Greenfield High School - Evergreen / Exponent Yearbook (Greenfield, MA)

Page 14 text:

8 THE EXPONENT tered G. H. S. as freshmen, we have looked forward to this very night; and, with the realization of our hopes, we know that these have been the four happiest years of our lives. Now that we have come to the place where separation is inevitable, we find that the years we have spent together have been all too short. Some of us will go out into the world immediately; others will continue their education; but whether it be the one or the other, let us ever re¬ main loyal to our school motto— “Loyalty, Honor and Scholarship.” OUR SOUTH AMERICAN PROBLEM Thruout all our history we, of the United States, have been in the habit of calling ourselves the only Americans and of utterly disregard¬ ing the numerous republics of South America. These republics are very sensitive and while we have, in the past, offended them sorely, as yet we have done nothing to create a bet¬ ter feeling. Consequently their re¬ spect for European countries is much greater and their feeling much bet¬ ter. In the long run, however, it will be this country which will suffer. We are seeing and we shall see even more, the unlimited trade of these republics, a trade that is legitimately ours and one of no little importance going toward enriching the old world. The manufacturers of America are content to sit back and wait for a big market to open up in China. While waiting—a wait that will, without doubt cover many decades and in the end be fruitless, for the Chinese people are and always will be a poverty stricken race—the trade of South America will slip away from our very hands, never to be regained without a great deal of competition with Europe. Already Great Brit¬ ain, Germany, France and Italy have built up a big trade with these coun¬ tries. Huge boxes, piled up on every wharf bear the words “Made in Ger¬ many” or “Made in England”—but almost nowhere does one find the words “Made in U. S. A.” Of the thousands and thousands of steamers that entered the South American ports every year prior to the war, only four or five flew the stars and stripes! Who is to blame? Has our attitude toward our sister-re¬ publics been right? The countries of South America will, without doubt, always remain importing countries. Their natural conditions are such as to make this a necessity. Manufacturing to any great extent, is impossible, for coal is a scarcity in most countries. In China a few mines have been dis¬ covered in recent years, but the out¬ put will never be great. A curious fact about these mines is that, after their discovery, they were lost to the world for over a hundred years and have only recently been redis¬ covered. The people have difficulty in securing even enough coal for their own use and a ton sells as high as sixty dollars. Then too, it is almost impossible and not at all practical to obtain power from the rivers. For these reasons South America is and will be forced to buy in the open markets of the world. Argentina alone spends over forty- six dollars a year per capita for im¬ ports while the other countries im¬ port accordingly. Just why, people ask, does Europe instead of the United States get this trade of South America? The ques¬ tion is not difficult to answer. The people of South America are a proud people, and they are content only with the best. Perhaps the follow¬ ing incident will illustrate this fact. During the business depression of 1915 an Englishman, in South Amer¬ ica, had been looking about for a house. He visited several large dwellings which were for rent or for sale. All the tenants were supposed to be at the shore. Newspapers were hung at the windows and the houses appear ed to be shut. But, imagine the Englishman’s surprise, when he found the tenants living in the back part of the house! They didn’t have enough money to go away for the summer and were too proud to be seen on the streets, so they were hid¬ ing until their neighbors returned from the shore.

Page 13 text:

