Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1908-04-11
South American Nations.

south American NATIONS.
DR. S. l.. Rowe, who recently made
tour of observation through the South
American states. says that the think
ing classes of the United States should
revise their conceptions of the peoples
OF Latin America. In an article in the
North American Review he declares
that It Is a fundamental mistake with
us to attempt to study the South
American continent as a whole. In
spite of certain common traits. due to
community of racial origin and social
and political tradition, the various
countries. when compared one with an
other present differences quite as
marked as those which distinguish the
| countries of Europe"
Our most serious mistake this writer
says, has been Judging the life OF
these nations by the play of their party
politics" and thereby picking up an
impression of instability which
more careful analysis fails to justify"
To quote
In all the countries of South America
| there exists a wide gap between the po-
| htical life of the nation on the one hand
| and its economic, Industrial and social
activities on the other. In Chile, for In
| stance. It would be difficult to imagine
| more rapid shifting of governmental pol
| Icy. Under the parliamentary system,
| for the maintenance of which the revolu-
! ton of 1881 was fought, the ministries
succeed one another with almost bewil-
! dering rap6ity. And yet this instability
! of political life affects the life of the ma
| ton to a very limited degree. The great
! mass of the business community look
upon politics as the game of a small group
| of professionals. a necessary evil, toler-
! able so long as 1t does not become too
| serious an obstacle to progress. small
! group of young men, however, are begin
| ming TO sound a new note. that of the
civic obligation Of every citizen, an idea
new to the political life of South America.
Although the republic of Chile is still
in the grip of a political aristocracy
the awakening of the laboring classes
| to a consciousness of power mas
brought the country to the first stages
of social revolution Brazil is a fed
eral republic. loosely knit together, but
with an administrative organization
sufficiently developed to assure stabili-
ty," and Argentina offers the specta-
Gle of an organized democracy, which
has passed through a peaceable social
revolution and in which the political
system is gradually adapting itself to
the new social conditions"
Although the well nigh perpetual pc
iiticaI revolutions in the states south
of us are Il menace to life and proper
ty and an inSuperable obstacle to in
dustTial progress" DR. Rowe thinks
that on the whole the elements of sta
bility there heavily outweigh those of
instability. In support of this view
the writer analyses the South Ameri
can domestic codes. Divorce is I'm.
known. and there Is probably no other
section of the civilized world ''ir
which the family organization rests on
so solid basis" The rearing and ed,
ucation of the children are left to the
mother to far greater extent than In
Europe or the United States" and
throughout all the affairs of the family
the mother Yields the predOminatina
Influence Finally DR.. Rove says it Ii
a mistake to suppose that Latin Ameri
cans have no patriotism The pOliti
clans may be INSCRIPTIONS and selfish
but the mass of the people are deter
mined to allow no outside interference
with the normal development of theh
native land"