Professor Sherwell:
Students of the University of Georgetown:

We are pleased that you have had the opportunity to experience the affection of the Venezuelan Government and people for your illustrious country, a country admirable in every respect and especially because of the fact that when our nationalities began their lives, she was the stronghold of American rights.

Through a magnificent destiny, which you are loftily fulfilling, you proclaim yourselves the champions of a democracy whose models will be, on the American continent, amid glory common to us all, Washington and BolÍvar; the one representing the equanimity of the great Saxon race, and the other embodying the dreams of progress, at times impatient, but always magnanimous, of that Latin soul which vibrates in our veins and inspires our conduct.

These two souls come into symbolical contact to-day,—and God grant that it be forever so!—in this intellectual communion of youthful students at the foot of our Ávila, students who may one day be the citizens of that future country announced by RodÓ, which may then call itself by a single, glorious name—simply and grandly,—America, a country created not through political combinations or sordid calculations, nor through imperialistic and warlike expansions, but through community of interests and community of ideas; a country created through confraternity, supported by justice, and made everlasting through right.

Gentlemen:

The noblest edifice that has reared its ideal shield over the world is Law.

No institution created by mortal beings (by its grandeur, law has been thought divine, and indeed, jus and fas were identical in their origin) answers more fully the higher aspirations of the human soul.

Man, who has lived in a hole in a rock, or on his native plains, under the roof of heaven, can build for his residence dwellings more or less sumptuous; for him a ray of a torrid sun is an abundance; when he loves or dreams he is satisfied with a moonbeam and is able to boast that he has destroyed darkness; man, who carries within himself the essential substance of all beings, the substance which, by its manifestations, is the synthesis of the world, and through which great silent men can live happily by themselves, may traverse distances with the wings of the condor and, at will, join his fellow-beings for pleasure or for labor; he inhabits palaces with Agrippa, partakes of banquets with Lucullus, and is carried with Cleopatra, in the bark of pleasure, the nuptial, dream-hued ship. * * * But is that all, the final purpose of his destiny? Is such perchance, the essential? Does that answer the cravings of his own soul and the conscience of humanity?

No; that is not the test of value, not even of progress. For in the face of such philosophy a thousand queries will ever rise to his lips. Is he free or not? Does he enjoy equality and, on his part, does he not tyrannize? Does he hold among his fellow-beings a place, great or humble, but a place, none the less, from which he can work out his own destiny and that of a group such as his family, his city, or his country? May he think, live, produce, build up a fortune and a home for himself, thus ennobling with a serene dignity his existence and finally perpetuating himself, through his ideas, his children, and his achievements? In order that we may always freely answer "yes," man has forged Law. And I repeat it, he has truly forged law because that process, though begun with man himself and continuing through all the ages to be his glory in history and for eternity, this science which he has produced is like those lofty structures which have exhausted the effort of one generation after another, their formidable architecture forever providing unfinished work for generations to come.

In that great total, one of the most modern and perhaps one of the noblest parts is International Law, whose subjects are not merely individuals, but the groups we call states.

When, in the midst of the dismay produced in our souls by the European war, I began, in 1917, my lectures on the History of International Law, I made an optimistic profession of faith, a profession of absolute faith in the efficacy of those principles of justice which must regulate the relations of peoples.

Permit me to repeat what I said on that occasion:

International Law is truly a triumph of reason. Applying to this subject a well-known saying spoken, however, with reference to broader fields, it is "human reason itself in so far as applied to the government of nations." For although some of its rules are obeyed crudely and instinctively as manifestations of social requirements in primitive groups, force, which is the negation of Right, has prevailed over those rules to such an extent that only through the supreme influence of religious ideas, which are all powerful in the infancy of social organizations, have they been applied to some extent in safeguarding rights such as the respect due to ambassadors, the inviolability of sacred truces and the burial of soldiers fallen on battlefields.

It was through an effort of reason, ever progressing and steadily receiving more enlightenment, that, with the passing of centuries, those standards which now impose unavoidable obligations on modern states have been established. The evolution has been harmonious in its changes, and reflects the different stages of civilization through which mankind has advanced.

