South America and the war : being the substance of a course of lectures delivered in the University of London, King's College under the Tooke Trust in the Lent term, 1918
Kirkpatrick, F. A. (Frederick Alexander), 1861-1953 | King's College (University of London)
-,'i%iii*>ai^.j*i&oasdc~Kjesi*itF*^ R A, KIRKPATRrOK ki.MK»^«ire.^i<aM«w>orwyww6<kyH^at^aaaai^^ 3tl(ata. S?eu $ark BOUGHT WITH THE INQOME OF THE JACOB H. SCHIFF ENDOWMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF STUDIES IN HUMAN CIVIWZATION 1918 Date Due IIAN I .1944 ' "^ V. - 18S> ' Cornell University Library D 520.S8K59 South America and the war : 3 1924 027 831 050 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924027831050 SOUTH AMERICA AND THE WAR CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, Manager LONDON : FETTER LANE, E.G. 4 NEWYORK G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS BOMBAY 1 CALCUTTA^ MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. MADRAS J TORONTO : J. M. DENT AND SONS, Ltd. TOKYO :MARUZENKABUSHIKI-KAISHA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SOUTH AMERICA AND THE WAR BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF A COURSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, KING'S COLLEGE UNDER THE TOOKE TRUST IN THE LENT TERM 1918 BY F. A. KIRKPATRICK, M.A. CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1918 3^1 ^ lo PREFACE This little book contains the substance, revised and adapted for publication, of lectures given in the Lent Term, 1918, at King's College, London, under the Tooke Trust for providing lectures on economic sub- jects. The course of lectures vs^as in the first instance an endeavour to perform a war-service by drawing attention to the activity of the Germans in Latin America, and particularly to the ingenuity and tenacity of their efforts to hold their economic ground during the war, with a view to extending it after the conclusion of peace. A second object was to examine more generally the bearings of the war on those countries, and the influence of the present crisis on their development and status in the world. These two topics, though closely connected, are dis- tinct. The first has an immediate and present import- ance, the second has a wider historic significance. The logical connexion between them may not seem obvious. Yet the first enquiry, concerning German war-efforts in Latin America, naturally and inevitably led to the second, concerning the larger issues involved. The former topic is treated in Chapters i, il and iii, the latter in Chapters iv, v and vi. The term "South America" is used in the title of this book as a matter of customary convenience ; but it is not meant to exclude the Antillean Republics or the Latin-American States stretching to the North-west of the Isthmus of Panama. vi PREFACE Clearly, an essay of this kind, if it was to be of any use, had to be produced quickly. It was impossible to wait in hopes of achieving some kind of completeness. The immediate and urgent importance of the subject has been signally emphasized by the despatch of a special British Diplomatic Mission to the Latin-American Republics, and by the King's message addressed to British subjects in Latin America, in order to inculcate the spirit of collective effort. In the course of this essay frequent mention is made of the struggle for emancipation, of the part which Englishmen took in that struggle and of the great ser- vices rendered to the cause of independence by the action of British statesmen, notably Canning. In a book which aims mainly at a review of present conditions, it is impossible to enlarge upon these topics, since their adequate treatment would involve some consideration of political action on the European Continent and in the United States. But since this passage of past history bears closely on the present topic, it may be here men- tioned that a brief account of these matters is given in the Cambridge Modern History, vol. x, chap. ix. The subject of German "peaceful penetration," which is incidentally illustrated but not expounded in these chapters, may be studied in M. Hauser's book en- titled (in its English version) Germany's Economic Grip upon the World; also in The Bloodless War, translated from the Italian of Signor Ezio Gray. The character of that penetration, with its admirable as well as its odious features, is briefly and clearly set forth in a recent Report (Cd 9059) presented to the Board of Trade on enemy interests in British trade. PREFACE vii I desire to express my indebtedness to Le Br4sil, a wefekly review of Latin-American affairs published in Paris ; to The Times newspaper, particularly the monthly Trade Supplement and the South American number (Part 183) of The Times History of the War; to the weekly South American Journal; and to the monthly British and Latin-American Trade Gazette. The quota- tion on pages 40 — 41 is taken from The Times; and various other passages, not always verbally reproduced, are derived from the same source. It is impossible to thank by name all those who have placed at my disposal their knowledge of Latin- Ameri- can countries. But I owe an especial debt of gratitude to the Master of Peterhouse for his aid and advice in the production of this book. The original matter has been considerably re- arranged for purposes of publication. But wherever convenience permitted, the lecture form has been re- tained in order to indicate that the book owes its incep- tion to King's College, London. F. A. K. August 15, 1918. CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION — GENERAL CONDITIONS IN LATIN AMERICA I CHAP. I. POLITICAL CURRENTS AND FORCES . . -14 II. THE GERMAN OUTLOOK ON LATIN AMERICA . 