Evening Star Newspaper, April 6, 1930, Page 107

il ~— THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, ATRIL 6, 1930. 17 Ecuador Turns to Fascist Government For the First Time at the Forthcoming General Elections the South American Republic Will Adopt Italy’s Legislative Methods, in Which Not the “Sovercign People, ”but the Organized Entities and Professional Groups Will Choose the National Senators. BY GASTON NERV AL. N Latin America the countries which are smaller, physically and geographically, seem destined to make the greatest so- cial and political progress. The case of Uruguay, the diminutive southern republic whose political stability and advanced social legislation are models for the whole world, is not unique in Latin America. Costa Rica, one of the smallest of the Central American nations, has attained a degree of de- velopment, politically and socially, which places her in the front rank, in that respect, of the Caribbean nations. And now another of the smaller states of Latin America, Ecuador, is undertaking certain politico-social changes of extraordinary importance, reforms which are being tried out in some of the most progressive states of Europe. EW people in this country—if any—know that in that small and far-away Latin re- public there is being put in practice today the principle of legislative representation according to occupations, one of the transcendent political reforms of our century. When Fascist Italy snnounced to the world that she was going to change her legislative system, abolishing the traditional bodies of so-called ‘representatives of the people,” and substituting for them non- political bodies composed of representatives of professional classes, such as the universities, scientific and cultural organizations, workers’ unions, commercial, agricultural and industrial associations, etc., the press of the whole world discussed the importance, possibilities and prob- able results of this innovation, which did away with the principles, practices and prejudices that had grown up during some centuries of what we have come to call democracy. But now when Ecuador, a state hardly known to readers of American newspapers, is on the eve of adopting a similar method, the fact passes almost unnoted, and little attention is given to the approaching general elections soon to take place in Ecuador, in which, for the first time, not the “sovereign people,” but the organized entities and professional groups will choose the national Senators. The Ecuadorean Senate, until recently com- posed, as in other democracies, of Senators elected by the people of each one of the prov- inces, departments or states composing the na- tion, will hereafter consist, according to the new constitution adopted this year, of 15 sena- tors chosen by the provincial councils of each of the 15 provinces, and of “15 senators represent- ing various callings, as follows: One repre- sentative of the universities, 1 of teachers in high and special schools, 1 of teachers of primary and normal schools, 1 of the press and scientific academies and societies, 2 of farmers, 2 of commerce, 1 of industries, 2 of working- men, 2 of the rural population and 1 of the national armed forces.” Also there is to be a special Senator for the “defense and care of the Indian.” In this way the Senate, heretofore a political institution, is converted into a technical entity, in which, for the first time, the various profes- sional classes and the organizations which con=- stitute the social fabric, will actually participate in directing national affairs. The change is not so radical as that carried out in Italy, where the Chamber is constituted exclusively of occu pational representatives, but, in any event, this is the first time that such an experiment has been made in the New World, by giving occu- pational character to one-half of the Senate, which changes the control of national legislation from the hands of politicians to those of tech- nical and professional men. 'HE new Ecuadorean constitution, which pro- vides for this legislative reform, is the thirteenth to be adopted since Ecuador became an independent state in 1830, upon her separa- tion from the Republic of Great Colombia, founded by the Liberator Bolivar when Span- ish dominion ceased in South America. All the Ecuadorean constitutions have been liberal and advanced, perhaps too advanced for the aver- age of political and social conditions of the country. As long ago as the middle of the last century the fundamental charter of Ecuador contained precepts which only recently have been included in those of other American and European nations. The creation of a Senate “a la Fascista” is not the only important innovation contained in the new Ecuadorean constitution. It pro- vides for other political and administrative reforms in consonance with the most advanced principles of the day. One of the most inter- esting of these is that relating to property rights. The new Ecuadorean law departs from the individualistic principles of the previous constitution, adopted in 1906, and tends toward a modified socialism more in' harmeny with the spirit of modern days. Property rights are recognized as “social functions,” which not only “ afford benefits and rights but also impose duties and obligations toward others. The tendency is toward the subordination of individual lib- erty to higher needs of a social character. The value placed upon social interests is increased, setting aside the strictly individual values which until recently were the fundamental bases of all democratic constitutions. In doing this Ecuador is but following the path of the most advanced nations of Europe, which in Doorway of the church of the Jesuits in Quito, Ecuador. constitution of Ecuador is the political position granted to woman. Although in previous con- stitutions political and civil rights had been given, to Ecuadorean women, in practice shere had never. been until recently any case of a member of the weaker sex figuring among either candidates or electors, so that it was a fact quite unknown that political equality be- tween men and women existed in Ecuador. Now, however, these principles have been further confirmed in the new constitution and there are more definite regulations in regard to the liberty—not only political, but legal—of the women of Ecuador and great numbers of them have already participated in this year’s pro- vincial eléctions, On the juridicial : side Ecuador has established divorce by comimon accord, which greatly favors the woman. In few countries of the world do we find laws so advanced in this respect as in Ecuador, where provision is made for divorce upon mere peti- tion of the two parties, without formal proceed- ings of any