South America
THESE impressions of a journey to South America in 1931 were originally written down in the form of diary letters for circulation among Professor Siegfried's friends in France. Their publication in book form makes available to the public a shrewd and—considering its brevity—a remarkably comprehensive introduction to the study of a subject which is as vast-as popular ideas about it are vague.
Professor Siegfried visited Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil—all of them (though we are apt to forget it) very different countries inhabited by very different peoples. In Peru he found an Indian'cotmtry, 'conquered but not assim- ilated by the white race" : enormous, sparsely populated, dominated by the Andes. Between her aboriginal population and the few hundred wealthy, cultured Spanish families who rule them no middle class intervenes, and Professor Siegfried foresees a not too distant day when the balance of power will pass to the Indian and half-caste elements.
.Chile, a desert in the north, reminded him of Norway in the south, and in- the centre of Switzerland or Italy. Here political power is, shifting from the aristocracy to a middle class : "a democracy, still ungainly and crude, is beginning to disturb the peace." Her economic structure, gravely threatened by the fall in the price Of raw materials, is inher- ently weakened -by chronic habits of-absenteeism and borrow- ings, not only by the State but by individuals ; "it is difficult to build, up a sound public economy on a private' economy which is unsound."
The Argentines, with *their strong Latin traditions of the family or clan, with their melancholy, their indolence, and their conceit, are for -Professor Siegfried personified by the gaucho, the cowboy, who survives rather as a type than as a profession : independent, adventurous, and quixotic. Compared with other South American countries, Argentina has a great Measure of ultimate stability, both, political and economic : even with the worst of governments, it would be difficult to compromise the future of a country which has such wonderful resources, and Whose people are so devoid of revolutionary ideas." In Brazil, Professor Siegfried concludes, "democracy can never be anything more than a façade." There are too many diverse layers Of civilization—Portuguese, Indian, Negro, European, and (a growing element, though Professor Siegfried does not mention it) Japanese—between the pure savage. of the interior and the cultured citizen of Sao Paulo or Rio. " The , immensity of Brazil, the diversity of the climate, and the geographically opposing interests of the various States, all make the problem more difficult." A democracy cannot be built up under such conditions. The most valuable part of the book lies in the rand, observations, summarized in the final chapter, on Sou American politics, of which at least one revolution and t presidential election gave Professor Siegfried exceptionally good opportunities for making a first-hand study. Tit President is always the dominating factor. It is the man, and not the elected assembly that counts, and in practice there is no counterbalancing influence to executive power; South Americans—partly from temperament, partly frool force of habit—take kindly to arbitrary forms of government, and though they talk endlessly and sonorously about thee elaborate constitutions, they get no further than talking, "The temptation to rule seems to be irresistible in Scalth Anieriea. : . . The South' American citizen has a Sense of authority, but if he is ambitious his only conception is the abuse of authority. . . . Napoleon once said that a revolution We, simply an idea that had found bayonets to express it. In Souti America it would be a group of interests, not an idea, that had found the bayonets."
Parer, once seized, is very sweet in Latin America ; while it lasts, it is rarely-trammelled by. considerations of coastjtl,. tional procedure, and ,brings with it unlimited opporttmitin
for nepotism.
But Professor Siegfried detects a change in political value; resulting from the formation Of a new class. A middle class, flavoured with -half-breeds, is coming into being, and a the background there are signs of a protest on the part of the
Indian masses.
"-The- gravity of the-situation is-that-apart from the eventual clash of poor and rich, we have superimposed on almost identical lines the opposition of -the Indians and the whites, for the social problem and tha racial problem coincide; In the future Ai danger will possibly be greater than the chronic malady of political coups d'elat.
R. P. F.
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