the needs of the political exigencies of an historical moment without the later generations' having considered themselves under obligation to uphold them as protective norms of foreign policy. It is said that the Monroe doctrine is concerned solely with the self-interest of the United States and that it is in a certain way irritating to the nations of America, because it constitutes some- thing like a protectorate over them. I conceive it to be unreasonable to begin to inquire whether general acts benefit or not the country that achieves them. They may involve, and they almost always do involve, an object of self- interest, although it be only of a moral nature, without their losing on this account their intrinsic value. What ought to be considered therefore is the good they produce. According to the Monroe doctrine, if an extracontinental power should attempt to conquer a country of America, such a country would count on the help of Washington's country. Is not this a blessing to all? Is not this a practical and effective manifestation of true solidarity? It has been affirmed by the enemies of the Monroe doctrine that this attitude of the United States might wound the sensitiveness of the country attacked, which would receive protection even with- out asking for it ; but, besides this remark's lacking all seriousness, the difficulty that it points out would be obviated if the American countries should formulate a declaration, similar to that of Monroe, in which they would engage to intervene in behalf of any one of them, including the United States, if, in the defense of her rights she should find herself involved in a war with an extracontinental nation. A declaration to this effect, incorporated in the international obligations of each country, would bring them all into a position of great dignity by placing them on a footing of perfect moral equality with the United States. Its practical application would be as follows : if Uruguay, for example, were attacked by a transoceanic power, the United States and the other American countries would intervene in her defense ; and if the aggressor were the United States, Uruguay, with the other sister countries of the continent, would support her action against the unjust aggressor. Thus the Monroe doctrine, proclaimed as the present norm of foreign policy by the United States alone, would be changed into a defensive alliance between all the American countries, based on a lofty sentiment of solidarity, with reciprocal obligations and advantages for all of them. The Monroe Doctrine 375 6. STATEMENT CONCERNING THE MONROE DOCTRINE BY CHARLES E. HUGHES (May 9, 1928)i THE Doctrine in its essentials may be summarized as being opposed (1) to any non- American action encroaching upon the poHtical independence of American States under any guise, and (2) to the acquisition in any manner of the control of additional territory in this hemisphere by any non-American power. This policy of the United States is essentially defensive. It was, and has continued to be, deemed necessary to our security. It is not a policy of aggression and it does not impinge upon the independ- ence and sovereignty of other American States. It does not seek to establish a protectorate over other American States. Our deter- mination to oppose foreign interference leaves them the more secure in the development of their own institutions and in the enjoyment of their proper independence. It is a policy that gives no excuse for aggrandizement on our part at the expense of the Republics to the South of us. It has been stated authoritatively that this doctrine has nothing to do with the commercial relations of any American power, save that it in truth allows each of them to form such as it desires, and that we do not guarantee any State against punishment if it misconducts itself, provided that punish- ment does not take the form of acquisition of territory by any non- American power. It is said by critics of this policy that it is an anachronism. What is meant by this? Either that its application is no longer needed, or, that if there should be an appropriate occasion for its applica- tion, it should not be applied. If it be thought that there never will be occasion for the application of the doctrine, as I have sought to define it, the question need not be discussed. It is one of prophecy. It may indeed gratefully be recognized that many of the American Republics have grown strong and are able to resist aggression, and that at present non-American powers do not appear to cherish any purpose to antagonize either the assertion or the maintenance of the principle of the inviolability of the American Republics and their territory. Non-American powers have assumed the obligations of the covenant of the League of Nations. But the 'future' is a long time. No harm is done in maintaining the principle, if it is a sound one, although happily its validity may not be contested. If we sought to abandon it, we might have as much trouble in showing what it was we had abandoned as we have had in dealing with the Doctrine itself. The formal abandonment might be an invitation to new controversies or might prompt or excuse action which other- wise would not have been contemplated. The real question, in con- sidering the maintenance of the policy, is whether we should defend 1 From: Charles E. Hughes quoted in the New York Times, May 10, 1928. 376 International Relations it if there should be occasion for its appHcation. I do not think that there is any doubt of the prevaihng opinion in this country upon that point. I beheve that the American people are as firmly opposed as ever to any attempt to encroach upon the political inde- pendence of the American States or to the acquisition by a non- American power of the control of additional territory in this hemisphere. It should also be observed that while some of the American Republics are strong, others are relatively weak. This relative weakness notably exists in the Caribbean area where our interest is strongest both by reason of propinquity and the impor- tance of the security of the Panama Canal. Our interest in the immunity from aggression, the stability, the good order, and the peace of the countries in this region would make it advisable for us to announce a similar doctrine, if we did not already have the Monroe Doctrine. We shall rejoice as our immediate neighbors grow in strength and have the added securit}^ due to improvements in communications and their political and economic progress. But the Monroe Doctrine stands, threatening none, as a safeguard with which no responsible American statesman would be rash enough to attempt to dispense. If this be true, instead of deriding it, it. is important to have the Doctrine understood, and not to extend it beyond its proper limits. And when we seek to apply it, the grounds of its application should be made clear. . . . Confusion has been caused by what appears to be a prevalent notion that the Monroe Doctrine is the justification or excuse for every action that we take in relation to Latin- America. We have other policies ; they should be explained, criticized or defended upon their merits ; they should neither gain nor lose by confounding them with the Monroe Doctrine. For example, we have a definite policy of protecting the Panama Canal. We deem it to be essential to our national safety to hold the control of the Canal and we could not yield to any foreign power the maintaining of any position which would interfere with our right adequately to protect the Canal or would menace its approaches or the freedom of our communi- cations. This applies just as well to American powers as to non- American powers. We have the right to protect American lives and property when endangered in circumstances and areas where governments have ceased properly to function, and this principle is applied although there may be no prospect of non-American inter- ference and no occasion for applying the Monroe Doctrine. We recognize that other States have a similar right. It is true that our interposition in such cases may have the actual and intended effect of avoiding the interposition of non- American powers and the consequent activities and developments at which the Monroe Doc- trine was aimed, but our own right to protect our nationals is quite distinct from the Monroe Doctrine. Pan Americanism 377 The policy embodied in the Doctrine is an aid to peace. We have an added reason to promote good order and the peaceful settlement of controversies. And it should be remembered that the United States has used its influence to effect such settlements between the American States and non-American powers. The historic instance of the settlements with respect to Belize, the Bay Islands and the Mosquito Coast in 1858 to 1860, the promotion of the arbitral determination of the boundary line between Venezuela and British Guiana in 1897, which ended a controversy which had existed for the greater part of the nineteenth century, and the disposition of the claims of Germany, Great Britain and Italy against Venezuela in 1902-1904, afford familiar illustrations. Chapter Thirty-four ^ PAN AMERICANISM AND THE INTER-AMERICAN . CONFERENCES 1. BOLIVAR'S CIRCULAR INVITATION TO THE CONGRESS OF PANAMA (December 7, 1824) 1 Lima, December 7, 1824. GREAT and Good Friend: After 15 years of sacrifices devoted to the liberty of America to secure a system of guaranties that in peace and war shall be the shield of our new destiny, it is time the interests and relations uniting the American Republics, for- merly Spanish colonies, should have a fundamental basis that shall perpetuate, if possible, those Governments. To initiate that system and concentrate the power of this great political body implies the exercise of a sublime authority, capable of directing the policy of our Governments, whose influence should maintain uniformity of principles and whose name alone should put an end to our quarrels. Such a respectable authority can exist only in an assembly of plenipotentiaries appointed by each of our Republics and called together under the auspices of the victory obtained by our arms over the Spanish power. 1 From: Simon Bolivar quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, March 1925, pp. 248-249. 378 International Relations Profoundly imbued with these ideas, I invited, in 1822, as Presi- dent of the Republic of Colombia, the Governments of Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Buenos Ayres to form a confederation, and hold on the Isthmus of Panama, or some other point agreeable to the majority, a congress of plenipotentiaries from each State "that should act as a council in great conflicts, to be appealed to in case of common danger, and be a faithful interpreter of public treaties when difficulties should arise, and conciliate, in short, all our differences." On the 6th of June of said year the Government of Peru con- cluded a treaty of alliance and confederation with the Colombian plenipotentiary. By said treaty both parties bound themselves to interpose their good offices with the Governments of America lately Spanish, so that, all entering into the same agreement, the general congress of the confederates could be held. A similar treaty with Mexico was concluded on the 3d of October, 1823, by the Colom- bian envoy to that country, and there are strong reasons for hoping that other Governments will also adopt a policy dictated by their higher interests. Longer to defer the general congress of the plenipotentiaries of the Republics that in fact are already allied awaiting the accession of the others would be to deprive ourselves of the advantages which that assembly will produce from its very incipiency. These advantages are largely increased if we but contemplate the spectacle that the political world, and particularly that of the Euro- pean Continent, presents to us. A reunion of the plenipotentiaries of Mexico, Colombia, and Peru would be indefinitely delayed, if it should not be brought on by one of the same contracting parties, unless the time and place for the carrying out of this great object be determined by another and a special convention. Considering the difficulties and delays presented by the distance separating us, together with other grave motives the general inter- est suggests, determines me to take this step with a view of bringing about an immediate meeting of our plenipotentiaries, while the rest of the Governments may conclude the preliminaries already gone through by us concerning the appointment and commissioning of their representatives. With respect to the time of the opening of the Congress, I make bold to think that no obstacle can oppose its verification within six months from this date ; and I shall also go so far as to flatter myself that the ardent desire animating all Americans to exalt the power of the world of Columbus will diminish the obstacles and delays that the ministerial preparations demand, and the distance separat- ing the capitals of each State and the central point of the meeting. It seems that if the world should have to choose its capital, the Pan Americanism 379 Isthmus of Panama would be selected for this grand destiny, lo- cated as it is in the center of the globe, having on one side Asia, and on the other Africa and Europe. The Isthmus of Panama has been tendered for this purpose in existing treaties by the Colombian Government. The Isthmus is equally distant from the extremities of the continent, and on this account ought to be the provisional seat for the first meeting of the confederates. Yielding myself to these considerations, I am seriously inclined to send to Panama the delegates from this Republic immediately upon having the honor of receiving the desired reply to this circular. Nothing, certainly, can so realize the ardent desire of my heart as the agreement I hope for on the part of the confederated Govern- ments to accomplish this august act of America. Should your Excellency not adhere to this I foresee great delays and injuries, at a time, too, v^hen the movement of the world hurries everything on, and may accelerate to our harm. The first conferences between the plenipotentiaries once held, the seat of the Congress, as well as its powers, can be solemnly determined by the majority, and then everything will have been realized. The day our plenipotentiaries make the exchanges of their powers will stamp in the diplomatic history of the world an im- mortal epoch. When, after a hundred centuries, posterity shall search for the origin of our public law, and shall remember the compacts that solidified its destiny, they will finger with respect the protocols of the Isthmus. In them they will find the plan of the first alliances that shall sketch the mark of our relations with the universe. What then, shall be the Isthmus of Corinth compared with that of Panama ? God preserve Your Excellency. Your great and good friend, (Signed) Simon BoLfvAR. 2. SUMMARY OF BOLfVAR'S IDEAS REGARDING THE ADVANTAGES OF UNITY AMONG THE AMERICAN STATES (1826)1 1 n^ The New World would be constituted into independent nations, all bound by a common law which would fix their external relations and give them the conservative power of a gen- eral and permanent Congress. 1 From: Simon Bolivar quoted in C. K. Webster, Btitain and the Independence of Latin America 1812-1830 (Oxford University Press, 2 vols., 1938), I, p. 543. 380 International Relations 2dly. The existence of these New States would obtain new guarantees. 3dly. Spain would recognize these rising nations out of regard for England, and ere long would be received on the shores of South America as a friend ; the other European powers would fol- low her steps, and would be free to make such commercial treaties with the New States as might be judged most conducive to their mutual interests. 4thly. Internal order would be preserved inviolate among the different States and within each of them. 5thly, None would be weak with respect to another ; none would be strong. 6thly. A perfect equilibrium would be established by this social compact. 7thly. The force of all would unite for the assistance of that which might suffer by means of the external enemy or of anarchical factions. Sthly. The difference of origin and of colors would lose its influence and power. 9thly. America would no longer fear that tremendous monster which has devoured the Island of Santo Domingo, nor would she fear the numerical preponderance of the primitive inhabitants. lOthly. The social reform, in fine, would be obtained under the holy auspices of liberty and peace; but England must necessarily take into her hands the needle of this balance. On the other side, Great Britain would undoubtedly derive con- siderable advantages by according to a proposition on which the prosperity of .South America so mainly depends. 