12 JULY 1924, Page 11

Many persons are apt to associate American Indians with North

America only, and yet in North America they are practically extinct, while in South America their total number is not far short of 50 millions. The distinguished Argentinian publicist, Manuel Ugarte, has recently published an interesting work entitled " The Destiny of a Continent," in which he advocates the closest commercial and diplomatic friendship between the North and South American continents. Most English-speaking readers who draw their knowledge concerning the early history of South America from Prescott will be interested to note that Mr. Ugarte defends early Spanish rule on that continent. He writes :— ".We shall some day realize the injustice done to Spain, for her colonial methods were not more creel than those employed by other European countries. It is easy to see that Indian assassinations were common to conquerors of all nationalities, with the little difference that in the northern half of tho con- tinent they continued until 1900, while in Latin America they stopped in 1800. The result is that there are 100,000 IndianS in the United States to 50,000,000 in Latin America."