BANCROFT LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA The PAN AMERICAN UNION L. S. ROWE Director General FRANCISCO J.YANES - - Assistant Director Report to the Governments of the Republics, Members of the Pan American Union, on the work of the Union since the close of the Fourth International Conference of American States Covering the period 1910 to 1923 Submitted by the Director General of the Pan American Union in accordance with a resolution of the Fourth International Conference of American States Adopted at Buenos Aires, August //, 1910 Washington, D. C. January, 1923 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE The P^N AMERICAN UNION L. S. ROWE Director General FRANCISCO J. YANES - - Assistant Director Report to the Governments of the Republics, Members of the Pan American Union, on the work of the Union since the close of the Fourth International Conference of American States Covering the period 1910 to 1923 Submitted by the Director General of the Pan American Union in accordance with a resolution of the Fourth International Conference of American States Adopted at Buenos Aires, August //, 1910 Washington, D. C. January, 1923 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE f- L*- - -' \J TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 Page INTRODUCTION 1 THE PUBLICATION ACTIVITIES OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION 2 THE INFLUENCE OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION IN DEVELOPING CLOSER CULTURAL TIES BETWEEN THE REPUBLICS OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT ^ 7 THE PAN AMERICAN UNION AS A CENTER OF EDUCATIONAL INFOR- MATION 11 THE PAN AMERICAN UNION AS A SOURCE OF COMMERCIAL IN- FORMATION 15 THE ACTIVITIES OF THE STATISTICAL DIVISION OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION 18 THE REORGANIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SANITARY BU- REAU ; 21 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL... 23 APPENDIX. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION 26 (m) REPORT OF L. S. ROWE, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. Submitted in accordance with the provision of Article I, section 8, of the resolution of the Fourth International Conference of American States, adopted at Buenos Aires at the session of August 11 , 1910. In accordance with the requirements of the resolution adopted at the Fourth International Conference of American States, the Director General of the Pan American Union begs to submit herewith a report on the work of the Pan American Union during the period since 1910, the date of the Fourth International Conference of American States. This is the first time that I have the honor, as Director General of the Pan American Union, to submit a report to the International Conference of American States, and I desire to avail myself of this occasion to express a deep sense of obligation for the valuable assistance and enthusiastic support which I have received from the members of the Governing Board of the Union. Whatever results have been accomplished have been due in large measure to their interest and encouragement, and I want to take this occasion to give expression to my gratitude and obligation. I also desire to express a deep sense of appreciation to the officials of the Republics of the American Continent, who have given to the Pan American Union the most earnest and enthusiastic cooperation whenever such cooperation has been requested. The Pan American Union to-day occupies a unique position, serving, as it does, the broad cultural and economic interests of the twenty-one Republics. With each year the services rendered are be- coming more concrete, more practical, and more helpful. Assured of the continued support of the Governments of the American Continent, there are no limits to its possibilities of usefulness. The 13 years that have elapsed since the meeting of the Conference at Buenos Aires have been most fruitful in expanding the sphere of usefulness of the Pan American Union. At the outset of this period the Union entered into the possession of the splendid building which it owes to the munificence of Andrew Carnegie. Thus endowed, the Union has been able to utilize to the utmost the manifold opportu- nities presented to it for the expansion of its work. 1 Each year has demonstrated more fully the possibilities of a great international organization, such as the Pan American Union. The unfortunate international conditions prevailing in Europe have served only to emphasize the important service that can be rendered by an institution devoted exclusively fo the furtherance of the common cultural and economic interests of an entire continent. COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES. The Pan American Unitin has established the closest possible cooperative relations with private organizations in Latin American countries. The Union is in constant touch with chambers of commerce, educa- tional organizations and philanthropic associations in all parts of Latin America, furnishing them with helpful data on the questions which they are called upon to solve. Every effort has been made not only to assist these associations in their work, but also to bring them into close touch with one another in order that they may be mutually and increasingly helpful. Close relations have also been established between the Pan Ameri- can Union and the Inter- American High Commission. The activities of the Inter- American High Commission an organization intended to give effect to the resolutions adopted by the First and Second Pan American Financial Conferences have a close relationship with, and in many ways supplement, the activities of the Pan American Union. The two organizations have been able to be of real service to one another, and we may confidently look forward to even closer cooperation. It is also fitting that I should avail myself of this opportunity to express a deep sense of appreciation and obligation to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce of the United States for constant and unfailing helpfulness. Through the interchange of data and constant readiness to be of mutual service to one another, the Pan American Union and the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce have been able by combined effort to further many matters in which both are interested. THE PUBLICATION ACTIVITIES OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 1. THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. Now, as in 1910, the monthly Bulletin is one of the most important of the many activities of the Pan American Union. Briefly, it con- tinues to assemble, publish, and circulate among the Republics of the American Continent, by means of its three editions, a faithful record of actual conditions in' all the countries included in the Pan American Union with respect to the great fields of human activity and endeavor, such as commerce, legislation, education, public health and sanitation, agriculture, manufacturing and industry, and inter- communication by land, sea, and air. I have referred to three editions only Spanish, English, and Portu- guese the French edition, established in 1893 with the other three mentioned, having been, by common consent, discontinued in June, 1919. These three editions are in no sense counterparts in spite of the fact that some of the material in each is identical but separate publications, each with its own special mission over and above the general purpose which permeates all the publications of the Pan American Union. In perhaps a more real sense than ever the English edition continues to discharge its very special and particular mission of interpreting to the people of the United States the genius of the Latin American peoples, of both Portuguese and Spanish extraction; of giving her people some comprehension of the manifold phases of the Iberian American cultures, using this term in its broadest significance; some appreciation of their achievements, of their problems, of their tradi- tions and aspirations. In equally sincere and vital manner the Spanish edition continues to be the chief interpreter to the Republics of Spanish speech of the genius of the people of the United States; their achievements, par- ticularly those which have contributed to the advancement and well-being of humanity at large; their traditions and aspirations; their present trends; and whatever there is of help and inspiration in their historical record. The Portuguese edition is an important point of contact between the great Republic of Brazil and the other American Republics. This is undoubtedly true of the United States, where, unfortunately, the Portuguese language has not to date received an attention at all commensurate with its importance. Among the contributors to the Bulletins are included experts in every branch of human activity, many of whose articles in the Bulletin are reprinted later in pamphlet form for a still wider cir- culation than that afforded by the magazines themselves. Apart from these special contributions, particular attention has been given in all three editions to the monthly notes under the general headings of education, legislation, agriculture, commerce and industry, inter- national treaties, and economics and finance. To this end the number of really valuable exchanges has been greatly increased; a more discriminating selection of material has been made by the readers of the staff; the material chosen has been more closely coor- dinated, and so collated that a unifying