kind, provided the consent of both is declared before the courts of first, second and ANOT!m point of interest to American readers is & provision of the Ecuadorean constitution forbidding foreigners to hold posi- tions of political or administrative authority in Ecuador. Heretofore there had never existed any legal bars against the appointment of for- eign experts or officials for the management of national finances, but the new constitution sets forth clearly their ineligibility for public office. In order to employ a foreign technical commission it is now necessagy to obtain the consent of Congress, and even then no authority may be vested in. such commission, in order not + to break the spirit of the law. . Before the . adoption of the: constitution of 1929, and as a result of the recommendations made by the commission of financial experts under Prof. Edwin Kemmerer of Princeton, there were various American experts employed in the cus- tom houses, the controlier’s office and in other administrative bureaus. . Another article of the new constitution, in this same chapter, provides that “every con- tract which a foreigner or a foreign company may make with the government, with national The Hills. By Helene Mullins. Turning my face against the past, Putting the profitless dreaming by, Here 1 have come to my home at last,, Lonely -under the wide blue: sky. Here every beauty that must pass Lays me low as a blow might do, Robin and clover and timothy-grass, And. the. tips of new weeds straiming through. But the singing of the crickets chills . shipped to New York City. corporations or with an individual shall be with’ the implicit understanding that recourse to diplomatic claims is renounced.” This is, per- haps, the most interesting point of the new- constitution for those who study it from the point of view of this country, where the atti- tudes of certain American companies have given rise to such vigorous polemics and dis- cussions and have several times occasioned mis- understandings between the United States and - Latin American nations. L Trend in Milk Har;)llifzg;' HE steady shifting of population to the . great urban centers of the, East, together with the greatly increased consumption of milk, has brought about a revoluticn in the system of milk production and handling. The old-time country milk station which shipped in cream and whole milk has gradually given way to the modern milk plant, which is equipped to travel almost the whole range of milk activities. : Not so many years ago it was usual to have two types of plants handling fluid milk, one a whole-milk plant, which sent the milk as ree ceived into the city bottling plants, and the : creamery, which received only cream from the farmer or, taking his whole milk, separated the - cream and either returned the skim milk to the farmer for stock feed or manufactured it into - cheese. Sometimes one plant would cover all three of these activities. 3 Nowadays, however, the whole field has been changed. The great cities of the East present a pressing demand for milk and this demand s fairly steady the year round. Unfortunately, the cows are not so steady as the demand, with - the result that a far greater stock of cattle must be maintained than is necessary in timgg of flush production in order that the suppl may meet the demand during the off season. One factor acts to balance the supply and demand to some extent, and that is the fact that in some sections “Summer dairying” is carried on, while in others it is Winter dairy- ing that meets the most approval. There are arguments in favor of both. In the case of Summer dairying, the cattle at times of peak production are out in the pastures and the feeding expense is greatly reduced. To counteract this advantage, how- ever, is the greater care necessary to keep the milk sweet and pure during hot weather and the time taken from other farm work during crop seasons to tend a dairy and take the product to the milk station. In Summer dairy- ing the farmer is a specialist who confines himself to dairying and a certain amount of feed raising. The Winter dairy, on the other hand, per- mits the farmer to devote growing seasons to crop raising and confines his intensive dairy- ing work to the seasons when he can do little else around his farm. There is no danger of milk spoiling from lack of refrigeration and this loss is eliminated. However, a Winter dairy calls for large quantities of high-priced, dry feeds, and, counterbalancing the hazards of Summer high temperatures, there is the danger of freezing, the blocking of roads by heavy falls of snow and the decidedly uncom- fortable task of milking in a frigid barn. There are advocates of both schools of dairy- ing, but the majority of the farmers rum $g” To give some idea of the variation between flush and slack production, figures of one milk plant in the' Adifondacks may be used. In Summer, when production is at its t, this - plant received as high as 85,000 pounds of milk - daily, while in Winter the receipts dropped to around 12,000 pounds. This plant is a :fair example of the trend in milk handling. It was equipped manufactiure condensed milk primarily during the flush seasons did, but during slack seasons the milk was pasteurized The orders trom time to time, and in addition to shipping milk, sometimes cream was shipped and the - skim milk manufactured. into a condensed skim . milk or into cheese. Another variation was the manufacture of “superheated milk,” a milk manufacture of the surplus milk. in Summer. !55?5 ; .~ heated in the condensing retort or pan, as it is . _called, and then subjected tq live steam whieh was. injected into the milk, providing a very " light. and fluffy product ideally suited to the manufacture of ice cream. 2l A further deyelopment that has chapged the trend of the milk industry is the diverting of large quantities of mild Western milk to the market of the East in times of great demand. The result has been the shifting of the butter . industty even farther West and has stimulated , the growth of the dairy industry in Wisconsts, : ™ Minnesota and Iowa. . Ma’ngane:e in Steel Mabng. : "THE steel industry takes approximately 95 per cent of all the manganese consumed in this cent to as high as 12 per cent in steels in which ° particular hardness is desired. - - 5 their post-war constitutions have acknowledged this tendency away from the predominance of the individual and toward that of society. Another very important aspect of the new Manganese has long been used in oxygen from molten steel, but it is only of late - years that its value as a hardening agent has - . My blood and lends my mesory wings— Why dq I long to share these halls. - : : With one who never loved such things?. . . o 1% “81)