New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-22
SOUTH AMERICA.


THE SPANISH DEPENDENCIES, 10 20
50 uis,oTv ~ Their Civilization. BY Ber-
nnrd Moses. Pm d, IL" ~ IVY ,sy,.r &
60 pp XVI. 394; TX 4H harper o.
Bros.
There is little danger OF our haV'"s
too much information or too many good
hooks about Spanish America. inns
nation is at last fortunately becoming
awakened 70 the immense practical I'M
portance Of commercial and other reia-
lions with those countries, ana 'heIe,
fors IN the necessity of acquiring all
nossible present-day knowledge OF
,h.m and of their peoples. but
equally great is the interest WIN
which historical knowledge Of them IS
invested. Indeed. we may say thsI the
latter is indispensable to the complete
rass of the former knowledge. we
cannot understand the South America
90 N. twentieth century unless we are
measurably familiar with the oou.h
America Of the sixteenth, seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. because pc
fora those countries became lnde-
nendent REPUBLICS they were for three
fuu centuries under the practically un-
disturbed control, culture and expioi-
seton ~ an historic power. They were
Spanish dependencies for perlo1 as
long as the whole history OF New ioiH
and New England from the tins OF
Hudson and Winslow to the present,
so that when New Amsterdam ana
pIvmouth were founded South America
ya, dotted with Spanish settlements
.lreadv several generations old. Wheh
,ho.. state. established their inde-
incidence. therefore. they were en-
dowed with the results OF three cen
turtles Of Spanish civilization ana CUT
ure some Of them. particularly IN
iurisprudence, carried to the highes'
For n Ia 70 be remembered that the
spanish explorers. conquerors' Ho'-
ernors and viceroys were by no mean, i,
ali monsters OF ruthless cruelty ana
ranacItv. There were. 1t is true
Pedraris and Pizarro. whose oeVii-
tries have been exploited, but never
because OF the impossibility OF DONG
it-exaggerated. But there were, just
ga .rplv. Duke Of Palsta and Count
Of Monclava, whose wise and peheVo-
lent rule would have rehected great
credit upon any nation. II the former
orc remembered for execration' justice
- +rua historical sense of proper
tion require that the latter eha'i
EQUALLY be remembered for commences
,ion. II is fine feature OF Dr' moses
history that he thus gives adequate
snace and appreciative attention 10
,bo oood that was in the rule OF spain,
ond corrects the distorted and oaletui
aspect with which the early annals Oh
South America have too often been IN
vested. He indicates unerringly' 100
Tho cause of the failure of those en-
frightened and benevolent civli gov
ernors to effect the work wh1ch they
had in mind and in heart anu
the cause OF the oppression ano
deqradation which, in spite OF
tbem were the lot Of the ma
tives. It was the familiar conflict OF
authority between Church and state,
the ecclesiastical power overriding ana
tbwarting the civil power. A famous
massage to that effect in Kingsley 5
"Westward Hol" put by the romancer
upon he lips of Spaniard Is Aoun-
dainty confirmed by this non-roman'i'
and authoritative history
For DR.. Moses has given Us history
pure and simple, quite devoid OF rhet
oric and romance. He makes no pre-
tence 10 a graphic or dramatic style
The reader will look in vain for th'
"purple patches" of Macaulay or thu
sustained and unhagging fascination o.
a Motley. In a sense that Is pl'y
since the history of Spanish America
above that of most lands, would lenC
itself without exaggeration to hterar,
pageantry Of surprising splendor. Anc
many Of it's most thrilling passages anc
most enthralling names are in volumes
sealed against the vision of the worlc
in general. Cortez we know, and Pr
zarro. and a little of Balboa. But OF
what significance TO the average reader
are the names Of Bastidas, OJeda
Nicuesa, Aguirre, Valdivia, Quesada
Nevertheless, each TO his own work. II
our present author Is not an historical
dramatist he Is without challenge
Maintaining and authoritative snnalist
II at times his pages seem dry, they arr
always lucid and always precise. lnior'
nation. IL not inspiration, is unfAll
ingly there.
The subtitle of the volumes is thus
most fitting. The work is IAN lntroduc
tion 20 the history Of the CIVILIZATION
OF South America. Therefore u deai'
no. with romantic exploits, with DoI'
d;scoveries. with thrilling feats a.
arms. with hideous butcheries. but Il
laws before us the organization OF gov
ernments, the development oil ludlclai
scelesiastical and administrative al,
tsirs the organization Of society, anc
the principles OF industrial economy
which prevailed in the South American
dependencies Of Spain. Such orgahlZass'
,inn Of affairs was elaborate, methodi.
cal and in some respects admirable IL
presented, Of course, STRIKING con
trast 10 the organization when, Degin-
ming a century later, was developed IN
TIE English and Dutch colonies OF the
north: Just as the CIVILIZATION ana IN,
situations of Spain in Europe dihered
from those Of Great Britain and the
Netherlands. The study Of the span
ian system and its differences from our
own Il ACCIDENTALLY Of intense interest
n Ia also Of immense Importance from
the most practical point OF view OF
present-day political, commercial and
social relations; for through 1t alone
can we rightly comprehend the radical
differences between Spanish America
and Anglo Saxon America al the pres
emit time, and thus create and maintain