2$ III. THE ECONOMIC WAR AND ITS PROPAGANDA . 34 IV. THE RECOGNITION OF LATIN AMERICA . . 45 V. EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON THE REPUBLICS . 53 VI. PAN-AMERICANISM 66 LATIN-AMERICAN REPUBLICS . . . • 78 The map at the end of the book shows the formei Spanish and Portuguese possessions in America, and also the existing Latin-American RepubMcs. PAGE V SOUTH AMERICA AND THE WAR INTRODUCTION GENERAL CONDITIONS IN LATIN AMERICA The New World or Western Hemisphere consists of two conti- nents. The greater part of the northern continent is occupied by two great Powers, which may be described as mainly Anglo- Saxon in origin and character. One of them, the Canadian Federation, is a monarchy, covering the northern part of the continent. The other, a republic, the United States, occupies the middle part. To the south and south-east of these two extensive and powerful countries stretch the twenty republics, mainly Iberian in origin and character, which constitute Latin America. These lands cover an area which is about twice the size of Europe or three times the size of the United States. Their population approaches eighty millions. Latin America, extending as it does through every habitable latitude from the north temperate zone to the Antarctic seas, possesses every climate and every variety of soil, and accordingly yields, or can be made to yield, all the vegetable and animal products of the whole world. Moreover, most of the republics also severally contain territory of every habitable altitude, so that a man can change his climate from torrid to temperate and from temperate to frigid simply by walking up-hill. Thus, equatorial lands can produce within the range of a few miles all the products of every zone. Most of the republics also furnish an abundance and variety of mineral products. The name Costa Rica, or Coast of Riches, which was given by the early discoverers to a small strip of the mainland, was prophetic of all its shores. And the fable of El Dorado, concerning its interior wealth, has proved to be not fabulous but only allegorical. 2 GENERAL CONDITIONS Geographical Grouping The geographical distribution of these republics should be indicated. Three of them are island states of the Caribbean Sea. Cuba is the largest of the Antilles ; Santo Domingo and Haiti divide between them the next largest. The rich tropical fertility of these West Indian isles has been a proverb for centuries and need not here be emphasised. Upon the mainland, the vast territory of Mexico and the five Central-American republics may be grouped together, forming as they do a kind of sub-continent, a narrowed continuation of North America. Through this region a broad mountain-mass curves from north-west to south-east. This configuration provides the characteristics and the varied products of every zone upon the same parallel of latitude: the torrid coastal strips, bordering both oceans; the beautiful, wholesome and productive region of the central plateau and long upland valleys ; and finally the chilly inhospit- able regions of the mountain heights. The long sweep of the country south-eastwards through the tropics also provides a wide range of character, from the cattle-rearing plains of Northern Mexico to the coffee and banana plantations of Costa Rica. Nowhere are lands of richer possibilities to be found. The small newly-created Republic of Panamd completes this northern system of Latin-American countries. Thus, before coming to South America at all, we pount ten Latin- American states, three in the Antilles, seven upon the mainland. The other ten republics lie within the continent of South America. That continent is shaped by nature in lines of a vast and imposing simplicity, so that it is possible to sketch its main features in a few words. It is divided broadly into mountain, forest and plain — the immense chain of the Andes, the vast Amazonian forests, the wide-stretching plains of the Pampa, and the colossal water system of the three rivers, Orinoco, Amazon, La Plata. The dominating element is the great backbone, the Cordillera of the Andes. From the southern islands of Tierra del Fuego this cordillera stretches for 4000 miles along the Pacific coast to the northern peninsulas of the Spanish Main, and IN LATIN AMERICA 3 thence throws out a great eastward curve along the southern shore of the Caribbean Sea. This continuous mountain-wall, clinging closely to the Pacific coast, determines the whole character of the continent. In the tropical zone, the trade winds, blowing continually from the Atlantic, sweep across South America until they strike this towering mountain barrier. Then they shed their moisture on its eastern slopes, which give birth to the multitudinous upper waters of the Orinoco, the Amazon and the western affluents of the River Plate. The Amazon rather resembles a slowly moving inland sea, its twelve principal tributaries all surpassing the measure of European rivers. The River Plate pours into the ocean more water than all the rivers of Europe put together. The Orinoco, shorter but not less voluminous, drains a vast area with its 400 tributaries. But the Andes, whose forest-clad eastern slopes pour these immeasurable water-floods across the whole continent to the