File No. 810.42711/48.
The trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace held a
meeting in this city on December 14, 1911, for the purpose of
establishing an exchange of representative scholars or scientists
between Latin-American countries and the United States. It is proposed
by the trustees to bring two scholars or scientists from two prominent
Latin-American universities to the United States in each academic year,
and to send in return two representative American scholars or scientists
to Latin-America. For the year 1912–13 the sum of $20,000 has been
appropriated by the trustees to provide an honorarium of $5,000 for each
of the four scholars or scientists who may be selected and
appointed.
Inclosed herewith is an extract from a recent report made to the
executive committee of the trustees by Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler,
Acting Director of Intercourse and Education, Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, in which he outlines the plan for the exchange. Dr.
Butler informs the Department that that part of the project relating to
the exchange of students has been postponed for future consideration by
the executive committee of the trustees.
You will communicate the foregoing to the Argentine Government, for its
information and for communication by it to the appropriate educational
authorities in that country. You will also send to the Department as
occasion may give rise, for communication to Dr. Butler, any suggestions
and information pertinent to the matter.
[Inclosure.]
File No. 811.427 25/2.
VIII—Educational Exchange with
Latin-America.
At the meeting of the executive committee, held June 13, 1911, the
Division of Intercourse and Education was given authority to arrange
“for the exchange of professors and students between the
Latin-American countries and the United States in accordance with a
plan the details of which are to be prepared and submitted to the
executive committee at their next meeting.”
The several Pan-American conferences and scientific congresses have
made it clear that there is a large opportunity to bring the
Latin-American peoples more closely in touch and sympathy with the
people of the United States by taking steps to bring the
intellectual classes more closely in contact. Our relations with
Latin-America have heretofore been almost wholly either those of
formal diplomatic intercourse, or those which are the outgrowth of
commercial activity. The intellectual classes of the two continents
have remained entirely without contact the one with the other. At
the fourth Pan-American Conference held at Buenos Aires in 1910 a
resolution suggesting and approving the formal interchange of
students between the American universities was unanimously
adopted.
Acting under the authority given by the executive committee on June
13 last, the Acting Director under date of June 16 submitted the
outline of a plan for the exchange of professors and students
between the Latin-American universities and those of the United
States to the diplomatic representatives at Washington of Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The plan then
proposed has received the unanimous approval of these high officers
of state, and in some cases it has already received the approval of
their home Governments as well.
The following is the plan which is proposed as an important step
toward promoting the peace of the world and bringing the
Latin-American peoples and the people of the United States into
better mutual understanding:
1. Arrange at the expense of the Carnegie Endowment to bring two
representative Latin-American scholars or scientists to the United
States in each academic year, and to send in return two
representative American scholars or scientists to Latin-America.
Each representative so sent will be asked to divide his time between
two educational institutions of the continent to which he goes,
spending approximately one-half of the usual academic year at each.
Each representative is to be sent not so much for the purpose of
giving instruction in his own particular field of knowledge as for
that of interpreting informally, and as occasion may offer, the
civilization and the culture of his own people, and to gain more and
more accurate knowledge of the civilization and culture of the
people among whom he is a visitor.
The specific suggestion in this connection is that for the year
1912–13 two of these institutions be selected, and each requested
through the diplomatic representative of its government at
Washington to name a representative scholar to spend the academic
year in the United States. It is suggested that one such scholar
might divide the academic year between the University of Texas and
the University of Chicago and that the second might divide his year
between the University of Nebraska and the University of
Georgia.
In return it is suggested that the Division of Intercourse and
Education shall select two representative American scholars and
arrange that they shall spend the year 1912–13 in Latin-America,
each American visiting two Latin-American institutions, as already
stated.
The sum of $5,000 should be appropriated as a reasonable honorarium
to each of the four scholars chosen, in view of the length,
character and cost of the journey that they would be required to
make.
2. It appears to be even more important that the younger generation
in Latin-America and in the United States shall be brought into
contact with the civilization of the other continent. For this
purpose it is proposed to establish ten Pan-American fellowships of
an annual value of $1,200 each.
Five of these will be offered to competition in Latin-America and
five in the United States. These Pan-American fellowships are to be
awarded after such an examination of the credentials of candidates
as is usual at universities of the first rank, by the Division of
Intercourse and Education—the Latin-American Fellows being named on
the recommendation of their respective Governments—and the holders
are to spend the following academic year in pursuing [Page 4] advanced or professional studies at one or
more of the higher institutions of learning on the other
continent.
It is proposed that only those shall be eligible for these
fellowships who have completed their college education in the United
States, or who have reached a similar stage of advancement in
Latin-American institutions; and that when appointed these Fellows
shall be free to study law, medicine, engineering, teaching,
agriculture or go forward with higher studies in the arts and
sciences at any institution which may be approved for the purpose on
the other continent.
The Fellows who would go to South America would probably wish to
study chiefly the language, history and economic problems of
Latin-America. The Fellows who would come to the United States would
probably wish to pursue chiefly professional studies. In both cases
the effect would be happy as there would each year be sent back to
their own continent a small company of select men who knew something
from firsthand contact of the civilization and culture of the
other.
