236 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1050 



PATBONIZING THE SOUTH AMEBICAN 

 SEPUBLICS 



The report made by Mr. Bard to tlie trustees 

 of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace'^ de- 

 scribes a tour of South America made by a 

 party of twelve young men from our univer- 

 sities, and one naturally inquires what the 

 party proposes to do in behalf of international 

 peace. The purposes of the expedition seem 

 to have been comprehensive — remarkably so, 

 in fact — though nothing is said specifically 

 about peace. It is inferred that peaceful ends 

 are to be attained through the cultivation of 

 friendly relations in general and by the build- 

 ing up of North American commerce with 

 South America. Any one who has much per- 

 sonal acquaintance with South American peo- 

 ples and conditions is necessarily interested in 

 such expeditions. 



It is fully realized nowadays that neither 

 persons nor peoples can be friends unless they 

 have some acquaintance with each other, and 

 we are bound to think well of any effort that 

 really helps, or seems likely to help, towards 

 a better acquaintance with our Latin neigh- 

 bors. But the discoverer of a new country 

 aways does well to be modest in his claims, 

 and, in so far as possible, to look at things from 

 the point of view of the country and of the 

 people thus discovered. And really the busi- 

 ness of discovering people is a bit risky, for 

 the reason that they may not be entirely new, 

 nor is discovery altogether flattering to the 

 people discovered. A while ago Mr. John Doe, 

 a distinguished North American, made a trip 

 to South America, where he was kindly re- 

 ceived and handsomely treated, and when he 

 came home he gravely announced that South 

 America was waking up. A gentleman who 

 had knovsm that part of the world for a great 

 many years received the statement with the 

 quiet remark : " I suspect that it is Mr. John 

 Doe who is waking up." 



1 ' ' Intellectual and Cultural Relations between 

 the United States and the Other Eepublics of 

 America," by Harry Erwin Bard. Publication 

 No. 5, Carnegie Endowment for International 

 Peace; Division of Intercourse and Education. 

 8vo, 35 pages. Washington, 1914. 



But Mr. Doe's discovery was not the first 

 one, nor yet is it the last one. Various soci- 

 eties for the promotion of all sorts of things, 

 and boards of trade from all sorts of places, 

 have made the grand tour of South America, 

 visiting the same cities, being received by the 

 same people, and seeing the same sights, and 

 they have all come home with the same story: 

 " South America is waking up ! " 



When an organization of such serious pur- 

 poses as the Carnegie Endowment for Inter- 

 national Peace entered the South American 

 field, it was supposed that, having grown to 

 man's estate, we had now put away childish 

 things. But though this last expedition takes 

 itself very seriously indeed, the program as 

 given in the published report looks remarkably 

 like the same old thing. The description of 

 the experiences of one of these junketing expe- 

 ditions is much the same as that of any other. 

 They make known their coming beforehand in 

 the countries to be visited, and the program is 

 about the same for one as for another. Greet- 

 ings are wired back and forth from various 

 stopping-places on the • way, and even while 

 they are yet at sea, so that by the time one of 

 the chief cities is reached the whole nation is 

 fairly agog. Arrived in port, they are met with 

 special launches by official committees ap- 

 pointed by the government, at whose expense 

 they are put up and entertained at the best 

 hotels; traveling inland they are given special 

 ears and special trains, and are met at rail- 

 way stations by various dignitaries, often with 

 bands of music and fireworks; they are driven 

 about in the finest of motors; they are shown 

 all the shovt^ sights of the cities they visit; 

 they are taken to the operas at public ex- 

 pense; refreshments are served them on all 

 possible occasions; they are banqueted and 

 toasted and hear beautiful complimentary 

 speeches and deliver a few themselves; and 

 finally, loaded with presents, pictures and 

 publications (p. lY) they get back on board 

 their steamers (at government expense again), 

 where they settle down in their comfortable 

 steamer chairs, profoundly impressed with their 

 ovsm importance and by the sensations they are 

 evidently creating. And all these manifesta- 



