Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-18
REPUBLICANISM In THE AMERICAS

Porfir!o Diaz. who has thus had all the
continuity OF reign. After his sixth
reelection, July &. 1900 he said: II firm
ly believe that where the confidence Of .
OF the governors is accomplished In adj
vance. since confidence is the fundamental
basis of government. II is confidence
that sustains the administrative editics
and engenders periods of prosperity. All
governments based upon confidence may
be sure of success"
After conflicts had rent the country:
the invasion by the United States, the
invasion by the French: the civil con-
hfcts which were terminated only by the
arbitrary power OF Gen. Diaz, the coun-
try longed for peace. Alone of all the
republics of South America IL had the
happy fortune to find a man capable
of bringing il success In spite of the con-
stitution itself. Diaz had the wisdom TO
keep the power. Elected In 1871. he
was defeated in the following elections.
but was returned TO power in 1884.
Everywhere else there is disorder. In
security and the violence OF parties. 4
Peruvian, Senior Francisco Calderon, in
an article, Contemporary Peru" declares
that during the nineteenth century.
since the proclamation OF the republic.
concentrated i'm politics and struggles for
power Senior Calderon cites Flora
Tristan. gifted compatriot. who wrote
in 1894:
1t is not actually for principles for
which Spanish-Americans fight, It 10 for
the chiefs who reward them by the pill
lage of their brothers." The malady OF
the South American republics could not
be better portrayed.
Colombia has had seventy revolutions,
Venezuela 14 within three-quarters OF a
century, Bolivia and Chile are perhaps
up to the same mark. And the re-
publics of Central America-what can
be said of these need not be said
These so-called democracies have very
serious lessons to learn. They are not
adapted to the conditions because they
nave not come 10 such form OF gov
eminent by evolution; that is. by sacri-
hces and devotion to principle.
One of the former presidents Of the
republic Of Argentina, an eminent states
man, DIR. Carlos Pei
PellegrlnlS legrini, wrote: 1.-The writ
ro,u..+ ten constitutions which
these people gave them
selves declared their independence These
constitutions were copied from the Con-
stitution of the United States, or that OF
Switzerland, and became soon after adop-
ton a dead letter. These constitutions, in
deed. are in complete contradiction with
the traditional and political habits Of the
masses, and, because for their regu-
lar application they required a political
education. which was entirely lacking
i'm South American peoples. A century
would have been necessary i'm order that
immigration. material interest and the
influence of civilization could have mod
fed the political mentality Of the natives.
in putting into action the principles Of
government and in wiping out the causes
of anarchy, which had troubled them
for so long n period.
DR.. Pellegrini says in defense OF South
Americans that when the Anglo Sa xons
arrived on the north coast of America in
the first half of the seventeenth century
and founded the cities of New York. Bos-
ton and Philadelphia there was already a
century and a half that America had
been discovered and explored by Span
iards. The colonies were formed OF
groups and families which had abandoned
their country to seek new one where
they could live and labor protected from
persecution and from religious and poiit.
ical intolerance. The mariners of Spain,
on the contrary, brave and audaciou
plunged into the unknown in order to dis
cover new worlds and conquer lands and
subjects for their country and king.
1t is certain that the taste for labor and
liberty which aided the founding Of Vir-
ginia and New England is an Anglo-Saxon
u dit, dS TIE tdStc Oh ddttHluIc, IttklOuS
proselytism and spirit of authority re
vealed the Spain of the sixteenth cen-
fury. If there was no resemblance be-
tween the communities on the shores OF
the James in Virginia, the Hudson in New
York, or the Hoorn Kill, now called
Lewes, on the Delaware, and the EN-
comiendas" in South America, where -
feudality of soldiers, functionaries and
adventures reigned supreme over low.
caste natives. IT was a situation due to
circumstances.
1t should be said. to be just. that SPANS
colonial policy. which was to exploit her
colonies with the sole purpose of extract.
ing riches for the personal use of the ex-
times.
DR.. Pellegrini does not contest the force.
persistence and action which he confesses
are the racial character
SUPERIOR istics that played a cap
o,.. ital role in the history OF
&coAIAes' the thirteen colonies of the
grand republic. These colonies. after
having transported on the new soil the
customs, habits. social and political laws.
have formed since their declaration OF in
dependence a people and nation.
In South America, on the contrary, the
natives received from their masters no
political education and maintained their
habits and customs unchanged even to
the present There is little wonder.
therefore, that populations composed OF
converted and half-breed Indians. who
have no notion of government except that
of personal power, should fail to discover
the ideals of democratic government.
DIR. Pelle GRIM is right. The South Amer
lean republics had a much more difficult
Il hat fhxarn rGYl ttIa-
lie.
NJ. Gustav lie Bon expresses the belief
that the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon
is proved by 1.-The psychological laws OF
the evolution of peoples" The institu-
lions of a people are the expression OF
their soul, and if it is easy enough for
them to change the form they may not
change the foundation. And NJ. lie Bon
cites as example the evolution of the
United States compared with that of His
pano-A American republics, in which the
soul of a people governs its destiny, ana
the very Insignificant role which institus
tons play in that destiny
NJ. Roz concludes his argument by the
affirmation that democracy in itself pos.
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