Evening star., 1932-08-07

VI fOurth OF July. On august
\ 10, 122 years ago, the natives
of Ecuador, led by the 'criollo'
patriots - descendants of Spaniards,
born in America-rose In arms against
the crown of Spain.
They did so. inspired by the ideals
of the French revolution and the War
of Independence of the United States,
but they had to fight long years Of an
uneven war bsfore their freedom was
completely achieved. finally, after the
battles of Pichincha and Junin, and in
consortium with the VeneZuelans and
Colombians, they constituted the 1nde-
pendent republic of the great Colombia,
under the leadership of the iberator.
Bolivar, the George Washington OF
America
Soon after Bolivar was dead however,
| in 1880. his dream of a united fedora
! t3nn Of southern republics collapsed,
| and out of it three distinct and Sepa-
.AN republics emerged Venezuela, CO.
! lombia and Ecuador Since then, Ecua-
| dor has had rather uneventful his
| tory viewed from an international
point of view but internally she has
been undergoing series OF changes
and reforms, not always peacefully
wrought, natural to a state in process
of reorganization In later years this
|
way to more settled and orderly times,
| in which the natural resources and
| energies of the country have found
greater opportunities of development.
| About all the average American citi-
zen knows about Ecuador Is that 1t
| is located somewhere around the Equa-
| tor, and that only because it happens
| that the English word for that geo.
graphical line has almost the same
spelling And yet Ecuador, in spite OF
, her small territorial extension, Is, po-
| litically speaking, one of the most ad-
vanced countries in the New World. In
Latin America the countries which are
smaller geographically seem destined to
make the greatest social and political
| progress.
Undoubtedly there are few people in
this country who know that that small
and far-away Latin republic is under
taking today certain politico-Soclal
changes of such importance as to be
only comparable to the reforms that
statesmen are trying out in some OF
the most progressive nations in the Old
World.
When Fascist Italy announced to the
world that she was going to change her
legislative system, abolishing the tradi-
| tional bodies of So-called representa-
tives of the people" and substituting for
them political bodies composed OF
representatives of professional classes,
such as the universities, scientific and
cultural organizations, workers unions.
commercial, agricultural and industrial
associations, ETC., the press OF the whole
world discussed the importance and
probable results of this innovation,
which did away with the principles,
practices and prejudices that had grown
| uy11o a :
we have come to call democracy.
Ecuador Effects Change.
But when Ecuador, a state hardly
known to readers of American news
papers, adopted a similar system, the
fact passed almost unnoted and little
attention was given to the general
: elections, not long ago held down there,
in which for the first time not the
, titles and professional groups, chose
the national Senators. Yet this is one
, of the most outstanding political de-
velopments in Latin America, and one
which may well have great influence
} upon further cooperative movements
in that part Of the world.
The Ecuadorean Senate, composed
until recently, as in other democra-
|
, of each one of the provinces, depart
ments or states comprising the nation,
now consists, according to the new
constitution, Of IS Senators chosen by
tho provincial councils, and Of "15
Senators representing various callings,
! as follows: One representative Of the
universities, one Of teachers in high
and special schools, one of teachers Of
primate and normal schools, one Of the
press and scientific academies, two OF
farmers, two of commerce, one ofain-
dustries, two Of workingmen, two OF
the rural population and one of the
national armed forces" Also, there is
to be a special Senator "for the de-
fense and care of the Indian" In this
way the Senate, heretofore a political
institution, has been converted into a
technical entity, in which for the first
time the various professional classes
and the organizations which constitute
the social fabric actually participate IN
directing national affairs.
Not So Radical as Italy.
: This change is not so radical as that
carried out in Italy, where the Cham
ber is made up exclusively Of occupa-
tional representatives, but, in any
: event, this is the first time that such
an experiment has been made in the
New World, changing the control oi
one-half of the Legislature from the
hands of politicians to those OF tech
nical and professional men.
7 The new Ecuadorean constitution
which provides for this legislative re-
form, is the thirteenth to be adopted
since Ecuador became an independent
state in 1880, upon her separation from
I the Republic of Great Colombia when
: Spanish dominion ceased in South
America. AL the previous Ecdadorean
: constitutions have been liberal and ad-
!, vanced-perhapS too advanced for the
general social and political conditions
of the country. As long ago as the
: middle of the last century, the funda-
mental charter of Ecuador contained
precepts which only recently have been
| included in those of other American and
European nations.
Among the outstanding reforms which
the new constitution establishes, 1t is
} interesting to note the following
Property rights are recognized as so
| cial utilities which not only afford
benefits and rights to, but also impose
duties and obligations upon others, thus
tending toward the Subordination Of in
dividual liberty to higher needs of a
social character. Ecuadorean women
are granted all the liberties and privi-
leBeS Oh the stronger SEX, pOSScSSlIlS
political and civil rights, the right to
vote, and being protected by the most
advanced legal provisions for sex
equality"
Liberal Divorce Laws.
Divorce laws are sanctioned in their
most absolute and liberal sense, pro-
vision being made for the consent d.
vorce, simply upon petition Of the two
parties. without formal proceedings of
any kind, the sole requisite being that
the consent of both be declared before
the courts Of first, second and third in
stance. These are but few of the
many steps in advance that Ecuador is
taking in the field of politics and So
cial legislation. Unfortunately, space
does not permit us to discuss them all;
we have but a few lines left in which