The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-10-17


 them to shrink
 CTTSSm from giving ut- terance even indirectly to this senti- n1ent which is uppermost in the minds of a great many of them.
 Occasionally, however, when they find North American, as they call us, who speaks their language, not only literally but also in the sense of congeniality in mental approach, they do unburden themselves. That is what happened 8 short time ago when the new $5,000,000 steamship Rio de Janeiro of the American Re- publics Line was christened in the Sun shipbuilding yards at Chester, Pa.
 NO SHIPS, NO DEMOCRACY
 Two Latin American gentlemen were alongside me on the platform. Neither one came from Brazil and they were conversing in Spanish. The dialogue ran something like this:
 "They tell me this boat will never run in the South American trade"
 "Who says SOP"
 q heard a high officer of the line say 1t might be taken over by the U. s. government for war service"
 But we must sacrifice to make the world safe for democracy"
 "Yes, but democracy is gone in the Western Hemisphere If the Gen. tral and South American countries are allowed to sink into economic chaos, and without ships to and from our ports that is what will tn- evitably happen"
 Since that day in Chester our Navy Department has taken over the beautiful steamship Rio de Janeiro. The emergency" makes this understandable, but our enemies are busy telling our southern neigh bors that this is just one more evi- dence of the insincerity and hypoc- risy of our entire Pan American movement.
 KEEPING DOORS OPEN
 Unfair and preposterous as is such a charge in the case of this ship, the conduct of many of our countrymen and women on trips to the other Americas and their utter ances in meetings and forums held throughout the United States for the purpose of discussing these re- gions, so often puts us in 8 ridicu- lous position in the minds of our neighbors that the totalitartans find fertile soil upon which to drop the seeds of their own ruthless propa- ganda.
 Two very recent incidents, more or less horrible examples, and one altogether praiseworthy, help to tell the story and point a moral.
 Recently nationally known North American society sponsored party of 28 business men and engineers to tour South America by plane. One of the announced objectives of the trip was the in- vestigation of ways to link our in- dustrial technique with raw mate- rials produced in South America.
 Some good men went on this junket. A few of them really knew South America, the people, the institutions and the language spoken. Theoretically the venture seemed sound, but according to one of the members of the Colombian reception committee at Begota, where the first stop was made, the thing went sour because of the per- sonality and approach of the lead- CT of the American group. He ar- rived Q few days in advance of his fellow travellers and was met by 8 committee of Colombians headed by a former cabinet member who knew the United States and was g good friend and admirer of its peo- pie and its institutions.
 The visitor was taken for drive. Local institutions and edifices were pointed to with pride, but nothing was right, according to the visitor. We do 1t this way in the U. s. A., you are 50 years behind the times, was the spirit of the distinguished visitors comments. His talking down" to his hosts even extended to a dissertation on certain antiques shown with pride at a dinner party given in his honor and which he pronounced limitations.
 When the main party arrived, must of the enthusiasm of the hosts had oozed. The schedule permitted but the briefiest stay. Many local plants and points of interest could not be visited. The visitors flew away. The former cabinet minister, friend of the United States, was sore and embarrassed.
 ACTOR-AMBASSADOR
 Here's another example. Some one in this country got the bright idea of sending famous movie actor to South America as a special ambas- sador. Measured by U. S. standards this may make sense. but not to many of our Good NeighborS" in the south.
 From the course of five casual conversations with nationals from as many Latin American countries came this unanimous reaction: it is offensive to our pride: we do not look upon the actors profession as on a par with the diplomatic; to us movie actor is "comico." A Bra- zilian said. We sent you Carmen Miranda;1 suppose you had to re- ciprocate,"
 It is refreshing to hear the other side. Under the auspices of the Carnegie Foundation one of our famous playrights and novelists visited the republics of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. He was sincere in his approach, neither offending with exaggerated praise, nor irri- tating with patronixing advice. He