At a Determined Moment, One of the Most Outstanding Examples in All
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at a determined moment, one of the most outstanding examples in all the Americas and that they constitute one of the most notable characteristics of its national spirit. Miguel Angel Pineiro. Universidad del Uruguay. Baltasar Brum, verbo y action. Cronica de la vida y pasion de un hombre, caballero del ideal de justitia y democratic, por el cual murid, al pre tender se arrasar la obra social mas perfecta de America, creada por el genio de Jose Batlle y Ordonez. By Juan Carlos Welker. (Monte video: Talleres de la Imprenta “Letras,” 1945. Pp. 438. Paper. $3.00 m/n.) Jose Serrato, un ejemplo. Interpretation de la vida de un hombre creador y esbozo de un proceso politico-econbmico-constitucional que aun no ha terminado. By Juan Carlos Welker. (Montevideo: Casa A. Barreiro y Ramos S. A. [Talleres de la Imprenta "Letras”], 1944. Pp. 390. Paper. $3.00 m/n.) The Republic of Uruguay is often portrayed as the most socially conscious of Latin-American nations. Its evolution from a state sad dled with political instability to one capable of orderly progress was actuated by the idealism and driving force of Jos6 Batlle y Orddnez. First by strengthening the Colorado Party, then by making it the in strumentality of reform, and finally by inspiring capable young disciples, Batlle set the course for Uruguay’s transformation into an enlightened republic. Without the leadership of Batlle, Uruguay might have re mained the playground of military tyrants; without the discipleship of enthusiastic collaborators, Batlle’s program might have remained largely unfulfilled. Of the exponents of batllismo, none were more ardent or successfel than Baltasar Brum and Josd Serrato. To each of these states men Juan Carlos Welker has devoted a human and animated biography. In many respects the public careers of Brum and Serrato ran parallel. Both entered national political life at thirty, and, under Batlle’s sponsor ship, quickly rose to prominence. Each held cabinet posts on five occasions, and each was president of the National Mortgage Bank They served as presidents of the republic, and after their presidencies found other fields in which to continue their leadership, Brum as editor of Batlle’s personal organ, El dia, and Serrato as director of various state- owned industries. Both worked for unification of the Colorado Party, and through it sought amelioration for Uruguayan workers. As foreign ministers, Brum in World War I and Serrato in World War II, they were articulate in their support of democracies at war. As politicians, they Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article-pdf/26/4/539/749635/0260539.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 were never petty, vulgar, or usurping; as statesmen, they consecrated their lives to Uruguayan progress. But the contrasts are no less extraordinary. Brum was a product of the campo who sought social betterment for city, as well as rural, work ers; Serrato was a product of the city who improved the lot of rural, as well as urban, citizens. Brum was the more fervent and imaginative; Serrato, the more tranquil and disciplined. Brum was the dynamo of batllismo; Serrato, the architect. In the author’s characterizations, Brum was the luchador indomable; Serrato, the tecnico del estado. Brum packed all the accomplishments of his national service into twenty years; Serrato’s career has stretched to nearly fifty. To Uruguayans and to socially minded Latin Americans, as Welker so effectively demonstrates, Brum and Serrato are best known for their contributions to Uruguay’s experiment in socialism. To the citizens of the United States and her allies in two wars, the two men deserve to be better known. Brum, as foreign minister, gave force, through his own decree, to the doctrine that “no American country which, in defense of its own rights, finds itself at war with nations of other continents, shall be treated as a belligerent.” Moreover, in his proposal for an Associa tion of American Nations (1920), he foreshadowed Chapultepec and San Francisco, when he drafted clauses which declared that war against one American nation is a threat to all and that “the Association of American nations is compatible with the League of Nations.” Serrato, as president of the Comite Nacional Pro Aliados and as foreign minister after 1943, maintained and strengthened the policies of his predecessor, Dr. Alberto Guani: solidarity “with heroic England . and with the glorious people of the United States”; inter-American cooperation and continental de fense; recognition of Free France; and renewal of relations with Soviet Russia. Welker’s previous contributions to Uraguayan letters have been re stricted to the poem and the novel. He now demonstrates his talents in other avenues: biography, history, criticism. His style is lively but thoughtful, his treatment judicious yet penetrating. Both volumes abound in quotations from editorial writers and foreign political leaders and from speeches and significant laws of his principals. Whether his protagonist is Brum or Serrato—or even Batlle—Welker fits the action into its appropriate historical background. The account of Brum’s pub lic career approaches definitive treatment; the interpretation of Serrato is more tentative and episodic. But both are clearly labors of love and and both deserve the attention of American students of Latin America. Harold F. Peterson. New York State College for Teachers, Buffalo. Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article-pdf/26/4/539/749635/0260539.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021.