3. EXCERPT FROM THE UNITED STATES INVITATION TO THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN STATES (November 29, 1881)i FT^HE congress has as its sole aim] to seek a way of permanently L -■- averting the horrors of cruel and bloody combat between coun- tries, oftenest of one blood and speech, or the even worse calamity of internal commotion and civil strife. . . . For some years past a growing disposition has been manifest by certain states of Central and South America to refer disputes affecting grave questions of international relationship and boundaries to arbitration rather than 1 From: James G. Blaine quoted in the Hispanic American Historical Review, November 1922, pp. 670-672. an Americanism 38 to the sword. It has been on several such occasions a source of profound satisfaction to the government of the United States to see that this country is in a large measure looked to by all the American powers as their friend and mediator. . . . The existence of this growing tendency convinces the President that the time is ripe for a proposal that shall enlist the good-will and active co- operation of all the states of the western hemisphere, ... in the interest of humanity and for the common weal of nations. He con- ceives that none of the governments of America can be less alive than our own to the dangers and horrors of a state of war, and especially of a war between kinsmen. He is sure that none of the chiefs of governments on the Continent can be less sensitive than he is to the sacred duty of making every endeaver to do away with the chances of fratricidal strife. And he looks with hopeful confi- dence to such active assistance from them as will serve to show the broadness of our common humanity and the strength of the ties which bind us all together as a great and harmonious system of American Commonwealths, . . . The President is especially desirous to have it understood that, in putting forth this invitation, the United States does not assume the position of counseling, or at- tempting, through the voice of the Congress, to counsel any deter- minate solution of existing questions which may now divide any of the countries of America. Such questions cannot properly come before the Congress. Its mission is higher. It is to provide for the interests of all in the future, not to settle the individual differences of the present. For this reason, especially, the President has indi- cated a day for the assembling of the Congress so far in the future .[Nov. 22, 1882] as to have a good ground for hope that by the time named the present situation in the South Pacific coast [War of the Pacific] will be happily terminated, and that those engaged in the contest may take peaceable part in the discussions and solution of the general question affecting in an equal degree the well-being of all. It seems also desirable to disclaim in advance any purpose on the part of the United States to prejudge the issues to be presented to the Congress. It is far from the interest of this government to appear before the Congress as in any sense the protector of its neighbors or the predestined and necessary arbitrator of their disputes. The United States will enter into the deliberations of the Congress on the same footing as the other powers represented, and with the loyal determination to approach any proposed solution, not merely in its own interest, or with a view to asserting its own power, but as a single member among many co-ordinate and co- equal states. So far as the influence of this government may be potential, it will be exerted in the direction of conciliating whatever 382 International Relations conflicting interests of blood, or government, or historical tradition may necessarily come together in response to a call embracing such vast and diverse elements. 4. ADDRESS OF ELIHU ROOT BEFORE THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN CONFERENCE AT RIO DE JANEIRO (July 31, 1906)i Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Third Conference of American Repubhcs: I BEG you to believe that I highly appreciate and thank you for the honor you do me. I bring from my country a special greeting to her elder sisters in the civilization of America. Unlike as we are in many respects, we are alike in this, that we are all engaged under new conditions, and free from the traditional forms and limitations of the Old World in working out the same problem of popular self-government. It is a difficult and laborious task for each of us. Not in one generation nor in one century can the effective control of a superior sovereign, so long deemed necessary to government, be rejected and effective self-control by the governed be perfected in its place. The first fruits of democracy are many of them crude and unlovely; its mistakes are many, its partial failures many, its sins not few. Capacity for self-government does not come to many by nature. It is an art to be learned, and it is also an expression of character to be developed among all the thousands of men who exercise popular sovereignty. To reach the goal towards which we are pressing forward, the governing multitude must first acquire knowledge that comes from universal education, wisdom that follows practical experience, per- sonal independence and self-respect befitting men who acknowledge no superior, self-control to replace that external control which a democracy rejects, respect for law, obedience to the lawful expres- sions of the public will, consideration for the opinions and interests of others equally entitled to a voice in the state, loyalty to that abstract conception — one's country — as inspiring as that loyalty to personal sovereigns which has so illumined the pages of history, subordination of personal interests to the public good, love of justice and mercy, of liberty and order. All these we must seek by slow and patient effort ; and of how many shortcomings in his own land and among his own people each one of us is conscious. Yet no student of our times can fail to see that not America alone From: Elihu Root quoted in George W. Crichfield, American Supremacy (New York: Brentano's, 2 vols., 1908), Vol. II, pp. 431-434. Pan Americanism 383 but the whole cIviHzed world is swinging away from its old govern- mental moorings and intrusting the fate of its civilization to the capacity of the popular mass to govern. By this pathway mankind is to travel whithersoever it leads. Upon the success of this our great undertaking the hope of humanity depends. Nor can we fail to see that the world makes substantial progress towards more perfect popular self-government. I believe it to be true that, viewed against the background of conditions a century, a generation, a decade ago, government in my own country has advanced, in the intelligent participation of the great mass of the people, in the fidelity and honesty with which they are represented, in respect for law, in obedience to the dictates of a sound morality, and in effectiveness and purity of administration. Nowhere in the world has this progress been more marked than in Latin America. Out of the wrack of Indian fighting and race conflicts and civil wars, strong and stable governments have arisen. Peaceful succession in accord with the people's will has replaced the forcible seizure of power permitted by the people's indifference. Loyalty to country, its peace, its dignity, its honor, has risen above partisanship for individual leaders. The rule of law supersedes the rule of man. Property is protected and the fruits of enterprise are secure. Individual liberty is respected. Continuous public poli- cies are followed; national faith is held sacred. Progress has not been equal everywhere, but there has been progress everywhere. The movement in the right direction is general. The right tendency is not exceptional ; it is continental. The present affords just cause for satisfaction ; the future is bright with hope. It is not by national isolation that these results have been accom- plished or that this progress can be continued. No nation can live unto itself alone and continue to live. Each nation's growth is a part of the development of the race. There may be leaders and there may be laggards, but no nation can long continue very far in ad- vance of the general progress of mankind, and no nation that is not doomed to extinction can remain very far behind. It is with nations as it is with individual men ; intercourse, association, correc- tion of egotism by the influence of others' judgment, broadening of views by the experience and thought of equals, acceptance of the moral standards of a community the desire for whose good opinion lends a sanction to the rules of right conduct, — these are the con- ditions of growth in civilization. A people whose minds are not open to the lessons of the world's progress, whose spirits are not stirred by the aspirations and the achievements of humanity strug- gling the world over for liberty and justice, must be left behind by civilization in its steady and beneficent advance. To promote this mutual interchange and assistance between the American Republics, engaged in the same great task, inspired by 384 International Relations the same purpose, and professing the same principles, I understand to be the function of the American Conference now in session. There is not one of all our countries that cannot benefit the others ; there is not one that cannot receive benefit from the others ; there is not one that will not gain by the prosperity, the peace, the happi- ness of all. According to your program no great and impressive single thing is to be done by you ; no political questions are to be discussed ; no controversies are to be settled; no judgment is to be passed upon the conduct of any State ; but many subjects are to be considered which afford the possibility of removing barriers to intercourse; of ascertaining for the common benefit what advances have been made by each nation in knowledge, in experience, in enterprise, in the solution of difficult questions of government, and in ethical standards; of perfecting our knowledge of each other; and of doing away with the misconceptions, the misunderstandings, and the resultant prejudices that are such fruitful sources of controversy. And there are some subjects in the program which invite discus- sion that may lead the American Republics towards an agreement upon principles the general practical application of which can come only in the future through long and patient effort. Some advance at least may be made here towards the complete rule of justice and peace among nations in lieu of force and war. The association of so many eminent men from all the Republics, leaders of opinion in their own homes; the friendships that will arise among you ; the habit of temperate and kindly discussion of matters of common interest; the ascertainment of common sym- pathies and aims ; the dissipation of misunderstandings ; the exhibi- tion to all the American peoples of this peaceful and considerate method of conferring upon international questions, — this alone, quite irrespective of the resolutions you may adopt and the conven- tions you may sign, will mark a substantial advance in the direction of international good understanding. These beneficent results the government and the people of the United States of America greatly desire. We wish for no victories but those of peace ; for no territory except our own ; for no sov- ereignty except the sovereignty over ourselves. We deem the inde- pendence and equal rights of the smallest and weakest member of the family of nations entitled to as much respect as those of the greatest empire, and we deem the observance of that respect the chief guaranty of the weak against the oppression of the strong. We neither claim nor desire any rights or privileges or powers that we do not freely concede to every American Republic. We wish to increase our prosperity, to expand our trade, to grow in wealth, in wisdom, and in spirit, but our conception of the true way to accomplish this is not to pull down others and profit by Pan Americanism 385 their ruin, but to help all friends to a common prosperity and a common growth, that we may all become greater and stronger together. Within a few months, for the first time the recognized possessors of every foot of soil upon the American continents can be and I hope will be represented with the acknowledged rights of equal sovereign States in the great World Congress at The Hague. This will be the world's formal and final acceptance of the declaration that no part of the American continents is to be deemed subject to colonization. Let us pledge ourselves to aid each other in the full performance of the duty to humanity which that accepted declaration implies ; so that in time the weakest and most unfortu- nate of our Republics may come to march with equal step by the side of the stronger and more fortunate. Let us help each other to show that for all the races of men the liberty for which we have fought and labored is the twin sister of justice and peace. Let us unite in creating and maintaining and making efifective an all- American public opinion, whose power shall influence international conduct and prevent international wrong, and narrow the causes of war, and forever preserve our free lands from the burden of such armaments as are massed behind the frontiers of Europe, and bring us ever nearer to the perfection of ordered liberty. So shall come security and prosperity, production and trade, wealth, learning, the arts, and happiness for us all. Not in a single conference, nor by a single effort, can very much be done. You labor more for the future than for the present ; but if the right impulse be given, if the right tendency be established, the work you do here will go on among all the millions of people in the American continents long after your final adjournment, long after your lives, with incalculable benefit to all our beloved coun- tries, which may it please God to continue free and independent and happy for ages to come. 5. PROCLAMATION OF PAN AMERICAN DAY BY PRESIDENT HOOVER (May 28, 1930)i WHEREAS the Governing Board of the Pan American Union, at the session held on Wednesday, May 7, 1930, adopted a resolution reading as follows: "Whereas, it would be desirable to recommend the designation of a date which should be observed as 'Pan American Day' in all the Republics of America and which should be established as a commemorative symbol of the 1 From: President Herbert Hoover quoted in State Department press release. 386 International Relations sovereignty of the American nations and the voluntary union of all in one continental community; "Whereas, April 14th is the date on which the resolution creating the Pan American Union was adopted ; "The Governing Board of the Pan American Union Resolves : "To recommend that the Governments, members of the Pan American Union, designate April 14th as Tan Ameri- can Day' and that the national flags be displayed on that date." Now, therefore, I, Herbert Hoover, President of the United States of America, in order to give effect to the resolution adopted by the Governing Board of the Pan American Union, do hereby proclaim April 14 as "Pan American Day," and do hereby order that the flag of the United States be displayed on all Government buildings on that date, and do invite the schools, civic associations, and people of the United States generally to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies, thereby giving expression to the spirit of continental solidarity and to the sentiments of cordiality and friendly feeling which the Government and people of the United States entertain toward the peoples and Governments of the other Republics of the American Continent. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be afiixed. Done at the City of Washington this 28th day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and thirty, and of the Inde- pendence of the United States of America the one hun- (Seal) dred and fifty fourth. By the President: Herbert Hoover H. L. Stimson, Secretary of State 6. PAN AMERICAN DAY ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT HOOVER (April 14, 1931)i T AM glad to be your guest at this special session of the governing -■- board of the Pan-American Union which you are holding in honor of Pan-American day. I recently issued a proclamation, calling upon our people to give this day due observance, and this proclamation has received general approval throughout the country. Exercises are being held at this time in public schools and univer- 1 From: Herbert Hoover quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, May 1931, pp. 339-341. Pan Americanism 387 sities and by civic organizations in every section of the Union. Pan-American day will become an outward symbol of the con- stantly strengthening unity of purpose and unity of ideals of the republics of this hemisphere. In the latter part of 1928 I had the privilege of visiting 11 of the countries of Latin America. This visit made a deep and lasting impression upon me. It was inspiring to observe, at first hand, not only the progress that Latin America is making along social, economic and cultural lines, but also the important part which the countries you represent are destined to play in world affairs. It was clear, too, that the nations of America have everything to gain by keeping in close touch with one another and by developing that spirit of mutual confidence which has its roots in a reciprocal understanding of national aims and aspirations. Although each of the republics of this hemisphere possesses problems peculiar to itself, there are certain basic questions relating to democratic progress and social betterment common to us all and in the solution of which we can be most helpful to one another. This spirit of mutual helpfulness is the corner stone of true pan- Americanism. The Pan-American Union not only symbolizes this spirit, but gives to it concrete expression in many practical and constructive ways. It is of the greatest importance that the people of the United States become better acquainted with the history, the traditions, the culture and the ideals of the other republics of America. To an increasing extent, courses on the languages, literature and history of the nations of Latin America are being offered in the education institutions of the United States. A similar realization of the im- portance of becoming better acquainted with the history and devel- opment of the United States exists in the countries of Latin America. Increasing numbers of students from the countries to the south are being enrolled in the colleges and universities of the United States. I cannot emphasize too strongly this important aspect of inter-American relations. These cultural currents not only contribute to better international understanding, but also em- phasize the essential unity of interest of the American republics. Through the Pan-American Society and its branches established in different sections of the country, the importance and significance of the culture of the Latin American nations are being brought home to our people. We owe much to the unselfish men who have devoted so much time and energy to this work. The activities of the Pan-American Society admirably supplement the important work that is being done by the Pan-American Union. A peculiarly heavy responsibility rests upon the nations of the Western Hemisphere; a responsibility which, at the same time, is a high privilege. Richly endowed by nature, we enjoy the great International Relations advantage of inhabiting a hemisphere free from the jealousies and antagonisms whicli have proved such obstacles to progress and prosperity in other sections of the world. We have developed an international system based on the principle of equality, combined with a full recognition of the obligations as well as the rights of States. The American republics are today rapidly approaching the time when every major difference existing between them will be settled by the orderly processes of conciliation and arbitration. In this respect the Western Hemisphere has placed an enviable record before the nations of the world. From the earliest period of their history the governments of the republics of this hemisphere have been earnest advocates of the peaceful settlement of international disputes. They have demonstrated their willingness, and even eagerness, to adopt and apply mediation, conciliation and arbitration. The common purpose to eliminate war and the determination to achieve peace and security represent a major contribution of the Americas to modern civilization. The full significance of this achievement is not always realized, for it carries with it heavy obligations to posterity. Future prog- ress along these lines can only be assured through constant vigilance and by an unswerving determination to make the union of the American republics, as now expressed in the Pan-American Union, an example to the world. We are not attempting in any way to develop a super-state or to interfere with the freedom of action of any of the states members of the union, but rather to develop an atmosphere of good will — a spirit of co-operation and mutual understanding — in which any difference that may arise, no matter how important, will find a ready solution. I cordially congratulate you, gentlemen of the governing board, on your happy initiative in establishing Pan-American day, and at the same time I send a message of fraternal greeting, in the name of the people of the United States, to all the inhabitants of our sister republics. 7. PAN AMERICAN DAY ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT (April 12, 1933)i I REJOICE in this opportunity to participate in the celebration of *Tan American Day" and to extend on behalf of the people of the United States a fraternal greeting to our sister American Republics. The celebration of "Pan American Day" in this build- ing, dedicated to international goodwill and cooperation, exemplifies a unity of thought and purpose among the peoples of this hemis- 1 From: President Franklin D. Roosevelt quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, June 1933, pp. 430-432. Pan Americanism phere. It is a manifestation of the common ideal of mutual help- fulness, sympathetic understanding, and spiritual solidarity. There is inspiration in the thought that on this day the attention of the citizens of the twenty-one Republics of America is focused on the common ties — historical, cultural, economic, and social — which bind them to one another. Common ideals and a community of interest, together with a spirit of cooperation, have led to the realization that the well-being of one nation depends in large meas- ure upon the well-being of its neighbors. It is upon these founda- tions that Pan Americanism has been built. This celebration commemorates a movement based upon the policy of fraternal cooperation. In my inaugural address I stated that I would "dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neigh- bor — the neighbor who resolutely respects himself, and, because he does so, respects the rights of others — the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors." Never before has the significance of the words **good neighbor" been so manifest in international re- lations. Never have the . . . need and benefit of neighborly coopera- tion in every form of human activity been so evident as they are today. Friendship among nations, as among individuals, calls for con- structive efforts to muster the forces of humanity in order that an atmosphere of close understanding and cooperation may be culti- vated. It involves mutual obligations and responsibilities, for it is only by sympathetic respect for the rights of others and a scrupu- lous fulfillment of the corresponding obligations by each member of the community that a true fraternity can be maintained. The essential qualities of a true Pan Americanism must be the same as those which constitute a good neighbor, namely, mutual understanding, and through such understanding, a sympathetic ap- preciation of the other's point of view. It is only in this manner that we can hope to build up a system of which confidence, friend- ship, and good-will are the cornerstones. In this spirit the people of every Republic on our Continent are coming to a deep understanding of the fact that the Monroe Doc- trine, of which so much has been written and spoken for more than a century, was and is directed at the maintenance of independence by the peoples of the continent. It was aimed and is aimed against the acquisition in any manner of the control of additional territory in this hemisphere by any non-American power. Hand in hand with this Pan-American doctrine of continental self-defense, the peoples of the American Republics understand more clearly, with the passing years, that the independence of each Republic must recognize the independence of every other Republic. Each one of us must grow by an advancement of civilization and 390 International Relations social well-being and not by the acquisition of territory at the expense of any neighbor. In this spirit of mutual understanding and of cooperation on this Continent you and I cannot fail to be disturbed by any armed strife between neighbors. I do not hesitate to say to you, the distinguished members of the Governing Board of the Pan American Union, that I regard existing conflicts between four of our sister Republics as a backward step. Your Americanism and mine must be a structure built of con- fidence, cemented by a sympathy which recognizes only equality and fraternity. It finds its source and being in the hearts of men and dwells in the temples of the intellect. We all of us have peculiar problems, and, to speak frankly, the interest of our own citizens must, in each instance, come first. But it is equally true that it is of vital importance to every nation of this Continent that the American Governments, individually, take, without further delay, such action as may be possible to abolish all unnecessary and artificial barriers and restrictions which now hamper the healthy flow of trade between the peoples of the Ameri- can Republics. I am glad to deliver this message to you, Gentlemen of the Gov- erning Board of the Pan American IJnion, for I look upon the Union as the outward expression of the spiritual unity of the Americas. It is to this unity which must be courageous and vital in its elements that humanity must look for one of the great stabiliz- ing influences in world affairs. . . . 8. ADDRESS OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE WELLES ON "THE GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT" (December 6, 1935)i A FEW days ago, I had the privilege of addressing a group of -^ Americans on some of the phases of our continental policv. It was a group above the average in intelligence and education ■ — \ group keenly interested in and cognizant of our international rela- tionships. Somewhat to my surprise, I was asked the question, "What is the 'good neighbor' policy?" ''Is it merely a slogan, or is there something more to it?" Of course, the authoritative inter- pretation of what this policy is must be found in the President's inaugural address. The President said : "In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor- — the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so. 1 From: Sumner Welles quoted in Department of State press release. Pan Americanism 391 respects the rights of others — the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in anH -with n world nf npiVhhnr*; " in and with a world of neighbors. Your Government has not regarded the policy so laid down as a catch word, a slogan; nor has it merely paid lip service to the principles laid down by the President. On the contrary, your Government, during the past two and a half years, has spared no effort to make the policy of the good neighbor in our international relationships a real and living thing, and I can state without exag- geration that we have been successful in so doing. Nowhere in the world has this policy met with greater response than from the other republics of this Hemisphere. After all, a scrupulous respect for the sovereign rights of other nations, and unfailing compliance with the provisions of the treaties into which we have freely entered, and a removal of inordinate and artificial restrictions and barriers to trade, with resultance ad- vantage to international commerce and communications, are the best methods that have yet been devised to promote peace and prosperity on the face of this earth. Another question that I was asked upon this occasion was whether this Administration supported the policy that the American flag followed the American dollar. That, of course, implies support of "Dollar Diplomacy." The obvious answer to that query was, "Would any portion of American public opinion countenance a foreign flag following foreign capital invested within the United States?" If it is now a cardinal principle of the foreign policy of your Government to respect the rights of others, it is, of course, inconceivable that the American flag should be employed in deroga- tion of the sovereign rights of other nations. The rights of our nationals in the other republics of this continent are clearly defined in the treaties between the United States and the other American republics. Beyond such treaty rights as may exist, all that this Government can justly ask is that American capital invested in other countries of this continent be accorded no less favorable treatment than capital of such countries or than other capital coming from abroad. But it is necessary to say that in former years a major portion of the misunderstanding and resentment which has so seriously impaired the growth of a sound inter-American rela- tionship between the twenty-one republics of the Western Hemis- phere has been due to the suspicion which has persisted that the American flag has been utilized in the past in acts of intervention in flagrant disregard of the sovereign rights of the smaller republics of this continent because of the fact that the flag followed the dollar in the sense I have above described. "Dollar Diplomacy," I am glad to say, is now a thing of the past. During these past two and a half years, whenever an appropriate 392 International Relations opportunity was presented and the necessity existed, the influence of this Government has been devoted to the furtherance of the cause of peace on the American Continent. Only last summer, in conjunction with the Governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay, this Government participated in the peace con- ference summoned at Buenos Aires to lend friendly offices to the Governments of Bolivia and Paraguay in ending the tragic war in the Chaco. The war has terminated ; demobilization, in accordance with the provisions of a protocol agreed upon by the two belligerent Governments, has been completed ; and now the Conference, which is still in session, is exerting every effort so that a final and defini- tive peace may be arrived at. It is our earnest hope that the practi- cal application of the principles of conciliation and of arbitration, perhaps through improved facilities for those ends, may remove from the Western Hemisphere at least, the threat of future wars. We have also spared no efforts in stimulating trade between the United States and our neighbors through the removal or reduction of trade barriers. At this moment, trade agreements between the United States and Cuba, Brazil, and Haiti, have been proclaimed. A trade agreement with Colombia has been concluded and is now awaiting ratification by the Colombian Government. In the im- mediate future, I trust there will be signed trade agreements with Guatemala and with Honduras, and thereafter I hope that negotia- tions may be undertaken with each and every one of the remaining Latin American republics and pressed to a speedy conclusion. There is no better means of enhancing friendship than by increasing mutually profitable commercial relationships. . . . While in many of the trade agreements with the other American republics difficul- ties will be presented owing to our desire and our obligation to make no concession which would check even momentarily the swift ad- vance of healthy recovery in our own country, I am confident that highly beneficial trade agreements can be concluded between this Government and every other one of the American republics to our common advantage. From my own point of view, the United States can have no greater assurance of security in the years to come than that which will grow out of continuing and close political and commercial co- operation with the other American nations. That can only be accom- plished through the complete removal of the suspicions which our neighbors have had in the past of our ulterior objectives. This will, of course, take time. And this Government, if it is to achieve this highly desirable objective, must be able to count upon the co- operation of private individuals and organizations in this countrv^ and notably the universities of the United States. A better under- standing between the American nations, with their different lan- guages, customs, and culture, can undoubtedly be hastened if the Pan Americanism 393 universities in each republic will devote more time and attention than they have in the past to the history and to the cultural insti- tutions of the other American republics. I have, for example, been much impressed with the practical usefulness of the work under- taken by the inter- American Center of George Washington Uni- versity, under whose auspices I am speaking tonight. The courses in Latin American history which the University is presenting and the lectures offered to the student body on political and economic developments in each of the republics of this hemisphere have an immediate and striking value. Through the knowledge which they impart to public opinion in this country, understanding is rapidly fostered. I am glad to say that other important American univer- sities are joining in this endeavor. Furthermore, the rapidly increas- ing interest which American trade organizations and chambers of commerce have been taking during the past few years in Inter- American affairs, and the fine cooperation v/hich they have so often displayed in joining with agencies of the Government itself in re- moving misunderstandings or inequities which have arisen to the detriment of trade relations have likewise their practical advantage. At a moment when the peoples of the earth are laboring under grave anxiety as to what the immediate future holds for them, it is heartening to remember that there exists today, in my considered judgment, a closer and more understanding friendship between the United States and its sister republics of the western world than has existed since the earliest years of the independence of the American republics. I believe the day is not far distant when the vital need for the perfection of that inter-American relationship will be recognized throughout the length and breadth of this con- tinent. I hope that the wholehearted efforts which your Govern- ment is making in this direction will receive the overwhelming sup- port of the people of the United States. 9. LETTER OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TO THE PRESI- DENTS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN REPUBLICS SUG- GESTING AN INTER-AMERICAN CONFERENCE TO CONSIDER MEASURES FOR CONSOLI- DATING PEACE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE (January 30, 1936)i January 30, 1936. My dear Mr. President : THE agreement by the Governments of Bolivia and Paraguay upon the peace protocols recently negotiated at Buenos Aires has afforded the Government and people of the United States the 1 From: Treaty Information Bulletin No. 86, November 1936, pp. 1-2, State Department. 