thread runs progressively through the data under any one subject, thus giving body and coherence to what would otherwise be a mass of rather fortuitous and totallv unrelated information. In this connection it should be noted that an entirely new field has recently been included, under the heading of social welfare, a subject to which the Latin American countries have been devoting a constantly increasing amount of attention a fact all too little known in the United States. Under this heading are grouped the latest authentic data concerning purely modern humanistic activi- ties that is, those tending toward the betterment of the individual and the race. Among these the Bulletin is featuring the following movements in all the American Republics : Maternity and infant wel- fare centers, free milk stations, school breakfast, and lunch centers for undernourished pupils, municipal playground centers, fresh air outings for mothers and babies, juvenile courts, child labor and other legislation protective of women and children, university extension courses for the better education of working men and women, Red Cross activities, the feminist movement and, in general, all forward- looking social movements, whether national, state, or municipal. That this new field is of immediate and wide service is attested by the fact that, already, the great official and private institutions for human betterment in the United States, such as the Children's Bureau, the National Child Welfare Association, the National Educational Asso- ciation, and the American Red Cross, are tending more and more to get their general information on these subjects (in the Latin American field) from the columns of the Pan American Bulletin. The special numbers of the Bulletin, in the Spanish and Portuguese editions, devoted to certain subjects of common and transcendental importance to the peoples of the Americas as a whole, have been con- tinued. Among the subjects dealt with in this way during the fiscal year just closed maybe mentioned: Good Roads and National Pros- perity; Recent Progress in Public Health; Child Welfare; Vocational Education; Progress in Animal Industry; Community Effort in the Elimination of Malaria; and Petroleum in the Americas. Judging from the favorable comment by the press of the American Republics, these special numbers have been both timely and welcome. It is worthy of note that press comment has ranged from lengthy editorials in papers like La Prensa and La Nacion, of Buenos Aires; La Prensa, of Lima (which initiated a campaign for more and better roads as the complement of the Bulletin's good roads number), to the reprint in toto of the articles referred to in both the daily and periodic press from the Rio Grande to the Straits of Magellan. It may be added that the additional special issues planned for the near future include Infant Mortality in the Americas and How to Reduce It; Antialco- holism; The Housing of Workmen and Their Families; and National Pure Food Guarantees and Inspection. It is also worthy of note that, as a direct result of each special issue, the Pan American Union is deluged with inquiries as to where and how the material mentioned in special issues may be obtained. No account of the Bulletin would be complete without some mention of the very special and generous cooperation in the way of articles and photographs by friends in all parts of the world, and particularly by those scattered throughout Latin America. Among these figure former members of the Pan American Union Governing Board, members of special missions to the United States, delegates to the various inter- American conferences held at Washington, and last, but not least, the numerous consuls and consular agents stationed throughout the continent, to all of whom the Bulletin is deeply indebted for a wealth of pertinent, interesting, and valuable infor- mation. The Bulletin, however, can not have too many points of contact if it is to be in any adequate sense a record of Pan American activities. It would, therefore, take this opportunity of bespeaking a still wider collaboration, to the end that its list of voluntary special contributors may greatly increase in the near future, to the enrich- ment of the Bulletin itself and a constantly increasing usefulness to its readers. Closer and more direct contact with the activities of women throughout the Americas is particularly desirable just now, not only in older and familiar fields of beneficence and education but with those more recent manifestations of concerted effort which, the direct result of universal economic change and upheaval, tend more and more to bring women to face new problems, to assume new responsibilities, and to fulfill new duties. The Bulletin can and should be the central exchange for the latest authentic information concerning all such activities, and to this end the Director General bespeaks the friendly interest and cooperation of all national asso- ciations of women and women's clubs, generally. Another most desirable contact of far-reaching influence and reciprocal benefit is that corresponding to certain activities of the various university student bodies, especially those which have for their object the spread of knowledge and culture among the prole- tariat. The universidad popular, or university extension movement as it is called in the United States and England, is growing by leaps and bounds in some of the American Republics and, in some form, exists in all. Sociological experiments of common interest and value to the American Republics are being carried on, and here, again, the Bulletin should be their main place of record, their inter-American organ of publicity. This can only be brought about by an increased number of contacts and by a constant and generous cooperation in the interchange of information. 2797223 2 6 Finally, it is a matter of some pride to record here that the Bulletins, in spite of the difficulties inherent and inevitable to publications of their special nature, have for the last two years appeared with almost unvarying regularity on the first of each month and, in the case of the Spanish and Portuguese editions, one month in advance of the date which appears on their respective covers. 2. PAMPHLETS AND BROCHURES Aside from the official organ of the Union, issued in three languages, as just described, the organization publishes brochures of uniform size and style on each of the 20 Latin American Republics. These are printed in editions of from three to five thousand and are reedited and revised at each new printing at least once a year. Similar booklets on the capital and commercial cities of the individual nations are pre- pared and issued as need arises. Still others are published on the commercial commodities of Latin America in which the general public seems to bemost interested. Altogether the Union has issued about 100 publications, largely of a commercial nature, which are intended to con- vey to readers in the United States at least an elementary knowledge of the subjects of which they treat. At the same time approximately one-third of these pamphlets are published hi Spanish and Portuguese translations, the special demand for them being in schools and col- leges where these languages are taught and where the material is of exceptional value to the students, as is evidenced by innumerable communications received by the Union from the heads of such insti- tutions. 3. REPRINTS OF BULLETIN ARTICLES. In addition to the publications just described there is still another class: I refer to those articles, which, originally published hi the Bulletin, have, because of their peculiarly helpful and practical bearing on some vital community problem, been reprinted by special request in pamphlet form for distribution in specific fields, such as schools, sanitary bureaus, women 7 s clubs, and chambers of commerce. THE INFLUENCE OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION IN DEVELOPING CLOSER CULTURAL TIES BETWEEN THE REPUBLICS OF THE AMERICAN CON- TINENT. The Pan American Union, as it grows with the years, gains in importance as a center for the dissemination of information among the American Republics. It was to be expected that, as the scope and purpose of the organization became known, greater use would be made of its facilities; but it was the broadening of its service and its initiative in the offering of this service to the peoples of the Ameri- cas, that resulted in the greatly increased demand upon the Union for Pan American material. The expansion in research service was mainly possible owing to the unique library possessed by the Union a library containing not only 50,000 books dealing with the New World Republics, but also the official documents and leading newspapers and periodicals of all the Americas. This mass of material, in greater part card indexed, has permitted the preparation of special memoranda in answer to inquiries on an almost unlimited range of topics. The program for stimulating inter-American interest is a broad one. The assistance of the press has been generally given. Special readers at the Pan American Union gather news material from the publications printed in the various Republics, and this material is not only printed in the Spanish, Portuguese, and English editions of the Bulletin, but is also used by the press. Special releases are pre- pared for the newspapers of the Americas, and information is fur- nished daily to three leading news-gathering agencies which supply cable and mail service to the press of the