Brierre. M. Brierre is one of our best poets. He is in charge of the Tourist Bureau, and sings of the rustic beauties of Haiti like Mistral singing of Provence. M. Brierre is well placed by his social and official position to resolve, if need be, any embarrassing problems. Next I recommend to you M. Sylvio Cator, well known all over the world, for he was a great athlete. M. Cator has studied all matters relating to tourist travel, and will be useful for you to know.

"They will help you arrange your stay at Kenscoff, a place unique in the Antilles. It is one of our finest resorts, situated fifteen miles from the capital at an altitude of 4750 feet. Its mean temperature is 59° at night and 68° during the day. Its surroundings, Robin, Godet, Bois d'Avril, which are high and beautiful mountains, will certainly delight you.

"I do not think it would be good taste,

madame, to influence your impressions of sights' that you will better appreciate when you arrive; but I am sure that some day you will be among those illustrious visitors who have expressed their enthusiasm by calling Haiti 'Little Spain,' 'The Magic Isle,' 'The Enchanted Isle,' 'The Earthly Paradise.' And I should never forgive myself for delaying even a moment your departure for the isle of your dreams. Go, madame, and may the gods go with you."

1 Nevertheless, the author has kindly suggested to readers the following points of interest: Trip from Port-au-Prince to the Citadel Laferrière and to the Palace of Sans Souci (round trip by plane, car, and mule, about $30); in and near Port-au-Prince: Museum of Ethnology, City Hall; National Museum, Champ de Mars; Gallery of National Heroes, Presidential Mansion; Haitian Congress, when in session; Palace of Justice; Leconte Park, which contains a soccer stadium; Thorland Club (swimming pool, tennis, Haitian dances, and music); Military Academy; School of Medicine; National Bureau for Adult Education; Popular Art Center; Haitian-American Sugar Mill, Chancerelle; Agricultural Institute, Damien; and M. Alfred Vieux' distillery, Prince, Arcahaie.

THE most constructive step taken so far to eliminate present restrictions on the free movement of motorists in the Western Hemisphere was the adoption of the Convention on the Regulation of InterAmerican Automotive Traffic at the joint meeting in Mexico City on September 21, 1941, of the IV Pan American Highway Congress and the II Inter-American Travel Congress. The Convention was opened for signature by the American nations at the Pan American Union on December 15, 1943.

The provisions of this important convention are intended to stimulate motor travel on the highways of all the Americas by eliminating obstacles encountered in crossing the frontiers of neighboring countries. It thus fulfills the wish of the peoples of the Western Hemisphere for a uniform and standardized set of traffic regulations which has been expressed not only by automobile and touring organizations throughout the continent but also by our countries' delegates to various Pan American conferences.

Seventeen republics have so far signed the convention, namely:

The ten countries marked with an asterisk have both signed and ratified the treaty. Colombia will probably have signed and ratified before this article appears, and Argentina's ratification is also under way.

In spite of the fact that the regulation of motor traffic in the United States is under state jurisdiction, the Senate, at the request of the American Automobile Association, ratified the convention in July 1946, and the Federal Government authorized the American Automobile Association and the American Automobile Touring Alliance to issue the international documents provided for in the convention to facilitate motor travel among the American republics.

The American Automobile Association succeeded in obtaining the approval of the convention by some of the Central American countries and by Panama. In recognition of the contribution of the Association in this matter, the President of the United States presented to it on November 1, 1946, the pen with which he signed the proclamation making effective the provisions of the convention in the United States.

It is the object of the convention to encourage the movement of motor traffic among the American republics on a reciprocity basis. It assigns certain responsibilities to citizens of the United States and of the other American nations in the use of motor vehicles in countries other

than the country of their own residence. A United States applicant for motoring privileges in Latin America presents his state motor vehicle registration certificate and state driver's license at one of the offices of the American Automobile Association or of the American Automobile Touring Alliance. If these documents are in order, the following vouchers will be issued to him, together with the Carnet de Passage en Douane (customs guaranty) when this is required by the country or countries in which he plans to motor:

1. Vehicle Identification Marker
2. International Automobile Certificate
3. International Driving License

These international documents will have no validity for travel by United States. residents within the United States, but will be recognized by the authorities in the Latin American countries that have already ratified the convention.