Atlantic, oppose to the Pacific, in the southern tropics, a bare dry wall of rock and yellow sand. In the north, the garrua, the winter mist of equatorial Peru, supplies moisture for cultivation. South of this region, the rainless desert stretches, a ribbon-like strip, between the mountains and the sea. Here, except in some transverse river- valleys, not a blade of grass can grow for over a thousand miles. Yet it is this very barrenness which has pro- duced the materials of fertility for other lands in the form of guano and nitrate deposits. Far to the south, in the "roaring forties," these conditions are reversed. Here, moisture-laden winds blow continually and stormily from the Pacific, feeding the dense and soaking forests of southern Chile. In the same latitudes, to the east of the Andes the terraced plains of Patagonia supply sheep pasture, thinly nourished by slight rainfall, although, over so vast an extent, these flocks amount to many millions. In the more temperate regions, between these zones of climatic extremes, more normal conditions prevail. On one side of the Andes are the rich valleys of Central Chile, on the other side the wide plains of the Argentine Pampa, formerly given over to pasture, now producing wheat, maize, flax, barley and oats as well as meat, hides and wool. 4 GENERAL CONDITIONS South America has been called the fertile continent. Con- sidering that most of the land lies within the tropics, it might be called the habitable continent — habitable in comfort and health by white men. In form, the continent may be roughly compared with Africa, but the comparison is in favour of South America. The traveller who has sailed along the east or west coast of tropical Africa meets a contrast on crossing the Atlantic. Along the Brazilian coast, he finds a succession of busy ports, crowded with the shipping of all nations — ^flourishing and grow- ing cities, inhabited largely by Europeans Uving the normal life of Europe. The perennial trade winds, blowing from the sea, bring coolness and health; and, almost everywhere, the worker in the ports may make his home upon neighbouring hills. On the west coast, tropical conditions are even more striking. Here, a soft south wind blows continually from cooler airs, and the Antarctic current flowing northwards refreshes all the coast. At Lima, twelve degrees from the Line, one may wear European dress at midsummer and, descending a few miles to the coast, may plunge into a sea which is almost too cold. Moreover, in these regions the Andine valleys offer every climate, and a short journey from the coast leads one to uplands resembling southern Europe. Higher yet, beyond the first or western chain of the Andes stretches the vast and lofty plateau enclosed between the double or triple ranges of volcanic mountains. The western part of Bolivia, though tropical in situation, is a temperate land, lying as it does at a height of above 12,000 feet. This broad Bolivian plateau narrows northwards through Peru and finally contracts into the Ecuadorian "avenue of volcanoes." Here, in the very central torrid zone, a double line of towering peaks shoot their fires far above plains and slopes of perpetual snow. Thence the Cordillera opens out northwards into the broad triple range of Colombia, which encloses wide river valleys of extraordinary richness and fertile savannahs, enjoying perpetual spring. Lastly, it should be noted that some of the best part of South America begins where Africa ends. Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Capetown and Sydney lie approximately in the same latitude, about 34° or 35° south. But some of the best parts of Chile and IN LATIN AMERICA 5 Argentina stretch far to the south of this latitude. Alone of the southern continents, South America thrusts itself far through the cool regions of jhe temperate zone. Hitherto, white settlement in South America has, in the main, followed the easiest lines, along the coast, upon the southern plains and up the river courses. Of the three great rivers, the Orinoco is the least developed, partly owing to natural difR- culties — ^namely, an uneven shifting bed and great differences of water level — partly owing to artificial and political conditions ; but in the wet season its waters admit navigation up the main stream and its principal western affluent, the Apure, almost to the foothills of the Colombian Andes; and the trade winds, blowing upstream, carry sailing craft half across the continent. Upon the Amazon system, Manaos, one of the great ports of Brazil, is 900 miles from the sea: Iquitos, 2300 miles from salt water, is accessible to the smaller class of ocean steamers. Upon the Parana, 1000 miles from the ocean, stands the port of Asuncion, capital of Paraguay, accessible to ocean ships of shallow draught and to large river steamers: stern- wheel steamers can mount the Paraguay River 1000 miles farther to the remote Brazilian port of Cuyaba. The navigation of both these river systems, the Amazon and the River Plate, is limited or rather interrupted by the fourth great feature of the continent, the Brazilian plateau. The Parand and its affluents plunge from this plateau to the southern plain in tremendous waterfalls. The southern tributaries of the Amazon pierce their way down into the Amazonian valley along defiles, cataracts and rapids sometimes extending scores of miles. The Amazonian affluents are mostly navigable from the main river to the foot of these cascades. Above the