THE PAN AMERICAN UNION is an international organization created and maintained by the twenty-one American Republics: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Originally known as the International Bureau of the American Republics, it was established in 1890 in accordance with a resolution passed April 14 of that year at the First International Conference of American States, held at Washington in 1889-90, and presided over by James G. Blaine, then United States Secretary of State. Its work was greatly expanded by resolutions of the Second Conference, held at Mexico in 1901; the Third, at Rio de Janeiro in 1906; the Fourth, at Buenos Aires in 1910; the Fifth, at Santiago, Chile, in 1923; the Sixth, at Habana, Cuba, in 1928; and the Seventh, at Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1933. April 14 is celebrated annually throughout the Americas as Pan American Day.

PURPOSE AND ORGANIZATION

The purpose of the Pan American Union is to promote peace, commerce, and friendship between the Republics of the American Continent by fostering economic, juridical, social, and cultural relations. The Union is supported by annual contributions from all the countries, in amounts proportional to population. Its affairs are administered by a Director General and an Assistant Director, elected by and responsible to a Govern

ing Board composed of the Secretary of State of the United States and representatives in Washington of the other American governments.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

The administrative divisions of the Pan American Union are organized to carry out the purposes for which it was created. Special divisions have been created on foreign trade, statistics, finance, agricultural cooperation, juridical matters, and travel, all of which maintain close relations with official and unofficial bodies in the countries members of the Union. Particular attention is devoted to the development of closer intellectual and cultural relations among the nations of the American Continent, and a division of intellectual cooperation exists for this purpose. The Columbus Memorial Library contains 90,000 volumes and many maps. The BULLETIN of the Pan American Union, published monthly in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, is the official organ of the institution.

PAN AMERICAN CONFERENCES The Pan American Union serves as the permanent organ of the International Conferences of American States, usually referred to as the Pan American Conferences. In addition to preparing the programs and regulations, the Union gives effect to the conclusions of the Conferences by conducting special inquiries and investigations and by convening or arranging for special or technical conferences in the intervals between the International Conferences.

THE NEW PRESIDENT OF CHILE, who took office December 24, 1938 for a six-year term, is first and foremost an educator. He has also held a number of public offices, including the portfolio of Minister of Justice and Public Education, and that of the Ministry of the Interior, to which he has been appointed three times, beginning in 1920. At the time of his election on October 25, 1938, he was Dean of the School of Industry and Commerce of the University of Chile, which was created at his suggestion in 1934.

The inauguration of President Aguirre Cerda was made the occasion for a great popular demonstration. Special trains brought thousands of residents from the provinces into the capital and the streets of the city were packed with enthusiastic throngs taking advantage of the warm summer weather and the patriotic holiday. Santiago was at its best. "Except for Rio," Bryce well said, "no capital in the world has a more striking position. Stand

ing in the great central valley of Chile, it looks out on one side over a fertile plain to the wooded slopes of the Coast Range, and on the other looks up to the gigantic chain of the Cordillera, rising nineteen thousand feet above it, furrowed by deep glens into which glaciers pour down, with snowy wastes behind. At Santiago, as at Innsbruck, one sees the vista of a long, straight street closed by towering mountains that crown it with white as the sea crowns with blue the streets of Venice. But here the mountains are more than twice as high as those of the Tyrolean city and they never put off their snowy vesture. Wherever one walks or drives through the city, in the beautiful public park and on the large open grounds of the race-course, these fields of ice are always before the eye, whether wreathed with cloud or glittering against an ardent sky."

To the inauguration, which took place in the beautiful capitol, thirty-one countries sent specially appointed delegations.