Reason has striven to replace the reign of violence, the negation of thought, by effecting the progressive development of human society through the force of justice; and, hence it is that every day more perfect relations have been established among civilized countries through respect for the equality of all and through the acknowledgment of mutual individuality, which is in effect a consequence of the respect we demand for ourselves. In short, this advance rests on the realization of the dignity of man, a realization which, in this case, leads men logically to admit the sovereignty of the people and the sovereign independence of the state, which implies that each is free to organize as it seems fit in order to fulfil its destiny without foreign interference.

It is only too true that the present catastrophe which shook the world has given rise to the thought, the sad thought, that the work of centuries has failed; and truly the spectacle appals us with its magnitude. The leaders of humankind, who led the forward movement towards spiritual freedom, who had fostered congresses and conferences designed to draw men closer to one another and thus to settle their differences, who had established at The Hague a supreme Tribunal of Nations, have seen themselves compelled to adopt the very expedient which seemed forever repudiated because of universal condemnation.

England, prudent England, the model on which all free nations chose to shape their institutions and their lives; vigorous Germany, as learned as she is strong, whose power is established through the maintenance of that discipline and virile rule of life admired by Tacitus who proposed it to the decadent Romans as reproach since it could not serve as a model; Italy, our teacher in arts as well as in the science we profess, favored as she was with the subtle, deep and harmonious genius which made forever famous the schools of Proculus and Sabinus; France, admired and admirable France, alma mater of so many happy innovations and of so many generations of high thinkers, especially of that generation of a century ago, deemed heroic as Carlyle understood heroism, and which aroused by BolÍvar translated idealism into action and immortalized the most transcendental moment in the history of these Americas;—Russia,—I shall refrain from mentioning Russia because a dark cloud has obscured for the great majority the spiritual strength of that people, weighed down with future problems but permeated with a sentimental and deep mysticism which some discovered when they grew to admire Tolstoy and Dostoievsky whom Enrico Ferri has compared to Dante,—all these nations and those they strongly influence, all these peoples who occupy so prominent a place in history, we see fanaticized by the fire of war, sowing death mercilessly, spreading ruin from one hemisphere to another and planting pessimism, if not despair, in one conscience after another. This, too, just when it seemed impossible that any of them, at the present stage of development, should need to engage in contest other than those through which life could be more secure and comfortable, physical welfare greater, and nations brought nearer the tranquil reign of the spirit.

But we must never lose sight of the fact that all this is but a crisis, one of those great convulsive crises of the moral organism, from which the concept of right and the necessity of employing the only formulas truly protective of equity and justice shall emerge more vigorous than ever.

After this great war, the desire for a lasting peace will be more intense, and the means to make that peace certain will be applied with greater energy.

These hopes, cherished by many of us during the struggle, we have seen synthesized in the Wilsonian concept and incorporated with the precision of a code in the Covenant of the League of Nations. Since the appearance of Christianity, only the Thirty-Years war terminating in its Congress of Westphalia, and the French Revolution, with its declaration of the rights of man (which GrÉgoire intended to supplement with a declaration of the rights of states), will leave on international law as deep a mark as the World War with its Covenant of the League of Nations.

A flight of eagles, but happily not of imperial eagles, crosses all borders; a magnanimous feeling of solidarity struggles to conquer sterile distrust, and the members of the human family begin to recognize each other. It seems as if we were approaching the realization of the generous idea of Cicero and Seneca; man is nowhere a foreigner; his true country is the universe. The dream of a Magna Civitas, the ideal city of humankind, is taking shape.

Wilson's plan tends to that end. We have seen that it is not new, but it is great. Among others, Sully and Henry IV, the AbbÉ Saint-Pierre and Rousseau, cherished this idea, which Voltaire, the skeptic, considered chimerical. Kant, the philosopher, used to say: "What we desire is a General Congress of Nations, the convening and duration of which would depend entirely upon the sovereign will of the several members of the league."