cascades, there stretch fresh reaches of navigable water, providing many paths into the far interior. Similar conditions are found on the two branches of the River Tocantins and on other Brazilian rivers, such as the Sao Francisco and the Paranahyba. With the future growth of population, the construction of lateral railways and, later, perhaps the partial canaHsation of rivers, there is no limit to the possibilities of internal water communication. The 6 GENERAL CONDITIONS wealth of water power which awaits application is obvious. As to possibilities of water storage and irrigation, it suffices to say that on the Lower Orinoco and also on the Lower Amazon the difference of water level between wet and dry seasons is at least fifty feet, and most of the affluents rise and fall proportionately. The great Brazilian plateau, which has just been mentioned, further justifies the description of South America as the fertile continent— the region of habitable tropics. The vast scale of this plateau and its relation to the River Plate system justify its description here as a continental feature rather than a purely national feature, although it is mainly a national possession of Brazil. From the north-east shoulder of the Brazilian coast, this varied plateau, seamed by many clefts, stretches southwards and south-westward in a vast semi-circular sweep dividing the two river-systems. The Parana and its affluents plunge from this plateau towards the south and west. Northwards and eastwards it sends a multitude of streams to the Amazon and the Atlantic. These Brazilian uplands naturally vary in character and pro- ductiveness, but they are in great part suitable for white habi- tation and especially for the grazing of cattle. There is no winter; there is little of excessive or torrid heat ; the grass grows all the year round ; and in the neighbourhood of some rivers, the grass- lands are annually renovated by seasonable and shallow floods. Political Distribution Among the republics, the United States of Brazil stand in a class apart, by virtue of the Portuguese origin and character of that country, its very distinct history and its immense size, occupying, as it does, more than half the continent. As to the republics of Spanish origin, no single classification suffices. The most obvious division is that which groups them into tropical and temperate countries. The five republics of Vene- zuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, which lie wholly within the tropics, form a group of states which were closely connected in the early history of emancipation and which are still marked by a general though not very close similarity in respect of geography and ethnological conditions. Chile and IN LATIN AMERICA 7 Argentina lie mainly in the temperate zone ; Uruguay wholly so ; and these, with the southern parts of Brazil, are the regions most obviously suitable for white settlement. These three southern republics^ may also be described as the most European part of the continent, whereas the five tropical republics have a large admixture of indigenous, and, in parts, also of negro, blood. The small sub-tropical republic of Paraguay, secluded in the interior of the continent, does not quite fall into either group, but belongs to the system of River Plate countries. For the three Atlantic republics of the southern hemisphere, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, form a distinct group or sub-continent known as the " River Plate" and thus suggest a second classifi- cation into the Rio-Platense and the Andine states. Lastly, a glance at the map shows that Colombia and Venezuela differ from all their southern neighbours in that they border upon the Caribbean Sea, that Mediterranean Sea of the New World which stretches between the two continents. Thus these two republics complete the circle of that Mediterranean system of lands — the Antilles, Mexico, Central America, Panama — in which the United States are the dominant Power and in which Great Britain, France and Holland are also members — one may perhaps say subsidiary members. Thus each of these republics of the Spanish Main has a dual character. They are on the one hand South American continental states; but their coasts also face the coasts of the United States, and their borders, to east and west, touch lands which are not purely Latin- American in character. Venezuela, both historically and actually, faces both ways. On the one hand she is the country of the Orinoco, of a vast continental interior : on the other hand she belongs also to the Antillean system: her eastern neighbour is British Guiana, and her territory almost locks fingers with the British island of Trinidad, which is in some sort the distributing commercial centre for all the Spanish Main. Thus Venezuela completes that long Antillean chain which curves from Florida to the Spanish nMain, a chain whereof several links are in the possession of the United States. This dual character stands out in the early 8 GENERAL CONDITIONS history of the country. For, during most of the colonial period, Venezuela was the only part of South America not attached to the Viceroyalty of Lima. Eastern Venezuela depended on the Audiencia of Santo Domingo and was thus connected with the Antilles and with the Viceroyalty of Mexico, that is to say with North America. Then followed a period of dependence on the Viceroyalty of Santa Fe de Bogota, until finally Venezuela was erected into a separate Captaincy-general. In the