Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1919-07-11
A GREAT CHANCE
IN LATIN AMERICA

LIN lain HlNENlUH
Horace Greeley's famous text GO
West, young mani" was paraphrased
by Director General John w. Barrett
of the Pan-American Union in an, adj
dress at Mead Memorial Chapel last
Monday evening to read, GO South "
To an audience made up largely of
Summer Session students and partic-
ularly members of the Spanish School
Mr. Barrett depicted the vast terri
torial extent of the nations of Cen
trail and South America and declared
that the key to great commercial OPP
portunities and to better international
understandings in the Western Hemis-
phere was the study of the Spanish
language.
In beginning This address, Mr. Bar
rett spoke in complimentary terms of
Middlebury College, whose attractions
appealed strongly to him. AS a Yer
monter himself by birth, and distant
relative of DR.. Ezra Brainerd, he felt
closely attached to the college, and
even felt some circumstantial relation
ship to President Thomas himself. Mr.
Barrett's mother, he explained, was a
teacher at Franklin Academy in Ma
lone, n. " at the time that DR..
Thomas father and mother were pu-
pills at that school, and the latter was
conspicuous as one of the best schol-
airs in her French and Botany classes.
"The coming era" said Mr., Barrett,
will be Pan American era. And that
means all America, even including Can
ada, for the Dominion will eventually
become a member of the Pan American
, Union. What this linking together
every nation of the western hemis-
phere will mean, it is difficult to grasp
fully, but it will certainly mean the
leadership of the world; it will mean
an alliance that will consist of twenty
one nations with a population of two
hundred millions and a wealth of four
hundred billions"
Latin America, said Mr.. p~--ett, had
a far greater determining influence in
world affairs than generally realized
and it was because of the support given
President Wilson by the Latin meri-
can representatives at the recent peace
conference, he declared, that Mr. Will
son was able to dominate the confer
ence
Before the Unite Estates entered the
war, the German newspapers and some
in America also ridiculed Mr. Barrett
and his Pan-American Union, he said,
These publications had declared that if
United States entered the war the Lat
tin-AmeriCan countries would swing
over to the support of Germany Ger
many, he said seemed to believe this,
and even declared that the United
States would be helpless because of
the Latin American counter-action.
The result, however was that IS of
the 20 Latin-American countries broke
relations with Germany almost as soon
as the United States declared war on
her, and thirteen of the southern re-
publics declared war upon the Cen
trail Powers. This, said Mr.. Barrett,
was fine evidence of the friendliness of
South America toward the United
States.
The Pan-American Union had been
the greatest agency in binding North
and South America together, he said
The Union has a building at Washing
ton, where the headquarters of the or
ganization are located, which is one of
the most wonderful buildings of its
kind in the world In this building
the representatives of the different
countries have gathered with the sec
retary of state of the United States
and have formed a regular League of
Nations During its establishment
the Union has prevented eight wars
between Latina American countries and
since its organization there have been
no wars at all among any of these
countries. Balfour and Iofre when
they visited the buildings were great
ly impressed with the great work which
the Union is doing Balfour said Il
honestly believe that if there had exist
ed in Europe a building like this and a
room like this and the representatives
of the European countries had met on
the first of August, 1914, the great war
would have been prevented" In the
last 100 years there have been seven
lllutS dS Hduy WdIS III EulOpc dS III
Latin-America, and with the excep
ton of Mexico, no country has seen
a revolution in the last twenty-five
years.
"The whole of the United States,
said Mr. Barrett, as one illustration
of the size of South American coun-
tries could be set inside the country
of Brazil l myself have counted no
less than 10 vessels drawing % feet
of water navigating the Amazon river
2,200 miles from its mouth-a distance |
greater than it would be from the mouth |
of the Mississippi to Hudson Bay"
Many of the smaller countries of
South America were still bigger than |
great groups OF the Northern states,
in fact if a plumb line were dropped |
down the Mississippi river, all east of
that line could be called the Argentine
and would fairly represent it in range |
of climate as well as size. The beauti- |
full city of Buenos Aires can boast of |
the most magnificent newspaper build
ing in the world; schools that would |
favorahlv with the hest in |