25 Speaking generally, an aversion to truth is another singular characteristic of Latin society. Let the Saxon, then, teach us to keep the plighted word, by example and education. This teaching will not be understood by the older generations, but will be absorbed by the children, and it is these that represent the future.
Institutions like the Court of Carthage, or the International Office of Guatemala, will not lead to good government in Central America, because in the present state of Central America it would be very difficult to find five judges capable of setting aside their local prejudices and rivalries. Facts have proved this assertion.
Furthermore, private, political or national interests confuse the judgment of man. Judges in Central America would be able in but very few cases to decide justly in matters involving Central America. This could not be said of a court established in Washington, composed of American citizens of high reputation, chosen for each case, organized as a permanent body. believe that the majority of Nicaraguans would submit with much more grace to a judgment rendered by a United States judge than to one rendered by a judge of their own country.
Among the Washington conventions there is one which, in my judgment, is worth them all; that is the agreement for a Central American Pedagogic Institute.
This measure, which is worthy of all praise and ought to have been immediately carried out, has never been acted upon.
The first stone has not been cut for the building. If the amount expended for the Court of Carthage, the International Office, and the maintenance of