Republican farmer., 1920-07-09
SOUTH AMERICAN
 DISPUTES WILL
 60 TO LEAGUE
Land Dispute Between Peru, Chile and Bolivia
 First Considered.

oueHOS Aires, July O-IHe famous Tacna and Africa dispute involving Chile, Peru and Bolivia, is not the only South American problem which may go before the League of Ma uons for settlement. There has exist ed for years controversy between Paraguay and Bolivia over a strip of territory in the heart of South Amer ica as big as the state of California. This, it is understood, is on the pro gram for consideration by the League.
 It is probably not generally known that when the American peace ex- perts under Colonel House collect ed their data on world problems for use at the Paris Peace Conference, they included report on the issues between Bolivia and Paraguay over the possession of this territory, which is called on Bolivian maps the Boli- vian Chaco and on Paraguayan maps the Paraguayan Chaco.
 The case of the Chaco is known to have been also brought before the conference by the Bolivian peace delegate, Senator Montes. It was de- cided. it is understood here, to post pone the question for early. settle ment by the League.
 These problems hold for Bolivia, hemmed in on all sides by other states, the realization of her greatest politi- cal and commercial ambition, her own territorial outlet to the sea. Possession of the port of Africa would give her an outlet to the Pa cific, and, curious as it may seem, possession of the. Chaco, or at least a part of it. would give her egress to the Atlantic. For the Chaco borders | the great River Paraguay, aff1uent of l the river Plate, and on the Chaco side of the river. 1000 miles from Euenos Aires, is little pert called 1 Bahia Negra. Here ocean steam ! ships from the United States and l Europe could take on cargo trans 1 the Chaco from tue Bolivian mines aud farms.
 But in the year 1886, a few years after Bolivia had lost in war the Pa | cific port of Antofagasta and was 1 turning her eyes eastward, Bahia 1 Negra was seized by Paraguay and 1 has been in her possession ever since. | Paraguay, furthermore, made land | allotm ents in the Chaco, whose un- surpassed pasture and great quebra- cho forests were beginning to attract 1 the white man. A mysterious, unex- l plored land, stretching northward from the Pilcomayo River on the l Argentine border and westward from l the River Paraguay into undisputed | Bolivian territory, it has not been directly crossed by white man since l the days of the Spanish conquerors. 1 since the year 154s to be exact. Elk i cept near the rivers, it is inha bited only by savage Indian tribes to this day, but both nations looked forward 1 to it's possibilities, which recently 1 have included that Of finding petro- | leum.
 Bolivia protested the seizure of Ba- hia Negra and also made land a1lot- | ments in the Chaco. It is true that Bolivia had an eastern outlet already by the River Paraguay. but her com
 merce had to go through the Brazi- Han River port of Corumba, a little north of Bahia Negra, moving down from the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz by mule team, along the northern edge of the Chaco, as it still does.
 To uphold their claims both gov
 ernments unearthed musty archives
 in Madrid dealing with the expedi-
 tions of the Spanish conquerors and
 the land grants of the Spanish Crowr , in South America. Various diplo-
 matic negotiations have been fnitiat-
 ed between the two governments
 from time to time looking to divis- , ion of the territory, bat either e@
 Congress or the other refused to rat fly the agreements which the diplo-
 
 mats drew up. As y-~gt , The report of the American peace experts on the question was placed
 in official archives against the tim,
 when the League of Nations wa: ready to take the matter up. Mucl of the material, it is learned, wa supplied by a young American sen
 to South America to investigate ant
 whose private opinion is that log
 ica1 settlement of the dispute would
 be an equal division of the territory , but which would give Bolivia hel coveted port.
 There are interesting possibi1itie' l in the settlement for those who have |. | received land grants in the Chact ! from one government or the other Some of these are vast in exLent. Gnt < citizen from Argentina has secured
 In Paraguayan grants sole title to al
 area larger than Holland and Bel l gium com bined.