Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-12-10
WARNING TO EUROPE.

WARNING TO EUROPE
| Underlying the several speeches made
! by the diplomats was a note of warning
| that the presence Of belligerent warships
! IN the western hemisphere already had
produced grave complications between
| American nations and European powers
| demonstrating 'he vital need of Pan
| American solidarity
Secretary Bryan made the opening
! speech, POINTING out that the United
states sympathized deeply with the
! plight Of its neighhorinS repul les, and
declaring innocent nations should not be
| forced TO suffer for the actJ of the
! bcligerents. After general discussion
: the following resolution was adopted
! unanimously:
! The governing board Of the PAN
American union declares:
THAT the magnitude Of the present
| European war presents new problems Of
international law the solution of which
Is Of equal + tcrest to the entire world
INJURY TO NEUTRALs.
THAT the form in which the opera
tons of the beligerents are developing
they rebound to the injury of the neu-
| trails
"3-That the principal cause for this re-
suit is that the respective rights of the
beligerents and the ncutrals are not
clearly defined, Notwithstanding that such
definition is demanded both by general
convenience and by the spirit of Justice
which doubtlessly animates the belliger-
| enst with respect to the interests of the
neutrals
hot ,;r,,.
ter call for a definition Of such rights as
promptly as possible upon the principle
that liberty of commerce should not be
restricted beyond the point Indispensable
for military operations.
| "On these grounds the governing board
of the Pan-American Union resolves:
| SPECIAL COMMISSION.
"A special commission Of the same
is hereby appointed to consist Of nine
members OF which the secretary of state
Of the United States shall form part,
acting as chairman thereof, ex-officio
'2-This commission shall study the
problems presented by the present Euro
pean war and shall submit to the govern
Ing board the suggestions 1t may deem
ot common interest In the study of ques-
sion will consult the board of jurists
Each government may submit to the
committee such plans or suggested reso-
buttons as may be deemed convenient on
the different subjects that circumstances
suggest"
The committee was Immediately APP
pointed consisting Of Secretary Bryan and
the ambassadors from Brazil. Chile. Ar
gentina and the ministers from Uruguay.
Peru. Ecuador Honduras and Cuba.
SECRETARY BRYAN PREsIDEs.
The secretary Of state Of the United
States, as chairman ex-offico OF the gov
erning board of the Pan-American Union,
presided over the meeting. Seated to his
right and left were the ambassadors of
Brazil, Chile and Argentina and the min
listers Of the 16 other republics. There
was one vacant chair--that of the ambas-
sador from Mexico, the government I'M
recognized by the family of nations,
The meeting was comparatively brief,
lasting less than two hours, but in In
formal conferences held previously plans
for the session had been carefully worked
out by the diplomats. Secretary Bryan
stated in a general way the problems
which had been brought to his attention
by the representatives OF some Of the
leading South American countries.
Speeches followed by the ambassadors
from Brazil. Chile and Argentina, the
ministers from Bolivia, Uruguay, Peru
and Cuba supplemented by brief remarks
from tho other diplomats.
| Ambassador Da Cana of Brazil point
cd out that n council such as the gath
erning board OF the Pan American
union was necessarily political in char
acter. and suggested the advisability of
CO. operating with the six boards OF
jurists appointed by the last Pan-Am
erican conference to codify information
| al law. One OF these boards, which
meets In Washington, is headed by John
Bassett Moore
Eduardo Suarez Mujica, the Chilean
ambassador. said the questions that
had arisen demanded prompt settle
ment and that the commission should
not regard its task as academic, but
| practical. He remarked that 1t should
| propose steps to relieve conditions dur
| ing the present war and not some re-
amote conflict,