The lineage of statesmen, of dreamers, and of philosophers is a single and privileged moral descent. Prudent forethought, creative imagination and profound grasp of the supreme laws which regulate nature and man are crystallized in the souls of liberators. BolÍvar also strove to establish an Assembly of Nations at the Isthmus of Panama. And it is worthy of notice that these nations in BolÍvar's plan, as well as in the Covenant of the League of Nations, would be forced to obey the principles of International Law. The Congress, in his first project, was intended to be established somewhat rigidly, and, in that, too, BolÍvar anticipated the ennobling of an idea, fostered by modern writers like Blunstchli, Dudley Field, Fiore, Pessoa (now President of Brazil), and which has been the subject of numerous international conferences.

What deep sadness must our great liberator have felt when in figurative language he compared his ineffective plan for a congress with the insane Greek of old who thought that standing on a rock, he could steer the ships passing on the sea!

The immediate genesis of the Covenant of the League of Nations is found in the famous Fourteen Points of President Wilson.

Some of them follow:

Certainly, this helmet of Mambrinus suffered numerous bruises, as happens to all generous dreams when they come into contact with selfishness or with the consuming breath of the passions of the moment; let us have faith, however, in that saintly philosopher who teaches, on the contrary, that the perfect being is he who passes from understanding to reality, and let us hope that it will evolve toward superior forms.

Let us hope that such a helmet will not prove to be the shaving dish of a barber.

The purposes of the League are condensed in its admirable preamble:

In order to realize these purposes, it is necessary to establish means which will enable nations to settle their differences without having recourse to war. It is necessary to reduce present armaments and to eliminate for the future this burden which weighs upon modern peoples as the hateful war tributes of antiquity, and which is nothing less than a resurrected form of slavery. In order to obtain this, the Council of the League is charged with the work of formulating a program for the reduction of armaments, based upon the inquiries and decisions made by the respective governments, and with the purpose of keeping under control the manufacture of ammunition.

Regarding the first point, a set of measures already established by international law is ordered, and strongly sanctioned by provisions of the Covenant.

The states between which disputes or conflicts may arise will have recourse to the Council or to the Assembly, or will submit their cases to arbitration. They are forbidden to resort to war until three months have elapsed after the decision of the Council or the Assembly or of the third state to which they may have recurred; all this with the purpose that the counsels of prudence, the strength of just decisions, and that the calming and tranquilizing action of time itself may have their effects on the irritated feelings of men.

In order to obtain its principal object, the Covenant also provides for the creation of a permanent Court of Arbitration, an institution which, with the economic sanctions established in the same Covenant, will be the most effective instrument of its civilizing action, for we know well that peace will never exist among men while justice is denied.

The project for the establishment of a permanent code of international character met at The Hague, and has always met, one formidable obstacle: How can all the states be represented in a body which must necessarily be small?

It is noted that the omission of some of them is considered as a flagrant violence of juridical equality and derogatory to the sovereignty of those states.

In the second meeting of the Council, held in London, this topic was carefully studied, and after a brilliant report by Bourgeois, it was agreed to submit the matter to a committee of prominent internationalists in order that they might devise means to obviate such difficulties as impeded the realization of the purpose. Among those international figures two South Americans were included: Clovis Bevilacqua and Dr. Drago, the name of the latter now being associated with sad memories, a man for whom Venezuela retains grateful and respectful affection.

Another project of the League is the organization of labor. Do you know any human beings more worthy of the consideration of the mighty and the pity of the world than the child, the woman and the workman who spends his strength in fruitful labor?

After having presented the more remote antecedents and the genesis of the Covenant of the League, as well as the ends it aims at and the means it follows to realize them, it only remains to say something of the working of the new organism of the international law created by the Covenant. In this I shall follow the Covenant itself:

A formalistic and narrow criterion alleges that international law is not law at all, since the three elements which make law tangible for all persons,—the legislator, the judge, and the executive, are lacking in it.

The Covenant of the League of Nations undertakes to present all those personages. It offers all to us simultaneously, the legislator par excellence, the judge and the executor of all great decisions, in one and the same organ, namely the vigilant public opinion of humankind.

