The sun., 1901-06-02
Chill and the Pam American Congress.

! Chill and the Pam American Congress
Itlooks as II the Pan American Congress
which was to be held next october In tn
City OF Mexico, would be rendered abortiv'
by Chills refusal to submit any cxisti3f
controversy to arbitration. The specific
purpose OF the congress Is to put an enc
to wars between American republics by az
agreement that all disputes shall be settleC
BY arbitration instead OF by the sword
Not..a few disputes affecting boundaries
or growing out Of treaties exist IN the germ
or are already well developed. To insist
a. Chilli insists, that all disputes which may
In the opinion Of any party in interest. bt
described as not future shall be ex'
oluded from the operation Of any compact
arrived at by the congress, Ia TO give that
body a purely academic instead OF a practi.
cal and useful function.
There is general, and also a specific
reason for Chii's reluctance to further the
exemplary aim of the Pan-American Con-
quarter of century shows that she does
not wish to see the regime Of peaceful arbi-
tration prevail In South America. but be-
neves that she has more to gain by recourse
to the brutal arbitrament Of war. She has
taken from Bolivia that Powers only outlet
OF the coastwise Province OF Tarapaca,
which. at the time, was supposed to con-
tain the only valuable nitrate deposits In
South America. She would never have
consented to leave the delimitation OF her
eastern frontier TO arbtrators but for the
the outcome o. contest with Argentina
on the one hand. and Peru, possibly coupled
with Bolivia. on the other II. for many
years, she has maintained a standing army
and a fleet. out Of all proportion to her
population and tax-payine capacity. 1t is
because she has contemplated further
ACKNOWLEDGMENT on the north and the north
east than she acquired by the Treaty Of
Ancon in ss9
As we pointed out In some recent COM
ments on the Tacna and africa question, the
Santiago Government ha' been guilty Of
OF the conditions Of that treaty. Chill agreed
that, at the end OF ten years from the begin
ming OF 1854. the inhabitants Of tho two
provinoes named temporarily occupied by
her. should determine by a plebiscite to
which nation, whether cru or Chill. they
wouli permanently belon There was a
further stipulation that the nation success
fnl at the ballot box, should pay to the
other the sum Of $4,000. 900 in silver.
The details Of the method by which the
lebiscite should be taken were to be set
tied by agreement between the respective
Governments Of Lima and Santiago. The
plehscite ought to have been taken In
1904 but It was not until four years later
that Chili's repr sentative signed protocol
by which 1t was agreed to refer to the Queen
Regent OF Spain, a. arbitrator, the condi-
tions under which the appeal to the people
Of the disputed provinces should be made.
Unfortunately for Peru. tho protocol
provided that 1t should not be operative
until 1t should be sanctioned by the respec-
tive Congresses Of the signatory Powers
The instrument was promptly ratified by
the Peruvian Congress. and It also obtained
the approval OF Chili's Executive and Senate.
The Gillian Chamber Of Deputies. on the
other hand. delayed action on the protocol
for nearly three years, and. finally rejected
t. Tho pretext for the rejection Is. first.
that the Lima Government did not fur
nsh satisfactory guarantees for the pay
- 4 In, ha Ia.
success at the ballot box; and, secondly,
that Chilli cannot in honor" refer TO arbi-
tration the question whether her subjects
now resident In Tacna and Anca shall be
permitted to take part In the plebiscte As
II ls notorious that the pretended Chilians
In Tacna and africa do not number one
tenth OF the population Of those provinces,
II would seem that the point Of honor might
have been made more plausbly by Peru
than by Chilli The truth Ia that Chill is
thinking more Of her pocket than her honor.
Since the Treaty Of Ancon was concluded,
discovered in the territory temporarily
occupied, and Chill is loath 10 relinquish
such a source OF revenue. although Peru
has offered 10 levy on the export OF ntrates
n duty identical with that imposed by the
Santiago Government.
So far MS Peru. her unfortunate neighbor.
"a concerned. Chill Is convinced that she
has much less to gain by arbitration thsn
BY war, and consequently, she declines
70 take part in a pan-Amcrican congress
unless all existing controversies are ex-
Guided from consideration. What is needed
to discipline Chill and cause her TO take an
equitable view og her relations 10 weaker
republics Is an interoccanic canal Had
such n waterway existed in the years I'M
mediately preceding 1883, it is no secret 10
those conyersant with the diplomatic par
leys Of the period that Peru would have
applied for admission TO our Union. in
which event she might have retained not
only Tacna and africa. but also Tarapaca
while Bolivia might have kept tho outlet 70
the Pacific, TO which she IL inquest lonably
entitled
-Four Months Of Army Increase.