The Ypsilanti daily press., 1943-07-29
Observations
First. W orld War
Also Had Bureau
of Information
BY Charles p. Stewart

in Washington a the time ncle
Sam was getting on into the last
war. n I had been | would have
been able TO compare then with
now. thus forming a possibly intel
llgent conclusion as 10 whether to-
days state OF confusion in our
capital is on a par with that erss
or about 10 times rs cuckoo
If had been there | would have
been on some sort Of news run
and in a position 10 Judge what To-
cal conditions were like.
Cnluckily for me, shortly before
We became involved in conflict
No. !. was assigned by one OF our
big informa ion n-gathering services
TO share in the organization OF lis
Latin-American bureau. with head
quarters at the mouth OF the Rio
de la Plata. one hig river TO the
southwark OF the record breaking
Amazon
There was stuck in Buenos
Aires. when We finally did get into
the luckus. and promptly was con
scripted to make news medicine
in the southern Latin republics for
George Gleels Yankee Committee
on Public Information lthe so
called "Compub'D. ancestor OF Ell
mer Davis Owl Of current prom
inence.
II wasn't such a hard job. due
10 George Creel's skill at avoiding
interference al II. George was not
nearly enough at hand to antici-
pate hut he was never hampered
Now. what I'm curious 10 know
is
Was George as diplomatic here
al home as he was in the area l.
infested
Down there | didn't have any
arguments
agreed or our outfit yielded
and there wasn't any quarreling
can quote THdersecretary sum
ner Welles, in my day our last ait
thoritv on Latin America then
first Enthusiastically secretary
He knows lot more about it than
Vice President Wallace Wallace's
Latin grammar is unquestionable
But-who is the hest authority
Ickes. though. doesn't depend OH
grammar.
Latin America. II is true. is
very sensitive TO grammatical
quality. My own clumsiness AZ
it has Handicapped ne gravely.
Nevertheless. by eXerting myself
slmost supernaturally. | lived some
OF this prejudice down. occas-
ionaUy was referred 20 as ami
able meaning friendly
scored one triumph. accidentlly.
by having a little Latin-American
daughter born 10 me in the course
OF my six years residence in the
Argentine
find that she still scores in my
behalf In Argentine quarters in
Washington. / did. indeed, have
TO recall her from the land OF her
birth. al the age OF about six for
a tour OF duty Al home here. Yet.
she married into the United
States consular service. has pro
vided me with two Argentine
granddaughters.
Another fluke in my Latin-Amer-
lean record
Ny own baby, born in the Bue-
nos Aires suburb Of Belgrano. had
TO be. by psrentage and baptismal
birth record. duly registered. and
] reported present for the formal
ity
What I wanted 10 name that
initial child was Alice after her
mother.
Nothing doing. according to that
Argentine registration official He
could not understand expressed 10
him in he North American lsngu-
age Alice, to him. means Alicia
and that is how It went into the
record.
Now. whom does that kid belong
to- and her babies and my grand
babies and on down? II must have
been terrible in olden times. II
is confusing yet.
Yet. this record wasn't so uutty
as the present situation. II wasn't
officially confused.
What country does she or he be
long TO- II is not solely as be
tween The Americas. II is mix
up mess.
The Americas are mixed up
with the Europes and the Asias
and the Interoceanias, too.