Here, in brief summary, as prepared for a lesson, is the Covenant of the League. If it fails to-day, it will reappear. That idea is immortal, and it will come back purified and more beautiful. The fact, now unquestionable, of economic solidarity must bring about political solidarity. Nations will no longer be able to attack and dismember each other without injuring themselves.

Solidarity and cooperation; diplomacy frank and open, and at the service of the peoples, not, as heretofore, a false art of courtiers and lackeys; permanent freedom for navigation and commerce; economic liberty; general disarmament; equality among states, the great as well as the small, these are the ideas expressed, with the conviction and the prestige of an apostle, by President Wilson and which the universal conscience of mankind, although it had known them before, has now taken up as a new gospel.

The thinkers of the French Revolution could well be proud of having proclaimed the right of man. To President Wilson will belong the glory of proclaiming the rights of peoples, because the League of Nations does not mean the denial of patriotism, the denial of country, but the glorification of this sublime concept, as the idea of country does not exclude the mother idea of family and home, which was and ever remains its necessary foundation. These are the links of a mystic chain, not of oppression but of salvation, of unity and harmony. Build honorable homes and you will have a great country; ennoble your country through virtue and you work for the world.

I thank you all, especially Dr. Sherwell, for having been so good as to honor with your presence this simple ceremony.

[From N. Y. Post Express, August 11, 1920.]

Georgetown University has a foreign service department in full operation, the worth of which this paper testified to when the project was first announced. Recently twenty-five students of this department were sent to South America to study trade conditions and they made their headquarters first at Caracas, Venezuela. Now note what has happened. These young people set up official and domestic housekeeping at the United States consulate; they went about among the Venezuelans, who found them likable, and soon the consulate became a rendezvous for business people of Caracas. And there have been more sales of household articles and of office equipment of various kinds in Caracas and throughout Venezuela than the regular commercial letter, and the traveling agent who rushes through the land have achieved in the past five years. Moreover, there is correspondence relating to bigger orders coming in to business houses which have been quick to communicate with Georgetown University. Here is the sort of trade embassy we need in South America and the world around. Train our young people to the idea and the knowledge needed for foreign service, both commercial and political. And then send them abroad to become known as well as to know. We are the least well known of any great nation outside our own borders, for we have been least well represented. It is time to change all this and other higher schools might well follow Georgetown's example.

STUDENT FRATERNIZATION

[From El Nuevo Diario, Caracas, June 20, 1920.]

Students, as a general rule, are free from prejudices and are exempt from the burden of preconceived ideas which in most cases distort the judgment of the individuals who purpose to learn from the bottom the problems of a distinctive nationality. By reason of their temperament they are optimists and like to view with dispassionate eyes the phenomena of life. Therefore their impressions possess a high value of sincerity, which contains perhaps more worth than the observations of experience. The North American students who are going to Venezuela, we are sure, will be able to carry back on their return a fresh and pleasing impression of the noble Venezuelan land, and will be able to understand that on the part of the students of Spanish America there exists toward those of the United States nothing but warm sympathy and a generous brotherhood.

It is to be desired that in years to come the University of Georgetown, which now has given the example, and other North American Universities will organize student trips such as this to other countries of the New World, sending groups of students who for some months will live the life of the Spanish Americans.

In turn, it is to be desired also that the Spanish American Universities will inaugurate these student trips to the United States, supervising them in a proper manner, and sending each year a certain number of students, not to study in the cloister but to put themselves in touch with the daily life of the country and the activity of the masses.

For the Venezuelans it will be a matter of satisfaction—this visit of the North American students—and with all confidence the society of this country will endeavor to prove its worth in making their stay agreeable to them, facilitating for them the necessary means whereby their voyage may be in all respects profitable in order that a definite judgment may be formed of the importance of our nation.

The trip organized by Dr. Sherwell in the form we have already noted, seems to be a precedent of great importance for the relations between the student societies of the two great portions of the continent, as it must redound in the near future to the benefit of all.

To labor in this furrow signifies to water a fertile seed, a seed of true progress and democracy, and whoever dedicates his efforts to this end deserves the congratulations of the public.