394 International Relations deepest gratification, since it has led them to hope that there is now every prospect of a permanent and equitable solution of this tragic controversy, which has continued for so long a period; which has caused the sacrifice of so many lives; and which has placed so crushing a burden of expenditures upon the citizens of the two belligerent nations. I know well with what intimate concern the Government and people of Argentina have followed the course of these hostilities, and their happiness at the termination of the conflict is fully shared by the Government and people of the United States. I cherish the sincere conviction that the moment has now arrived when the American Republics, through their designated representa- tives seated at a common council table, should seize this altogether favorable opportunity to consider their joint responsibility and their common need of rendering less likely in the future the outbreak or the continuation of hostilities between them, and by so doing, serve in an eminently practical manner the cause of permanent peace on this Western Continent. If the tragedy of the Chaco can be considered as having served any useful end, I believe such end will lie in our joint willingness to profit from the experience learned and to exert our common endeavors in guarding against the repeti- tion of such American disasters. It has seemed to me that the American Governments might for these reasons view favorably the suggestion that an extraordinary inter-American conference be summoned to assemble at an early date, at Buenos Aires, should the Government of the Argentine Republic so desire, or, if not, at some other capital of this Continent, to determine how the maintenance of peace among the American Republics may best be safeguarded — whether, perhaps, through the prompt ratification of all of the inter-American peace instru- ments already negotiated; whether through the amendment of existing peace instruments in such manner as experience has demon- strated to be most necessary; or perhaps through the creation by common accord of new instruments of peace additional to those already formulated. These steps, furthermore, would advance the cause of world peace, inasmuch as the agreements which might be reached would supplement and reinforce the efforts of the League of Nations and of all other existing or future peace agencies in seeking to prevent war. With the conclusion of the Chaco War and with the reestablish- ment of peace throughout this continent there would appear to be offered an opportunity for helpful counsel among our respective governments which may not soon again be presented. Your Ex- cellency's devotion to the maintenance of peace between the Ameri- can Republics is well known, and I would therefore deeply appre- Pan Americanism 395 ciate such views as Your Excellency may care to express to me, as I would likewise value highly Your Excellency's opinion whether such a special inter-American conference of the American Repub- Hcs would not in fact prove most beneficial. I am addressing myself thus personally to Your Excellency, instead of through the usual diplomatic channels, because of my thought that the questions at issue are of such vital concern to the people of this Continent as to warrant a personal interchange of views between the Presidents of the American Republics. With the expression of my warm regard, believe me, my dear Mr. President, Faithfully yours, Franklin D. Roosevelt. His Excellency, Augustin P. Justo, President of the Argentine Republic, Buenos Aires. 10. CONVENTION FOR THE MAINTENANCE, PRESERVA- TION, AND RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF PEACE SIGNED AT THE CONFERENCE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AT BUENOS AIRES (December 23, 1936)i THE Governments represented at the Inter-American Confer- ence for the Maintenance of Peace, Considering : That according to the statement of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the President of the United States, to whose lofty ideals the meeting of this Conference is due, the measures to be adopted by it "would advance the cause of world peace, inasmuch as the agreements which might be reached would supplement and reinforce the efforts of the League of Nations and of all other existing or future peace agencies in seeking to prevent war" ; That every war or threat of war affects directly or indirectly all civilized peoples and endangers the great principles of liberty and justice which constitute the American ideal and the standard of American international policy; That the Treaty of Paris of 1928 (Kellogg-Briand Pact) has been accepted by almost all the civilized states, whether or not members of other peace organizations, and that the Treaty of Non- 1 From: Treaty Information Bulletin, No. 88, January 1937, pp. 25-29, State Department. 396 International Relations Aggression and Conciliation of 1933 (Saavedra Lamas Pact signed at Rio de Janeiro) has the approval of the twenty -one American Republics represented in this Conference, Have resolved to give contractual form to these purposes by concluding the present Convention, to which end they have ap- pointed the Plenipotentiaries hereafter mentioned : . . . . Who, after having deposited their full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed as follows : Article I. — In the event that the peace of the American Republics is menaced, and in order to coordinate efforts to prevent war, any of the Governments of the American Republics signatory to the Treaty of Paris of 1928 or to the Treaty of Non-Aggression and Conciliation of 1933, or to both, whether or not a member of other peace organizations, shall consult with the other Governments of the American Republics, which, in such event, shall consult together for the purpose of finding and adopting methods of peaceful co- operation. Article 11. — In the event of war, or a virtual state of war between American States, the Governments of the American Republics represented at this Conference shall undertake without delay the necessary mutual consultations, in order to exchange views and to seek, within the obligations resulting from the pacts above men- tioned and from the standards of international morality, a method of peaceful collaboration ; and, in the event of an international war outside America which might menace the peace of the American Republics, such consultation shall also take place to determine the proper time and manner in which the signatory states, if they so desire, may eventually cooperate in some action tending to preserve the peace of the American Continent. Article III. — It is agreed that any question regarding the inter- pretation of the present Convention, which it has not been possible to settle through diplomatic channels, shall be submitted to the procedure of conciliation provided by existing agreements, or to arbitration or to judicial settlement. Article IV. — The present Convention shall be ratified by the High Contracting Parties in conformity with their respective con- stitutional procedures. The original convention shall be deposited in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic which shall communicate the ratifications to the other signatories. The Convention shall come into effect between the Hi.s^h Contracting Parties in the order in which they have deposited their ratifications. Article V. — The present Convention shall remain in effect indefi- nitely but may be denounced by means of one year's notice, after the expiration of which period the Convention shall cease in its Pan Americanism 397 effects as regards the party which denounces it but shall remain in effect for the remaining signatory States. Denunciations shall be addressed to the Government of the Argentine "Republic, which shall transmit them to the other contracting States. In witness whereof, the above mentioned Plenipotentiaries sign the present Convention in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French and hereunto affix their respective seals, at the City of Buenos Aires, Capital of the Argentine Republic, on the twenty-third day of the month of December, nineteen hundred and thirty-six. T 11. DECLARATION OF AMERICAN SOLIDARITY AT LIMA CONFERENCE (December 24, 1938)i HE Eighth International Conference of American States, CONSIDERING: That the peoples of America have achieved spiritual unity through the similarity of their republican institutions, their unshak- able will for peace, their profound sentiment of humanity and tol- erance, and through their absolute adherence to the principles of international law, of the equal sovereignty of States and of indi- vidual liberty without religious or racial prejudices; That on the basis of such principles and will, they seek and de- fend the peace of the continent and work together in the cause of universal concord; That respect for the personality, sovereignty, and independence of each American State, constitutes the essence of international order sustained by continental solidarity, which historically has found expression in declarations of various states, or in agreements which were applied, and sustained by new declarations and by treaties in force ; and That the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace, held at Buenos Aires, approved on December 21, 1936, the Declaration of the Principles of Inter- American Solidarity and Co- operation, and approved, on December 23, 1936, the Protocol of Nonintervention, The Governments of the American States DECLARE: First. That they reaffirm their continental solidarity and their purpose to collaborate in the maintenance of the principles upon which the said solidarity is based. Second. That faithful to the above-mentioned principles and to their absolute sovereignty, they reaffirm their decision to maintain 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, February 1939, pp. 68-69. 398 International Relations them and to defend them against all foreign intervention or activity that may threaten them. Third. And in case the peace, security or territorial integrity of any American Republic is thus threatened by acts of any nature that may impair them, they proclaim their common concern and their determination to make effective their solidarity, coordinating their respective sovereign wills by means of the procedure of con- sultation, established by conventions in force and by declarations of the Inter-American Conferences, using the measures which in each case the circumstances may make advisable. It is understood that the Governmenfs of the American Republics will act independently in their individual capacity, recognizing fully their juridical equal- ity as sovereign states. Fourth.. That in order to facilitate the consultations established in this and other American peace instruments, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, when deemed desirable and at the initiative of any one of them, will meet in their several capitals by rotation and without protocolary character. Each gov- ernment may, under special circumstances or for special reasons, designate a representative as a substitute for its Minister for For- eign Affairs. Fifth. This declaration shall be known as the "Declaration of Lima." 12. DECLARATION OF AMERICAN PRINCIPLES AT LIMA CONFERENCE (December 24, 1938)i WHEREAS, The need for keeping alive the fundamental prin- ciples of relations among nations was never greater than today; and Each State is interested in the preservation of world order under law, in peace with justice, and in the social and economic welfare of mankind, The Governments of the American Republics RESOLVE: To proclaim, support and recommend, once again, the following principles, as essential to the achievement of the aforesaid objec- tives : 1. The intervention of any State in the internal or external affairs of another is inadmissible. 2. All differences of international character should be settled by peaceful means. 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, February 1939, p. 69. Pan Americanism 399 3. The use of force as an instrument of national or international policy is proscribed. 4. Relations between States should be governed by the precepts of international law. 5. Respect for and the faithful observance of treaties constitute the indispensable rule for the development of peaceful relations between States, and treaties can only be revised by agreement of the contracting parties. 6. Peaceful collaboration between representatives of the various States and the development of intellectual interchange among their peoples is conducive to an understanding by each of the problems of the other as well as of problems common to all, and makes more readily possible the peaceful adjustment of international contro- versies. 7. Economic reconstruction contributes to national and inter- national well-being, as well as to peace among nations. 8. International cooperation is a necessary condition to the maintenance of the aforementioned principles. 13. STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE HULL CON- CERNING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF AMERI- CAN STATES AT LIMA (January 9, 1939) 1 IT would not be possible in a short statement to make adequate comment upon the work of the Eighth International Conference of American States. I believe that I can report to you, however, that significant and enduring developments in the relationships of the American Republics took place at Lima. The delegates attend- ing the conference were virtually as one in the view that the con- ference was an outstanding success and that it set an example for the conduct of international relations by friendly discussion rather than by force and violence. All the delegates at Lima with whom I had contact were vividly aware of the economic chaos existing in considerable part of the world. They realized that this chaos would eventually involve their own countries unless preventive measures were taken. Accordingly, the American republics reaffirmed their judgment that a liberal trade policy without excessive restrictions and permitting trade to move along lines of economic advantage and equality was the sound- est policy for all, and they renewed their support of this policy. This action was taken in the knowledge that trade arrangements of other kinds in the long run weaken the position of primary pro- 1 From: Cordell Hull quoted in the Washington Star, January 9, 1939. 400 International Relations ducers, curtail world markets, lessen economic benefit and may under some circumstances be used as an instrument of political influence or domination. It was recognized, too, that this liberal policy was the only one proper to a peaceful trading world, rather than one of competing and force using alliances. By carrying for- ward this policy with determination the American republics were seeking not only to suit their economic advantage but also to safe- guard their equality and independence. In so doing they made it clear that they are ready to cooperate with all nations of the world which care to participate in that program. The declaration of principles of the solidarity of America, in part constituting a large expansion of the Buenos Aires consultative pact, and the implementation of the procedure of consultation, rep- resent great progress beyond the agreements adopted at former inter-American conferences. The American republics have made it clear to the world that they stand united to maintain and defend the peace of this hemisphere, their territorial integrity, their princi- ples of international relations, their own institutions and national policies. The declaration of the conference favored the solidarity of America in the protection of its peace and institutions against threats of force or of acts of any nature that might threaten that peace or those institutions. The agreement upon the declaration was reached in true American fashion by the democratic processes of discussion and conference. As a corollary to the principles on which the declaration of soHdarity is based, and as an evidence of their determination not to tolerate subversive activities of aliens in the American hemisphere, the conference adopted a resolution and a declaration on these subjects. Outstanding at the conference was a realization by the delega- tions that international lawlessness and international anarchy exist in many areas on the earth, and that the situation can be cured and the rights of nations and their peoples can be protected only by acceptance of a system of law and order based ultimately on inter- national justice and good faith. The conference, therefore, adopted a resolution setting forth principles which offer a program, sus- ceptible of universal application, designed to safeguard the rights of all peoples and all nations — weak and strong. By these princi- ples the conference sought to make it clear that the nations of the New World do not seek to isolate themselves from the rest of the world, but that they do strongly advocate and support sound and fundamental principles of international relations than can be uni- versally applied. If the public opinion of the world can be rallied to these principles, the American republics will have made a most valuable contribution to a system of international relations based upon law and upon respect for the rights of all nations and of all individuals, regardless of race and religion. Pan Americanism 4^1 The United -States, in accordance with our traditional poHcy, did not desire or intend to seek political or military alliances at the Lima Conference. It did hope that the American republics would continue to strengthen their co-operation in support of an inter- American and world program of human rights. That hope was fully realized. This broad program was further strengthened and advanced by the study given to and plans made for a broad interchange in edu- cational, professional and scientific fields. The basis for genume understanding among the peoples of the American republics has been extended and reinforced. I return from the conference with the conviction that its results will be of real and permanent value and that as time goes on the far-reaching effects of the principles there enunciated will become more apparent and significant. Those principles ofifer a charter for international conduct, based upon equality, justice and freedom — the indispensable foundation of peaceful and friendly relations among the nations of the world. 