Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-05-28
AvANGuARDIA Barcelona.-"We


IL portion of the territory exceeds 80
per cent of the whole area" The
intimation is, of course, that this excess
of dry and barren land Is most I'M
desirable and even pernicious situation;
that such a proportion OF arid to arabic
land Is an unconscionable anomaly.
Perhaps it is natural that this should
vex and alarm us more, as we contem-
plate the future, than what Is shown
by an approximation OF our mental and
spiritual barrenness.
Government bureaus have Just COM
pleted the compilation of statistics
which show that 43 per cent of cur
so-called "analfabetcs" c"analpha betes)
know neither how to read or write.
The remaining 81 per cent can do one
or the other, but their education ceases
with that single accomplishment; nor Is
it likely that their qualification in either
art is absolute. The existence of this
illiterate multitude is purely an animal
existence, or, better, We might say
vegetable" existence, retaining this
analogy to the comparative fertility OF
the soils with which We began this
homly, and so represents an insuper-
able obstacle to our country IN its
advance along the highway OF human
progress.
Pondering this lugubrious panorama
of our aggregate intellectual hardness,
the mind is incapable OF mag1ng IN the
number Of years which will be neces.
sary to change radically this aspect OF
Spanish immobility. In consequence. Is
recognized more than ever the necessity
Of resorting to a definite program OF
educational intenSiflcation. Unrelent-
ing warfare must be waged upon illit-
eracy Ignorance must first be driven
into the remotest corners of the repub-
lie and then exterminated.
If Spain Is ever to resume her once
eminent and glorious place among the
chief nations Of the world the idea Of
a dominant and cultured class must for
ever be cbsoleted. Education must be
thorough and 1t must be universal. 1t
must be for the proletariat as well as
the aristocrat. 1T must be without dis
tinction for all classes Of society. Further
delay in combating mental obfuscation
Is not only dangerous-it is fatal!
It 1ill no longer suffice that we COM
placently fold our arms and blandly
opinicnate that education--and espe-
cially sufficiently liberal education-is
for the few and not for the many; that
certain castles require enlightenment
and that the lower strata do not; that
the "hoi polloi" need no mental train
ing preparatory to digging the trench
or hewing the tree. They must be fitted
for their coming heritage of better
things, and the most serious problem
now confronting US, political unrest not
excluded, Is to make the realization
Of these benefits Immediately enectual
and feasible.
The schoolmasters, rather than the
militia, shall become the bulwark Of the
country, but it must not be q pusillani-
nous and penurious pagagogy, which
heretofore, because of incapacity and
indifference, has aggravated the gross
lack of useful instruction 1t was en-
ployed to impart.
Argentine Books
Accepted in Nicaragua.
La Noticia, Managua.-Taking into
consideration the storm of protest in
itiated by La Noticia and its readers,
the ministry Of public instruction has
decided not to sell at auction the two
truck loads Of books which recently ar
rived here, the gift of the Argentine
government, for the library Of the In
stitute de Managua. It was originally
decided to sell the books because the
Argentine authorities neglected to pay
the duty on them when the books ar
rived at the customs ONCE. It was soon
revealed, however, that the public con-
sidered such action savoring strongly of
rank ingratitude, since these valuable
books and documents were contributed
to the institute by the republic Of Ar
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