Republic of Colombia the dual position has been forced into prominence by recent events. On the one hand Colombia is a Pacific state, an Andine and continental country ; yet her chief ports and arteries of communication lead north- wards ; and, until fifteen years ago, she bestrode the Isthmus of Panama. In 1903 that Isthmus passed under the control of the United States; and Colombia, which formerly included the province of Panama, now practically has the United States for her nearest neighbour. Origin of Divisions The connexion of these states with Europe dates from the first voyage of Columbus across the Atlantic and from Cabral's voyage to Brazil. The fabric of South America, as it stands today, was constructed in the main during the marvellous half- century from 1492 to 1542. During that time almost all the existing states took shape, and most of the present capitals were founded. That work is chiefly connected with five great names, Columbus, Balboa, Cortes, Magellan, Pizarro. Columbus and his companions or immediate successors founded the Spanish empire on the Antilles and the Spanish Main. Balboa sighted the South Sea, crossed the Isthmus, and claimed that ocean and all its shores for the Crown of Castile. Cortes established the empire of New Spain in North America. Pizarro, starting southwards from Panama, discovered the empire of the Incas, shattered their power and set in its place a Spanish Viceroyalty. The political divisions marked out at the conquest, which still subsist in the main, were determined by the course of exploration and conquest. When a separate condottiere hit upon IN LATIN AMERICA 9 a convenient site for a port and foimded a city either upon the sea-board or in some inland situation accessible from the port, his work usually came to be recognised by the creation of a separate government. These conquistadores showed judgment and capacity in their choice of sites and in their marches inland, which naturally followed the most convenient lines of com- munication. In this way it came about that the political divisions in the Spanish empire were mainly determined by natural economic causes, acting through the rather haphazard experi- ments of practical men rather than through any deliberate theory. These natural economic conditions are permanent in character : they still persist, and they account in great part for the continuance of the chief political divisions after the achieve- ,ment of independence and for the failure of ambitious schemes and aspirations after union or federation. Thus the separate "kingdoms" and "captaincies-general" of imperial Spain grew into states _and are now growing into nations. An illus- tration may be found in the Australian colonies. In Australia, separate existence was at first an economic necessity, demanded by the early colonists, owing to the distinct paths of settlement and the distance between ports. Union, achieved later by means of federation, was the work of artificial efforts of statesmanship acting patiently through many difficulties. The "Indies" were dependencies or possessions of Spain down to the nineteenth century. Viceroys, captains-general and governors were sent out from the Peninsula to rule in the capitals: corregidores held office in the smaller towns^: audi- encias, at once tribunals and councils, were established in important centres. The course of trade was regulated and was directed solely to the Peninsula. But the strength and the basis of the fabric lay in the municipalities, which, although the councillors' seats were purchased from the Crown or inherited from the original purchasers, nevertheless offered some kind of pubUc career to the inhabitants and afforded the means of local public vitality. 1 The reform of 1780-84, which established a quasi- French system of intendentes and subdelegados, need not here be treated. 10 GENERAL CONDITIONS Emancipation When Napoleon stretched out his hand upon the Spanish royal family and upon the Spanish kingdom, these munici- palities everjrwhere became the channels of patriotic protest and resistance to French pretensions. Owing to the collapse of the monarchy, the unsympathetic and even hostile attitude of successive popular authorities in Spain, and the action of certain resolute leaders guiding the natural development of local activities, these movements in America soon shaped towards separation. In every capital the municipality formed the nucleus of a junta or convention, which first assumed autonomy and then was forced by the logic of events, and particularly by Spanish attempts at repression, to claim republican independence. The resultant struggle was shared in common by all. Buenos Aires, having worked out for herself a fairly tranquil and facile revo- lution, sent troops under San Martin to aid Chile and to invade the royalist strongholds of Peru. Boh'var, the Caraqueno, liberator of the Spanish Main and of Quito, sent his soldiers southwards through Peru. Finally, Venezuelans and Argentines, from opposite ends of the continent, stood side by side in that battle on the Andine heights of Ayacucho which ended the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru and the Spanish dominion on the continent. The peoples of South America, through all subse- quent divisions, have never quite forgotten that in those days they made common cause and united in a combined effort to lay the foundations of what might be a common destiny. The emancipation of Mexico was a separate movement, which