world. Writers of feature articles for newspaper syndicates are now using a great deal of material obtained from the Pan American Union, descriptive of the Latin American Republics. Such material has proved of interest to the reading public. Upon requests from editors, names of writers capable of furnishing authoritative articles on Latin American topics from first-hand knowledge are suggested. The Pan American Union has successfully interested publishers in the United States, in the translation into English of works by Latin American authors. One of the leading literary translators is at present touring the Republics to the south in order to acquire personal acquaintance with the literature. The Union's collection of more than 20,000 photographs has been made available for use, without charge, in the publications of the various Republics. Through gift and purchase, constant additions to this collection are being made. Through the courtesy of the owners of several South American publications, current photographs used in their magazines are sent to the Pan American Union for distribution among the illustrated papers of the United States. An 8 arrangement has just been made for supplying noncopyright photo- graphs appearing in the press of the United States to Latin American publications. Requests from these publications for photographs of important gatherings held at the Pan American Union resulted in the installation of photographic equipment for supplying this class of pictures. Washington is attracting an increasingly large number of visitors, not only from the United States but from every part of the world, and a large percentage of these tourists inspect the building of the Pan American Union. This offers an opportunity for acquainting them with the resources of the Latin American Republics. The building contains an exhibit of natural and manufactured products of the American Republics, which is being continually augumented. Besides having its educational value, this exhibit is proving of ad- ditional service in bringing those interested in the purchase of raw products in touch with the actual articles. It is planned to accentuate this feature. Information in the files of the Pan American Union was of great service to those who brought about the expansion of cable facilities between the Americas. The companies interested in radio com- munication are making good use of the data which has been collated. Steamer and railroad communication receives special attention: On exhibition at the Pan American Union is a large relief map of the Latin American Republics, one of its principal features being a graphic method of showing railway communications. Much attention is given to the fostering of travel between the countries. The first conducted tours to Latin America were under the direction of men now members of the Pan American Union staff. The voyage of the first excursion steamer between the United States and South American ports, with over 800 tourists, was made under the auspices of the Pan American Union. Itineraries are arranged for individual travelers. Through the cooperation of officials of several of the steamship lines operating between Central and South America and North America, the Pan American Union is furnished with advance lists of Latin American passengers, their United States addresses, and their expected length of stay in the country. This permits the Pan American Union to extend to these visitors an invitation to utilize the organization's facilities in carrying out the object of their mis- sions. It is the intention of the Union to expand this service. In one of the departments of the Union, information relating to plans for Pan American and international congresses is assembled and indexed. Publicity given this class of data, through the press and by correspondence, has created an interest among members of the various professions whose attendance is desired. The result has proved most helpful to the success of these meetings. Through the efforts of the Union, 240 subscribing members from the United States were added to the list of delegates to the Twentieth Interna- tional Congress of Americanists, held recently at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Scientific expeditions to Latin America from the leading museums and geographic societies of the United States have attested to the valuable assistance rendered by members of the Pan American Union staff in the formation of plans and in the general development of their investigations. The museums have shown their apprecia- tion in tangible form by presenting to the Union rare specimens of Latin American fauna for the exhibition hall. Inquiries regarding musical compositions from the American Republics has caused the Union to secure from the member countries a collection of musical works by native masters. Many of these compositions have proved so popular in the United States that plans are now under way for the assembling of a special library of such material, so that the chief musical organizations may present complete programs by Pan American composers. The leading manufacturers of phonograph records have added many composi- tions by Latin American composers, heretofore found only on export lists, to their general dealers' catalogue, and have made available the national anthems of the Americas. This came about largely as a result of the Pan American Union's efforts to bring the peoples of the Americas into closer acquaintanceship. As the home of the Pan American Union is in Washington, it is natural that its officials should receive many requests from Latin America for material published by the various departments of the United States Government. The chiefs of these departments have cooperated to the fullest extent in making available, throughout the southern Republics, the results of their experience. The right of reproduction, in the Spanish and Portuguese editions of the Bulletin, of all United States governmental publications has been freely given, and sets of the more technical pamphlets have been furnished for transmission to Latin America. The Union has been able to reciprocate in the matter of plants sent by botanical gardens and individuals in Latin America for the patio, by securing for them, through the United States Department of Agriculture, specimens of many of the horticultural marvels gathered by agricultural explorers in the Old World. Some of the national flowers of the South and Central American Republics are now being cultivated in the green- houses of the United States Department of Agriculture, with a view to their general introduction into localities whose climatic condi- tions are favorable to their growth. 10 The Pan American Union has called to the attention of the leading lecturers on travel subjects the advisability of placing before their audiences, at leading clubs and colleges, personal information gath- ered in the nations to the south. The suggestion has been accepted by many occupying important positions in their profession, every assistance being given by the Union in the preparation of itineraries and letters of introduction to Government officials. At the International School of Politics, held yearly as a summer course at Williamstown, Mass., the Director General of the Pan American Union has, for the past two seasons, conducted a Central and South American round table. A series of addresses on Latin American affairs is being delivered by members of the staff of the Pan American Union to the student bodies of leading colleges in Washington. The possibility of utilizing motion pictures to the greatest advan- tage, as a link between the peoples of the American continent, is recognized by the Pan American Union. Films showing Latin American resources and industries have been obtained from Govern- ment officials and private organizations for exhibition in the United States. These pictures have been edited, English titles provided, and are now in service for use without charge other than that of expressage. They are being shown before clubs and educational institutions, and are proving so helpful to the Pan American cause that it is planned to expand, as rapidly as possible, this branch of the service. Through an organization in the United States, supported by men of means interested in the cause of visual education, the Union has been able to secure, for use in the southern Republics, collections of educational motion pictures covering a wide range of topics. These films are provided with Spanish legends, and are loaned to associa- tions, or groups of citizens forming a committee, the sole restriction being that the films are not to be shown where an admission fee is charged. A number of committees are taking advantage of this offer. Data are being assembled dealing with the production, in the United States, of motion pictures suitable for use in Latin American centers in connection with campaigns for the improvement of public health. A number of producers are giving their attention to the marketing of films on child welfare, sanitation and hygiene, and the use already made of this material is most promising. In the United States the association of women of a community into a club for study purposes has become general, and there are to-day several thousand such groups, some of very large membership, undertaking some form of educational work. The Director General of the Pan American Union, addressing the president of these women's clubs, called their attention to the new responsibility placed on women 11 by