The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1938-12-15


south of the Rio Grande speak mainly Spanish or Portu
Huese relative of Spanish
Yet while you can study Spanish at most of colleges
and universities you have to major in French or German
for degree at surprising number of them. Spanish sits
below the SALT for example, at Princeton, Harvard,
Amherst Williams Tufts Boston University and Swarth
more to mention few On the other hand it is treated
with the respect deserves from United States educators
at among Others Yale Dartmouth, Columbia, Fordham,
Rutgers, Colgate, Brown and University of Chicago.
Spanish should be the second language of large numbers
of u.s. Instead too many of educators put the major
emphasis French and German-French because it is
additionally the language of diplomacy German because
it is the favorite language of science.
If we mean what say about going after trade and
friendship in Latin America, ought to do something
concrete about it.
The Germans and Italians doing
CHtUTW something concrete about it. Year be-
E~chcnno fore last the entire graduating class of
Chile's leading technical school
given free trip to Germany and through its chief
featuring and scientific establishments, and back to
Chile, all at the German governments expense. Any
South American college can have Italian exchange
professor for year, costs paid at Rome. And so
Why don't do things like that? Wealthy people
forever endowng scholarships in American colleges and
universities big business sometimes subsdize
scholarships feowshps at technical schools in the
hope of digging up buried talent.
What would be the matter with few scholarships or
feowshp for United States students at South American
colleges and universities? The biggest single advantage
young man in South American business for a United
States firm could have would be the fact that he had
studied at South American institution of higher
learning.
1t may surprise of to hear that there are any
of such in Latin America but there lot of themfor
examples the Universities of Buenos Aires $4,000 STU
dents) Cordoba (3,1OO) and La Plata $4,000 in the
Argentne the University of Chile (4,20O) at Santiago
the big Uruguayan University of Montevdeo (17,0OO);
the historic University of Lima (where the PanAmer-
can Conference is now meetng, founded by Charles
of Spain in 1851.
About the only way we increase our trade with
Latin America sell the Latin Americans better goods
or at lower prices than competitors BOTH Money
isn't sentimental. 1t goes where it
DeCCeT LeuH can buy the most value.
co,.,o Cnun;aL But when it comes to making
friends, these cultural exchanges
suggested above help lot We haven't done enough of
that in times past Americans are probably the worlds
worst linguists- very few of know any Ian
guage other than We've had tendency to be
proud of that linguistic teracy, but it is nothing to be
proud Of If of would get it, we'd have
better chance of making ourselves and country under
stood and appreciated in other countries.
Anyway, we'd like to suggest to young people in
school that it looks if working knowledge of the
Spanish language will be persons best single piece of
equipment for the pulling of important in future
United States affairs The United States is warming up
to the neghbors and the neghbor mainly speak Spanish