A GERMAN SCHEMER
Stn,—As one who has close business and personal ties with the Argentine, I read with the greatest interest Mr. Brandt's article in your issue of March 9th on "A German Schemer." One statement took my breath away. Speaking of .German penetration, Mr. Brandt writes: " . . in Argentina, where in a population of 13,500,000 there are some 5,000,000 citizens of German descent."
Of my own knowledge, I knew this figure of five million to be utterly inaccurate and bound to give a completely false picture of the Argentine. But before writing to protest I have consulted two authorities. No official statistics exist to establish an exact figure, but an approximate number can certainly be arrived at. One authority puts the number of citizens of German descent 41 the Argentine at 250,000 in round figures, and makes the important observation that Gennabs in South America tend to marry within their own nationality, which disposes of the possi- bility that there is a big percentage of German blood widely distributed among the population.
My other authority bases his estimate on the number of Germans included in the foreign population of Argentina in the 1933 census, viz., 27,000 odd in a total of nearly 21 millions. He thus reaches a figure of roughly 15o,000. Even if the higher estimate of z5o,000 be exceeded somewhat, what are we to say of Mr. Brandt's total of 5,000,000? Has he visited the Argentine, and was every third per-son hc met in Buenos Aires or in the wide Argentine pampas of German descent?
In RD article of an alarmist character it is. above all, important that
figures be accurate. The reader with no knowledge of the Argentine would naturally conclude that the' reason why the United Nations are encountering difficulties with Argentina is due to this enormous German influence—which would be in the main a false and misleading conclusion. We have to deal in Argentina with a proud and self-confident community mainly of Latin' race, though with small minorities from nearly every nation. They aspire to the leadership of South America, and are suspicious of the United States on account of its 'preponderating power. it is certain that many of the Germans in Argentina will work upon that fact for their own purposes, but the Latins are not wax in their bands. It is the task of wise statesmanship on the part of this country and the U.S.A. to frustrate German intrigues.—Yours faithfully,
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