South America and the WarKirkpatrick, F. A. (Frederick Alexander)
History
South America and the War
Kirkpatrick, F. A. (Frederick Alexander)
Latin America -- Economic conditions; World War, 1914-1918 -- Latin America
In the United States this double movement, intellectual and economic, is
still more marked. Latin-American history and economics are regularly
taught in the universities, and prizes are provided for essays on
historical works on those lands. Harvard University has a special
endowment for Latin-American studies, an Instructor in Latin-American
history and a South American Library of 10,000 volumes; and the
University, in order to encourage the entry of Latin-American students,
dispenses with the use of the English language in the Entrance
Examination in certain cases. The Jesuit traveller, Father Zahm, better
known by his pen-name of Mozans, has presented his South American
library to Notre Dame University, Indiana. The Rector of the Leland
Stanford Junior University places at the disposal of the University his
library of 7000 volumes on Brazil. Scholarships are granted in the
Universities to Latin-American women students. In the year 1913,
Latin-American students in American universities numbered 813. American
scientific missions are at work in Latin America, as well as missions of
teachers to study educational methods in those lands and to invite
return visits to the United States. One hears, moreover, of a
Spanish-American Athenæum at Washington, 2000 institutions teaching the
Spanish language, 1700 clubs formed for the study of Latin America, new
magazines dealing exclusively with those regions, Argentine men of
letters received with an honoured public welcome, an Inter-American
Round Table, founded by representative ladies of New York, who propose
to hold annual meetings of women, to take place successively in the
capitals of the American Republics.
This educational and social movement accompanies and supports a great
business effort directed towards Latin America. The latter has an
obvious bearing on the subject of Pan-Americanism, which is treated in a
later chapter: but it is convenient to indicate the facts here, as
forming part of a general movement of approach by other peoples towards
Latin America. The American business effort assumed concrete form at the
beginning of the war, when the United States Government invited the
Finance Ministers and leading bankers of all the American Republics to a
Financial conference at Washington. All but Mexico and Haiti accepted.
The conference met in March 1915. A committee was appointed for each
republic, and their reports were submitted to a joint committee. The
decisions so reached were unanimously accepted by the whole conference.
They recommended a standard gold coin for the whole of America, also
unification of regulations concerning classification of merchandise,
customs, consular certificates and invoices, trade marks and kindred
matters. Questions of banking facilities, transport and credit were also
discussed.
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