universal suffrage, and suggested that they make a thorough study of the sister Republics to the south. Fullest cooperation was offered these clubs in the preparation of programs, a selected list of books from the Columbus Memorial Library was made available for study purposes, as well as ten sets of lantern slides, each set consisting of 120 Latin American views. Articles appearing in the monthly Bulle- tin were also made available for study purposes. The clubs interested were encouraged to devote an entire season to each Republic, per- mitting special musical features, and the display of the national flag. With appropriate motion pictures, lantern slides, and addresses, enlightening programs were arranged. One hundred and ninety- seven clubs accepted this offer and are making use of this special service. The lantern slides made by the Union's photographer have proved so satisfactory that the original loan plan has been expanded to include the supplying at cost of sets of these slides, illustrative of all parts of the Americas. State boards of education are also aug- menting their collections by the addition of Pan American slides. It is the belief of the Director General that the scope of the Pan American Union's activities can be further broadened and that the services already undertaken can be profitably intensified. It is his expectation that the Union will continue to gain in importance as a center for the dissemination of information among the 21 Republics of the New World. THE PAN AMERICAN UNION AS A CENTER OF EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION. A Section of Education was organized in the Pan American Union in 1917, as a result of the interest in this subject shown by the Pan American conferences and by the Governing Board of the Pan American Union. The Third and Fourth International Conferences of American States, held in 1906 and 1910, respectively, authorized the Pan American Union " to supply information on educational matters." At the Second Pan American Scientific Congress, held in Washington in 1915-16, the following recommendation was made: The Second Pan American Scientific Congress, confirming the resolution adopted at the First Pan American Scientific Congress of 1908-9, recommends the organization in connection with the Pan American Union of a department of education, which shall (a) Be entrusted with the publication, in Spanish , Portuguese, French, and English, of such works on education as are of importance to the American countries: (6) Keep the different Republics in touch with educational progress: (c) Promote in each country the scientific study of educational problems from both national and American standpoints: (d) Facilitate the interchange of ideas and information among the teachers of the continent, and in general serve the educational interests of the Americas." The Congress also strongly recommended the study of the history, development and ideals of the American Republics in schools and 12 universities, the study of Spanish in the United States and of English in Latin America, and the interchange of students and educators of all grades. The Governing Board of the Pan American Union interested itself especially in the proposal to establish a Section of Education and appointed a special committee to study the matter. As a result of the investigation made, on May 2, 1917, a resolution was passed by the Board directing the Assistant Director to submit at the November meeting a plan for the creation of the Section of Education. At the session of November 7, the Assistant Director indicated as the most feasible lines of work to be undertaken immediately, the obtaining of all possible information on education in each Republic of America, including facilities offered to foreign students, the furthering of the interchange of students, and the promoting of better mutual knowl- edge of the languages, history, and progress of the American Republics through educational institutions, leaving other recommendations of the Scientific Congress for such time as larger appropriations and an increased staff make it possible to take them up. The Governing Board at its meeting held February 6, 1918, approved this plan and the preliminary steps that had already been taken to put it into, operation. The Section of Education, therefore, has continued to work along these general lines for the past five years, during two of which it had the services of an educational expert. From the beginning repeated efforts have been made to obtain all the information available on the educational system of each Republic of America, including annual reports of the national educational departments, statistics, descriptive material and courses of study of universities, professional institutes of all kinds, normal, secondary, and primary schools. At the request of the American Medical Asso- ciation, which desires to promote closer scientific relations between the United States and Latin American countries, a special questionnaire was prepared by the Section of Education and sent to all the medical schools in Latin America. Considerable material regarding education in the Americas has been gathered and classified by the Section of Education. Lists of various kinds of schools, learned and scientific associations, student organizations, etc., have been prepared in response to the constant demand for this information. With the data thus gathered articles have been published, mainly in the Bulletin of the Pan American Union, describing the educational system of various countries, or some special phase of public instruction. Among these may be men- tioned a series of articles on secondary education in Latin America (published in pamphlet form in English) and a Spanish pamphlet on the university system of the United States with special reference to Latin American students. Important data has been collected as 13 to the opportunities for the study in different professional branches in each of the American Republics, as well as of the openings for foreign teachers, and a careful record is kept of the qualifications of professors from the Latin American countries desiring positions in the United States, and of those from the United States wishing to teach in some Latin American Republic, in order to suggest their names when opportunity offers. Relations have also been established with the important educational associations of the United States and Latin America. The information collected by the Section of Education has also enabled the Pan American Union to answer the increasingly numer- ous inquiries it receives from Government officials, universities, schools, and individuals on educational matters. For example, re- ports have been furnished on educational legislation, school statistics, university organization, courses of study, modern type of construction for medical schools, the equipment needed for a school of industrial chemistry, the plan of organization of vocational schools, reform schools, and other social agencies. American colleges and universi- ties constantly call on the Section of Education for information about the schools from which they are receiving Latin American students. Much time has been devoted to the interests of Latin American students in United States schools and universities. According to the latest statistics available, there are some 1,500 in higher institutions alone, and at least as many more in preparatory schools, business institutes, etc. In many cases these young men and women come to the United States without adequate information as to condi- tions. The Section of Education endeavors especially to get in touch with them before they leave home, and to this end has given con- siderable publicity to the services it offers; is forming advisory com- mittees of teachers in Latin American countries, two being already in operation (one at Habana and the other at San Jose, Cost Rica) , and carries on an extensive correspondence with individual students as to the advantages offered by different institutions, scholastic preparation required, living conditions, expenses, etc. While all these inquirers have not come to the United States, it is felt that a valuable service has been rendered in enabling those who for any reason are not fitted for coming to realize this fact before they leave home. The Section of Education has been in touch with several hundred Latin American students and young teachers, nearly all of whom desired to take up distinctly professional subjects, such as engineering, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, pedagogy, commerce, agriculture, natural sciences, architecture, and law, the first two mentioned being the most popular. Others wished to enter boarding schools to pre- 14 pare for university work. The Section of Education takes charge of submitting the student's credentials to the institution most suited to his needs and arranging for his admission, a service which often entails considerable explanatory correspondence. To facilitate these arrangements, in view of the difficulty experienced by American universities in understanding the form of certificates used in Latin America, the section has prepared a special blank form in Spanish and English. One of the aims of the section is to encourage reci- procity in the acceptance of diplomas from secondary and higher institutions of the Americas, and it is cooperating with the American Council on Education, a semiofficial organization of the United States, in preparing tentative lists of acceptable