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SOUTH AMERICAN COURTESY

By STEPHEN P. DUGGAN, PH. D., LL. D.
Director, Institute of International Education

O much is written about ill will existing in South America toward the United States that I am prompted to say a word about the courtesy that I personally experienced everywhere in a recent visit to most of the South American countries. There can be no question that an unfriendly feeling does exist among certain classes, but even among them there is a differentiation between the United States and the individual American. I had long discussions with some severe critics of our country but always in the best of spirits and frequently while enjoying the most cordial hospitality in private homes.

The South American is not as exclusive as the Frenchman when it comes to inviting foreigners into his home circle, but it is an evidence. of real confidence and friendship when he does. I was fortunate enough to have this happen to me very often, and it was a delightful experience. Interested as I am in international affairs, it was a real joy to enter the homes of intellectual people who were thoroughly informed about the events of the day throughout the world and could discuss most intelligently their background and probable outcome. But it was not merely in the field of foreign affairs but of literature, art, music, and the life of the spirit generally that these discussions took place. I believe that the home circle has a bigger place in the life of the South American than with us, and conversation is not only not a lost art, but figures largely in social circles.

But it was not only in the homes of the cultured that I experienced the courtesy which seems to me so attractive a characteristic of the South American, but among practically all classes. In some of the universities I was fortunate enough to have round-table conferences with groups of leading students. Some of them were very bitter in their criticism of the foreign policy of the United States, but that fact in no way destroyed the delightful spirit that animated the gatherings. Perhaps that spirit was to a slight extent due to my desire to engage in cooperative thinking with the students. I mean when we discussed a problem, whether it was a problem of internal university administration or of foreign affairs, I tried to see whether we could not together analyze it into its elements and then construct a solution, instead of the students taking the offensive and I the defensive in the discussion. Certainly at the end of every one of such.

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meetings the cordial attitude of the students was very gratifying to me, and I always went away feeling that they and I understood the situation and ourselves better than before we met.

This was equally true of the professors. I shall never forget the delightful evenings I spent in the homes of some of my colleagues in South America who had invited in a few of their fellow teachers. We talked over all aspects of our respective civilizations as well as the dif

ferences in university organization and administration and methods of teaching. I can not emphasize too strongly how illuminating to me these discussions were. I do not know that I am particularly well qualified to speak of the psychology of the South American, but what I know of his psychology is largely the result of these delightful gatherings, held in an atmosphere of good fellowship and of give and take. It was impossible to go away from them without having become much better informed on the subjects discussed.

I must digress sufficiently to speak of the lighter side. of my association with professors. I could mention several instances but will confine myself to one. While at Cordoba, in Argentina, I delivered a lecture at the university in the morning.

One of the professors invited me to lunch at his home in the country. I had a delightful drive among the mountains surrounding the city until we reached his house, from which one had a lovely view of the surrounding region. Upon arriving there I found that quite a group of the professors I had met at the lecture had preceded us. To my great delight the lunch was to be cooked and eaten out of doors. A young lamb was put upon the spit and it was a joy to

participate in the cooking among the embers of the many ingredients of the meal—at least to participate, as I did, to the extent of watching. Such a meal! And many a health was drunk in the delicious wine of the country. It was an afternoon of unrestrained fun and happiness such as one seldom has in life. I shall never forget it.

The fine attitude toward the stranger that I have described was not confined to the university and professional classes. I was anxious to learn the views of as many groups as possible, and when I was at Buenos Aires I had the good fortune to be invited to the House of the People, where I had several conversations with a number of the labor leaders. I found some of them men of unusual intelligence, able and ready to discuss the economic and social problems not only of their own country but of foreign countries, including our own. In fact, they made some very trenchant observations concerning conditions in the United States. But I was especially glad to get their opinion of the direction which the labor movement will take in the next decade. Buenos Aires is a center of labor unionism, and the rapid economic development that has taken place since the war has brought to the fore some interesting and difficult problems. These labor leaders were most courteous in giving of their time to enlighten me as to the situation.

I believe, however, that the finest evidence of South American courtesy was shown in the degree of interest with which my lectures were received. I read the lectures in Spanish in the Spanish-speaking countries, and as I am by no means a Spanish scholar, to listen to me must have been a real trial to my auditors. But I never saw any evidence of it. In practically every instance the audience stayed till the end of the lecture, generously applauded the speaker, and asked many questions on the subject matter. This was also true in Brazil, where I lectured in French. The average North American can learn a great deal in this respect from his South American friends, for he often exhibits a good deal of impatience of a lecturer whom he can not readily understand and sometimes shows it by rising in the midst of the lecture and leaving the room. I was even heard with courtesy when I made extempore remarks in English at a meeting of a chamber of commerce or a Rotary Club when most of my hearers could not understand me at all.

My visit to South America impressed me as never before with the value of personal contact. However open-minded one may be, it is difficult to understand a person whom one has never met. One can learn much from books concerning another people, but one can not ask a question of a book. Personal intercourse is almost essential in the removal of prejudice and misunderstanding. An incident in the life of Henry Clay well illustrates this point. He was very attractive

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personally, but that did not prevent him being disliked by political opponents. One such was asked by a mutual friend to permit him to bring Clay and his critic together. The latter refused and when asked for the reason answered "Because then I would like him." Personal contact will not always result in good will. I have seen some of our countrymen wandering about Europe to come into contact with whom would be the best way of arousing prejudice against the United States and its people. But to have the fine people of one country come into personal contact with the fine people of another is one of the surest means of diffusing international understanding. May such intercourse between the fine people of the United States and of South America grow with the lengthening years.

THE CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF VENEZUELA, CARACAS

The center of higher education in Venezuela was founded August 11, 1725, as the Royal and Pontifical University of Caracas.