14. THE DECLARATION OF PANAMA SETTING UP A SAFETY ZONE ABOUT THE AMERICAS (October 2, 1939)i THE republics of America, meeting in Panama, have solemnly ratified their position as neutrals in the conflict which disturbs the peace of Europe. But as the present war may reach unexpected derivations, which by their gravitation may afifect the fundamental interests of America, it is hereby declared that nothing can justify that the interests of belligerents prevail over the rights of neutrals, causing upsets and suflferings of peoples who, by their neutrality in the conflict and their distance from the scene of the happenings, should not suffer its fatal dolorous consequences. During the World War of 1914-1918, the Governments of Ar- gentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador presented or sup- ported individual proposals seeking in principle a declaration of American republics which entreated the belligerent nations to ab- stain from engaging in bellicose activities within a prudent distance from the American coasts. Therefore, it is imperative as a formula of immediate necessity to adopt urgent dispositions based on such precedents, and in guar- antee of these interests to avoid a repetition of the damages and sufferings experienced by the American nations and their citizens in the 1914-1918 war. 1 From: The New York Times, October 3, 1939. 402 International Relations There is no doubt that the governments of the American repub- lics ought to foresee these dangers as a means of self-protection and to insist upon the determination that in their waters and up to a reasonable distance from their coasts no hostile acts may be en- gaged in or bellicose activities carried out by participants in a war in which the said [American] governments do not participate. For these considerations the governments of the American re- publics resolve and herewith declare: 1. As a measure of continental protection, the American repub- lics, as long as they maintain "their neutrality, have the undisputed right to conserve free from all hostile acts by any belligerent non- American nation those waters adjacent to the American continents which they consider of primordial interest and direct utility for their relations, whether such hostile act is attempted or carried out by land, sea or air. These waters described will be determined in the following mariner : All waters within the limits herewith specified, except the terri- torial waters of Canada, and of colonies and undisputed possessions of European countries within these limits. Beginning at a point on the frontier between the United States and Canada at Passamaquoddy Bay, where the 44th degree 46 minutes and 36 seconds of North Latitude crosses the 66th degree 44 minutes and 1 1 seconds of West Longitude ; from there, directly along parallel 44 degrees 46 minutes and 36 seconds to a point crossing 60 degrees West Longitude; from there directly south- ward to a point at 20 degrees North Latitude ; from there by loxo- dromical line to a point at 5 degrees North Latitude and 24 degrees West Longitude ; from there directly south to a point at 20 degrees South Latitude; from there by loxodromical line to a point at 58 degrees South Latitude and 57 degrees West Longitude; thence westward to a point at 80 degrees West Longitude; thenc'e by loxodromical line to a point where the Equator crosses 97 degrees West Longitude; thence by loxodromical line to a point 15 degrees North Latitude and 120 degrees West Longitude ; thence by loxo- dromical line to a point at 48 degrees 29 minutes and 38 seconds North Latitude and 136 degrees West Longitude; thence directly east to the termination in the Pacific Ocean, at Jean de Fuqua Strait, on the frontier between the United States and Canada. 2. The governments of the American republics agree to make an effort to seek observance by the belligerents of the dispositions contained in this declaration through joint representations to the governments actually participating in hostilities or those that may participate in the future. Pan Americanism 403 This procedure will in no wise affect the exercise of tlie individual rights of each State inherent in its sovereignty. 3. The governments of the American republics further declare that, whenever they consider it necessary, they will consult among themselves to determine what measures they can take individually or collectively for the purpose of obtaining fulfillment of the dis- positions of this declaration. 4. The American republics, as long as there exists a state of war in which they themselves are not participating and whenever they consider it necessary, may carry out individual or collective patrols, whichever they may decide through mutual agreement or as far as the elements and resources of each one permit, in waters adjacent to their coasts within the zone already defined. 15. JOINT DECLARATION OF CONTINENTAL SOLIDARITY AT THE FIRST MEETING OF FOREIGN MINISTERS OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS AT PANAMA (October 3, 1939)i THE Governments of the American Republics, represented at this first meeting of their Foreign Ministers, Firmly united by the democratic spirit which is the basis of their institutions, Desirous of strengthening on this occasion the solidarity which is the outgrowth of that spirit, and Desirous of preserving peace in the American Continent and of promoting its reestablishment throughout the world. Declare 1. That they reaffirm the declaration of solidarity among the nations of this Hemisphere, proclaimed at the Eighth International Conference of American States at Lima in 1938; 2. That they will endeavor with all the appropriate spiritual and material means at their disposal to maintain and strengthen peace and harmony among the Republics of America, as an indis- pensable requirement to the effective fulfillment of the duty that devolves upon them in the world-wide historical development of civilization and culture; 3. That these principles are free from any selfish purpose of isolation, but are rather inspired by a deep sense of universal co- operation, which impels these nations to express the most fervent wishes for the cessation of the deplorable state of war which today exists in some countries of Europe, to the grave danger of the 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, November 1939, p. 614, 404 International Relations most cherished spiritual, moral, and economic interests of humanity, and for the reestablishment of peace throughout the world — a peace not based on violence, but on justice and law. 16. ADDRESS BY SECRETARY OF STATE HULL ON INTER- AMERICAN CULTURAL RELATIONS AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT CONFERENCES ON INTER- AMERICAN CULTURAL RELATIONS (November 9, 1939) 1 THOSE of us who have most to do with measures of government are fully aware of the fact that governmental action can never rise higher than its source; and that the source is the moral and intellectual structure which lies behind and beneath the formal governmental action. Bad mechanical arrangements may be suc- cessful when there is common understanding, when men's minds march together, and when none of the parties are strangers to each other's ideas and ideals. On the other hand, the best technical ar- rangements in the world are futile, if there is not underlying them the foundation of that understanding. For this reason we, in com- mon with our neighbors, are especially interested in buttressing the economic and political relations which we have by broad under- standing between peoples. The creation and continuance of this understanding is, I am convinced, the peculiar contribution which education can make to inter-American relations, and to the secur- ity, peace and welfare of the Americas. The present moment is unusually happy for developing to the fullest the contributions which each of us in the American family can make to the other. Never have relations between the American republics been more cordial. Never has there been greater realiza- tion that each of us has much to contribute to the other ; never has there been greater mutual respect or greater comprehension. For that very reason it is clearer to all of us than ever before that the relations among our nations must not rest merely on the contacts between diplomat and diplomat, political leader and political leader, or even between business man and business man. They must rest also on contacts between teacher and teacher ; between student and student; upon the confluence of streams of thought, as well as upon more formalized governmental action and constructive business activity. Understanding, trust in each other, and friendliness are the foundations of those close relations of cooperation upon which the progress of all depends. Education, exchange of information, ear- nest eflfort to learn from each other and to understand and respect 1 From; Cordell Hull quoted in the BnUetin of the Pan American Union, February 1940, pp. 81-82, Pan Americanism 405 each other's point of view are among the greatest factors in pro- moting these essential objectives. In tlie American republics, the in'Lellectual plays a part of first importance in the national life. The poet, the scholar and the teacher are likely to be found not only in universities and in cultural circles, but in places of diplomatic and political responsibility. No less than in the United States, the American republics lying to the south of us make active use of their intellectual resources, and their men of learning and letters and arts stand high in the national respect of their peoples. Our own country can afford to learn many lessons in this respect. In asking you today to consider the problem of educational and cultural relations, I am certain that out of that relationship we shall receive as much as we give. It is within our power to make our own splendid educational resources available to our neighbors, as well as to draw upon them for ideas and inspiration which may be of great use to us. You are more familiar than I with the technical avenues for accomplishing the result which we have in mind. You realize, I am sure, how much our own country needs to learn of the civiliza- tion of other American peoples, and of the possibility of disseminat- ing this knowledge through our schools, our colleges, our universi- ties, and our technical journals; and, in like measure, the possibili- ties which these institutions afiford for making the tools of our own civilization available to our neighboring countries. . . . Let me close by saying that in my judgment this work in which we are all engaged is of the highest importance. None can forecast the future in world affairs. It is possible that the great shadow which lies heavily over Europe may become a long twilight. It is not inconceivable that many of the Hghts of Western civilization may there be dimmed or altogether. put out. It may even be that for a time the New World may have to guard and maintain the achievements of that civilization, holding them in trust for a time when they can once more be general throughout the world. Though governments can help, this is not a task for government alone, but for all of us. The teachers, the men of science and learn- ing throughout the New World must resolve to work together to accomplish that function which is rightfully theirs : to guard, to enrich, and to forward the civilization which, in the high calling of education, all of us must seek to serve. 4o6 International Relations 17. RESOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN STATES AT THE THIRD MEETING OF THE MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AT RIO DE JANEIRO CONCERNING POLITICAL SOLIDARITY (January 1942)i 1 THE American Republics reaffirm their declaration to con- -*-• sider any act of aggression on the part of a non- American State against one of them as an act of aggression against all of them, constituting as it does an immediate threat to the liberty and inde- pendence of America. 2. The American Republics reaffirm their complete solidarity and their determination to cooperate jointly for their mutual pro- tection until the effects of the present aggression against the Con- tinent have disappeared. 3. The American Republics, in accordance with the procedures established by their own laws and in conformity with the position and circumstances obtaining in each country in the existing con- tinental conflict, recommend the breaking of their diplomatic rela- tions with Japan, Germany and Italy, since the first-mentioned State attacked and the other two declared war on an American country. 4. The American Republics declare that, prior to the reestab- lishment of the relations referred to in the preceding paragraph, they will consult among themselves in order that their action may have a solidary character. 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, April 1942, p. 182. Recent Inter-Latin American Relations 407 Chapter Thirty-five SOME RECENT INTER-LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS • • The Tacna = Arica Dispute Bet^weem Chile and Feriui 1. PRESIDENT HOOVER SUGGESTS AN ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION TO THE TACNA-ARICA DISPUTE BETWEEN CHILE AND PERU (May 14, 1929)i THE text of the statement by President Hoover announcing the settlement of the dispute is as follows: 'The President is happy to be able to announce an agreement between the governments of Chile and Peru relative to the nearly half -century-old question of Tacna-Arica. "As a result of the high statesmanship and lofty ideals of the Presidents and governments of Chile and Peru, diplomatic rela- tions were renewed between those countries last September at the suggestion of the Secretary of State, and rapid progress toward a settlement satisfactory to both was made. ''However, when the President, as President-elect, visited Peru and Chile last December he was advised of the difficulties of a definitive settlement and gladly consented to lend any proper as- sistance, upon assuming office, with a view to bring about, if hap- pily it might be, a final agreement between the parties. "Accordingly, on May 14, the President, not as arbitrator, but in the exercise of good offices at the request of the parties, trans- mitted to the Presidents of Peru and Chile, through the American Ambassadors at Lima and Santiago, a proposal suggesting the final bases of a settlement. This proposal was presented to the two gov- ernments on May 15, and was immediately accepted by them." 1 From: Chile, June 1929, pp. 257-259. 