LLEGADA DE LOS ESTUDIANTES AMERICANOS

[From El Nuevo Diario, June 27, 1920.]

La Guaira, 26 de junio,—Hoy, como estaba anunciado, llegaron en el vapor Caracas, el notable profesor seÑor Sherwell, de la Universidad de Georgetown, y el grupo de estudiantes americanos que vienen a Caracas a pasar vacaciones y a practicar sus conocimientos de espaÑol.

Al vapor subieron a presentarle sus salutaciones varias comisiones: una del Ministerio del Exterior, otra del Ministerio de InstrucciÓn PÚblica y otra de la FederaciÓn de Estudiantes Venezolanos.

En la Aduana, el seÑor M. A. FalcÓn Rojas ofreciÓ varios brindis de champaÑa a nombre de los nombrados Ministerios, y ademÁs en nombre del seÑor Ministro de Hacienda.

Luego, el seÑor Sherwell, todos los estudiantes y las diversas comisiones pasaron al hotel "La Alemania," de Macuto, donde se sirviÓ un esplÉndido lunch.

Como a las cuatro de la tarde partieron todos en automÓvil para Caracas.

En todos estos actos reinÓ la mayor cordialidad. Los estudiantes se alojan en las mejores casas de pensiÓn de esta ciudad.

El Profesor Sherwell, en sus palabras de respuesta a los cordiales brindis de que fueron objeto tanto Él como los estudiantes que lo acompaÑan, expresÓ su profundo agradecimiento por la esplÉndida manera con que se les ha recibido en Venezuela y manifestÓ que no le sorprendÍan en manera alguna, las atenciones de que era objeto, pues bien sabÍa que en este paÍs asÍ se demostraba la cordial y sincera simpatÍa que se siente por los hijos de la gran RepÚblica.

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En esta ciudad, desde su llegada, los distinguidos huÉspedes son objeto de mÚltiples atenciones; en especial el seÑor Sherwell, a quien presentaron sus saludos en su alojamiento, numerosas, altas personalidades, ademÁs de las comisiones nombradas por los Ministros del Exterior, de Hacienda y de InstrucciÓn PÚblica.

El Nuevo Diario, de la manera mÁs cordial presenta su saludo de bienvenida al seÑor Sherwell y a los estudiantes que le acompaÑan, y les desea todo gÉnero de satisfacciones en su estada entre nosotros.

Con el mayor placer publicamos de seguidas la nÓmina de los jÓvenes estudiantes que van a ser nuestros distinguidos huÉspedes y a estrechar con su presencia, los lazos de tradicional y fuerte amistad que ligan a los pueblos de los Estados Unidos y de Venezuela.

Doctor Sherwell, Director; Walter Donnelly, James O'Neil, Paul Babbit, George McKenna, Thomas Morris, John Heiler, David Schlesinger, Tounsend, Frazee, Costello, Philip Sullivan, Chirieleison, Johnson, Murphy, Fanning, Joseph Quinlan, Hopkins, J. Homer Butler.

EL PROFESOR SHERWELL

[From El Universal, June 27, 1920.]

Desde ayer es huÉsped de Caracas el eminente hombre de Ciencias norteamericano seÑor Guillermo A. Sherwell, Prosecretario del Segundo Congreso Financiero Panamericano y Consultor jurÍdico del Consejo Central Ejecutivo de la Alta ComisiÓn Internacional.

Desde su desembarco en La Guaira el seÑor Sherwell ha sido objeto de cordiales agasajos por parte del Gobierno de Venezuela y de los centros mÁs notables del paÍs.

Por designaciÓn del Ministerio de Hacienda el seÑor RamÓn JimÉnez SÁnchez, Inspector General de Aduanas cumplimentÓ a su llegada al Profesor Sherwell y le ofreciÓ hospitalidad en nombre del Gobierno Nacional.

MISION ESTUDIANTIL

Como estaba anunciado, ayer hizo su arribo a La Guaira el vapor americano "Caracas," a bordo del cual llegaron el doctor Guillermo Sherwell y el grupo de jÓvenes estudiantes de la Universidad de Georgetown, Estados Unidos.

