Evening star., 1934-01-07
Spanish Revolt Challenge to American
Democracy and Basis of Philosophy

| fraternity. the ones which have real
meaning in the economic field.
Face Social Revision.
Latin America faces social revision
In that struggle Andre Siegfried, who
recently visited South America, sees
| the social problem co1ncldlng with the
racial problem in many of our coun-
| tries.
To speak accurately and philo-
sophically. thinks your own Van Dyke
| the revolution in the United States
was not a revolution. 1t was reSiS-
tance 1t was not a question of OBJ
tanning new rights, but of preserving
the old ones Our revolutions of in
| dependence, although Influenced by
the creole aristocracieS, were not for
the purpose primarily of defending
established rights, but rather for the
purpose of creating new ones.
When we adopted our political and
social institutions 120 years ago we
did not have to behead a king, resort
| to terror or storm BaStile. 1t was
enough to pick up the available fruits
of a revolution that we did not suffer.
The convincing force of those trium-
| phant ideals of democracy avoided in
ternal struggle in our countries. Au-
COCracy was QedQ. democracy was not
! only logical. but the only alternative.
Now everything is opposition and per-
Secution to the new social gospel In
Latin America. But we must not forget
that by the year 1900 Narino, who later
| became President of Colombia, was
prosecuted and jailed for having trans
lated the Constitution of the United
States into Spanish.
! The Leftist radical movement. born
in France, created democratic socialist
and radical parties in practically every
civilized country. 1t succeeded, how
ever, only in increasing the confusion
of democratic systems of government
In reality the spirit Of the Left has
taken no disciplined, efficient form ex-
cept when 1t became either communism
or fascism-in other words, when 1t has
completely repudiated the democratic
system This is a truth that must be
admitted, however reluctantly. In the
same way we must realize that fascism
received its inspiration from the Left
1t is a mass movement and. although
1t guarantees and defends the rights OF
the propertied classes, it has shorn
them Of many Of their privileges, par
ticularly their political power.
Provide Certainties, Not Theories.
! Communism and fascism owe their
! growing power especially to their ability
! to captivate completely the spiritual at
| titude of individuals. Their strength
| lies in the fact that they provide GER
/ tainties in government to minds that
have been stumbling over theories.
OF course, it will be difficult to place
! the fierce individualism of SpanlardS
and Latin Americans under fascist dis
cipline. The movement has just ap-
peared in Spain and there already are
blue shirts in Castillo and green shirts
in Catalonia. The same thing is hap
pening in Latin America, where shirts
of all colors are appearing.
The crisis which is going to bring
about a change in the political and
social systems of Spain and Latin
America is not ended. To that crisis
could be applied what Andre MauroiS
wrote recently of the North American
experiment: The Roosevelt expert
ment has not failed, it has not sue
ceeded-it is Just starting"
I am not pessimistic as to the ina
result of this battle of the century, In
which we are all either interested spec
tators or wounded actors. At the bot
tom 1t is nothing but one great prob
..cfn of collective and individual ethics
I maybe the ethics of true Christianity.
| How interesting it is to read the
Apocalypse today! Lately have been
reading the famous work of Father
Lacunza, the great Chilean Jesuit exc
gete, who In the eighteenth century
wrote his Interpretation Literal de-
Apocalipsis" His prophecy of the de-
formation of the Christian spirit is
amazing. The Apocalypse, in fact, goes
so far as to say that in the period OF
turmoil and discard of Christian prac-
tices which will precede the appearance
of the anti-Christ and ''the coming oi
the Messiah in Glory and Majesty
men will not be allowed either to buy
or to sell unless they carry an emblem
which they will display In a visible
| form" 1t stopped short oIsaying the
emblem would be q Blue Eakle!