4o8 International Relations [The following are the texts of the notes of transmission of the proposal and of the acceptances] : Text of notes of transmission delivered by American Ambassa- dors at Lima and Santiago to the Peruvian and Chilean Govern- ment s, respectively, on May 15, 1929: Excellency : Under instructions from my government, I have the honor to present to your Excellency with the request that you be so good as to transmit it to his Excellency, the President of Peru (Chile) certain stipulations which the President of the United States of America, not as arbitrator, but in the exercise, at the request of both parties, of good offices, proposes to the governments of Peru and Chile as the final bases of a solution of the problem of Tacna- Arica. In presenting this proposal to your Excellency's government, I am directed by the Secretary of State to say that, in making it, the President of the United States of America has been guided by agreements, reached directly between Peru and Chile on questions involved between them in the solution of the problem of Tacna- Arica. The proposal is, therefore, not to be interpreted as indicating that either the President or the Government of the United States of America expresses any opinion or view, or makes any sugges- tion in any way whatever regarding any future disposition by either party of that portion of the territory in dispute which will be in its possession should the proposal enclosed herewith be accepted by the governments of Peru and Chile. Text of the President's proposal to the governments of Chile and Peru, May 14, 1929: Having been informed of the cordial progress of the negotiations between the governments of Chile and of Peru, with reference to the direct agreements reached on nearly all the questions involved in the solution of the problem of Tacna and Arica, and having also been informed of the decision of both governments to submit to him the only difficulty that has arisen with reference to the respec- tive viewpoints relating to the projected port of Las Yaradas, the President of the United States, summarizing the points agreed upon, proposes to the two goverraments, in the exercise of good offices, as the final bases of a solution the following stipulations : First — The territory will be divided into two parts — Tacna for Peru and Arica for Chile. The dividing line shall start at a point which shall be designated with the name "Concordia," situated ten kilometers to the north of the bridge over the River Lluta, and shall Recent Inter-Latin American Relations 409 continue parallel to the Arica-La Paz Railroad, following, as far as possible, the topographic features which may make easier the demarcation of the line. The sulphur deposits of Tacora shall remain in Chilean territory, and the canals of Uchusuma and Mauri, also known as Azucarero, shall remain the property of Peru, with the understanding, how- ever, that wherever these canals pass through Chilean territory they shall enjoy the most complete servitude in perpetuity in favor of Peru. This servitude includes the right to widen the actual canals, change their course, and appropriate all waters that may be col- lectible in their passage through Chilean territory. The boundary line shall pass through the center of Laguna Blanca, dividing it into two equal parts. Peru and Chile shall each designate an engineer, and the necessary assistants, to proceed to the demarcation of the new frontier in accordance with the points herein agreed upon, and shall indicate the dividing line by means of boundary monuments. In case of disagreement, such disagreement shall be decided by a third person designated bv the President of the United States, whose decision shall be final. Second — The Government of Chile will deliver to the Govern- ment of Peru within the 1,575 meters of the Bay of Arica, a wharf (malecon), a custom house, and a station for the railroad, from Tacna to Arica, where Peru shall enjov independence within the most ample free port. All the aforementioned works shall be con- structed by the Government of Chile. Third — The Government of Chile will deliver to the Govern- ment of Peru the sum of $6,(XX),000. Fourth — The Government of Chile will deliver without cost of any kind to Peru all the public works already constructed, to- gether with all government-owned real property in the Department of Tacna. Fifth — The Government of Chile will maintain in the Depart- ment of Arica the franchise eranted bv the Government of Peru in the year 1852, to the Arica-Tacna Railroad Company. Sixth — The Government of Chile shall proceed to deliver the Department of Tacna thirty days after the exchange of ratifications of the treaty. Seventh — The Governments of Chile and Peru will respect private rights legally acquired in the territories that remain under their respective sovereignties. Eighth — The Governments of Chile and Peru, in order to com- memorate the consolidation of their friendly relations, agree to 4IO International Relations erect on the Morro de Arica a monument, the design of which shall be the subject of agreement between the parties. Ninth — The children of Peruvian nationals born in Arica shall be considered as Peruvians until they attain the age of twenty-one years, at which age they shall have the right to elect their definite nationality ; and the children of Chileans, born in Tacna, shall enjoy the same right. Tenth — Chile and Peru will reciprocally release any obligation, engagement or indebtedness between the two countries, whether derived or not from the Treaty of Ancon. The CSram Chaco Dispute Bet^ween Bolivia and Paraguay 2. NOTE SENT BY NINETEEN AMERICAN NATIONS TO BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY ASKING THAT THEY SUBMIT THEIR DISPUTE TO ARBITRATION AND CEASE FIGHTING (August 4, 1932)i THE representatives of all the American republics meeting in Washington, the seat of the neutral commission having been duly authorized by their respective governments, have the honor to make the following declaration to the governments of Bolivia and Paraguay: Respect for law is a tradition among the American nations who are opposed to force and renounce it both for the solution of their controversies and as an instrument of national policy in their re- ciprocal relations. They have long been the proponents of the doc- trine that the arrangement of all disputes and conflicts of whatever nature or origin that may arise between them can only be sought by peaceful means. The history of the American nations shows that all their bound- ary and territorial controversies have been arranged by such means. Therefore, the nations of America declare that the Chaco dispute is susceptible of a peaceful solution and they earnestly request Bolivia and Paraguay to submit immediately the solution of this controversy to an arrangement by arbitration or by such other peaceful means as may be acceptable to both. As regards the responsibilities which may arise from the various encounters which have occurred from June 15 to date, they con- sider that the countries in conflict should present to the neutral 1 From: The Washington Star, August 4, 1932. Recent Inter-Latin American Relations 411 commission all the documentation which they may consider perti- nent and which will be examined by it. They do not doubt that the country which this investigation shows to be the aggressor will de- sire to give satisfaction to the one attacked, thus eliminating all misunderstanding between them. They, furthermore, invite the governments of Bolivia and Para- guay to make a solemn declaration to the effect that they will stop the movement of troops in the disputed territory which should clear up the atmosphere and make easy the road to the solution of good understanding which America hopes for in the name of the permanent interests of all the countries of this hemisphere. The American nations further declare that they will not recog- nize any territorial arrangement of this controversy which has not been obtained by peaceful means nor the validity of territorial ac- quisitions which may be obtained through occupation or conquest by force of arms. 3. PROCLAMATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES PROHIBITING THE SALE OF ARMS AND MUNITIONS OF WAR TO BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY (May 28, 1934)i WHEREAS section 1 of a joint resolution of Congress, entitled "Joint Resolution To prohibit the sale of arms or munitions of war in the United States under certain conditions," approved May 28, 1934, provides as follows : "That if the President finds that the prohibition of the sale of arms and munitions of war in the United States to those countries now engaged in armed conflict in the Chaco may contribute to the reestablishment of peace between those countries, and if after consultation with the govern- ments of other American Republics and with their co- operation, as well as that of such other governments as he may deem necessary, he makes proclamation to that effect, it shall be unlawful to sell, except under such limitations and exceptions as the President prescribes, any arms or munitions of war in any place in the United States to the countries now engaged in that armed conflict, or to any person, company, or association acting in the interest of either country, until otherwise ordered by the President or by Congress," 1 From: President Franklin D. Roosevelt quoted in Treaty Information Bulletin, No. 56, May 1934, p. 8, State Department. 412 International Relations And whereas it is provided by section 2 of the said joint reso- lution that — "Whoever sells any arms or munitions of war in viola- tion of section 1 shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding $10,000 or by imprisonment not ex- ceeding two years, or both." Now, THEREFORE, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, acting under and by virtue of the author- ity conferred in me by the said joint resolution of Congress, do hereby declare and proclaim that I have found that the prohibition of the sale of arms and munitions of war in the United States to those countries now engaged in armed conflict in the Chaco may contribute to the reestablishment of peace between those countries, and that I have consulted with the governments of other American Republics and have been assured of the cooperation of such gov- ernments as I have deemed necessary as contemplated by the said joint resolution ; and I do hereby admonish all citizens of the United States and every person to abstain from every violation of the pro- visions of the joint resolution above set forth, hereby made applic- able to Bolivia and Paraguay, and I do hereby warn them that all violations of such provisions will be rigorously prosecuted. And I do hereby enjoin upon all officers of the United States charged with the execution of the laws thereof, the utmost diligence in preventing violations of the said joint resolution and this my proclamation issued thereunder, and in bringing to trial and punish- ment any offenders against the same. And I do hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the power of prescribing exceptions and limitations to the application of the said joint resolution of May 28, 1934, as made effective by this my proclamation issued thereunder. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and thirty- [seal] four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fifty-eighth. Franklin D. Roosevelt By the President: Cordell Hull Secretary of State. Recent Inter-Latin American Relatiojis 413 4. PROTOCOL FOR CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES IN THE GRAN CHACO BETWEEN BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY (June 12, 1935)1 [The High Contracting Parties agree] : Article I. TO request the mediating group kindly to beg His Excellency, the President of the Argentine nation, immediately to convene the Peace Conference for the following purposes: 1st, solemnly to ratify the present pact. 2nd, to settle the practical questions which may arise in the execu- tion of the measures of security adopted for the cessation of hostilities. 3rd, to promote the settling of differences between Bolivia and Paraguay by direct agreement between the parties ; it being under- stood that, should the direct negotiations fail, Bolivia and Paraguay assume through this pact the obligation to settle the Chaco dispute by means of juridical arbitration, forthwith designating the Per- manent Court of International Justice of The Hague as arbitrator. The peace conference will terminate the direct negotiations when in its opinion the time shall have arrived to declare the impossibility of reaching thereby a definite solution ; in this event, it will proceed to the question of an arbitral compromis to be concluded between the parties, the peace conference being unable to terminate its func- tions as long as the arbitral compromis is not definitely agreed upon. 4th, to promote, when it is deemed opportune, the agreement between the parties relating to the exchange and repatriation of prisoners bearing in mind the practices and principles of interna- tional law. 5th, establishment of a system of transit, trade and navigation, having in view the geographical position of the parties. 6th, to promote facilities and agreements of various kinds, de- signed to encourage the development of the belligerent countries. 7th, the peace conference will form an international commission which will render an opinion on the responsibilities of- any order and any kind arising from the war ; if the conclusions of this opinion are not accepted by one of the parties, the Permanent Court of International Justice of The Hague will definitively settle the question. 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, July 1935, pp. 518-520. 414 International Relations The governments of the RepubHcs of Bolivia and Paraguay- pledge themselves to obtain legislative approval of the present pact within a term of 10 days as from the date of its signature. Article II. The definite cessation of hostilities based on the present positions of the belligerent armies. The positions of the conflicting armies are fixed as follows : (a) A 12-day truce is agreed upon in order that a neutral military commission, composed of representatives of the mediating nations, may fix intermediate lines between the positions of the belligerent armies. The truce will begin at midnight, meridian of Cordoba, on the day on which the neutral military commission, having already arrived at the field of action, considers itself ready to begin its mission. The neutral military commission will hear the belligerent military authorities in order to determine the line of separation of the armies, and it will decide cases of discrepancies ; once its mission is fulfilled it will so inform the Peace Conference. (b) The time limit for the truce established under clause (a) having expired, the peace conference will extend it until the final execution of the measure of security provided for in article III. (c) The neutral military commission will decide as to the modi- fications which the experience of the line of separation of the armies may make advisable, after hearing tlie military authorities of the belligerents. (d) During the truce and its extension, the lines of separation of the armies will be maintained under the guarantees of the Peace Conference, for which purpose the neutral military commission will exercise vigilance and control over them. Article III. The adoption of the following measures of security; 1st, the demobilization of the belligerent armies within a term of 90 days, as from the date of the fixing of the lines of separation of the armies to which reference is made in article II in the manner to be estab- lished by the neutral military commission, after hearing the bel- ligerent military authorities, and up to the limit fixed in the follow- ing clause. 2nd, the reduction of military effectives to the maxi- mum of 5,000 men. 3rd, the obligation not to make new purchases of war material other than that indispensable for replacement, until the conclusion of the treaty of peace. 4th, in signing the present pact in the presence of the mediators, the parties make a pledge of "non-aggression." I Recent Inter-Latin American Relations 415 The neutral military commission will be charged with the control of the execution of the measures of security until their total com- pletion. Once these are fulfilled, the Peace Conference will declare the war to be terminated. Once the execution of the foregoing military securities and guar- antees is initiated on the field of operations, which measures must be totally carried out within the maximum term of 90 consecutive days, the study of the differences will also be initiated at the same time, and the Peace Conference will exercise the functions specified in article I. Article IV. The declaration of August 3, 1932, regarding territorial acquisi- tions, is recognized by the belligerents. Article V. In homage to humane sentiments of the belligerents and media- tors, firing is suspended as from noon, June 14, meridian of Cordoba. In virtue of which the present protocol is subscribed by mutual agreement, jointly with the representatives of the mediating States, sealed and signed on the date and place mentioned above. Additional Protocol In order to give effect to the provisions of article V of the pro- tocol signed on this date, the high contracting parties request the mediation commission to send the neutral military commission to the scene of operations immediately. Upon its arrival it shall ar- range for the suspension of firing provided for in the said article V and shall start the work of drawing the line separating the armies, stipulated in article II, paragraph (a), of the principal protocol. Upon the ratification of the principal protocol by the Congresses of Paraguay and Bolivia within the period of 10 days provided therefor, the provisional suspension of firing to which this addi- tional protocol refers shall be automatically transformed into the preliminary truce with a view to the definite cessation of hostilities provided for in article II, paragraph (a), of the principal protocol; if on the contrary such ratification does not result, suspension of firing referred to in article V above mentioned shall cease ipso facto. 