followed a rather different course owing to the Indian origin of most of the population. The issue was confused and hindered by early outbreaks, which were in great part Indian insurrections and class conflicts not directed to any clear aim and tainted by brigandage. An attempt was made to cut the tangle of conflicting interests by the establishment of an independent Mexican monarchy. In 1823 t^s was overthrown by a military revolt, which started the Mexican republic on its stormy career. The movement of separation from Spain inevitably embraced also IN LATIN AMERICA ii the Captaincy-general of Guatemala, which chose separation from Mexico, and assumed the name of Central America — an artificial political term rather than a geographical description. Its five provinces eventually separated into the five republics of Central America. Events in Brazil shaped themselves differently. Upon the French invasion of Portugal in 1807-8, the Portuguese royal family migrated to Brazil and made Rio for a time the capital of the Portuguese dominions. When King John VI returned to Lisbon in 182 1, he left as Regent of Brazil his son Dom Pedro, who, a few months later, supported by Brazilian opinion, threw off allegiance to his father and declared himself an independent sovereign. Thus was established, or rather continued, that Brazilian monarchy which subsisted down to 1889 and which secured to that country tranquillity and a continuous though rather sleepy progress during the stormy period through which Spanish America passed after the achievement of independence. For the long struggle had been mainly destructive. It had not only swept away Spanish authority, but had blurred and in some parts had erased all authority, all stability and order, had con- fused or obliterated whatever had existed of political experience or tradition, and had left the ignorant masses a prey to theorists and adventurers. The result was that, for at least a generation after the achievement of independence, most of the Spanish- American states were agitated by a turmoil of multitudinous constitutional experiments, confused conflict and destructive civil war, alternating with periods of rigorous and often tyran- nical personal despotism. These movements have been perhaps unfairly judged in Europe. The young communities of Latin America, wanting in political experience and torn by a long and. unavoidable struggle, were engaged in sweeping up the debris of their great revolution. The Republic of Chile in great part escaped that turmoil through the establishment, after a brief period of conflict, of a fairly stable aristocratic oligarchy of landed proprietors. Her three "revolutions" have been landmarks rather than inter- ruptions in her historical development; for they were brief. 12 GENERAL CONDITIONS decisive and conducive to a clearer constitutional definition. Argentina, after the fall of the Dictator Rosas in 1852, began to feel her way towards union and order, and may be said to have achieved that end with the general acceptance of her completed Federal Constitution in 1880. In the tropical republics con- stitutional agreement was rendered more difficult by the mixture of races, by geographical and climatic obstacles and by a com- parative remoteness from European influences. And in the Caribbean lands our own generation has seen Presidential seats occupied by despots of the old type, usually men of imperious and resolute character, dauntless courage and unr scrupulous indifference respecting means and methpds, men sometimes risen from the lowest station through ruthless force and cunning. Indeed, Mexico, after a period of remarkable economic development under the long autocracy of Porfirio Diaz, relapsed, upon his fall in 1910-11, into the condition of a century ago. Yet it may be generally said that the decade following 1870 was the beginning of a new era for the Latin- American republics. The extension of steam navigation, the building of railways, machinery applied to agriculture, the influx of immigrants from Southern Europe and of capital from Northern Europe, the growing demand in Euroge for foodstuffs and raw materials — all these things favoured, particularly in the south temperate zone, a rapid and very remarkable economic development which accompanied and aided a consolidation and closer cohesion of the social and political fabric. The outstanding fact in the recent history of Latin America and in her present relations to the war is this economic develop- ment, this great creation of new wealth during the past genera- tion. It has been described in many modern books upon the various republics, and can be studied in Consular Reports, which read like romances. The Pampa has become one of the chief granaries of the world; and Buenos Aires, the greatest city of the southern hemisphere, is the centre of a railway system almost equal in extent to that of the United Kingdom. Chile has been enriched by nitrate and copper, Brazil by coffee and rubber. IN LATIN AMERICA 13 The High Andes have become once- more a treasure-house of mineral weahh: tropical hills, valleys and coastal plains yield the riches of their vegetable products. The date assigned above as the beginning of this great economic increase is the date when the modern German Empire came into complete being. The recent growth of Latin America coincides with the birth and growth of the German industrial system. The organised energy, the patient assiduity, the ex- panding productiveness of Germany found a great opportunity in meeting the new needs of these rapidly growing countries. Germans won a remarkable position in those lands and had marked out for themselves a yet more ambitious future. During the same period the United States, having decisively consolidated the Union, has taken its place among the great Powers of the world. That republic has also altered its economic character: for whereas previously the inhabitants had been principally engaged in the internal development of a vast territory and had been exporters mainly of foodstuffs and raw materials, the growth of population has turned them into a commercial people exporting manufactured goods. This dual development, political and economic, has profoundly affected the relations of the United States with Latin America. . Meantime the long-standing and intimate connexion between these lands and the maritime countries of Western Europe has followed a natural and uninterrupted course suffering no signal change except that, quickened by a newly-awakened and more active interest on the part of Europe, it has become closer, more sympathetic and more firmly based upon mutual respect and understanding. It is the object of the following pages to examine these matters with reference to the Great War, and also to consider generally the bearings of the war upon the development of the Latin- American countries. CHAPTER I POLITICAL CURRENTS AND FORCES In estimating the bearings of the great war upon these countries, it is necessary to review certain political forces and currents of public thought, which the Germans have attempted to divert to diplomatic or bellicose ends. Since these influences date in part from the era of independence or even from an earlier date, clear- ness of vision demands some historical retrospect. When, upon the achievement of independence, schemes of Latin-American or of South American union were found impracticable, it was inevitable that frontier disputes and national rivalries should lead to tension and sometimes to wars between states. When it is remembered that every one of the ten South American re- publics was divided from several neighbours by frontiers partly traversing half-explored and imperfectly mapped regions, it is perhaps surprising that such questions have been on the whole so amicably settled, and that those which are still pending do not appear to be menacing or dangerous. Owing to the paucity of population on the ill-defined and remote interior frontiers, many of these questions did not become urgent juntil the latter part of the nineteenth century, when the increasing seriousness of polit- ical interests, the steadying influences of material growth, and the pressure of outside opinion favoured peaceful settlement, usually by means of arbitration. It would be possible to compile a formidable list of such disputes. Most of them are questions concerning historical and geographical delimitation, of great local interest, but hardly of world-wide significance, although for a time the world was alarmed lest the frontier dispute of Argen- tina and Chile should excite a conflict between the two peoples engaged in the development of the south temperate zone, the natural seat of an important trans-Atlantic European civilisation. A good example of the character of such frontier questions, of their mode of settlement and of their possible exploitation for POLITICAL CURRENTS AND FORCES 15 Teutonic purposes is to be found in the long-protracted dispute concerning the boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana -y-a. dispute which only became acute when gold was discovered in the region under debate. In deference to external influence, the whole question was submitted to arbitration, and was decided according to historical evidence concerning the early course of settlement. This example is of further interest as illustrating •the German method of seizing opportunities. For, today, German propaganda seeks to revive the bitterness of this episode, and cultivates the favour of Venezuela by holding out the prospect of the enlargement and enrichment of that republic through the absorption of British Guiana and Northern Brazil ; just as the neighbouring Republic of Colombia is assured that German victory and the humiliation of the United States will mean the return of Panama to Colombia. It would be unwise to dismiss such persuasive lures as too fantastic even for the tropical atmosphere of the Spanish Main. Wherever oppor- tunities occur, similar efforts are made to turn to account national jealousies, resentments and ambitions, and particularly to exacerbate the relations between Brazil and Argentina, between Peru and Chile, between Mexico and the United States. The rivalry between the Portuguese and Spanish elements in South America dates from early colonial times; and, as often happens in disputes between members of the same family, has been perhaps more warmly felt than the historic rivalry between Anglo-Saxon and Latin in America. The feeling was kept alive after emancipation by a dispute concerning the possession of the Banda Oriental (now the Uruguayan Republic), which geo- graphically belonged rather to the Portuguese or Brazilian system, historically to the Spanish or Argentine system. During the eighteenth century Spaniards and Portuguese had disputed its dominion in a series of rival settlements, of wars and treaties, which finally left Spain in possession. The struggle for emanci- pation