A recibirlos al vecino puerto bajaron en automÓvil, ademÁs de las delegaciones del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y del Consejo Nacional de InstrucciÓn PÚblica, una comisiÓn especial de la FederaciÓn de Estudiantes Venezolanos compuesta por los bachilleres Atilano Carnevali (Presidente de la AsociaciÓn), EfraÍn Cayama MartÍnez, Miguel ZÚÑiga, Jacinto Fombona, Rodolfo Moleiro, GermÁn de las Casas, Gonzalo Carnevali y Eduardo CalcaÑo hijo. DespuÉs del saludo de bienvenida que se les diÓ a bordo, los estudiantes americanos fueron invitados por sus compaÑeros de Venezuela a un almuerzo en Macuto, de donde se dirigieron a Caracas en las Últimas horas de la tarde.

La visita de tan distinguidos elementos de la juventud norteamericana tiene especial significaciÓn en estos momentos en que se acentÚa un acercamiento espiritual mÁs estrecho entre los pueblos de AmÉrica.

Igualmente el seÑor Manuel Segundo SÁnchez, Director de la Biblioteca Nacional, comisionado del Ministerio de Hacienda para atender al distinguido huÉsped y facilitar sus labores en Caracas, le presentÓ sus saludos a bordo del vapor americano.

El doctor Sherwell subiÓ a Caracas acompaÑado de los seÑores SÁnchez y JimÉnez SÁnchez y ya en su domicilio fuÉ visitado por el doctor Alvarez Feo, Director de Aduanas en el Despacho de Hacienda, quien le cumplimentÓ.

La Alta ComisiÓn Internacional recibirÁ hoy Á las 11½ a. m. al distinguido huÉsped en su salÓn de sesiones. El seÑor Sherwell, Profesor del Departamento EspaÑol de la Universidad de Georgetown, trae encargo del Consejo Central Ejecutivo de la Alta ComisiÓn Internacional de presentar a la SecciÓn Venezolana un cordial saludo y tratarÁ con ella diversos asuntos. Con este objeto la ComisiÓn celebrarÁ algunas sesiones a las que asistirÁ el doctor Sherwell.

El distinguido huÉsped preside un grupo de estudiantes de la Universidad de Georgetown cuya visita a Caracas propenderÁ a un estrecho acercamiento estudiantil entre los dos paÍses. Traen el propÓsito de ofrendar una corona sobre la tumba del Libertador y otra en la estatua de Washington.

Tal circunstancia hace mÁs simpÁtica la visita del profesor Sherwell a Caracas donde se le preparan algunos homenajes.

Al presentar nuestros saludos al ilustre huÉsped hacemos los votos mÁs cordiales porque su misiÓn en Venezuela tenga el mÁs feliz Éxito.

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El Universal se complace en presentar su salutaciÓn de bienvenida a los estudiantes norteamericanos, cuya visita a Caracas contribuirÁ a hacer mÁs sÓlidos y eficaces los lazos intelectuales que unen a Venezuela con la gran patria de Washington y a establecer un mÁs activo intercambio de ideas entre las juventudes estudiantiles de ambos paÍses.

[From La Prensa, New York, August, 26, 1920.]

Washington, August 25th.—Dr. William A. Sherwell, Professor of Spanish in the University of Georgetown and Expert Adviser in the High Interamerican Commission, who has just returned from Venezuela with the group of 18 students from the School of Foreign Service of the University, has come from Venezuela impressed with the high class of the Government employees which that country has, as well as with its business men, where he was warmly welcomed by the same people, whom he characterizes as "one of the best types of humanity which exists in the world." The Professor was in charge of the students who are preparing to enter the field of foreign trade, several of whom, he says, have received offers from commercial houses, notwithstanding which they will continue in their University studies until next June. Each student has prepared an account or report of some one of the various phases of industry—economic, industrial or commercial, of Venezuela. The coffee and sugar industries, the petroleum exportation, and the operation of the mines, the banking and monetary system, immigration laws, education, public debt, are some of the topics which the students will treat of in their reports.