THE EXPONENT 7 the autocracies of the world. Ameri¬ can ideals and institutions were menaced and Americans valued suf¬ ficiently their heritage to cross the seas and fight. They gained the vic¬ tory for their country and won for the defeated the opportunity of es¬ tablishing free institutions and mak¬ ing the people supreme. Thus the America of yesterday points the way for the America of today. America meant everything to our forefathers. Our debt to them can never be discharged. It is for us and those after us to maintain for this people the high estate which has been established. With a firm courage and in the rugged principles of faith and duty we must carry on —for faith and duty when mated to courage form the most solid basis upon which the greatness of any na¬ tion can rest. Let our patriotism and zeal for America be as passionate in these days of peace as it was in war. We must cultivate that same singleness of purpose that characterized our war actions. Let us guard well our institutions and resist radicalism. This does not mean the strangling of progressive thought or resistance to the expansion of our constitution but it does mean resistance to any change in the fundamental Ameri¬ can principles. And need we fear the present? No. America is too big, too strong, too energetic, too young, too re¬ sourceful, too rich to fail! The world is looking to America as leader. America cannot and will not shirk this responsibility. And faith in America does not mean a narrow existence. On the contrary she will go out and do her share to work and build, but she will work and build in an American way. By this, I mean the fri ad of all peo¬ ples, of all nati s, having no favorites. Of late years we have been, in¬ dividually and nationally, pro-every- thing but pro-Am rican. Instead of progressing along the straight roadway of Americanism we have taken unknown detours, lured on by brilliant rainbow vis 1 ®. In our contact with internal malism, leagues to enforce peace, European traditions, policies and aspirations, our minds have become confused. By becoming violent partizans of one or another European nation we have illustrated perfectly the truth of George Washington’s observa¬ tions when he said that nothing is more essential than to exclude per¬ manent, deep-rooted hatreds against particular nations and passionate at¬ tachments for other nations. In their place just and friendly feeling towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or fond¬ ness is in some degree a -slave. It is a slave to its ill will or its af¬ fection either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. What we need in America today is what we voiced ardently during the war but never were-—one hun¬ dred percent American! Let us have one hundred percent faith in American ideals, traditions, and institutions. Let us be one hun¬ dred percent American at home and abroad. Let us say as did a great American, “I shall know but one country. The ends I aim at shall be my country’s, my God’s, and Truth’s. I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die an American!” REBECCA EBERLEIN, ’21. VALEDICTORY We, the graduates of Greenfield High School, in the class of 1921, take this opportunity of thanking you, the people of Greenfield, for your interest in our welfare, as it is manifested by your presence here tonight at our graduation—a time that means so much in our lives. We are especially grateful to you teachers whose guidance and care we have been fortunate in having and whose interest in our well-being has been ever before us. My classmates, ever since we en-

Page 15 text:

THE EXPONENT 9 This same trait is found in their dresses, manners, and customs. They always take to the brightest colors— regardless of the quality. One South American has said that if an Amer¬ ican was to buy up a lot of second hand cars, paint them bright red, green, purple, or orange and send them to South America, he would surely make his fortune. When these South Americans or¬ der a shipment of black cotton and another of reds and greens , they wish, naturally to receive what they have ordered. But American manu¬ facturers have the absurd idea that anything will pass in South America. An American once traveling in Chile said to a Chilean merchant—“Just what is the reason that you don’t import more goods from the United States?” The Chilean then told of this incident. It seems that the women of Chile either wear black or some very bright color—never any dull shades. An order was placed with an American merchant for a shipment of black cotton and one of bright green. When the ma¬ terial arrived, they found the green to be grey, with a note stating that the American merchant had pre¬ sumed that the Chilean had made a mistake in ordering green and had really wanted grey! Needless to say the order was returned and placed in the hands of an English firm who delivered the goods ordered and without any delay. The American manufacturers are altogether too independent. They try to do business with the South Americans in their own way, with no respect for the South American way. They must learn to respect the “manana” and remember that courtesy and friendliness go a long way in South America. Before we can hope to build up a trade, we must learn the people and learn their ways. Germany and Eng¬ land send hundreds of young men every year to become their repre¬ sentatives there, and they do not expect them to make just a flying trip. In the city of Buenos Aires alone, there are over 50,000 English¬ men, while the Americans number but 300. One American manufac¬ turer, horribly ignorant of South American ways, conceived the idea of doing his business by mail. Ac¬ cordingly, he had his catalogue print¬ ed in Spanish to send to Brazil! Now almost everyone knows that the Brazilians are Portuguese and speak only Portuguese; anything having to do with Spain offends them very much. This American has since wondered why he has never received an order from his Brazilian friends! People always say that, when in Brazil, if you can’t talk Portuguese, talk either French or English and you will get along much better. We are severely criticized by prominent men of South America for not requiring our students to study Spanish. They say that either French or German is taught and that the foreign language taught usually stimulates an interest for that coun¬ try in the student. Why not require them to learn Spanish and thus turn their eyes toward their Southern brothers? In most of the South American republics, the children are taught French and English with a view to getting them interested in us. Why then, do we not do like¬ wise? When it comes to investing money in South America, the people of North America have gone about it in the wrong way. They have been afraid to extend credit and therein they have made a mistake. The Ger¬ mans and the English have been will¬ ing to take a chance and have won, but the Americans are too cautious; they have denied credit and have se¬ riously offended the people. Before America can accomplish anything in this hemisphere, she must establish some banks. The people of South America judge a country by the number of its steamship lines and banks, chiefly the latter. Not only would these banks help those people, but they would be a very profitable investment. America must gain the trade of South America, but only by conforming to South American ways can she do it. These are but a few of the facts of our South American problem; but