New-York tribune., 1901-08-02
SOUTH AMERICAN TROUBLES.

lightning change artists" seem TO be in
charge of some South American affairs One
day are informed that Venezuela is threat
ened with revolution at the hands Of a formi-
dable invading army. and that martial law has
been proclaimed throughout the country. The
next daN comes word that the invaders and
revoluli0nists nave been utterly routed and that
profound peace reigns over the land. Nor is
Colombia much less versatile We should hest
tale 10 estimate the number of times in the last
six months the revolution there has been ended
and has started up again. Granting that Cura-
Goa is a source of errors. and that not all the
news which comes from carthagena is instinct
with the eternal vcrities. we must conclude that
where there is so much smoke there must be
some fire. and that these two States the nearest
to us OF all in South America. are in cond-
ton of ominous unrest. or at least of unstable
equilibrium.
Those two States comprise the whole region
from Costa Rica to British Guiana, and from
the Caribbean Sea 10 the valley OF the Amazon.
They have a frontage OF nearly two thousand
miles on the Caribbean, practically on the At
lanric or as much the United States has
from Quoddy Head 10 Key West. They have
an area Of nearly one million one hundred thou
sand square miles. or more than One-third as
much as the entire United States. And they
have a population Of more than seven millions,
chiefly people Of European descent. Such a
land Is a formidable scene which 10 enact
the drama Of civil war. Ii is vastly larger and
much more populous than We're our thirteen
colonies at the time of the Revolution.
II is not 10 he supposed, however. that even
when revolution Is under full headway the
whole land and all the people are concerned in
II or affected by il. The capital Of each coun-
try and some of the ports and few other
towns are more or less affected by the raids
and revolts of ambitious or revengeful poll
,icians. But IT is probable that the bulk of the
country remains undisturbed. and that there
are millions of people in those States who hear
less and certainly care much less about the
revolutions than do here. There is no indi-
cation of anything like general participation OF
the people in any Of the revolutions They
Drobaby for the most part regard such things
with the easygoing fatalism characteristic Of
I.aiins in the tropics. thinking. and with TRUTH
that Il viii matter little TO them which of the
rival chieftains occupies the Presidential chair
And SO the action of mere handful of soldiers
Of fortune is sufficient 10 cause a change OF gov
crnment
There Is a certain sentimental cause for spe-
s-ial regret ia the circumstance that these two
States have got into so unsettled a condition
Just on the eve of the Pan-American Congress
Practically. however, the one has little To do
g.ifh the other The establishment Of arbitra-
lion among the States would not check reyolu-
ers. for these are domestic, not international
blcs. Such dispute as that between Peru
4 Chill is far more pertinent 10 the congress
fhan all the revolutions in the world. IL is
probable that the root OF the trouble lies in the
national Characteristic lack Of a generally in
formed public spirit and the failure to compre-