Dr. Sherwell spoke of the great development which has taken place in Venezuela, of the great extension of railroad work, which in many parts crosses the mountains, and of the splendid automobile roads already constructed and those planned for construction. In Venezuela there are many automobiles, but orders will continue. Tractor machines are being introduced in the farming sections and the cattle industry is taking on a new impulse. New models are being introduced, especially from the United States, and industry in the large is well advanced. There is opportunity for further development of the cattle industry, according to Dr. Sherwell, since there exist several districts not yet utilized for this purpose.

Venezuela is the South American country nearest to the United States, and the opportunity exists for a more extensive commerce between the two countries. And yet, says Dr. Sherwell, there is no large passenger and freight service between the two nations. He thinks that it is necessary to remedy this need.

In going to Venezuela as the official representative of the High Interamerican Commission and instructor of the students, the Doctor was in touch with General Juan Vicente GÓmez, President-Elect, the members of the Cabinet and other prominent officials. The Minister of Public Education gave a dinner in San Juan to the Sherwell party, General GÓmez and the President being present. One of the features of the visit consisted of a trip in automobiles across the country in four days in which they were able to inspect the places of industrial and historical interest. They visited the sugar cane and coffee plantations; Valencia, the most beautiful of tropical cities; La Victoria, famous in history through having been the place where at the beginning of the last century the Spanish forces were defeated by the Independents; and the old farm of San Mateo, belonging to BolÍvar, where Captain Ricaurte, seeing that he was not able to hold the hill which he was defending much longer, sent his men to the plain, and set fire to the park of artillery when the Spanish arrived, all being blown up with the explosion.

Dr. Roman Cardenas, Minister of the Interior and President of the High Interamerican Commission, is a man—says Dr. Sherwell—for whom he entertains the highest regard. He conferred with all the members of the Cabinet, with some of whom he was in close contact, and he finds that they, as well as the employees in the Government offices, are competent and are steadfastly devoted to their work, without mingling in politics. Dr. Sherwell spoke also of the wonderful painters that Venezuela had produced, mentioning SeÑor Tito Salas, one of the great painters of the day. There are in Venezuela many poets and writers of high merit.

The money system, similar to the French, is functioning efficiently. There is gold in abundance, says Dr. Sherwell; and during the war, when most countries suspended payment, Venezuela continued paying its debts, observing strict economy, and now has on deposit in the banks a large quantity of gold.

GEORGETOWN STUDENTS WELCOMED IN VENEZUELA

[From Sunday Star, Washington, July, 1920.]

Prof. Guillermo A. Sherwell, professor of Spanish at Georgetown University, and the eighteen students of the university's School of Foreign Service, who left Washington a little more than a month ago to gain first-hand and practical knowledge in Latin-American trade, have been most cordially welcomed in Venezuela, both by officials of the government and by the people there, according to a letter which has just been received by a friend here. In addition to representing Georgetown and acting as preceptor to the students, Dr. Sherwell also went as representative of the inter-American high commission, of which he is judicial expert.

"There is a tendency—very successful so far—to make Venezuela independent in industrial matters," writes Dr. Sherwell, this in connection with a visit he and his party have just paid to an exposition of natural resources and industrial products.

"The highroads are excellent," he continues. "The appropriation for public education has been doubled this year. The monetary system is simple. Gold circulates freely."

Referring to the government departments, of which he has made a special study, he says they "seem to have the right man in the right place."

Dr. Sherwell reports that just before he arrived in Caracas, the capital, the commercial travelers' convention had been ratified. The purpose of this treaty, which has now been agreed to between the United States and six of the other American republics, is to facilitate trade relations by simplifying the customs rules and regulations for the admission into the various countries of commercial travelers with their samples.

The convention now being signed with the different countries will do away with many of the inconveniences to which commercial travelers have been subjected, such as the payment in some countries of numerous local taxes and fees. Under the new system a single license fee in each country will be all that is required.

