The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-06-08

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but to historical causes which had de-
Ipraved them Of such advantages as the
6wiss p~cssess-and had given them con-
stitutions quite united to their case.
Three Glasses Of 6panish-American
Republics.
Although for the sake Of concise
nsss I have spoken Of these republics
ferences between those which have adj
vnnced and are advancing and others
whose political health seems little bet
tar now than 1t was ffty years. age.
We may distinguish three classes (
States. The first consists Of these In
which republican institutions. purport-
ing to exist legally. are a mere farce.
the government being. in fact, a mill
tary despottsm more or less oppressive
tor Of the ruler, but carried on for the
benefit OF the executive and his
friends.
The second includes countries where
there IL q legislature which imposes
some restraint upon the executive in
which there Is enough public opinion
to influence the conduct OF both legis-
lJAluI0 hIk0 CACCutANCs Az tAAC0O oeAtSS
the rulers, though not scrupulous in
their methods Of grasping power, rec
ognize some responsibility to the citi-
zens and avoid open violence or gross
Injustice.
The third class are real republics.
in which authority has been obtained
under constitutional forms. not by
armed force. and where the machinery
OF government works with regularity
and reasonable fairness, Laws are pass
ed by elected bodies under no execu-
tive coercion, and both administrative
and judicial work goes on In . duly
legal way.
Instances Of the first class are too
familiar to need mention. BY far h
worst is Hayti. The most striking ex-
ample OF the second class was Mexico.
Porfirio Diaz.
Two Bona Eide Republics.
OF the third class good examples
may be found in Chile and Argentina,
both Of which are bona ide republics.
Chile Is OF all the Latin-American
States tho one which best to
European or North American notions
Of . free constitutional common
wealth, one Of the chief being
that her population is unusually no.
lmogeneous and unusually c~oncentrat-
ed within 4 comparatively small area
Northern Chile IL an arid desert,
Southern Chile a forest wilderness, but
in the center there IL an area I'VE
hundred miles long by fifty wide with
in which tho large majority Of her g.
800, 900 citizens dwell. The suffrage
practically In the hands Of = COM
~paratively small landed a~ristocracy.
and q few lawyers. Government. In
GLIDING what we called tho party
game. IL carried on with the same
spirit and by the amt methods as 1t
was In England in the eighteenth
century, allowing for the differences
between q monarchy and q republic
There are constant changes In the
the general lines OF national policy
are preserved. There have been no
revolutions within the living memory.
but there was once a civil a
4 Argentina has had q moro troubled
ana more sanguinary history than
Chile, and has more recently emerged
from among the breakers into smooth
be settled and railroads were made
and labor was provided by the influx
Of italian and Spanish immigrants and
large cities sprang up. The effect OF
general prosperity was felt In q grow
Ing of the value OF order and
peace. Though the foreign merchants
whose interests were involved took no
direct part In politics, their influence
was felt not only IN promoting sound
er finance. but in making the native
men Of substance feel that frequent
revolutions were retarding the devel-
opment OF their properties.
Thus since 1893, there had been no
armed civil strife Of the old kind. That
flavor Of mintarism which was so
strong in former years has now vir-
tuaIly disappeared. The administra-
pervaded by . legal spirit In short,
Argentina II now, like Chile. a con
stitutional republic, whose defects.
whatever they ma be, are the defects
OF q republic. not Of a despotism dis
guised under republican forms.
What Argentina Suggests
The examples OF these two coun-
sries prove that there Is nothing In
South American air or Spanish blood
Ito prevent republican institutions
from working. IL the working IL not
perfect neither II It perfect anywhere
else in the world. What these coun-
tries have shown u that with favor
ing conditions fhe truc constitutional
spirit can be more and more infused
into constitutional forms and the old
habits Of violence eradicated-
a. A40O VA Ah PRA
suggests the process by which we
may expect that other LAtin-Ameri-
can states will. by degrees. advance
towards a more settled and genuinely
legal government. What 10 the first
thing that IL needed to enable any
community ia prosper? is It not the
desire for order and the respect for
order, the sense that there must be
a curb on the impulses and passions
Of individuals. some law duly en-
forced, some means Of checking vio-
lence and protecting life and prop
erty against physical force?
This sense grows with h growth
Of property and with the development
Of Industrial habits The larger the
number. and tho greater the influ-
ence in q community. OF those who
feel that revolutions injure %ot-only
the country, but also themselves per-
sonally, tho better IL the prospect OF
breaking tho evolutionary habit. for
q public opinion grows up which con-
dennis violence ana actively opposes
those who resort to It.
Moreover, the moro property there
IL and the more industry there II In
a country. tho smaller 10 the proper
ton Of those who join in q revolu-
ltion either from q love OF fighting oE
in tho hope OF lettering their for