Author Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1914 Excerpt:... A STUDY OF IBERIC-AMERICA By Rear-admiral F. E. Chadwick, U.S.N., Newport, R. I. South of us in this hemisphere are nearly 8,000,000 square miles of land three-quarters of which are within the tropics. This last is a great momentous and dominating fact. For this means that there are 6,000,000 square miles, an area about twice the size of the United States exclusive of Alaska, which will never in the main be peopled by the white man as we understand the phrase. For say what some may, the white does not thrive in regions characteristically tropical and most of these 6,000,000 square miles are so. There are exceptions, as considerable portions of Mexico and Central America, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia are so high that such parts have what may be called a white man's climate. But even so it is not likely that the future inhabitants of these higher regions will differ largely in race characteristics from those now there. This fact is at the bottom of the Iberic-American question. It is that the races to the south of us differ essentially from the Anglo-Saxon in psychic qualities. I desire to say that what follows herein is not said in unkindly criticism or in unkindly spirit. I have an immense liking for the Spanish race wherever found; for its hospitable and generous character, for its beautiful family life, its dignity and courtesy. While there is something which they can learn from us, there is very much for us to learn from them and I wish that we might take this last fact very much to heart. It is part of our northern make-up (call it stupidity if you will, and you will not be far astray), that we view the mental habit of all other races as being akin to our own; that the Mexican, Peruvian, Brazilian will understand things political in exactly the...