The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-12-19
DR.. ROSS OF WISCONSIN UNlVER-
SITY MAKES CHARGES AGAINST
THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH AMER
ICA WHICH ARE REFUTED BY
UNBIASED TESTIMONY.
written for The Catholic Bulletin by
p. A. F.)

r. a. r.
DR.. E. A. Ross of Wisconsin Uni
versity told the people of the First
Methodist Church of Fargo, North
Dakota, on a recent occasion, that the
average tourist does not get to the
heart of things in South America, and
that policy of giving pleasant reports
to keep the friendship and trade of
South America has been in force in
this country. DR.. Ross is not an aver
age tourist and he does not approve
of the policy of kindness and good
nature. He gave the Fargo Metho-
dists as unpleasant an account of
South America as he could possibly
have done. The mystery is, what he
was aiming at, or was he aiming at
anything at all; was he merely pos
turing in front of the mirror and
throwing bouquets at himself, in i'm
itation of the man who went up to
the temple to pray and forgot all
about the prayer in the contemplation
of his own excellences?
The doctor says that our manners
in this country are the worst in the
whole world. If he had made that
statement in the first person singular,
a whole lot of South Americans would
agree with him. In the East, they have
quaint notions about our Western
Universities, and DR.. Ross way of
dealing with South Americans will
not impress the critical people of Yale
and Harvard.
AngIo-Saxons and Aborigines.
'The relations of the Spaniard to
South America were totally different
from those of the English to North
America" says the doctor "The Eng
lish found savage tribes and hard
climate. The Spaniards found natives
possessed of considerable civilization,
docile ana guod7 woT4acr5, anu vase uo-
posits of precious metals. The English
had to do their own work and get their
feet squarely on the ground. The
Spaniards established an empire on
the bowed backs of slaves, and they
have never since set foot on the
ground"
This is the old story. People who
are not "holier than thou" often say
that it was a pity that the Puritans
landed on Plymouth Rock instead of
Plymouth Rock landing on the Puri-
tans, and they give as their reason the
historical fact that after landing upon
Plymouth Rock, the Puritans first fell
70
aborigines. The Protestant Bishop
Wilberforce in his History of the Prot
estant Episcopal Church in America,
says. "They seized without scruple
the lands possessed by the Indian
and it is calculated that upwards OF
one hundred and eighty thousand OF
the aboriginal inhabitants were
slaughtered by them in Massachusetts
Bay and Connecticut" (p. 2S)
Their descendants when writing what
they call history will not let the In
dams rest in their graves, but insist
upon painting them in the darkest
colors. Golden once said of Lord Pal
merston that he possessed so impartial
a mind, that he had no bias-not even
towards truth; and this critical esti
mate may be applied to many a Puri
tan account of Colonial times.
Professor Bourne of Yale says thai
"the tragedies and blunders of Eng
lish colonization in America are OTTER
forgotten and only the tragedies ant
blunders of Spanish colonization are
remembered" (The Philippine Is
lands, Introduction, Vol. l, p. 35.,
"With the Anglo-SaXon," says Profes
sor Bourne colonies, from being prim
arily fields for the propagation of Chris
tianity" (as they avowedly were will
the Spaniards) "and incidentally TO
the production of wealth, became th
field primarily for commercial and in
dustrial development, and incidental,
for Christian work. The change ha
contributed vastly to the wealth o
the world and to progress; but it ha
been fatal to the native populations
The Spanish policy aimed to preserv
and civilize the native races an
colonial legislation provided elaborat
safeguards for the protection of tn
Indians. The preservatio
and civilization of the native stock /
Mexico, Central and Spanish Americ;
and above all, in the Philippines, stan
out in marked contrast, after all a
lowance and qualifications have bee
made, with the fate, past and pc
spective, of the aborigines in Mort
America, the Sandwich Islands, Ne
Zealand and Australia, and clearly di
ferentiates in their respective tendei
cies and results, the Spanish and En-
Iish methods" (pp. S5, 36). tt
French according to Bancroft "won tt
affections of the savages and retaine
it by religious influences. The
seemed to be no more masters, b'
rather companions and friends" Chi
tory of the United States, vol. ".
79l. The invasion of Anglo-Saxonis
he describes as that "of formidab
enemies arrogant in the
nretensions, scofing insolently
those whom they superseded, drlVil
away their Catholic priests and intr
ducing the traffic of rum which t
then had been effectually prohibited