Duxbury High School - Partridge Yearbook (Duxbury, MA)

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Tzeens of tr: nsporting his produce to centers of population. But in Latin America there are no roads. Consequently, many farmers do not send their crops out ind therefore they see very little cash during the year. With no lcash tltis means that there are no markets for business to be established becrrs A :Here is no cash to support these industries. Even if there is a railroad within fifty miles, the chances are that the farmer dcesn't know that it ev-en exists. And who is going to cart produce over muddy mires of mountain roads to something of whose existence he is ignorant? The coffee industry has its troubles too. Each year, thousands of tons of Brazilian coffee are burned up because there is so much grown. And it doesn't -:ven burn very well either. The rest of the crop is a glut on the market and ruins the economies of the other coffee-growing countries. South America's low-grade cotton cannot compete with the high-grade cotton grown in the United States. Nor can it compete with the low-grade African cotton because that is grown with still cheaper black labor. These .coffee and cotton plantations have to continue to grow these crops because they neither know how nor have the money to change crops and methods. Consequently, a big majority of Latin Americans do not earn over a hundred dollars a year. And a hundred dollars per capita isn't going to buy many refrigerators. automobiles, or washing machines. Thus I have pointed out some of Latin America's problems and how they were brought cn, in part, by her history and the geography peculiar to the countries. Here is whrft the United States is doing to solve these prob- lems: She is lending crop experts to the various governments who are teaching Latin Americans better crop planning and different techniques: industrial technicians, who are helping them to improve their industrial machine, experts on government organization, on sanitation, on labor rela- tions, and especially experts on public education. Also through the Export- Import Bank, she is lending money to stabilize their currencies which are shaky as a result of the present war. Perhaps when the present war is over and when her economic system has been str-engthened and modernized, Latin America will in the future be able to stand on her own two fe-et and form a united bloc of nations rather than a group of twenty republics all struggling in competition with each other, as they now are. FREDERICK HARRINGTON FX E251

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good relations with the ruling party, keep in touch with all opposition ,garties so that he wins no matter which party gets conrol of the government. hen a politician gets into office, he must make sure that his relatives get jobs through his new influence, because hostile relatives are no asset in Latin American politics. Another hindrance to better relations is the lack of communications. It is true that there are three rivers in South America that make magnifi- cent highways. But no one lives near two of them, the Amazon and the Orinoco. The other river, the Parana, running betw-een the Argentine Republic and Uruguay, is used principally by those two countries. The only other means of transportation are the raixroads and the airlines. Ex- cept for one or two lines, the Andes mountains quite effectively bar east-to- west travel with its 20,000 foot peaks. Probably, in a few years, when larger planes are developed, the airways will become the principal mode of travel. One of the main reasons for Latin America's distrusting us is the fear of Yankee imperialism. During the first part of this century, several dictators, actively hostile to us, gained contro-. of several of the republics, urging violence against American property. After some damage the American marines were sent down to protect American property. Immedi- ately the cry went up against the Yankee imp-erialistsf' Many of Latin lAmerica's most prominent figures screeched that the United Statis would soon take over South America. Until recently, any politician could rous 1 enthusiasm by urging measures against the Yankee imp-eiia isls. ' These people have good reason to protest against our imperialism. The Americans, along with the British have managed to wrigg.e into the economic system of these countries so that they own over one quarter of these nations' wealth. Foreign investments in Latin Am-erica total up to some twelve billion dollars. This is a tremendocs figure when we realize that the whole national income of all these countries is only twenty bil.ion dollars a year. The prospects for democracy in Latin America in the near future are quite gloomy. Only six of the twenty repubtics have anything that remotely approaches our type of government. In the first place, democracy is im- possible in Latin America until the people have been taught how to use democracy properly. The republics do not have the same aversion to gov- ernments and systems like those of Germany and Italy as we do. In fact, they rather admire their brutal efficiency. This helps to explain Latin America's hesitancy, until recently, to cooperate with us. Most of the republics have tried our form of undiluted democracy, but all have failed. Their congresses and their armies w-ere all well-figed with men who wanted to be president and none of whom had any qualms of con- scince about disposing of the president in power. As a result, the presi- dents would be either killed off, or retired under careful supervision. There are so many Ecuadorean ex-presidents living in Guayaquil and Quito that one wit suggested that they form a national association, and if they were a little younger, they could easily form two baseball teams. But Latin America's most important stumbling block is her economy. She has and will probably always have an agricultural economy and will have to make the best of it. The reason for this is that the countries are not suited for heavy industry. They have little coal and iron and few skilled workmen. Latin America's agriculture is even weaker in certain respects than her industries. Even in the United States, not very large sums of money pass through a farmer's hands during the course of a year, though he has several l24l

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CLASS MDTTO What is to como we know not. But we know That what has been was good-was good to show, Better to hide, and best of all to bear. We, the class of 1941, rea.ize that we have to pattein our own lives as we think best. No one can do it for us. We must have the ambition and initil tive, to think and act for ourselves. When we receive our diplomas tonight, we are masters of our own fate. We shall realize that we have to think for ourselves. We alone are to make our lives out of the few experinces we have hall during our high school career. Perhaps the folowing poem may b. s. signify the meaning of our motto: You say the world is goomy, The skies are grim and gray, The night has lost its quiet, You fear the coming days? The world 15 what you make it. The sky is gray or blue Just as your soul may paint it, It isn't the world-it's you! Clear up the clouded vlslon, C.ean out the foggy mind, The clouds are a.ways passing, And each is silver lined. The world is what you make it- And when you say it's gloomy It isn't the world-it's you! The world is just as hard and cruel as we choose to make it. We must go out and face lt unafraid, climbing the heights to fame s.owly, step by step until we acquire th-e place in lile for wllich we so faithfully struggled. SOYHQEIIIIQS it may seem that we are confused by unconquerable cir- CLIIHSLLADCQ, but il we have undying faith in ourselves we wil. not flinch beneath the Hbludgeonings of chance but keep our heads high, unbowed. We have to make our own place in the world. Word wont come to us, we must go after it with indomitable courage and determination. There will be some people who wil. try to discourage us. They will say the world of today gives no chance for young people. We must not listen to those pessimists who believe that life is just one hardship after another. We can and Will go on our way with undaunted spirit, seeking perpetually our place in society. Uur minu and will are the making or breaking of us. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. IRVINA JONES. l26l