The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-29
gives the traveller the impreasseu Of

gives the traveller the impressiou Of
their prevalence.
The sist Of the book Is the author,
account Of his actual experiences Of his
own observations Of the South Ameri-
can republics. 1t appears that he began
to see them very early. early, that Is 10
say. In his own life. and that he has
seen them pretty much all. He began
at tender age with what he calls
early explorations" These explora-
lions evidently occurred a long time
ago. so long ago that one wishes the
explorer had put dates to them. lie
seems carefully to avoid doing this
according to that familiar habit Of con-
scious aging whereby a man of n GER
tain ago prefers that 1t remain an I'M
certain age. and that he get the benefit
OF whatever doubts his appearance may
suggest, one really would like a date
for those early explorations. They were
undertaken in connection with the au-
thor's two brothers, both Of whom sue
| cumbed to their difficulties and dangers.
! One died OF yellow fever. The other
| was eaten UP by cannibals in the forests
| OF Putunayo. !nsomuch that nothing
was subsequently recoverable OF him
pbb bDutJ. DulUluI ClTCuHl-
stance whets ones desire to be more
accurately Informed about tho date Of
It. 30 as to be tho better able to deter
mine whether the foresters of Putu-
mayo are still given to the regrettablc
manners and customs to which the Gem
erals brother fell a victim. But. what
ever the date. the exploration was
an heroic task. Starting from Paste.
Ia, rnta No. 90
tho Andes, the earlier party strug-
glcd through the wilderness to the
navigable headwaters Of the Amazon,
descending to the Atlantic coast, and
getting the remnant OF II congratulated
by Dom Pedro II. ct was at least so
long ago as thaD. after having tr!um-
phantly attained tho object OF the ex-
petition, which was TO discover a navi-
gable waterway between Colombia and
the Amazon. In every respect the effort
OF these earlier explorers was worthy
to be compared with that OF the latest,
Mr.. Savage Lander. who has Just been
publishing the results of his researches
In two thick and Interesting volumes,
embellshed with the products OF the
camera, which his predecessors seem
unfortunately to have been without.
At any rate. this youthful adventure
gave its author rank as an explorer of
his native continent. a rank which he
JAS improved TO the extent Of becoming
one of the foremost authorities upon
the political relations of South America.
The g!st of the book is the account 1t
contains OF the republics OF South
America These later explorations were
made under circumstances very differ
nNt - mi. A. a.
all the appliances OF comfort ana even
luxury that the lapse OF time and tho
influx OF foreigners has brought 10
South America. What the influx Of
foreigners has effected Is more wildly
set forth In this volume perhaps than in
any other single volume to which the
ordinary reader has access. The vol
une Includes that particular character
i2ation OF the several South American
peoples which Prof. Shepherds volume
So conspicuously lacks, however small
may be the blame for its lacking. We
have in this volume that kind OF differ
entiatlon OF what a French critic has
called the little convulsive republics
to tho south OF us" which NJ. Runau-
Narilla had the great luck to typify in !
tho case of Nicaragua by simply re-
producing the postage stamp. which
showed. as the emblem OF that psrticu-
lar conv ulsive republic. a volcano in
active eruption.
But. as everybody knows. and as the
present author brings out perhaps more
clearly than any of his predecessors,
there are great differences among the
little convulsive republics, Some cam
not he decently called little. Others
cannot be decently called convulsive. |
Mr.. Bryce's generalization has become,
in the brief interval between its publ |
cation in the autumn of 1912 and the
present time, curiously obsolete and old
fashioned. For he includes among the
Latin republics that have won their
way to the status OF nations Mexico,
along with Argentina and Chile. whereas
Mexico has since then become, thanks
or not to the participation OF our own
Government, the most conspicuously
"convulsivc" and anarchlstic Of all the
republics TO the south OF us. The pres.
ent author, even while emphasizing the
vague moral qualities which in his judy
ment should be put before mere mate
rial success, aims TO show. and succeeds
in showing. that in proportion to the
preoccupation of each republic with In
uustrIal success, IN contrast with the
qualities on which, as an "Ibero- Amer
lean" he Is inclined to lay stress, IL its
political stability and trustworthiness.
There. for instance, is Uruguay, about
which there are two seemingly contra
dictory, or at least not easily recon-
cilable statements. One Of them. quoted
from distinguished Belgian jurist," is
that Uruguay. from the point OF view Of
c.vil rights. Is the most advanced Of all
the countries Of South America" The
other is that -the administration Of Jus
tice In Uruguay was for many years no.
torlously bad" though Il Is added that
II has now boon 40 far reformed "as to
place It on a Sooting of equality with
the courts Of any other South American
country" Probably tho explanation Is
that Uruguay has publicists who can
discourse eloquently and clearly on tho
bases OF Jurisprudence. and could do 80
even while the courts were administer
Ing something that foreigners could not
recognize as justice. But in other pages
there is an explicit enough account OF
how Uruguay. in spite of Its restricted
area. has been intel,gently developed
"a stock raising country 30 as to make
Its stockmen rich and tho whole coun-