institutions. For this purpose much more complete data than is now at hand is needed regarding the schools and universities of Latin America. After students reach the United States there are several organiza- tions that are ready to look after their interests, and with all of these the Section of Education cooperates most heartily. When desired, the educational section sees that the student is met on arrival, keeps in touch with him during his university course, and reports to his parents or relatives on his progress. A special effort has been made to provide schools where recently arrived students may perfect their knowledge of English, and to enlist the interest of university authorities in giving particular attention to the needs of Latin- American students. The response has been most generous from practically all the higher institutions of the United States, to the extent that, as a matter of special courtesy, 61 universities and col- leges, 12 normal schools and 1 educational association are ready to cooperate in the education of young Latin Americans who wish to pursue studies in the United States by making special offers that range from the remission of a small tuition fee to a special scholarship of $1,000 per year. Several institutions have also consented to give part-time employment to young teachers, enabling them to study without expense. The Section of Education has rendered assistance to various students from the United States who desired to enter universities in Latin America, furnishing them information, letters of introduction, etc. The interchange of professors is admittedly a more difficult prob- lem, but the Section of Education has constantly endeavored to foster the idea through correspondence and has placed a few individual teachers, assisting others who made trips of observation and study. A lecture tour through American universities was recently arranged for a distinguished Latin-American professor, and was referred to by one of these institutions as a real service to the cause of closer educational relations on the part of the Pan American Union. 15 Having in mind the influence that may be exerted through the schools and universities in forming a true Pan American attitude of mind in the younger generation, the educational section has given special attention to the recommendations of the Scientific Congress regarding the study of the history, development and ideals of the American Republics in educational institutions, the study of Spanish in the United States and of English in Latin America, and has urged these in every possible way through addresses, the providing of helpful material for teachers, and the furthering of educational correspondence between school children of the Americas. The section is constantly endeavoring to improve the influence exercised by textbooks dealing with Latin America by the elimination of erroneous and unfair statements that are often found in them, and has made special efforts which have not been as successful as was expected to secure a collection of national histories of the Latin American Republics that might serve as a basis for the prep- aration of a standard textbook in English. It is gratifying to the educational section to note that there has has been a great increase in the number of persons studying Spanish and Portuguese in the United States during the past five years. In 1922 the section took a census of the higher educational institu- tions, from which it appears that out of 425 institutions reporting, 404 teach Spanish and 12 Portuguese. The total number of students of Spanish was 56,947. This does not include normal or secondary schools. Eight universities reported over 1,000 students of Spanish, and one has 3,000 studying that language. Although no statistics are available, from information received from time to time, it is believed that a similar advance has been made in the study of English in the schools of Latin-American countries. THE PAN AMERICAN UNION AS A SOURCE OF COMMERCIAL INFORMATION. The commercial information disseminated by the Pan American Union may be divided into four general classes that given in letters, in printed matter, in personal interviews, and in public lectures. By means of letters and printed matter the Union has during the past 13 years fulfilled the requests of many thousands of people throughout the American Continent. An actual count of incoming and outgoing letters, which has long been maintained, shows that approximately 50,000 written replies to inquiries have been sent forth annually during this period. Although the commercial activi- ties of the Union are supposed to be devoted primarily to the up- building of trade among the American nations, it is interesting to record the large number of requests that are constantly received from European institutions, libraries, individuals, chambers of com- 16 merce, and governments; and from similar sources in China, Japan, Australia, and'Canada. As a concrete illustration, I recall receiving a few months ago a request from a man in Java for certain commercial data on the Amazon River region. The Union responded with a statement containing the desired information. Evidently this mate- rial pleased the correspondent and met his needs for quite recently a communication from the same individual at Manaos, Brazil, stated that he was sending a collection of Amazonian woods, which he desired to present to the Union as a token of his appreciation for services rendered. The Pan American Union's files indicate that trade associations in every American State have made use of the organization's com- mercial data. Indeed, such bodies have been constant applicants for general and often for the most minutely detailed data. As an illustration, the Chamber of Commerce of Chicago relied largely on the information the Union supplied when the former proposed to open a branch in Buenos Aires. Corporations covering every field of commercial endeavor have come to the Union for information on a multitude of commercial subjects. For instance, one of America's greatest automobile manufacturers was considering the erection of a branch factory in a South American country. The officials of the corporation conferred with the Pan American Union on tlte project in general, purchasing power of the people, labor conditions, and various other details before making a final decision. Such decision having been reached, the corporation sent a delegation to Washington to confer personally with the head of the Union and his assistants. As a result of correspondence and personal interview, a growing motor car manufacturing industry is now established in a South American Republic. Those unfamiliar with the calls made upon the Union by Latin- American business men would be surprised to see the large corre- spondence in Spanish and Portuguese that flows into the offices. Let me call attention to a few illustrative cases. A firm in Cuba owned large mineral deposits and wished to sell crude ores in the United States. The LTnion suggested the names of certain important corporations that consume such raw materials, and the Cubans thus found a market for their minerals. A firm in Guatemala, desiring to purchase certain building materials, applied to the Union for the names of reliable manufacturers of such goods. The result has been a mutual interchange of raw and manufactured commodities. Another illustrative case is that of a Guatemalan who wished to enlarge and improve his business of honey production. He wrote to the Union and later visited its commercial offices, and therby \\ as introduced to producers of honey bees, and also to wholesale dealers and importers of this product. To-day many ships between Bar- 17 rios and New York bear Guatemalan honey in large quantities to the American consumer a trade developed by the aid of the Union. The progress of commerce being so closely interwoven with the movement of capital and labor, the Union found it advisable to estab- lish special divisions to maintain close relations with these great forces. From the daily and weekly journals and from other sources in Latin America the Union records facts and information on labor that affect the world of commerce. This information is passed regularlv to the press of the United States and once a month to the International Labor Office at Geneva, whence still wider publicity is given to the data thus compiled. Since the close of the Great War there has arisen in most of the financial centers of the United States, and especially in New York, an increasing demand for detailed and exact data regarding the finances of the Latin American States, municipalities, corporations, etc. For many years the Union has been supplying information in response to these inquiries, and it seems reasonable and fair to credit the movement of considerable North American capital to the Latin American Republics and to many private enterprises operating in that part of the world to the accurate information supplied by the Union to banks and other agencies prior to the consummation of a given undertaking. Within the last two years, or in 1921-22, the demand for this class of information led to the organization of a separate division at the Union whose duty it is to compile and make available every class of financial data. American students in colleges and universities form quite a large percentage of those applying for information of a commercial nature ; and these requests are received also from the several thousand Latin American students who are coming in