Milford chronicle., 1920-04-09
UNCLE TED'S
BEDTIME STORIES
Current Events for the Children
and Grown-Ups, Too
HOW THE UNITED STATES
PREVENTED A WAR

l would study hard for an hour, and
have just finished"
You're an awful bother. Jack
answered his Uncle. putting down h
newspaper and taking Ruth on n
lap. But | will tell you that stor
now if you are real quiet and promis
not to tease your sister any more"
Il promise" quickly answere
Jack
"All right. Now this may not b
an exciting story, but it is true and
happened only few weeks ago. Yo
both remember, of course. the many
many things have told you about tn
world club plan and you know hov
the United States Senate refused [,
let the United States become a mem
Der OF that club as proposed by Presi
dent Wilson because it would meal
losing all of our strength with fore
ign countries and place us under tn,
command of a government of tn,
world instead Of our own. One of tn,
most important things about the plaT
is the fact that if we were a member
we could not act with the smaller
countries of South America and witt
Mexico and Cuba as we can now
not let US act under what is known
as the Monroe Doctrine, part of one
OF Presidents MOnroes messages To
congress many, many years ago.
have told you before what that doc
trlne says, so will not take the time to
explain it again. One part of the
world club plan says how we shall
explain the Monroe Doctrine. which
10 So. h., 4
of our foreign policy 1t has helped
US TO settle troubles in other Small
countries to the south. But if we were
member of the world club we could
no longer act as we wish under it.
All this | have told you so that you
will understand the real story.
In the middle of March of this
year, a mob attacked the legation Of
Peru in city OF La Paz, Bolivia. You
see, Peru is one country in South Am
erica, Bolivia another, and Chile an
other, ali right alongside one another,
on or near the Pacific Ocean. Each Of
those countries has representatives in
the other countries just as we have
representatives in France and England.
This mob attacked the house in Bo-
livia where the representative of Peru
lives. The trouble was so great that
the Chileans, who thought the peace
OF their country was to be broken by
war, started to mobilize their troops;
that is, get their soldiers ready to
fight. The BoliviOns and the Peru
yians, when they saw their neighbOrs
getting ready for war, also said they
would bring their troops together.
Things looked very bad and everyone
thought there would be war The in
teresting part about it all is, that all
three OF these countries are members
of the world club which is supposed to
be organized President Wilson wants
us to join it because it WILL as he says.
help stop war. But when all three of
these countries were getting ready for
war Just a little over a month ago, it
seems that none of them thought OF
asking the club in Europe more than
10000 miles away, with its supposed
machinery ready for business, to help
stop the trouble"
why didn't they get the world
club to help" asked Jack.
4 don't know Jack, except that
think they would all three have been
fighting if they had waited for the
world club to settle the trouble. It
just shows that the world club plan
will not work when an actual case
comes up for it to handle"
Did they have war?" asked Ruth.
mo Ruth" answered her uncle,
there was no war but it was not
stopped by the world club. 1t was
stopped by the United States by the
use of broad meaning of the famous
old Monroe Doctrine and because the
United States was not a member Of
the club. In other words, kiddies, the
United States with the same methods I
she has been using for at least a cen
tury prevented a war among three
members of the world club"
when did the United States do (
that?" asked Jack.
"On March II. Jack, the American .
in Chile was told by the /
of State in Washington, /
to notify the Chilean government that .
the United States was greatly worried .
about the situation. / will read you /
lust the way our State Department .
told the story:
"'On March H. the story reads, /
the American Ambassador in Chile .
was instructed by the Department of
State to inform the Chilean Minister
for Foreign Affairs that the Govern
ment of the United States had inform
ed the Bolivian Government that 1t
viewed with the gravest apprehension
Lne attack. b. g Haeh on the Peruvian
Legation and Consulate and on the
houses and stores Of Peruvians in La
Paz. The Bolivian Government was
also informed that in the opinion OF
he Department of State any agitation
ending to endanger peace on the Am
srican continent would be calamity
which would place the gravest re-
upon those who counte-
lanced it.
The Ambassador was further in
tructed to inform the Chilean Minis
er for Foreign Affairs that this De-
,artment would deplore mobilization
n Chile, and that a similar represen-
alton had been made to Peru and Bo-
ivia regarding mobilization in those
Countries. In conclusion, the Ambas-
ador was directed to state that the
government of the United States view
d the situation with the gravest ap-
and counted upon the
Government of Chile to do everything
n its power to avoid the breaking out
t hostilities on the west coast OF
,outh America, and to preserve peace
.ntil a means of solution for the ques-
ion interesting Chile, Peru. and Bo-
ivia could be found other than force.
ghich could not be cOuntenanced by
he civilized world.
"'On March. %, the American Am ,
assador in Chile cabled the Depart
,ent that he had received a note from
he Chilean Foreign Office expressing I
hanks for the information the Almbas- I
ador had given concerning American
concentrations made to the Bolivion J.
overnment, and depioring the dis
Irhanees in La Paz. The note de- q
Iared in part that Chile's conduct in r