The Battle of South America

THE Brazilian Foreign Minister, Señor Oswaldo Aranha, is credited with the quip that, when the next good-will mission arrives in Rio, Brazil will declare war on the United States. It was a joke, of course. But behind the joke was a mild sting of suggestion that there might be too much of good will, as of other good things. The overflow of United States visitors into the lands south of the Rio Grande has produced a quantity of quickly written books, and quality has not always kept pace with quantity. The author of the present work, a young American newspaper man, possesses the advantage of having undertaken a period of preliminary studv and training before he set out on his grand tour of Latin America. And his book, while not so profound or sensitive as a more mature and experienced observer of the South American scene might have written, conveys a good deal of shrewd observation and useful information in a breezy style. Mr. Carter steers clear of the wilder sensational type of reporting on the southern part of the American hemisphere and ends his survey with a variety of suggestions as to how we might strengthen our bonds with our Southern neighbors. Among these suggestions are a united buying and selling front, the establishment in this country of a Latin-American Institute, more regard for Argentinian susceptibilities in the matter of meat imports, and a southward migration of young Americans prepared to become citizens of the countries where they live and to promote two-way trade.

W. H. C.