increasing numbers to educa- tional institutions in the United States. The former are seeking information regarding the commercial status and progress of the Latin-American nations, while the Latins desire facts about the trade of the several American States. Still another field which the Union cultivates in response to letters of request is that of supplying at least one commercial booklet to each student of intermediate schools all over the land. Additional booklets, often in large numbers, are supplied to students and teachers at the actual cost of paper and printing. Thus the information disseminated by the Union to the youth of the Americas is of inestimable value in drawing them into a fuller acquaintanceship a potent factor that underlies the devel- opment of commerce. The personal interview between business men and the head of the Pan American Union and his assistants consumes a considerable amount of time each day, for there is a never-ending line of callers. The subjects in which these men are interested cover a diversified 18 field, topics in which they desire to confer in a more extensive way than is possible by letter or by use of printed matter. In this respect the Union is fortunate in having available on its staff men who have not only traveled in Latin America, but who have spent years in buying and selling in that part of the world and who are, therefore, able to give advice based on actual observations and business experi- ences in the field. Another but more limited field is that of the public lectures before chambers of commerce and other business organizations. If the Director General or his assistants could accept all invitations to talk before such bodies there would be little time left for other duties. Many of the more important calls, and especially those within easy reach of Washington, are accepted; and at times such talks are enlivened by use of stereopticon slides and by motion pictures depicting the progress of commerce throughout Latin America. THE ACTIVITIES OF THE STATISTICAL DIVISION OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. Prior to 1910 the compilation and publication of Latin American commercial statistics had been irregular and not upon any uniform basis. In that year it was determined to standardize the publica- tion as far as possible, to issue a trade report for each of the countries and a general survey for all the countries for each year with compari- sons for the preceding year. This plan has been held to and is in operation at the present time. The year's trade of each of the Republics has been compiled and published for every year since 1909, in all over 200 separate publi- cations. The series is complete except for Mexico, for which data were not available for four years, 1914 to 1917; and for Guatemala for the year 1910. The publication has been made in the Monthly Bulletin and in separate pamphlets, chiefly in the latter, although in a few cases the statistics have appeared in both forms. The com- pilations, varying as to the countries and the available data, and running from about 8 to 50 pages of close printed text and tables covers, in all cases when available, the complete details of trade. In compiling the statistics of the annual trade of the several Repub- lics it has been sought to make uniform the presentation in so far as it can be done. Complete uniformity is not possible because of the absence of identity in the bases upon which the original statistical facts are collected in the several countries. The chief sources of variance are in respect to valuations, classifications and currencies. A number of the countries, of which Argentina, Uruguay, and Para- guay are examples, have artificial fixed valuations for customs im- ports that bear no close relation to the actual value of the goods imported. 19 This works very satisfactorily as a basis for collection of revenues, but for statistical purposes the result is far from satisfactory. Rec- ognizing this fact, the statistical offices of these countries for the last three or four years have issued two sets of figures, one of " customs" valuation and one of "real" valuation. "Real" valuations, that for several years have approximated double or more than double " cus- toms" valuations, represent more nearly the correct facts of trade statistics and have made possible a greater degree of uniformity in the compilation of Latin American statistics. A second difficulty militating against the uniform presentation of Latin American statistics has been found in the divergent classifica- tion system in use in the several countries. This difficulty can not be overcome by any statistical readjustment. The statistical classifi- cation systems are necessarily based upon tariff classifications in Latin America as they are elsewhere. Nothing short of uniform tariff classification and nomenclature (this does not mean necessarily uniform tariff rates) can serve as a basis for entire uniformity in trade statistics. The third difficulty standing in the way of uniform statistics is the matter of variable monetary standards. Where standards are based upon gold or where, as in Argentina or Chile, the statistics are collected and stated in gold, even though the actual business is trans- acted in paper, there is no difficulty. But where the statistics are collected and stated in a fluctuating paper currency, as in Brazil, or in silver, as in Guatemala and Honduras, the difficulty of making a uniform and comparative statistical statement is very great. For- tunately in the case of Brazil the Brazilian statistical office always furnishes a partial statement (covering totals) in British pounds sterling at the commercial exchange rate. Guatemala and Honduras also furnish partial statements in United States gold currency. Notwithstanding these difficulties to uniform presentation, the Pan American Union has found it possible in the trade reports listed below to give the facts upon bases approximating uniformity. The method has been to give the annual trade of the particular country in its own currency and in United States gold, this conversion being made at the par rate when the standard is gold and at an estimated average yearly rate when the standard is fluctuating paper or silver. The presentation is made by tables and explanatory text and consists of: Ten-year table of trade in the gross, imports and exports. Five-year tables of imports and exports by principal countries. Whenever pos- sible the complete list is given. Three-year tables of imports and exports by major classifications of commodities. Two-year tables of imports and exports by minor classifications (and articles when possible) by countries of procedure and destination. Imports and exports by ports, two years. 20 There has been compiled and published for every year since 1909 a general survey of the trade of all Latin America, consisting chiefly of tables with textual comment and explanations. The trade for the year and for the preceding year is given by im- ports, exports, and increases and decreases, all reduced for sake of uniformity to United States gold. The 20 Latin American countries are arranged in two groups North American Republics, Mexico, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Haiti; and South American Republics Argentina, Boliva, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The trade is given for each country and grand totals for each of the groups and for all Latin America. Other tables show the distribution of trade both by imports and exports, also for two years. The same arrangement of a northern and southern group is preserved. The differentiation is for the four leading importing and exporting countries, which, except for the period of the war when Spain was substituted for Germany, have been and are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. It is customary to show 10 years trade of all Latin Amer- ica, comparisons of before and after the war trade, distribution for 10- year periods and the like, by lesser and less detailed tables. The textual matter is in explanation and amplification of the tables and sets out the salient facts of the trade and the character and nature thereof. Special attention is given to enumeration and lists of articles of import and export in general and as applicable to each country. In addition to the fuller statistical compilations listed above, the statistical division of the Pan American Union has prepared and fur- nished for publication in the Bulletin, since 1910, several hundred notes covering partial statements of trade for periods less than a year, of special ports or localities, or of particular industries. It has also prepared and published in the Bulletin the trade of the United States with Latin America compiled from United States statistical publications for each year since 1910, two yearly state- ments, one for the calendar and one for the fiscal year, i. e., for the year ending December 31, and for the year ending June 30. The statistical division has prepared a number of special trade articles all of which have appeared in the Monthly Bulletin and about one-half have also appeared in separate pamphlets. Several hundred special compilations have been prepared by the statistical division of the Pan American Union for the use of the Director General or at the request of correspondents. Some of these have appeared in trade journals, newspapers, and magazines, but the great majority, having only limited interest, were never printed. To the same class belong the answers to a yet