All the automobile and tourist associations of the Western Hemisphere are expected to urge their respective governments to sign and/or ratify the Convention on the Regulation of InterAmerican Automotive Traffic at the earliest possible moment. This will further the growth of the tourist movement among the American republics, with consequent economic benefits.

AN assignment to photograph in color the remarkable culture of Peru-ancient, colonial, and modern-took me to Lima. I had been there only a few days when, like all strangers, I was attracted by the many curio stores which line the busy down-town streets. Here I was shocked, disappointed, and depressed. Many shops were filled with shoddy, cast-silver objects in bad imitation of old hand-made silver, and with cheap, gaudy, badly designed blankets! What had become of the fine tradition of ancient weaving in Peruweaving so exquisite that the best examples have as many as 270 threads to the inch? Where was the infinite variety of soft glowing colors for which those textiles are famous?

I complained bitterly to all who would listen and one day was told of a "studio" on the outskirts of Lima where I would probably find what I sought. There was a United States citizen there-Truman Bailey who was working with Indians. and producing beautiful textiles, silver, and articles of wood which were available for purchase. I was skeptical. Not many months earlier I had seen some of the disastrous results of "outside teaching" upon the arts and crafts of our own North American Indians in the Southwest. But I was also curious.

We drove through the winding streets of Miraflores, lost our way several times and finally pulled up before a high wall and a wide open door leading into a busy, sun-lit patio. Everywhere people were working. Many were weaving; others were dyeing wool; in the rear, around a large table, a

group was making baskets. Through another open door we caught a glimpse of an even larger patio where men were tooling leather, carving wood, casting sculpture and working in silver. There was the pleasant hum of activity, a sound that to anyone with teaching experience can mean only one thing these people were occupied and interested, happy, doing something they enjoyed doing. This was no "studio" in the commonly accepted connotation of the term. Here was a true workshop.

I forgot that I had come to buy gifts to take home. Here was something so far beyond all expectations, so alive and vital, so significant, so completely in accord with the country's traditions, that I felt it had to be documented as much as possible and photographed in color. This would be a much more valuable gift to bring back to the United States than anything I had planned.

Both Truman Bailey and Grace Escardó, his Peruvian artist associate, were most gracious and kind. Enthusiasm kindled enthusiasm. Everyone cooperated to make my photography possible.

The next morning I was invited to accompany the group to the Botanical Gardens where after studying forms, shapes and colors in nature, the workers planned designs to execute in various media and techniques. I shall never forget that visit, nor those people-their earnestness, ambition, pride in their work, and the remarkable results they achieve.

The gold medals presented a year ago by the city of Lima were a tribute to three years of honest, serious, and intensive re

Photographs in this article by the author

SKETCHING CACTUS DESIGNS

In Lima's Botanical Gardens members of laboratory-workshop produce patterns from nature for textiles, leather tooling, carving, and ceramics.

search on the part of Truman Bailey, his charming Peruvian colleague, and their staff of personally trained craftsmen, and indirectly honored the United States. The story behind it is an unusual and fascinating one.

In 1942, at the invitation of the Peruvian Government, the Inter-American Development Commission sent widely traveled Truman Bailey to Peru as a uniquely suited specialist to direct a survey of native arts and their potential role in the development of specific material resources in that country. He was already experienced in the field of Latin American handicrafts from study during a previous trip in 1939, which included Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. He had only recently re

turned from a long expedition to the Pacific Islands and Eastern Asia.

Now he had a threefold purpose. He was to explore the possibilities of reviving traditional Peruvian handicrafts and adapting them to modern requirements and tastes; to rediscover and reaffirm the esthetic values inherent in the indigenous artistic heritage of the people and the land; to conserve and recapture Peruvian cultural identity (without retarding natural cultural growth) by creating a national crafts industry to compete with the machine and to gain economic security for its workers. This program, if successful, would eventually provide new markets for postwar trade and accomplish for Peru what similar industries have accomplished for Czechoslovakia and for Switzerland. It took knowledge, leadership, courage, tireless effort, enthusiasm and a sincere desire to understand the problems of his neighbors for Truman. Bailey to build this experiment into a monument to United States-Peruvian cooperation.

After much preliminary research, a plan was formulated. The first nine months were to be devoted to study, to a search for lost techniques and lost arts. This pil