New-York tribune., 1916-07-23

Copyright l9lb-Ihc IT'D
Are the people OF South and Central
America unfriendly TO the United
States to-day and suspicious Of our in
,sntionsi Have they been, and il so,
why. These are questions concerning
which much has been said and written,
especially since we have been more sc-
tive commercially In the countries to
.be south of us since the war began.
The average citizen Of the United
states has been incredulous of the fire.
suent reports in recent years that our
,outhern neighbors feared US. He could
40, understand any belief on their part
hat the Monroe Doctrine simply meant
hat we wished TO keep all European
.oun,rie, out until we were quite ready
:, acquire their territory. Such no.
sop was so foreign TO the thought OF
suY people and so repugnant to them
...we have been wholly unwilling 70
.rS;t the report For myself, believe
-. claim that such sentiment existed
award us was greatly exaggerated. 1t
,,nno, Ae doubted. however, that 1t did
,-.vsil in some directions, and it has
"a. entirely disappeared. Repeatedly
,.,sinr newspapers in South and Cen
,rsl America have voiced this suspicion
and II was but few years since tnat
leading politicians Of one of the larg-
a., countries went from city TO city, al
home and in adjoining states, to preach
the need Of coalition for organized re-
distance Of "the North American men
are" This campaign developed a very
,on.iderable following, for in many IN
stances public meetings brought out
,..o-d-breakins crowds and stimulated
activity Of a threatening character. In
,.rs,+ in il has subsided recently. and
,o.dav there is but little evidence OF
its existence.
Dismissed rs Joke.
II. nsopl. Of the United States as
=, whole I'D to the present time nave
rv,n little thought to the loreisn
policies Of their government. S :.
is,4d 70 South America, ana ouIsios
~ Cuba and Mexico Central Aneiiy~ "a
has not aroused much attention. ="
n. dsily newspaper we chance 70 NJ
nee an item of 100 WORDS VI nein o
- one-line heading, announcing
-. rr-;,sd states marines have been
i.-5s6 in Port-au- Prince, Hayti, OF !"
$50 nomingo. to maintain oroer euf
threatened revolution.
.-eu..s sny interest a. all, we Hs-
or.n,Iv dismiss il as JOKE. we 40
-, r.alize that while such an event,
.urr;ng but q thousand miles away
!, an incident of little apparent I'M
nortanoe TO US, il is q big item IN the
bis.orv Of the country sHecteo-
AGAIN we read that our minister IN
distant South American country mas
made strong speech concerning
.omething the local government mas
done in relation to an American inter-
,s, and promptly some of US say
aha. is the way TO do business; you
have 10 handle these people without
rloyes" That the aforesaid minister
NAV. have been an unimportant pohu-
e.n in the United States, wholly un-
ft for mis- lob, and yet so placed tnaV'
under some circumstances, unwar-
rant.d utterances on his part may
arouse nationwide hostility toward
us. entirely escapes the thought OF
our people. And yet we get splen-
didly excited at home when the repre-
sentative of q foreign country does
ANYTHING indiscreet involving our
policies The landing Of foreign ma
rin.. in New Orleans or Providence,
R. l., for any political purpose is un-
thiukable. Such an act would STIR
the people of the United States to the
depths. The reaction is exactly the
une on the citizens Of other coun-
tries, under some circumstances.
Enterprises MishAndled.
Many important incidents have ec-
cured in the countries TO the south OF
Us OF a most sensational character,
concerning which mighty little or very
g,rbled information reached the Amerl-
can people. A good many enterprises
have been promoted in South American
countries by men, wholly without
equipment to get on with the people,
who were indulging in some OF the
business practices abroad which In the
last twenty years have brought radical
reform al home. One illustration VIII
suffce. Led by a New York promoter,
certain corporation secured conces-
sion for a railroad in South American
country, on which the government
guaranteed the interest on the bonds;
II is alleged that the insiders owneo
the contracting company, whlcn mace
the road cost more than il should; 40
not know the facts. When the raliroao
was in operation the promoters organ
ued a separate express company 10 oo
esrrying businesss over It. mo e1-
Pre-. company paid very well, so II Is
Gained, but the railroad did not pay
The matter became political issue. IL
oid not attract tho attention OF the
government leaders alone, but the
whole country became interested, and
sfeeling of great resentment developed
toward the government and citizens Oh
he United States, without any dls-
elimination. The extent to which TINS
sentiment prevailed is shown by an IN
eident one night but few years ago
when news was flashed on the screen IN
one ot the large moving picture the
s'res in the country that the American
mead Of the unfortunate enterprise had
peen thrown from a horse and killed.
Inc audience greeted the announce
uient With cheers and Immediately nled
OUT OF the theatre, secured band and
Paraded the streets. Calls were made
ior popular subscription TO buy the
morse which caused the accident, and
.ne whole city was thrown into excite
ment over the event That the par
ueuiar South American government IN
,O"ed In this case may not have MADE
s share Of mistakes in connection
sh The whole matter would not say.
mat the Americans who handled the
project Did some very unfair and un-
Tsinesslike things is very certain:
.ne equities Of the case, however, need
NOV be considnroA Tha fact Is that Our