America sprang from the same race-the brave, hardy, adventurous, romantic and warlike Spanish and Portuguese conquerors, who fought their way through unknown territories, whether in quest of "El Dorado" or in warfare against whole nations of Indians, as in the case of Mexico and Peru, where the native Indians had a marvelous civilization of their own.

On the other hand, the men who founded these United States, the Pilgrims who first set foot on this new land of promise, and those who followed in the wake of the first settlers, came to this country already prepared, through years of training, to govern themselves. They came to the friendly shores of the New World in quest of freedom. They wanted a home in a new land not yet contaminated with the spirit of the Old World. They brought with them their creed, their habits of order and discipline, their love of freedom, their respect for the established principles of law. Hence from its inception Anglo-American civilization was built upon solid ground. Its subsequent developmentthe marvel of the last half of the nineteenth and this our twentieth century-is due to the solidity of their institutions, their steadfastness of purpose, their practical sense of life, and a territorial expanse where all the soils, all the wealth, all the climatic conditions of the cold, the temperate and the tropical zone can be found.

The discussion of Latin-American civilization is of vast importance, since it deals with the history and development of twenty republics lying beyond the Mexican border, and covering an aggregate area of about 9,000,000 square miles, with a total population of over 70,000,000, of which 48,000,000 speak the Spanish language, 20,000,000 Portuguese in Brazil, and 2,000,000 French in Haiti. This general division brings us at once to deal, under the same classification, with peoples and civilization springing from different sources-Spanish, Portuguese and French. Even among the Spanish-speaking countries there are conditions, depending on the province of origin of the first Spanish colonizers and settlers, who came mainly from Biscay, Andalusia, Castile, Aragon, and Extremadura, which further tend to establish other slight

differences, just as the various states of this country show differences due to the sources of their population.

For our purpose, a general survey of the twenty countries called Latin America is not amiss. Geographically, Latin America begins beyond the Rio Grande, with Mexico, at the southern boundary of which extends what is called Central America, consisting of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, the historic five Central American states; Panama, the gateway to the Pacific on the west and to the Caribbean and the Atlantic on the east; South America proper, embracing Venezuela on the Caribbean, Colombia on that sea and partly on the Pacific; Ecuador, Peru and Chile, bordering on the Pacific; Bolivia and Paraguay, inland states in the heart of South America; Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil on the Atlantic; and, lastly, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, islands in the Caribbean Sea. So we see that Latin America extends from the north temperate zone to Cape Horn, near the Antarctic Ocean, which means that all climatic conditions are found in that enormous area over which the pole star, the Southern Cross, and the constellations brightening the South Pole keep nightly watch, from the cool regions of northern Mexico to the tropical heat of the torrid zone and again to the cold lands of Patagonia. This is indeed a world of wealth where all the products of the entire globe can be successfully cultivated, where all races of mankind can live and thrive, because the Mexican and Central American cordilleras, and further south the mighty Andean range, offer an unbroken chain of lofty peaks, wide valleys, and extensive tablelands, affording all climates and zones, all kinds of soils and minerals, the only limitations to the development of these lands being human endurance. The water supply is plentiful in most parts of Mexico and the Central American republics, and there is nothing in the world which can be compared to the hydrographic areas of northern and central South America, consisting of the Orinoco basin with its 400 affluents, offering a total navigable length of about 4000 miles; the mighty Amazon having three times the volume of the Mississippi and navigable for over 2000 miles, and the network

of great rivers emptying into it; the Paraná and the River Plata, with twice the volume of the Mississippi, and a thousand other streams too numerous to mention in detail, but which can be found on any fairly good map, showing a feasible water route from the mouth of the Orinoco in Venezuela to the Amazon and the very heart of South America, and thence to the Paraná and finally to the River Plata.

We all know how Columbus discovered this New World which today bears the name of America (although the application of that name is quite restricted in this country to the United States)—we have all heard of the hardships Columbus and his followers had to endure, their sufferings, their hopes, and their faith in some supernatural fate, a trait begotten by the influence of Moorish ancestors in Spain through the mingling of both races during the occupation wars which lasted over eight centuries. The discovery of America has a tinge of romance, such as inspires the soul of the adventurer and the buccaneer. It was a romance that began at the Rábida, grew in the presence and with the help of good Queen Isabella, developed into a mad desire for adventure at Palos, and ended with the planting of the Spanish standard on the shores of Guanahani, now called Watling's Island. From here Columbus went to what is today called Cuba, thence to Hispaniola-now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where his remains now rest in the Cathedral at Santo Domingo-and in this latter island founded the first white settlement in the New World. We cannot follow Columbus' voyages or his adventures step by step, but we must feel that the discovery of America is an epic poem worthy of the mettle of the great discoverer and his men.

And so the civilization of what is called Latin America began with the first Spanish settlement, the first Indian blood shed by the greed of the white conqueror, and the first attempt to Christianize the inhabitants of the new-found land. The inevitable features of conquest-war, treachery, destruction, fire, sword, deeds of valor but little known, and endurance almost superhuman-marked along the trail of the discoverers the birth and first steps of the New World. And in the midst of this turmoil, bravely battling against

unknown odds, the Spanish missionary fathers worked unceasingly, founding hamlets and towns, thus planting in the wilderness the seeds of many a large city today, building their temples of worship, going from place to place struggling with disease and hunger, teaching the Indians the Spanish language and with it their religious faith, and laying the foundation of what is known today as Latin America.

The second stage of Latin-American civilization began when the crown of Spain finally took an active interest in its new possessions and men of a better class than the soldiery which landed with the discoverers and conquerors began to come to the New World, bringing their wives and daughters, and surrounding themselves with whatever comforts could be had in their new home. They were in many cases scions of noble families, who came either as viceroys, governors, or in some other administrative capacity, or as "oidores," judges and men of letters in general. There also came learned monks, and among these, philosophers, poets, musicians, painters, etc. Hence some of the oldest descriptions and chronicles of Latin America are in verse or in choice prose, either in Spanish or in Latin, and we find in some of the oldest cities in Spanish America wonderful examples of wood carving, either in churches or in old houses, beautiful specimens of the gold and silversmiths' art in ware of the precious metals, some fine paintings, and unexcelled samples of the art of illuminating books, particularly missals.

The scholars, either members of the religious orders or laymen, began to gather books imported from Europe, and so our libraries were started, mainly in the convents. With this feature of civilization the necessity of educating the children of the Spaniards and the Indians became more pressing, and private schools and seminaries were established, as a first step to the foundation of universities. I think it is due to the Spaniards to state right here that both in Mexico and in Peru schools were founded for the education of the Indians, to teach them not only reading and writing, but the manual arts as well.

We Latin Americans record with natural pride the fact that the first university founded in the New World was that

of great rivers emptying into it; the Paraná and the River Plata, with twice the volume of the Mississippi, and a thousand other streams too numerous to mention in detail, but which can be found on any fairly good map, showing a feasible water route from the mouth of the Orinoco in Venezuela to the Amazon and the very heart of South America, and thence to the Paraná and finally to the River Plata.

We all know how Columbus discovered this New World which today bears the name of America (although the application of that name is quite restricted in this country to the United States)—we have all heard of the hardships Columbus and his followers had to endure, their sufferings, their hopes, and their faith in some supernatural fate, a trait begotten by the influence of Moorish ancestors in Spain through the mingling of both races during the occupation wars which lasted over eight centuries. The discovery of America has a tinge of romance, such as inspires the soul of the adventurer and the buccaneer. It was a romance that began at the Rábida, grew in the presence and with the help of good Queen Isabella, developed into a mad desire for adventure at Palos, and ended with the planting of the Spanish standard on the shores of Guanahani, now called Watling's Island. From here Columbus went to what is today called Cuba, thence to Hispaniola-now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where his remains now rest in the Cathedral at Santo Domingo-and in this latter island founded the first white settlement in the New World. We cannot follow Columbus' voyages or his adventures step by step, but we must feel that the discovery of America is an epic poem worthy of the mettle of the great discoverer and his men.

And so the civilization of what is called Latin America began with the first Spanish settlement, the first Indian blood shed by the greed of the white conqueror, and the first attempt to Christianize the inhabitants of the new-found land. The inevitable features of conquest-war, treachery, destruction, fire, sword, deeds of valor but little known, and endurance almost superhuman-marked along the trail of the discoverers the birth and first steps of the New World. And in the midst of this turmoil, bravely battling against