Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-19
BY CASTOR NERYAL.
N "act of God" has given Uncle
Sam an opportunity to earn the


~ Sam an opportunity to earn the
"A good will of the Latin Ameri-
4 4 cans far greater than that
slowly built up through many
years o. diplomatic effort and repeated
pledges Of friendship.
What the United States Marines
have Just done in Nicaragua, in a
heroic task of rescue and succor after
the Managua earthquake, and what
the United States Government and pri-
vate individuals in this country have
done and are still doing to relieve the
desperate situation of the quakeS vic
times will in great measure help to
remove suspicious and resentment pro-
voked by the presence of u. S. blue
Jackets in q Latin American republic
during the last few years.
For disaster so sudden and over
whelming, as New York magazine
points out, never before was efficient
aid so providentially close at hand.
American Marines, stationed in
Managua for q number of months for
the protection of internal order, and
American Army engineers surveying
the projected canal route through
Nicaraguan soil joined hands, imme-
diately after the disaster, to take con-
lieve suffering and prevent starvation
and pestilence.
In the meantime President Hoover
within q half hour after the first news
of the quake reached Washington, or
dered the Navy and War Departments
and the Red Cross, official relief
agency of the Nation. into action. In
q few hours the swifteSt of airplanes
and cruisers we're speeding to stricken
United States Navy, the United States
Army, the American Red Cross and
private relief agencies organized in
this country, all working together.
The task of directing the feeding and
rehabilitation of Managua'S 10000 resi-
dents made homeless by the earthquake
was taken over soon afterward by Of
flcials Of the American Red Cross, and
money and food donations from public
and private sources have not yet
stopped pouring in from the United
States.
A Helping Hand.
OF course, it was only natural that
the most effective help should come
from the United States, the strongest
and the wealthiest Nation in the CONT
nent. She has always rushed to the
aid Of other stricken countries in the
Western Hemisphere, as at the time of
the earthquake in Guatemala or the
hurricanes in Porto Rico and the Do
minican Republic. In this case of the
Nicaraguan disaster, however, the
whole task Of salvage and help has been
almost entirely in the hands of Uncle
Sam.
According to press correspondents it
seems impossible to overestimate what
the presence and cooperation of the
Marines and Army engineers and sur
geons meant. A dispatch in the New
York Sun thus described the services
of the brave bluejackets: Men were
assigned to rescue persons from the
wreckage, to clear the streets for the
passage Of ambulances, to fight the fire
and to take their posts against the
looters. Had it not been for the Ma
rines the loss of life must have been
much greater and inevitably there
would have been appalling confusion"
This noble, unself1sh action cannot
fail to gain acknowledgment for the
high humanitarian ideals of this coun-
try. To 1t we must add the sympa-
thetic attitude of the American press.
private organizations and the people
Of the United States in general toward
unfortunate Nicaragua. Never before
had sentiment Of sorrow been so in
tenSely felt in the great masses which
make up the population of this country.
Probably the presence of several thou
sand American citizens in the zone of
the disaster Influenced this sentiment.
To complete this series of good deeds,
Americas self-appointed ambassador at
large, VIII Rogers, few last week down
to Managua to convey to the homeless.
stricken Nicaraguans message of good
viii from the "gringoS" of the Northern
lands. Listening to the popular humor-
lists wise cracks, a cable dispatch re-
ports grieved, sad President Moncada
Of Nicaragua smiled for the first time
ragua's capital In few seconds.
Advising the Neighbors.
on Tuesday next Prof. Edwin KEN
perer Of Princeton University will leave
Lima. homeward bound, after a three
months stay in the Peruvian capital.
during which he studied Peruvian
finances and economic problems at the
request of that country's government.
Soon after the success of the military
uprising which brought to an end the
11-year rule Of President Leguia in
Peru, Prof Kemmerer, internationally
known authority on financial matters
and close observer Of Latin American
conditions, was asked to assist in the
economic rehabilitation OF that country.
At that time he was studying the CO.
lonbian finances and advising the gov
eminent Of Bogota, under a contract
made with President Olaya of Colombia
during his pre-inaugural visit to the
United States. This prevented Prof.
Kemmerer from accepting the Peruvian
invitation at once, but Immediately