greater number of let- 21 ters of inquiry. These answers which required a great deal of inves- tigation covered in general, trade, tariffs, and statistics of Latin America. THE REORGANIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SANITARY BUREAU. The Sixth International Sanitary Conference, held in Montevideo from December 12 to 20, 1920, reorganized the International Sanitary Bureau, increased its annual budget from $5,000 to $20,000, and gave to it a wider scope of activities than it had hitherto enjoyed. Article XXXVII of the resolutions adopted by that conference, and under which the reorganization of the International Sanitary Bureau was effected, reads as follows: (a) The Bureau shall be composed of seven members, one of whom shall be the Director, another the Vice Director, and a third the Secretary, all appointed by the Sixth Conference and by each succeeding Conference. (6) In each Conference there shall be selected an honorary director who shall be appointed from among the chiefs of the department of hygiene or of public health of the American Republics. (c) In the interval between the conferences the vacancies of members which may occur shall be filled immediately by a majority vote of the remaining members. (d) The duties of the International Sanitary Bureau shall be in accord with those which were approved in the Second International Sanitary Convention of the Ameri- can States and in the First International Sanitary Conference, and shall publish a monthly bulletin entitled "Boletin Panamericano de Sanidad de la Oficina Sanitaria Internacional." (e) The said publication shall be in the English and Spanish languages. (/) For carrying out the foregoing a credit of $20,000 shall be available, which sum shall be apportioned among the signatory Governments following the system of pro- rating used for the maintenance of the Pan American Union. (gr) The International Sanitary Bureau shall formulate rules and regulations for its internal administration which it shall put in force immediately, but which shall be submitted to the ratification and approval of the Seventh International Sanitary Conference. (h) The members of the International Sanitary Bureau who reside a long distance from Washington, in case of inability to attend, may be represented by their respective diplomatic agents, or by persons appointed by the respective Governments, 'ti^ - / The first important work accomplished by the International Sanitary Bureau since its reorganization was the publication in Spanish of the proceedings of the Sixth International Sanitary Conference of Ameri- can Republics. Soon thereafter the Pan American Union published a special Bulletin entitled "Los IJltimos Progresos en la Sanidad," the material for which was gathered by the International Sanitary Bureau. This bulletin consisted of 11 articles contributed by men of national reputation on the subjects of malaria, yellow fever, bubonic plague, leprosy, pellagra, typhoid fever, smallpox, typhus fever, hook- worm, serums, and vaccines. Following the recommendations of the Sixth International Sanitary Conference, the International Sanitary Bureau issued in May, 1922, the 22 first number of its monthly publication entitled "Boletin Panameri- cano de Sanidad de la Oficina Sanitaria Internacional," and up to and including November, 1922, has issued seven numbers of this Bulletin containing articles of sanitary and public health value, as well as observations on the progress of sanitary engineering and up-to- date data relating to the prevalence of epidemic disease in Latin America. The selection of the material for this Bulletin is under the personal direction of Asst. Surg. Gen. J. D. Long of the Public Health Service of the United States, who was appointed by the Director of the International Sanitary Bureau, Surg. Gen. Hugh S. Gumming, to fill this important post because of his long experience and special fitness in work of this kind. Doctor Long, who is the head of the Quarantine Service of the United States, generously donates his services to the International Sanitary Bureau. The seven numbers of the International Sanitary Bulletin, which have been issued up to and including November, 1922, have treated, among other things, of the following subjects: (1) Importance of sanitary cooperation among nations; (2) Differential diagnosis and extirpation of smallpox; (3) Present state of the leprosy problem in the United States; (4) Leprosy in the Philippine Islands; (5) Treatment of leprosy in India; (6) Sources of chaul- moogra oil; (7) Control of venereal diseases; (8) Importance of good teeth; (9) Control of cancer; (10) Treatment and control of diphtheria; (11) Progress in sanitary engineering; (12) Recom- mendations of the First American Leprosy Conference, held in Rio de Janeiro, October, 1922; (13) Resumes of contagious diseases; and (14) The use of chlorine in the purification of water. Another very important work of the International Sanitary Bureau was the -compilation of a bulletin of 112 pages on the subject of malaria and its control, and the publication of same in Spanish and Portuguese as special edition of the Monthly Bulletin of the Pan American Union. These bulletins were so favorably received and were in such great demand that the two editions referred to were practically exhausted within a period of less than 60 days from the date of their publication. The Bulletin of the International Sanitary Bureau, the edition of which is 3,000 copies per month, is being sent to boards of health, sanitarians, health officers, practicing physicians and other interested persons, and has been so well received and so many calls have been made for it that the first issue is now almost completely exhausted. Broadly speaking, and judging from letters and comments from many reliable sources, it is believed that within a year or two, as soon as the various Latin American Republics have become more familiar with the work and activities of the International Sanitary Bureau and its present and potential possibilities for usefulness, it 23 will become a center and clearing house for the dissemination of useful information relating to preventive medicine, and especially concerning sanitation and public health, all of which will result to the mutual benefit and sanitary progress of the countries in interest. The consensus of opinion is that the time has now come for a closer understanding and special cooperation among the American Republics for the purpose of standardizing, in so far as may be deemed expedient, sanitary regulations, quarantine of travelers, and regulations governing imports and exports of freight in Pan American traffic, with the object of facilitating commerce, promoting good will and insuring against the spread of plague, cholera, yellow fever, typhus and other communicable diseases. RECOMMENDATIONS. The Director General desires to take this opportunity to submit to the conference a matter of much importance to the Pan American Union. The activities of the Union have heretofore rested on a series of resolutions adopted by successive Pan American Conferences. It is highly desirable that these resolutions should now be replaced by an international convention. Such a convention would give to the Union a more definite international status and would serve to strengthen its position. The terms of such a convention were formu- lated at the Fourth International Conference held at Buenos Aires in 1910. This draft is reprinted in the special Handbook of the Pan American Conference prepared for the use of delegates. The only changes suggested in this draft are as follows : (1) That wider discretionary power be given to the Director General in the matter of the publications of the Pan American Union, and that Article VII be made to read as follows: "The Pan American Union shall issue such publications dealing with the matters contained in the first paragraphs of Article II of this convention, as the Governing Board may determine. In order to assure the greatest possible accu- racy in these publications, each signatory State shall transmit directly to the Pan American Union two copies of the official documents or publications which may relate to matters connected with the purposes of the Union." (2) That a further clause be added authorizing the Director General to provide for a civil retirement fund for all members of the staff of the Pan American Union receiving a salary of $5,000 or less. This would exclude from the provisions of the retirement fund the Director General and the Assistant Director, inasmuch as these two officers hold office at the will of the Governing Board and need not be included in the retire- ment fund provision. The record of accomplishment of the Pan American Union, since the inception of its work in 1889, has fully justified the hopes of those to whose far-seeing statesmanship the Union owes its existence. The first three decades were a period of constantly enlarging useful- 24 ness, and the four years that have since elapsed have upheld the high standards set during the earlier periods. The record of the last 34 years is, as it were, the opening chapter in that larger movement for Pan American cooperation which is rap- idly progressing toward fuller fruition. The Pan American Union is called upon to be the instrument through which the concrete results of such cooperation are to be secured. With each year the sphere of its usefulness in this respect must be enlarged and new ways found through which the ties between the Republics of the American