The New York herald., 1921-02-20

COLBY URGES STUDY
OF SOUTH AMERICA
Mutual Confidence Can Only
Be Brought by Revising
Approach, He Says.
LANGUAGE A BARRIER
Secretary Suggests Schools
Open Door by Teaching
Spanish.
LANGUAGE A BARRIER

PHILADELPHIA Feb. 19.-Secretary of
State Colby, speaking before the Amer
Ican Academy of Political and Social
Science here tonight on his recent trip
to South America, said he saw enough
to realize that one of the first duties
incumbent upon the people Of the United
States is to reexanline every postulate
with which they approach the contem-
plation or the study OF the great repub
lies of Latin America. DIR. L. S. Rowe,
Director-Gcneral OF the Pan American
Union, introduced the Secretary.
I'VE can never bring our relations to
the peoples of Latin America to the
point of intimacy, confidence and re-
spect.' he said, "until we realize that we
must find the right psychological ap-
proach to Latin America. That means
the correction of most of our assump-
tions and the studious and open minded
appreciation of life in South America.
intelligently considered"
'"rhe great barrier to American prog
ress abroad is language" Secretary
Colby continued. '-rhe people of the
United. States are not linguists. You can
hold no converse with a man except in
the terms of common vocabulary.
Until the utterly unfounded fallacy that |
English will carry you around the world
is exploded, and until the men whom we
send as representatives, either diplo-
matte, consular or commercial, to the |
countries of Latin America speak the
beautiful tongue OF the Spaniard or the
POrtunIIase oIIr nrpQraaq will bg haltip
and disappointing.
SchooIed in Languages.
Il wish our schools would clean out |
the rubbish from their curricula with !
which they agitate the youthful mind
without improving. Better than a smat- |
tering of botany, biology, zoology, as
tronomy, trigonometry, plane. spherical.
or anything else, the youth of America |
should be schooled in languages. Lam |
guage is the key which not only opens |
the riches of the stores of great litera-
lures but opens the doors of influential |
profitable human contacts with great
peoples. The ordinary graduate of an !
American academy or college knows /
nothing to do with MS smatterings of
science except to forget them. We must |
indeed and without delay master the !
languages of the friendly nations who I
can we succeed in cultivating genuine
and vital relations with Them
After saying the primary purpose of |
his trip to South America was to repay |
official visits of state made to the |
United States by President Brum OF
Uruguay and President Pessoa of Brazil, |
Secretary Colby added:
II may say for the President and
my countrymen that the return OF
nil it,,a
friendly neighbors to the South was
inspired by the same kindness and |
sponaneity as characterized the original /
visits. The President had INDUCED the |
hope that the way might open for him
personally to return these visits, such |
was his appreciation Of them. But that /
was not to be, for melancholy reasons
with which you are all familiar. 1t was
my happy fortune to receive the Presl- /
dents designation to go in his place.
They DO Not Envy Us.
"It was delightful and indeed touch I
ing to see how the opportunity was /
welcomed, both officially and by the |
people, to express their desire for an (
increased intimacy Of relationship and |
intercourse with our country"
The countries of South America. said \
the Secretary, are not at all what the 1
generality of people in the United \
States suppose them 10 be. They are 4
quite as ready to give profitable in
struction as they are in need of any /
and to give that instruction to us"
he said Instead of being staggered .
by our economic strength, our rapidly (.
expanding population. our tinmlstakable .
economic and financial authority in the .
world, they feel quite able to hold their .
own Instead of envying us. 1 think
II quite as true to say that there are
many developments which they behold
I'm this country which are unattractive
and even repellent, from which they
hone in some way or other to protect .
themselves"
The American who succeeds in the +
Iatin-American countries. said Mr..
Colby. will be the man who assists them .
in the solution Of the problems.