Another important feature is that there will be liberal customs treatment of samples carried by the "drummer." Samples without commercial value will be admitted duty free, while other samples will be granted temporary free admission under bond for their re-exportation within six months. Delay in the clearance of samples also will be avoided. In addition to Venezuela, the other countries which have signed the travelers' convention are Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Salvador and Uruguay.

A convention for the arbitration of commercial disputes between the Chamber of Commerce of Venezuela and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, also has just been signed, writes Dr. Sherwell. All of this, he said, was "good news." Similar conventions between the national trade bodies of this country and some of the other American republics already are in operation and the results so far achieved are said to be excellent. This leads interested trade officials to believe that such machinery for the prompt and efficient treatment of disputes which may arise between business men and concerns of various countries will be set up one after another in the countries with which the United States deals.

NOTAS DEPORTIVAS
EL MATCH DE BASE-BALL

[From El Imparcial, July 18, 1920.]

Esta maÑana, en los bonitos terrenos del Centro AtlÉtico y con una numerosa concurrencia, florida por el elemento femenil, efectuÓse el desafÍo concertado entre dos novenas de base ball, formadas la una por los estudiantes norteamericanos de la Universidad de Georgetown y la otra por discÍpulos del Colegio Salesiano de esta ciudad.

En verdad, la proporciÓn atlÉtica no era muy justa: los americanos llevaban la ventaja en todo: tamaÑo, edad, fuerzas; pero, los muchachos del Salesiano hicieron el mayor esfuerzo por quedar bien y a Última hora, cuando en el inning final los de Georgetown se anotaron un "chorro" de carreras que hacÍa aparecer la "pela" como vergonzosa, los criollitos se rehicieron y metieron otras tantas, salvando el honor, por lo menos in partibus.

Entre Éstos hay que consignar un aplauso para la tercera base de los Salesianos, Franco Russo, que fuÉ el hÉroe de la fiesta. El juego se cargÓ desde el comienzo sobre tercera; en sus manos estuvo toda la defensa y el muchacho se portÓ como un campeÓn, pues en sus manos cayeron por lo menos nueve outs.

TambiÉn estuvo muy activo y eficaz CoraÍto. Y se distinguieron Maal, Castellano, PÉrez, LÓpez, Ravelo y Arratia (M).

De los americanos, recordaremos especialmente un foul-out por el catcher Fanning y otro por la 3a. base Hopkins; una estupenda cogida, corriendo y de espaldas, por el Short-Stop Frazee y todo el "trabajo" del dÍa por la primera base Joe Quinlan.

De una y otra parte batearon duro y ninguno de los dos pitchers llegÓ completo al final.

DespuÉs del juego las novenas y algunos concurrentes fueron invitados al Colegio y obsequiados allÍ por los R. R. P. P. Salesianos. Hubo vivas en honor de la Universidad de Georgetown, a los que correspondieron los americanos con hurras a los estudiantes venezolanos.

El Colegio Salesiano regalÓ a los de Georgetown una bola, la Última con que se jugÓ, con la siguiente inscripciÓn: "Caracas—Venezuela—El Colegio Salesiano a los estudiantes de Georgetown."

FuÉ, en todo, una fiesta de simpatÍa y de confraternidad, sin otro estÍmulo mayor que el verdadero amor al deporte, puesto que, sabido es, los jÓvenes norteÑos no son profesionales del base ball, sino que tienen la innata aficiÓn de los jÓvenes de su paÍs por la cultura fÍsica.

Y este juego con los Salesianos ha sacudido el dormido entusiasmo beisbolÍstico, con sus maÑanas llenas de sol y alegres de mujeres, pues ya se habla de un prÓximo encuentro en los mismos terrenos y a beneficio de la Cruz Roja Venezolana, entre los estudiantes de Georgetown y un team escogido entre los mejores jugadores de clubs caraqueÑos extinguidos y en actividad, como Samanes, Independencia, Salesianos, etc.

AsÍ sea y tendremos un juego sensacional.

Score por innings del juego efectuado esta maÑana entre los Estudiantes de la Universidad de Georgetown y los alumnos del Colegio Salesiano de Caracas: