All boundary disputes — and they have been many! have been or are being settled by arbitration. 'Could any better proof be offered of the advancement of peoples who, while springing directly from a race of warriors, are not afraid to work toward the ends of peace? Another proof of this spirit of progress is the maintenance in the city of Washington, by all the countries of the American hemisphere, of a unique organization called the Pan-Ameri can Union, the living embodiment of the idea which created the International Union of American Republics as a result of the first Pan American Conference held in Washington in 1889-90 at the invitation of that great Ameri can statesman, James G. Blaine. The Pan American Union represents the spirit of prog ress, the desire for a better understanding, the necessity for stronger ties of friendship, felt among the republics of the three Americas, by making them known to one another, by bring ing to the attention of the people of the United States the opportunities offered by the Latin-American countries, their civilization, their onward march toward prosperity, united in a single purpose of material and moral ad vancement.
There is another aspect of the civilization of the Latin-American republics which deserves more than passing attention. It is their polit ical life as members of the Pan-American fraternity of independent nations. Their first step toward higher ideals was their declaration of independence and their assumption of the duties and exercises of the rights of sovereign states. The transition from colonial depend encies to self-governing nations was fraught with difficulties unknown to the citizens of the original 13 states of the North American Union, resulting from different conditions, due in the main to the spirit that inspired their complete emancipation. The original 13 States separated from England principally for prac tical reasons, while the Spanish-American countries had to contend with an economic as well as a political problem.
After a period of evolution—or of succes sive revolutions, as some would say— during which the several antagonistic interests were undergoing a process of amalgamation, or bet ter still, clarification, there now exist, in the majority of Latin-American countries, stable governments whose sole aim is to maintain above reproach the moral as well as the eco nomic credit of their respective nations, so as to attract foreign capital and energy, which will stimulate the development of home indus tries, and ensure peace, prosperity and hap piness to its citizens. Some Latin-American republics have been less fortunate, but every disturbance, all civil strife, should be construed, in fairness, as a misdirected effort toward the attainment of a goal dreamed of and desired by all. Public education, foreign commerce,
improved means of communication, greater de velopment of the natural wealth of these coun tries, are factors which have contributed and are constantly contributing to the establish ment of a peaceful era which will eventually become normal and stable.
As to the material phase of Latin-American civilization, communication with the other countries of the world at the beginning of the World War was represented by over 50 steam ship lines plying between European ports and those of Latin America, and about 25 lines running from the United States to the Atlantic, Caribbean and west coast ports of Latin America. The combined railway mileage from Mexico down to Chile and Argentina, including the island countries of Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is estimated at over 68,000 miles, Argentina leading with over 22,000 miles; next comes Mexico with over 15,000 miles; Brazil follows with about 14,600 miles; Chile, nearly 6,000; Cuba, nearly 2,500, and the other republics in lesser proportion. There is not one single country, however, that is not in cluded in this total mileage. It may seem strange that in an area of about 8,200,000 square miles there should be only 68,000 miles of railway, hut if one stops a moment to con sider the enormous barrier extending along the west coast of South America, formed by the mighty range of the Andes Mountains, which made direct communication between the cities of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts very difficult, and the scarcity of population which creates demands and makes traffic profitable, one will understand why the railways of Latin America have not advanced faster. But even under these circumstances, not a day passes but some work is done toward the extension of that railway mileage.
Another phase of civilization and progress is the foreign commerce of a country. The progress made by Latin America in its com mercial relations with the world at large and the United States, especially, shows that there is a great consumption of all such articles as are considered necessary to civilization. Latin America is not a manufacturing continent; it mainly produces for export agricultural prod ucts such as sugar, coffee, rubber, tobacco, cacao or cocoa, cotton, etc., hides and other raw materials, mining products such as silver, gold, tin, copper, iron, bismuth, saltpeter, etc., and a few gems. Its main imports are ma chinery of all kinds, hardware, cotton and other fabrics, foodstuffs, carriages and automobiles, railway material, electrical appliances and other similar products of industry necessary to the cultivation of the land, the improvement of roads and cities, and the comfort of the in habitants.