Evening star., 1932-08-14
BY GASTON NERvAL.

depression traC mOOeTH Clleo navy
witnessed, when most OF the Latin
American countries have been
forced to suspend payments on
their debts and some of the large
European powers are reluctant to pay
theirs, a geographically small nation
keeps up, religiously the service OF its
foreign obligations, maintains a bal
anced budget and announces surplus
in its treasury.
In the midst of worldwide social
and political agitation, when govern
ments. big and small. are tottering at
the mercy of aroused domestic passions
aided by the depression, the same
country reports internal peace, no So
ciaI unrest, no political prisoners, no
Communist plots.
can imagine the skeptical reader
wondering if am talking of Utopia.
Or of Voltaire'S the best of all posi-
bic worlds" He is wrong either way.
The country with such an unusual
record of political and economic bo-
nanza in these times actually exists.
And it exists in Latin America. where
the reader probably would least look
for it,
OF all the continents, Latin America
Is the one which has reported more
political upsets and more widespread
economic distress in these three years
of world depression. Countries - the
Latin Acknowledgment almost en-
tirely on one or two single products,
the fall in the prices of raw materials
and agricultural commodities reduced
their incomes in half. or more, I'M
balancing their whole financial systems
Countries which in most cases had been
misgOverned by men who prof1ted un-
der the shade of good times, the eco
4hay,1 TiY die
order and violent changes, the logical
result of discomfort and material want.
Had Surplus Last Year.
Even today, after several internal
commissions. most of the Southern
Republics are still undergoing period
full of economic difficulties and full of
political uncertainty. Almost all of
Latin America is in straits. And-what
is even more important to the foreign
observer-moSt of it is in default.
Yet, it is in Latin America that the
fortunate nation with the unusual eco
nomic and political standing may be
found. The Dominican Republic (area,
1880 square miles; population, little
short of million) has uninterruptedly
maintained the service of her external
debt, kept a balanced budget-a rarity
in these days-and accumulated, last
year, a treasury surplus. A recent
cable dispatch reported that final
official figures released by the Emer-
gency Budgetary Committee of the
Dominican government showed a bal
anced budget and a new treasury sur
plus for the half-year ended June 30"
The dispatch added that these results
were the elimination of the authorities
efforts to remove the administration OF
government finance from local politics
and place it on business basis.
AS a consequence, today, when most
of the Latin American governments are
externally in default and internally
still struggling with financial problems
which endanger their own stability, the
present administration of the Domin-
lean Republic increases the national
credit abroad and grows stronger at
home. It's successful management of
the country's finances in such difficult
times as these. and the recognition of
that success by foreign nations, are
constantly adding to its prestige, with
the result that all sectors of public
opinion in the island republic are rally
ing around the government. This con-
tributes to strengthen the stability of
the situation and this stability, in turn,
is the best ally of the authorities III
coping with the economic needs of the
country.
Holiday on Tuesday.
Next Tuesday marks the national
anniversary of the Dominican Republic.
In the last few weeks several Of the
Latin American nations have celebrated
their Fourth of July" and upon those
occasions had an opportunity to dis
cuss the difficult political and economic
conditions they are at present going
through. Now that 1t is the Dominican
Republics turn, it seems relief to be
able to report a different and more
cheerful picture.
Allowance made for the element of
luck or chance which enters into all
human activities, some explanation
must be found to account for that diff
ference in conditions among countries
. of similar national characteristics
l which have lately gone through similar
experiences. Most Of the Latin Amer
! ican countries, the Dominican Re-
I public included, have had change of
government by force since 1880. In
/ fact. the Dominican Republic was the
first one 20 start the series early that
! year. The causes of those changes were
\ sinilar-economic unrest, political op-
Y preston, government by clique, and so
on. The military nature of the move
4 ments which put an end to the old
regimes was also common to all OF
them.
However. not quite three years after
these revolts started in Latin America
we find the countries which suffered
them in vastly different conditions.
While some Of them. the fewer, have
been able to complete the change or
derly, holding elections which resulted
in the establishment of new, constitu-
tional regimes which are still in power,
others plunged themselves into series
of internal convulsions, one upset fol-
lowing another and one government
following another.
1t seems to me that the explanation
to this, again making allowance for
the unexpected and the unseen, should
be looked for in the human element
involved. 1 have always believed that
very few nations are fortunate enough
to find the right man at the right
time. And the case Of the Latin Amer
lean republics in their latest crises
seems no exception to the rule.
Take two typical examples: Bolivia
and Peru underwent revolution a