4i6 International Relations 5. TREATY OF PEACE, FRIENDSHIP, AND BOUNDARIES BETWEEN BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY SIGNED AT BUENOS AIRES (July 21, 1938)i THE Republics of Bolivia and Paraguay (Paraguay and Bolivia) with the intention of consolidating peace definitively and to put an end to the differences which gave rise to the armed conflict of the Chaco ; inspired by the desire to prevent future disagreements ; keeping in mind that between States forming the American com- munity there exist historical brotherly bonds which must not dis- appear by divergencies or events which must be considered and solved in a spirit of reciprocal understanding and good will; in execution of the undertaking to concert the definitive peace which both republics assumed in the Peace Protocol of June 12, 1935 and in the Protocolized Act of January 21, 1936; represented: The Republic of Bolivia by His Excellency Dr. Eduardo Diez de Medina, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and His Excellency Dr. Enrique Finot, President of the delegation of that country to the Peace Conference; and the Republic of Paraguay by His Excellency Dr. Cecilio Baez, Minister for Foreign Affairs ; His Excellency General Jose Felix Estigarribia, President of the delegation of that country to the Peace Conference, and the delegates Their Excellencies Doctors Luis A. Riart and Efraim Cardozo; Present in Buenos Aires and duly authorized by their Govern- ments have agreed to concert under the auspices and moral guaran- tee of the six mediatory Governments, the following definitive treaty of peace, friendship and boundaries. Article One. — Peace between the Republics of Paraguay and BoHvia (Bolivia and Paraguay) is re-estabHshed. Article Two. — The dividing line in the Chaco between Bolivia and Paraguay (Paraguay and Bolivia) will be that determined by the Presidents of the Republics of Argentina, Chile, United States of America, United States of Brazil, Peru and Uruguay in their capacity as arbitrators in equity, who acting ex aequo et bono will give their arbitral award in accordance with this and the following clauses. A. The arbitral award will fix the northern dividing line in the Chaco in the zone comprised between the line of the Peace Con- ference presented May 27, 1938 and the line of the Paraguayan counter-proposal presented to the consideration of the Peace Con- ference June 24, 1938, from the meridian of Fort 27 of November, 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, August 1938, pp. 453-454. Recent Inter-Latin American Relations ^ly i.e. approximately meridian 61° 55' west of Greenwich, to the east- ern limit of the zone, excluding the Httoral on the Paraguay River south of the mouth of the River Otuquis or Negro. B. The arbitral award will likewise fix the western dividing line in the Chaco between the Pilcomayo River and the intersection of the meridian of Fort 27 of November, i.e., approximately 61° 55' west of Greenwich with the line of the award in the north referred to in the previous paragraph. C. The said line will not go on the Pilcomayo River more to the east than Pozo Hondo, nor to the west further than any point on the line which, starting from D'Orbigny, was fixed by the Neutral Military Commission as intermediary between the maximum posi- tions reached by the belligerent armies at the suspension of fire on June 14, 1935. Article Three. — The arbitrators will pronounce, having heard the parties and according to their loyal knowledge and understand- ing taking into consideration the experience accumulated by the Peace Conference and the advice of the Military Advisers to that organization. The six Presidents of the Republics mentioned in Article Two have the faculty of giving the award directly or by means of pleni- potentiary delegates. Article Four. — The arbitral award will be given by the arbi- trators within a maximum of two months counting from the ratifi- cation of the present treaty, obtained in the way and form stipulated in Article Eleven. Article Five. — The award being given and the parties notified, these will immediately name a mixed commission composed of five members, two named by each party, and the fifth designated by common agreement of the six mediatory governments \r\ order to apply on the ground and set the bournes of the dividing line given by the arbitral award. Article Six. — Within thirty days after the award, the Govern- ments of Bolivia and Paraguay (Paraguay and Bolivia) will pro- ceed to accredit their respective diplomatic representatives in Asun- cion and La Paz (La Paz and Asuncion) and within ninety days will fulfill the award in its principal aspects, under the vigilance of the Peace Conference, to whom the parties recognize the faculty of resolving definitely the practical questions which may arise in this connection. Article Seven. — The Republic of Paraguay guarantees the amplest free transit through its territory and especially through the zone of Puerto Casado, of merchandise arriving from abroad des- tined to Bolivia and of the products which issue from Bolivia to be 41*8 International Relations « embarked for abroad through the said zone of Puerto Casado; with the right for BoHvia to install customs agencies and construct depots and stores in the zone of the said port. The regulations of this article will be the object of a later com- mercial convention between both Republics. Article Eight. — The arbitral award having been executed through the application and setting of bournes of the dividing line the Governments of Bolivia and Paraguay (Paraguay and Bolivia) will negotiate directly, Government to Government, the other eco- nomic and commercial conventions they deem proper to develop their reciprocal interests. Article Nine. — The Republics of Bolivia and Paraguay (Para- guay and Bolivia) reciprocally renounce all action and claim deriv- ing from the responsibilities of the war. Article Ten. — The Republics of Bolivia and Paraguay (Para- guay and Bolivia) renewing the non-aggression pact stipulated in the Protocol of June 12, 1935, solemnly obligate themselves not to make war on each other nor to use force, directly or indirectly, as a means of solution of any present or future difference. If in any event these were not resolved by direct diplomatic nego- tiations, they obligate themselves to have recourse to the conciliatory and arbitral procedures offered by international law and especially the American conventions and pacts. Article Eleven. — The present treaty will be ratified by the National Constitutional Convention of Bolivia and by a national plebiscite in Paraguay; in both cases ratification must take place within twenty days counting from the date of signature of this treaty. Ratifications shall be exchanged in the briefest period pos- sible in the Peace Conference. Article Twelve. — The parties declare that in case ratification referred to in the preceding article were not obtained, the text and content of this treaty cannot be invoked to found upon them alle- gations nor proofs in future occasions ar procedures of arbitration or international justice. In faith of which the representatives of Bolivia and Paraguay (Paraguay and Bolivia) together with the plenipotentiary delegates representing the mediatory countries in the Peace Conference sign and seal the present Treaty in double copy at Buenos Aires on the twenty-first day of the month of July, Nineteen hundred and thirty- eight. Recent Inter-Latin American Relations 419 Tlie Leticia Dispute Bet^vyeen Perm and Colombia 6. RECOMMENDATION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS IN REGARD TO THE LETICIA INCIDENT BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND PERU (March 18, 1933) 1 1 SEEING that the situation resulting from the presence of • Peruvian forces in Colombian territory is incompatible with the principles of international law, with those of the Covenant of the League of Nations and of the Pact of Paris, which are binding on the two Parties, and to which the settlement of the dispute must conform ; And that it is necessary to establish as speedily as possible a situ- ation in harmony with those principles ; And that, moreover, the Government of Colombia has accepted the proposals made by the Council in its telegram dated January 26th, 1933, to the effect that the strictest precautions should be taken to avoid any violation of Peruvian territory and, in proceeding to the re-establishment of order, the Colombian authorities should show the requisite mod- eration : Recommends the complete evacuation by the Peruvian Forces of the territory contained in the Leticia Trapezium, and the withdrawal of all suppoj't from the Peruvians who have occupied that area. 2. Seeing that the Council has recognized the necessity for nego- tiations on the basis of the Treaties in force between the Parties for the purpose of discussing all the problems outstanding and the best manner of reaching a solution of them which shall be just, lasting, and satisfactory; And that the discussion of these problems will include the ex- amination of any legitimate Peruvian interests: Recommends that the negotiations he begun and carried out with all expedition, as soon as suitable measures shall have been taken to carry out the first recommendation. 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, July 1933, p. 595, note 1, 420 International Relations 7. REPORT TO THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE OF NA- TIONS REGARDING THE LEAGUE'S ACTION IN THE LETICIA DISPUTE BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND PERU (May 1933)i [At the opening of the meeting of the League Council the Hon. Sean Lester, chairman of the advisory committee on the Leticia question, made the following report, which was broadcast from the League's radio station and is reproduced as taken down in Wash- ington:] THE Council will remember that at its meeting of March 18 it adopted unanimously a report under Article XV, Paragraph 4, of the Covenant concerninsr the dispute between Colombia and Peru. The representative of Colombia voted for the report. The representative of Peru was not in a position to do so. On the same day the Council appointed an Advisory Committee to watch the situation and to assist the Council in the performance of its duties under Article IV, Paragraph 4, and help the members of the League for the same purpose to concert their action and their atti- tude among themselves and non-member states. In the course of its discussions the Advisory Committee thought it saw the possi- bility of bringing the parties to agreement on a procedure for carrying out the recommendations of the Council. Long negoti- ations took place and on the tenth of May I was in a position to present to the parties a document containing the procedure recom- mended bv the Advisory Committee for putting into effect the recommendations proposed by the Council in the report which it adopted on March 18, 1933. The procedure is now submitted to the Council, and I will read the agreement containing the text, as follows : "The Advisory Committee recommends the governments of Colombia and Peru to adopt the following procedure for putting into effect the recommendations embodied in the report adopted by the Council of the League of Nations on March 18 in order to avoid any incident that might aggravate the relations between the two countries : "1. The Governments of the Repubhc of Colombia and the Re- public of Peru accept the recommendations appproved by the Coun- cil of the League of Nations at its meeting on March 18, 1933, under the terms of Article XV Paragraph 4 of the Covenant and declare their intention to comply with those recommendations. 1 From: Sean Lester quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, July 1933, pp, 595-597. Recent Inter-Latin American Relations 421 "2. The Council shall appoint a commission which is to he at Leticia within a period not exceeding thirty days. The Peruvian forces in that territory shall withdraw immediately upon the com- mission's arrival and the commission, in the name of the govern- ment of Colombia, shall take charge of the administration of the territory evacuated by those forces. "3. For the purpose of maintaining order in the territory which it is to administer, the commission shall call upon military forces of its own selection and may attach to itself any other elements it may deem necessary. "4. The commission shall have the right to decide all questions relating to the performance of its mandate. The commission's terms of office shall not exceed one year. "5. The Parties shall inform the Advisory Committee of the Council of the League of Nations of the method whereby they propose to proceed to the negotiations contemplated in No, 2 of the recommendations of March 18, 1933, and the committee shall re- port to the Council accordingly. "6. The Council of the League of Nations reminds the Parties that it has declared itself ready to lend its good offices at the request of either Party in case of disagreement as to any point either of procedure or of substance which may require attention from the developments in the dispute. The Council feels that it could not neglect to concern itself with the development of the controversy. "7. The government of the Republic of Colombia will take upon itself the expenses involved by the working of the commission and the administration of the territory to which the mandate conferred on the commission relates. "8. In consequence of the acceptance of the foregoing proposals the governments of Colombia and Peru shall give the necessary orders for all acts of hostility to cease on either side and for the military forces of each country to rem.ain strictly within its fron- tiers. "The undersigned representatives of the governments of Colom- bia and Peru accept on behalf of their governments the procedure for putting into effect the recommendations proposed by the Coun- cil in the report which it adopted on March 18, 1933, in the form proposed by the Advisory Committee and approved by the Council at its meeting of May 25, 1933. They recognize that the meaning of certain points in this procedure is defined in the annexed letters dated May 25, 1933, addressed by the President of the Advisory Committee with the approval of the Council to the two above- mentioned governments. 422 International Relations "In faith whereof the present instrument has been drawn up in three copies, one for the government of Colombia, another for the government of Peru and the third to be deposited with the Secretariat of the League of Nations. "Done at Geneva, May 25, 1933." This document is, as you will observe, accompanied by a letter which I have been authorized by the committee to address to the representatives of Colombia and Peru. It is to the following efifect : "The committee of which I have the honor to be chairman desires me to place on record for the information of your government cer- tain commentaries on the agreement which has now happily been come to between the governments of Peru and Colombia. In Para- graph 2 of that agreement it is stated that the Peruvian forces which are at Leticia will evacuate that territory as soon as the commission arrives on the spot. The committee understands that the Colombian forces which have occupied Giiepi and other posts on the Peruvian bank of the Putumayo will evacuate those posts simultaneously with the evacuation by the Peruvian forces of Leticia and will hand them over to the Peruvian Government. "Article 3. The commission shall call upon military forces of its own selection and may attach to itself any other elements it may deem necessary for the purpose of maintaining order in the terri- tory which it has to administer. The committee understand that the commission will itself be judge of the number of forces required for this purpose but it will not ask for any further forces than may in its judgment be required for the maintenance of order. "Article 5. In order that there may be no misunderstanding as to the exact scope of the negotiations the Committee thinks it well to quote in full the text of the recommendation of the council on this point : "Seeing that the Council has recosrnized the necessity for negotiations on the basis of the Treaties in force be- tween the Parties for the purpose of discussing all the problems outstanding and the best manner of reaching a solution of them which shall be just, lasting, and satisfac- tory ; and that the discussion of these problems will include the examination of any legitimate Peruvian interests : "Recommends that the negotiations be bes:un and car- ried out with all expedition, as soon as suitable measures shall have been taken to carry out the first recommenda- tion." I am happy to be able to inform the Council that the representa- tives of Colombia and Peru are now prepared to sign the agreement. Recent Inter-Latin American Relations 423 Tlie Periu^EcTiiador Boimdary Dispute 8. STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT EXPRESSING GRATIFICATION AT SERVING AS ARBITRATOR IN THE ECUADOR-PERU BOUNDARY NEGOTIATIONS (July 9, 1936)1 ON February 6, 1934, I consented to serve as arbitrator in the boundary dispute between the Republic of Ecuador and the Republic of Peru in accordance with the terms of the Ponce-Castro Oyanguren Protocol concluded between those two countries in 1924, which provided that if the two Governments were unable to fix a definitive line through direct negotiation, the zone upon which they could not agree should be submitted to the arbitral decision of the President of the United States. I have been particularly glad to receive, today, the visit of the Ambassador of Peru and of the Minister of Ecuador, who have officially advised me that the nature of the arbitration has now been agreed upon by the two Govern- ments through a further protocol signed on July sixth, last, which also provides that the delegations of the respective countries will commence their final negotiations in Washington on September thirtieth, next. This decision of these two great Republics to hasten the peace- ful adjudication of this long continuing controversy will be re- garded as a motive for encouragement and gratitude by all lovers of peace on the American continent. It will do much to insure the success of the deliberations of the twenty-one American Republics at the approaching Inter-American Peace Conference." 1 From: President Franklin D. Roosevelt quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, August 1936, p. 606. 