Evening star., 1941-04-17

nights raid.
tivating cultural and trade relations
in Central and South America.
Each Diverted by Europe.
"Our colonial attitude toward Eu-
rope" he said, "our turning toward
that continent as the source of our
culture, in the happier days when
we were less concerned about Eu-
ropean ideologies and bombers than
we are today, diverted our attention
from substantial Latin American
cultures older than our own.
THE colonial attitude of Latin
Americans toward Europe diverted
them from interest in the United
States"
Mr.. Wallace said that "the fault,
in the failure of American neigh
bors to be truly neighborly, has
been more ours than that of Latin
America" and ne added:
we have indulged, maladroitly
and mistakenly, a superiority COM
plex with regard to Latin Amer
leans who, as result, have
shrugged shoulders.
They have known us too largely
through hard-boiled concessionaires.
whose government, too often, has
the concessionaire point of view.
Too many of us have known
them through Richard Harding Da-
Wis end o. Henry.
Business Tactics Denounced.
"A few days ago I received from
an American resident of Central
American republic letter in which
he discussed scathingly the conduct
of Yankee businessmen in Latin
America, and the tremendous dam
age being done to the prestige and
the defensive safety of the United
States by unsavory tactics of GER
tain irresponsible American cor
porations, with results advantageous
to totalitarian powers.
HE ascribed such practices to
what he terms the archaic policies
and methods of our consular and
diplomatic officers, who rarely know
the language of countries to which
they are assigned, and who isolate
themselves from the life and the
pulse of the peoples with whom
! they are supposed to work"
Mr.. Wallace asserted: Germans,
for more than a generation, have
been putting diplomacy-that of
merchants, coffee planters, school
teachers. hotel keepers-ahead 1of
everything in Latin America. Their
penetration didn't begin with Hit
| ler."
The editor told his colleagues
that 'the United States has paid
less attention to its own vital prob
lens in Latin America, especially
tropical America, than they merit"
He added:
United States newspapers have
not devoted enough space or the
services of enough competent resi-
dent, Spanish-speaking correspond
ents, to Latin America.
Tropical America Productive.
Tropical America, which modern
means of transportation has brought
to our doors virtually, is almost
magically powerful as a producer of
commodities which are necessities
to u.s.
Ezequiel Padilla, Foreign Minister
of Mexico, whom Mr.. Wallace had
invited to address the convention,
sent a telegram expressing regret
that official duties prevented him
from coming.
From the head of one of the Ma
tion's best city governments the
editors learned what a good munich
pal administration expects to re-
ceive from the newspapers which
serve its community.
Two Great Functions.
Mayor James Garfield Stewart of
Cincinnati declared newspapers had
two great functions in addition to
reporting the news.
He said they should not advocate
anything of great Importance with
out thorough analysis, and that
they should foster spirit of friendly
cooperation among all the varied
groups which make up a COM
munity
Drawing distinction between the
old-time editorial writer's, who wrote
party platforms, and those of today,
Mayor Stewart said editorials of to-
day are not as effective as they used
to be.
This, he said, was not the fault
of the editorial writers, but only the
result of change which today finds
the average newspaper reader af-
fected more by the headlines on
page one than the editorials inside.
In the present emergency, the
speaker said, the newspaper can
render a great service toward
preservation of this democracy by
helping to build an internal de-
fense.
Census Statistics Offered.
Many significant facts uncovered
by the 1910 census were pointed out
at a luncheon by DR.. Vergil D.
Reed, acting director of the Bureau
of the Census.
Speaking on how to make use of
census statistics. DR.. Reed told the
editors these trends already had
been revealed as tabulation of the
census returns progressed:
America Is emerging from the
melting pot.
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