reopened the question. For three years (1825-28) Argentina and Brazil fought for possession. The quarrel was adjusted, through the mediation of British diplomacy, by the recognition of the Banda Oriental as a sovereign republic. i6 POLITICAL CURRENTS Twenty years later, Rosas, dictator of Buenos Aires, attempted to reverse this decision by force of arms. His fall, partly brought about by Brazilian intervention, settled the question. But it has left traces upon the vivacious local sentiment of those young coimtries. Again, the war which Chile waged in 1879-83 against Bolivia and Peru ended in the occupation by Chile of Western Bolivia and also of the two southern provinces of Peru. The ulti- mate possession of these two provinces is still under discussion. Meantime, they remain in Chilian hands; and, although a friendlier atmosphere now prevails, diplomatic relations have never been resumed between Peru and Chile. In these inter-state questions Germany seeks her opportunity for fishing in troubled waters. German diplomacy and propa- ganda have striven to reopen these old sores and to impede Latin- American consolidation by setting state against state, and by fomenting or reviving latent ambitions of hegemony or aggran- disement. Those who favour Germany are to win great terri- torial rewards, at the expense of their misguided neighbours, upon the achievement of that German victory which is repre- sented as certain. Particular efforts have been made to embroil Argentina with her neighbours ; a prominent feature of this pro- gramme is the dismemberment of Brazil. But the most important of these political movements and the one which seemed to offer most promise to German schemes, is the long dispute between Mexico and her northern neighbour. This is a part of that process which since the beginning of the nineteenth century has radically altered the map of the Caribbean lands and has shifted the whole weight of political influence in that region. The chief effort of Germany is to exploit the historic rivalry between Anglo-Saxon America and Latin America, and to separate north from south by reviving the smart of past incidents and by stirring up apprehensions as to the future. Here, again, it is necessary to glance back and summarise the chief actual events of that history^. When Latin-American * For the sake of brevity and clear relation to the present topic, this history is not here examined with reference to any theory or doctrine of AND FORCES 17 independence was achieved, between 1820 and 1824, the United States had already become the dominant power on the Mexican Gulf by the acquisition of Louisiana and Florida, and in 1826 she exercised the privileges of that position by prohibiting Mexican and Colombian designs for the emancipation of Cuba. In 1845 Texas, which nine years before had seceded from Mexico, was admitted to the Union, and in 1846-48 half the territory of the Mexican Republic was transferred to the United States by a process of conquest confirmed by purchase. A pause in advance followed, until events showed that Isthmian control was a national necessity to the United States. It suffices here to note the conclusion of a long diplomatic history. In 1903 the United States, having failed to obtain concessions of the desired kind from Colombia, supported the province of Panamd in her secession from Colombia, and speedily obtained from the newly formed republic a perpetual lease of the canal zone, together with a practical protectorate over the Republic of Panamd. The United States then pro- ceeded to construct and fortify the canal. She also procured from Nicaragua exclusive rights concerning the construction of any canal through Nicaraguan territory, and erected in fact a kind of protectorate over that republic. Meanwhile, in the Antilles events were shaping towards con- trol from the north. A long-standing trouble concerning Cuba culminated in the Spanish- American War of 1898, which brought about the annexation of Porto Rico and the Philippines policy. In order to explain the present position, the salient facts only are given, but not the comments and explanations of statesmen, nor the diplomatic passages leading to these events. One may digress for a moment to point out that a sufficient interpretation of these events is to be found in the natural expansion of a vigorous growing people. In the process of "winning the wilderness and conquering the continent" the United States found that a considerable part of the field was in nominal possession of those who were doing httle to use or civilise it. These claims, which obstructed progress, were successively disposed of. Nor has it been found possible to limit that advance to certain indispensable acquisitions of territory. National security has demanded varying degrees of control over neighbouring peoples of inferior development. The process finds many historical parallels: and it is an intensely practical, not a theoretic, matter. 1 8 POLITICAL CURRENTS to the United States, while Cuba became a republic under the tutelage of that Power. Five years later the United States, in order to save the Dominican RepubHc from European pressure, undertook the administration of the revenues of that state. In 1915 she interposed to suppress a revolution in Haiti. Finally last year (1917) she purchased from Denmark the islands of St Thomas and Santa Cruz. Recent rumours as to a proposed further purchase — ^that of Dutch Guiana — have been officially denied. 