424 International Relations Chapter Thirty-six SOME RECENT LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS WITH EUROPE 1. PROTEST OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS TO THE BELLIGERENT COUNTRIES ON THE VIOLATION OF THE AMERICAN NEUTRALITY ZONE IN THE BATTLE OF THE GRAF VON SPEE (December 23, 1939)i [Following the procedure of consultation provided in the Declar- ation of Panama the twenty-one American republics agreed upon the following statement which the Hon. Augusto S. Boyd, Acting President of the Republic of Panama, transmitted in their names on December 23, 1939, to the Governments of France, Great Bri- tain and Germany:] I HAVE the honor to transmit to Your Excellency the following communication, agreed upon unanimously by the twenty-one American Republics as a result of the consultations which took place pursuant to the provisions of the third paragraph of the Declaration of Panama of October 3rd, the text of which was trans- mitted to Your Excellency by President Arosemena on October 4th : The American Governments are officially infonned of the naval engagement which took place on the thirteenth instant off the northeastern coast of Uruguay, between certain British naval ves- sels and the German vessel Graf von Spee, which, according to reliable reports, attempted to overhaul the French merchant vessel Formose between Brazil and the port of Montevideo after having sunk other merchant vessels. They are also informed of the entry and scuttling of the German warship in the waters of the River Plate upon the termination of the time limit which, in accordance with the rules of international law, was granted to it by the Government of the Republic of Uruguay. 1 From: Augusto S. Boyd quoted in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, May 1940, p. 403. Recent Relations With Europe 425 On the other hand, the sinking or detention of German merchant vessels by British vessels in American waters is publicly known, as appears — to begin with — from the recent cases of the Diissel- dorf, Ussukuma and others. All these facts which affect the neutrality of American waters, compromise the aims of continental protection provided for by the Declaration of Panama of October 3, 1939, the first paragraph of which establishes: As a measure of continental self-protection, the Ameri- can Republics, so long as they maintain their neutrality, are as of inherent right entitled to have those waters adja- cent to the American continent, which they regard as of primary concern and direct utility in their relations, free from the commission of any hostile act by any non-Amer- ican belligerent nation, whether such hostile act be at- tempted or made from land, sea or air. Therefore, in accordance with the method provided for in that instrument and with a view to avoiding the repetition of further events of the nature to which reference is made above, the Ameri- can nations resolve to lodge a protest with the belligerent countries and to initiate the necessary consultation in order to strengthen the system of protection in common through the adoption of adequate rules, among them those which would prevent belligerent vessels from supplying themselves and repairing damages in American ports, when the said vessels have committed warlike acts within the zone of security established in the Declaration of Panama. 2. REPLY OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO THE PRO- TEST OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS AT THE VIOLA- TION OF THE AMERICAN NEUTRALITY ZONE (January 14, 1940)i HIS Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have devoted most careful consideration to the communication agreed upon unanimously by the twenty-one American Republics, the text of which was telegraphed to His Majesty the King by the Acting President of Panama on December 23rd last. In that communication reference was made among other matters to the recent naval action between British and German warships in the South Atlantic and to the maritime security zone described in the Declaration of Panama of October 3, 1939. His Majesty's Government, who themselves for so long strove to prevent war, fully appreciate the desire of the American Re- 1 From: The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, May 1940, pp. 404-405. 426 I?iternational Relations publics to keep the war away from the shores of the American Con- tinent. It was, therefore, not merely with interest but with under- standing that His Majesty's Government learned of the maritime security zone proposal. His Majesty's Government noted with satisfaction from the Declaration of Panama itself that the attempt would be made to base the observance of its provisions upon the consent of the bel- ligerents. This fresh expression of adherence to the idea of solving international difficulties by mutual discussion, which has always been upheld by the American Republics, confirmed His Majesty's Government's belief that these powers would not attempt to enforce observance of the zone by unilateral action and encouraged their hope that it would be possible to give effect, by means of negotia- tion, to the intentions which inspired it. It was in this spirit that His Majesty's Government were ex- amining the proposal of the conference of Panama at the time when the communication of December 23rd was received. In view of this communication, His Majesty's Government desire to draw the attention of the American Republics to the following considera- tions : It will be apparent, in the first place, that the proposal, involving as it does the abandonment by the belligerents of certain legitimate belligerent rights, is not one which, on any basis of international law, can be imposed upon them by unilateral action and that its adoption requires their specific assent. The acceptance by His Majesty's Government of the suggestion that the belligerents should forego their rights in the zone must clearly be dependent upon their being assured that the adoption of the zone proposal would not provide German warships and supply ships with a vast sanctuary from which they could emerge to at- tack Allied and neutral shipping, to which they could return to avoid being brought to action and in which some un-neutral service might be performed by non-German ships, for example, by the use of wireless communications. It would also be necessary to ensure that German warships and supply ships would not be enabled to pass with impunity from one ocean to another through the zone, or German merchant ships to take part in inter- American trade and earn foreign exchange which might be used in attempts to promote subversion and sabotage abroad and to procure supplies for the prolongation of the war, thus depriving the Allies of the fruits of their superiority at sea. Moreover, the acceptance of the zone proposals would have to be on the basis that it should not constitute a precedent for a far- reaching alteration in the existing laws of maritime neutrality. Unless these points are adequately safeguarded, the zone pro- posals might only lead to the accumulation of belligerent ships in Recent Relations With Europe 427 the zone. This, in turn, might well bring the risk of war nearer to the American States and lead to friction between, on the one hand, the Allies, pursuing their legitimate belligerent activities, and, on the other, the American Republics endeavoring to make this new policy prevail. The risk of such friction, which His Majesty's Government would be the first to deplore, would be increased by the application of sanctions. His Majesty*s Government must emphatically repu- diate any suggestion that His Majesty's ships have acted or would act in any way that would justify the adoption by neutrals of puni- tive measures which do not spring from the accepted canons of neutral rights and obligations. If, therefore, the American States were to adopt a scheme of sanctions for the enforcement of the zone proposal they would, in effect, be offering a sanctuary to German warships within which His Majesty's ships would be confronted with the invidious choice of having either to refrain from engaging their enemy or laying themselves open to penalties in American ports and waters. Up to the present it does not appear that means have been found by which the disadvantages of the zone proposals could be elimi- nated. That this is the case was shown by the operations in the zone of the warship Admiral Graf Spee and the supply ship Tacoma. With regard to the specific incidents, of which mention is made in the communication under reply. His Majesty's Government must observe that the legitimate activities of His Majesty's ships can in no way imperil but must rather contribute to the security of the American Continent, the protection of which was the object of the framers of the Declaration of Panama, His Majesty's Government cannot admit that there is any foun- dation for a claim that such activities have in any way exposed them to justifiable reproach, seeing that the zone proposal has not been made effective and belligerent assent has not yet been given to its operation. In view of the difficulties described above, it appears to His Majesty's Government that the only effective method of achieving the American object of preventing belligerent acts within the zone would be, firstly, to ensure that the German Government would send no more warships into it ; secondly, there are obvious difficul- ties in applying the zone proposal at this stage of the war when so much German shipping has already taken refuge in American waters. If the Allies are to be asked to forego the opportunity of cap- turing these vessels it would also seem to be necessary that they should be laid up under Pan American control for the duration of the war. In view of His Majesty's Government, it would only be by 428 International Relations means such as those indicated that the wish of the American Gov- ernments to keep war away from their coasts could be realized in a truly effective and equitable manner. Until His Majesty's Gov- ernment are able to feel assured that the scheme will operate satis- factorily, they must, anxious as they are for the fulfillment of American hopes, necessarily reserve their full belligerent rights in order to fight the menace presented by German action and policy and to defend that conception of law and that way of life which they believe to be as dear to the peoples and Governments of Amer- ica as they are to the peoples and Governments of the British Corn- monwealth of Nations. 3. REPLY OF THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO THE PRO- TEST OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS AT THE VIOLA- TION OF THE AMERICAN NEUTRALITY ZONE (February 14, 1940) i THE late President of Panama communicated to the Chancellor of the German Reich, by a cablegram of October 4, 1939, on behalf of the American Republics, the text of the so-called Declara- tion of Panama, which sought to protect the neutral American re- publics against menace to their vital interests by the efifects of the state of war existing at present. For that purpose, the establish- ment of a security zone is contemplated in the Declaration and of such a nature that no military operations may be carried on by belligerents in the waters adjacent to the American continent, to a fixed distance. The Governments of the American republics agree that they will endeavor to secure from the belligerents the recogni- tion of such a security zone. In another telegram of the Acting President of the Republic of Panama, certain cases are mentioned, which, in the opinion of the American Governments, have been likely to endanger the efforts for the security of the American con- tinent. In addition, it was stated in this telegram that the Ameri- can Governments protested to the belligerent powers against these occurrences and that they had entered. into consultation for the purpose of strengthening the system of common protection. The Chancellor of the German Reich acknowledged the receipt of these two telegrams by telegrams of October 23rd and December 29th, 1939, and added that he had instructed the German Government to consider the matter. As the result of this consideration, I have the honor to communicate the following to Your Excellency, with the request that it be transmitted to the other American Govern- ments : (1) The German Government welcomes the intention of the American Republics, expressed in the Declaration of Panama, to 1 From: The BnUetin of the Pan American Union, May 1940, pp. 406-407. Recent Relations With Europe 429 maintain strict neutrality during the present conflict, and fully understands that they wish, as far as possible, to take precautionary action against the effects of the present war on their countries and peoples. (2) The German Government believes itself to be in agreement with the American Governments that the regulations contained in the Declaration of Panama would mean a change in existing inter- national la\y and infers from the telegram of October 4th of last year that it is desired to settle this question in harmony with the belligerents. The German Government does not take the stand that the hitherto recognized rules of international law were bound to be regarded as a rigid and forever imimutable order. It is rather of the opinion that these rules are capable of and require adaptation to progressive development and newly arising conditions. In this spirit, it is also ready to take up the consideration of the proposal of the neutral American Governments. However, it must point out that for the German naval vessels which have been in the pro- posed security zone so far, only the rules of law now in effect could, of course, be effective. The German naval vessels have held most strictly to these rules of law during their operations. There- fore in so far as the protest submitted by the American Govern- ments is directed against the action of German warships, it cannot be recognized by the German Government as well grounded. It has already expressed to the Government of Uruguay its divergent in- terpretation of the law also in the special case mentioned in the telegram of the Acting President of the Republic of Panama of December 24th. Besides, the German Government cannot recog- nize the right of the Governments of the American Republics to decide unilaterally upon measures in a manner deviating from the rules hitherto in effect, such as are to be taken under consideration by the American Governments against the ships of the belligerent countries which have committed acts of war within the waters of the projected security zone, according to the telegram of Decem- ber 24th of last year. (3) Upon considering the questions connected with the plan for the establishment of the security zone, there arises first of all one important point which causes the situation of Germany and the other belligerent powers to appear disparate with respect to this : that is, while Germany has never pursued territorial aims on the American continent, Great Britain and France have, however, dur- ing the course of the last few centuries, established important pos- sessions and bases on this continent and the islands offshore, the practical importance of which also with respect to the questions under consideration here does not require any further explanation. By these exceptions to the Monroe Doctrine in favor of Great 430 International Relations Britain and France the effect of the security zone desired by the neutral American Governments is fundamentally and decisively impaired to start with. The inequality in the situation of Germany and her adversaries that is produced hereby might perhaps be eliminated to a certain extent if Great Britain and France would pledge themselves, under the guaranty of the American States, not to make the possessions and islands mentioned the starting points or bases for military operations; even if that should come about, the fact would still remain that one belligerent state, Canada, not only directly adjoins the zone mentioned in the west and the east, but that portions of Canadian territory are actually surrounded by the zone. (4) Despite the circumstances set forth above, the German Gov- ernment, on its side, would be entirely ready to enter into a further exchange of ideas with the Governments of the American Repub- lics regarding the putting into effect of the Declaration of Panama. However, the German Government must assume from the reply of the British and French Governments, recently published by press and radio, that those two governments are not willing to take up seriously the idea of the security zone. The mere fact of the setting up of demands according to which entrance into the zone mentioned is not to be permitted to German warships, while the warships of the adversaries are officially to retain the right to enter the zone without restriction, shows such a lack of respect for the most elementary ideas of international law and imputes to the governments of the American states such a flagrant violation of neutrality that the German Government can see therein only the desire of the British and French Governments to do away with the basic idea of the security zone, first of all. (5) Although the German Government is entirely ready to enter into the proposals and suggestions of the American states in this field, the German Government can feel certain of a success of the continuation of the plan of the security zone only when the British and French position that has been made known is fundamentally revised.