Look Southward

Probably no region in the world is more important to the security and prosperity of the United States than the vast area south of the Río Grande customarily described as Latin America. Yet preoccupation with Europe, the Orient and Africa has often obscured this fact, especially in recent years. Now that the marching mobs south of the border have attracted our notice, writers have again become busy trying to supply us with the data we require to understand and appreciate our hemispheric neighbors. Some of their contributions will be described in the paragraphs that follow.

The uncle in Edward Tomlinson’s Look Southward. Uncle (Devin-Adair, $6.00) is of course Uncle Sam: but the author’s remarks are aimed at the people of the United States as well as their government. He tells our people and our politicians that our near neighbors are advancing toward higher levels of living and toward governments more responsive to the felt needs of the governed. But he also contends that they are dissatisfied with both their economic and political progress, and he insists that, while the Communists in their midst have frequently been frustrated, they are still busy, openly or covertly, with subversive machinations, particularly among college and university students and within the labor unions. Though not very enthusiastic for our global “mutual-assistance” programs, he feels that if this heavy burden is to be cast upon our backs with respect to all the rest of the world, save Soviet Russia and Red China, the nations south of the Rio Grande are entitled to a somewhat larger proportion. Since Mr. Tomlinson is better informed and more judicious than many of our journalists, his book deserves serious consideration. Like most Americans, both North and South, he probably does rot know the full extent of the aid that we have sent to Latin America during the period since World War II—actually a grand total, directly and indirectly, of well above three billion dollars—but that we should either give Latin Americans more assistance or other countries less seems to be a sound conclusion.

JR

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J. Fred Rippy

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Probably no region in the world is more important to the security and prosperity of the United States than the vast area south of the Río Grande customarily described as Latin America. Yet preoccupation with Europe, the Orient and Africa has often obscured this fact, especially in recent years. Now that the marching mobs south of the border have attracted our notice, writers have again become busy trying to supply us with the data we require to understand and appreciate our hemispheric neighbors. Some of their contributions will be described in the paragraphs that follow.

The uncle in Edward Tomlinson’s Look Southward. Uncle (Devin-Adair, $6.00) is of course Uncle Sam: but the author’s remarks are aimed at the people of the United States as well as their government. He tells our people and our politicians that our near neighbors are advancing toward higher levels of living and toward governments more responsive to the felt needs of the governed. But he also contends that they are dissatisfied with both their economic and political progress, and he insists that, while the Communists in their midst have frequently been frustrated, they are still busy, openly or covertly, with subversive machinations, particularly among college and university students and within the labor unions. Though not very enthusiastic for our global “mutual-assistance” programs, he feels that if this heavy burden is to be cast upon our backs with respect to all the rest of the world, save Soviet Russia and Red China, the nations south of the Rio Grande are entitled to a somewhat larger proportion. Since Mr. Tomlinson is better informed and more judicious than many of our journalists, his book deserves serious consideration. Like most Americans, both North and South, he probably does rot know the full extent of the aid that we have sent to Latin America during the period since World War II—actually a grand total, directly and indirectly, of well above three billion dollars—but that we should either give Latin Americans more assistance or other countries less seems to be a sound conclusion.