The sun., 1919-06-02
CINEMATOGRAPH AN
AID TO RECIPROCITY
Consul-General de Lima Sees 1t
Bringing U. s. and Brazil
Closer.
URGES OFFICIAL ACTION
Says knowledge Thus Gained
Will Break Down False
Prejudices.
URGES OFFICIAL ACTION
ny JOSE c. ALvEs DE LIMA.


Brazilian Consul General and Inspector
Of BraEiIidn ConsiiIdtes IN Central
America, North America and Asto.
Specially toriten for the Latin American
Section Of THE SUN.
or all discoveries made in the nine
teenth century none perhaps will exert
more beneficial influence on mankind
than the motion picture.
There Is no doubt that the tendency
of human nature Is to draw individuals
on toward one another so as to obtain
from one another the greatest sum OF
knowledge.
II can easily be seen why we try
every day to improve our various sys-
TENS of transportation, making them
more harmonious all over our planet 30
far as regularity Of service can COM
port with its intensity.
The great travel undertakings around
the world, formerly by slow and un-
certain sailing vessels. Drawing all sorts
of delays and dangers, with the crudest
kind OF nautical instruments, are now
made regularly. like clockwork. in less
than Jules Verne's prophetic eighty days
by swift and palatial steamers. This
emphasizes the fact that the uncertainty
OF ocean travel is now virtually thing
Of the past
However daring and wonderful was
the feat of Read and his companions.
the first to bridge the ocean In an air
plane, no less praise, no less admiration
~ due to Magellan, Bartholomew Dias'
vasco da CANA and other noted sea
captains about whom Camoens wrote
the greatest chapter of Portuguese his
tory.
All natlonn, even the most modest, are
endeavoring all the time to improve
some branches OF public and private en-
terprise carried forward by that noble
stimulus OF progress. following on. keep
ing pace pdif pdssit, with the advances
Of other nations.
For the development OF reciprocal.
worldwide humanity a great role Is to
be played by the cinematograph, and
that without an enormous expenditure OF
public funds. 1t will also furnish public
administrations with a means of prac-
teal demonstration OF the different SER
vices they are called upon to under
take, and It is easier to keep In mind
what We see with our own eyes than
what Is described to us in books. As
O rule q romance, q work of fiction, in
terests US more than a work bearing on
dry, scientific facts.
1t is easier to Ak in our memory what
pteases our eyes and appeals to our
senses. II is one thing to learn in this
way and quite another to reason out an
abstract problem.
A child, without being a mechanic can
readily form a pretty clear conception or
the theory of the steam engine when he
sees each movement analysed and de-
picted under his own eyes, knowledge
he would never acquire were he TO nave
o simple design or photograph.
Those OF us who frequent motion pic
ture shows accompanied by our children
begin to realize how much their knowl-
edge of the practical and the useful In
every day objects has been increased. In
fact, these children know more OF the
outside world to-day than the young men
of twenty years ago. 1t is interesting
and even uncanny almost to US older
men to hear them discuss among them
They begin very early to have mind OF
their own, DESTROYS OF learning tangible
things that they can appreciate.
The c!nematograph will appeal more
and more to the minds OF those in pub
lie Office. No matter how we'll written an
srticle on a given subject may be, adorn
It, II you will, with numerous pictures or
photographs, 1t does not convey to even
ma ture minds the lessons living, NOV
ing sentient scenario can impart
The boys and girls In Brazil have
learned more about the United States in
the last few years by frequenting Amer
ican cinenatograph shows recently pop
ularized there than for whole genera
tons previously. l can personally vouch
for the interest taken in these shows
and their eagerness to get more and
more American scenes, to the almost to-
tai exclusion of European pictures
Is not this an admirable medium to
bring closer together our two nations
especially the youth OF Brasil and Amer.
lea? Would it not be worth while fol
our respective Governments to take ad-
vantage of this popular and effective
means of stirring the imaginations and
cnlightening the minds OF our coming
citizens? 1t can be done!
Under careful supervision nothing but
real. practical, elevating ideas and pur-
poses need be promulgated.
AS An educational engine the cinemat.
ograph Is already in use in botany, agri.
culture and surgery. Its possibilities are
practically unlimited and its value as 4
teacher is realized at once wherever EN-.
ployed. SO that we may soon expect I,
see the big motion picture concerns ex.
plotting the South American field in ar
educational way for mutual benefit OF all
the republics OF North and South Amer.
lea.