Con- tinent may be strengthened. To an increasing degree the Pan American Union must be made the most important center of information, not only for the Governments of the American Continent, but also for merchants, manufacturers, educators, and all those interested in the manifold activities of national life in the northern, central, and southern sections of the continent. The number of inquiries received is increasing with each year, and it is the aim of the staff of the Union to furnish complete and accurate data on all questions submitted. In the course of tune the Pan American Union should increase the number of experts attached to its service. At present, the Union is in the fortunate position of being able to avail itself of the great number of experts attached to the executive departments of the Government of the United States. The cooperation given by these departments has been most valuable and it is most fitting that acknowledgment thereof should here be made. In addition to being a center of general information relative to the cultural and economic activities of the American Republics, those in charge of the work of the Pan American Union are endeavoring to make it to an increasing extent a center of information for expert advice on the problems confronting the Republics of the American Continent. Through the Pan American Union the Government of each Republic is able to avail itself of the fund of experience of all the others. In this way the Union is able to strengthen the con- structive service which it is performing to all the Republics. The scope of the publications of the Pan American Union are fully described elsewhere in this report. The splendid results accom- plished by the special numbers of the Bulletin devoted to such sub- jects as "The Elimination of Malaria," "Child Welfare," and other topics of interest to all the Republics of America, indicate that the Union should further enlarge its publication activities by the issuance of a number of special series. If the resources of the Union will per- mit, it is our hope to publish an educational series, an agricultural series, a public health series; each series devoted to monographic studies setting forth the latest results of investigation by leading ex- perts of the American Continent. The series of conferences recently held at the Pan American Union, especially the Chilean-Peruvian Conference and 'the Conference on 25 Central American Affairs, indicates the important part which the Union is called upon to play as the scene of international gatherings for the consideration of problems of mutual interest. This phase of the Union's activities should be enlarged with each year. In the Pan American Union the nations of the Americas possess an instrument of international approximation of \vhich they may well be proud and which, in these troublous times, should furnish to the world an example of a group of nations associated for the purpose of promoting their common interests, and of placing the experience of each at the service of all. By the orderly processes of conference and interchange of views, and without the slightest attempt at compul- sion of any kind, unity of purpose and unity of action are secured. Respectfully submitted. L. S. HOWE, Director General. APPENDIX. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. At the First International Conference of American States a recom- mendation was approved on March 29, 1890, for the organization of an association under the title of " International Union of American Republics" for the prompt collection and distribution of commercial data and information. This Union was to be represented at Wash- ington, D. C., by a Bureau called " The Commercial Bureau of the American Republics," its organ of publicity to be a publication in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French the four languages spoken in Latin America and the United States entitled "The Bulletin of the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics." It was also provided that this bureau was to be " at all times available as a medium of communication and correspondence for persons applying for information in regard to matters pertaining to the com- merce of the American Republics." To defray the expenses of main- taining the Bureau the sum of $36,000 was set aside to be advanced by the Government of the United States, which was to be reimbursed by the other Republics by their respective quotas in proportion to their population. Subsequently the Dominican Republic joined the Union, as did later Cuba and Panama. The report of the committee adopted by the First Conference is the original charter of the Bureau. In accordance with the report or fundamental charter the Bureau was under the direct control of the Secretary of State of the United States. In practice, it was found that this provision of the charter to a large extent nullified the international character of the Bureau as intended by the First Conference. The Secretary of State of the United States, the Hon. Richard Olney, on April 1, 1896, called a meeting of the diplomatic repre- sentatives in Washington of the countries composing the Bureau, for the purpose of a consultation regarding its affairs. At this meeting a committee, consisting of Senor Don Matias Romero, Minister of Mexico, Senor Don Salvador Mendonca, Minister of Brazil, Senor Don Jose Andrade, Minister of Venezuela, Senor Don Antonio Lazo, Minister of Guatemala, and Senor Don Joaquin B. Calvo, Charge d'Affaires of Costa Rica, was appointed to draft a plan for the reorganization of the Bureau. On June 4, 1896, the committee reported, recommending the creation of an executive committee of five members, the chairman of which was to be the Secretary of State (26) of the United States, and the other four members to be taken in rotation from the Latin-American countries. This committee was to act as a board of supervision of the administration of the Bureau. The recommendations of this report were agreed upon, and thus became the first modification or change in the original charter. On March 18, 1899, at a meeting of the diplomatic representatives of the member countries, a further enlargement of the plan of the original charter was agreed upon. The executive committee, con- sisting of the Secretary of State of the United States as ex officio chairman, and four representatives of the Latin-American countries (the four to be chosen in rotation from all the countries composing the Bureau), in addition to having advisory powers was given the power to appoint the Director, Secretary, and permanent translators of the Bureau, to fix their salaries and to dismiss them whenever it seemed advisable so to do. The method of appointment was pro- vided by the plan then adopted and the duties of the Director and subordinates prescribed. The executive committee was by this plan charged with the duty of general supervision and perfecting of the management of the Bureau. This was the second change in the original charter and the one that made the Bureau international in character, as was intended by the First International Conference of American States. At the Second Conference a resolution was adopted on January 29, 1902, for the reorganization of the Bureau. In Article I of this reso- lution it is provided that the International Bureau of the American Republics shall be under the management of a Governing Board, which shall consist of the Secretary of State of the United States of America, who shall be its chairman, and of the diplomatic represen- tatives of all the Governments represented in the Bureau and accred- ited to the Government of the United States of America. The reso- lution contained 13 articles and provided in detail for the manage- ment of the Bureau, and conferred upon the Governing Board full power over its affairs. The name of the Bureau was changed from "The Commercial Bureau of the American Republics" to "The Inter- national Bureau of the American Republics." The Third International Conference adopted on August 19, 1906, a resolution, signed by all of the delegates, for the reorganization of the Bureau. This resolution did not change in any particular the essen- tials of the resolution of Mexico City so far as the administration of the Bureau, its character as an international institution, and the work to be performed by it were concerned. It did change many of the details of administration within the Bureau, and imposed upon it additional work. 28 The action of the Fourth International Conference further enlarged the scope of the organization and changed the name to that of "Pan American Union/' while the name of the organization of American countries which support the Pan American Union was changed to " Union of American Republics" instead of " International Union of the American Republics"; the chief executive officer of the Union was made Director General, and the Secretary was made Assistant Director and Secretary of the Governing Board. Since its establishment there have been in all eight Directors of the Bureau, as follows: William E. Curtis (1890-1893); Clinton Fur- bish (1893-1897); Joseph P. Smith (1897-98); Frederic Emory (1898-99) ; W. W. Rockhill (1899-1905) ; William C. Fox (1905-1907) ; John Barrett (1907-1920) ; L. S. Rowe (1920 to date). The present assistant director, Francisco J. Yanes, is a Venezuelan and has held responsible posts in the foreign service of that country. He represented the Union at the Fourth International Conference of American* States held at Buenos Aires. o