Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-04-21
Il NeuO Lat;n-Amer;cam Nation
z And its Farreaching IMPORT
- UATEMALA'S ratification Of the treaty
" which was signed on January the

ss@1- And IT'S + GTTe0ch7719 import
~ UATEMALAS ratification Of the treaty
80 which was signed on January the
= - nineteenth last at San Jose, Costa
s RIGA, brings into being the Federation OF
Central America highly significant event.
not only in the affairs Of this hemisphere
but also in the march of world history. Three
States compose the new nation, Guatemala,
Salvador and Honduras; and 1t is not un-
likely that two or, perhaps, three others will
be added Costa RIGA, though man1festlng
n some opposition to the plan Of union, is be-
e HeVed to favor it in the main, and Nicaragua
is giving earnest consideration Representa-
ssetiyes of all these countries assembled at San
: Jose last winter and drafted treaty OF
10 federation; all except Nicaragua signed 1t;
and now that the national assemblies or
three of them have voted approval; 1t be-
comes operative, under the article which pro-
yides sit will be sufficient that three of the
contracting States ratify this Treaty to have
it considered as final and binding among
them and to have it carried into effect"
The three republics of north Central Amer
lea which have merged their common inter-
= ests. have a population Of four million, one
hundred )usand, an area of more than one
hundred and one thousand square miles, ma
tural resources of much Importance and SILL
~ larger promise, and a foreign trade which,
with the United States alone, amounts to
some forty-fve million dollars a year. If
- osta RIGA and Nicaragua join the Fedora
ton, it will rank fifth among Lat1n-Amerlcan
nations in point Of population, having up
wards of five million inhabitants and pelng
- outnumbered by only Brazil, Argentina,
Mexico and ColumIa. 1t is suggested, more
over that in time Panama will be invited to
sssss.s1ter and that she probably will accept, IN
switch event both the Panama Canal and the
proposed canal through Nicaragua would lie
within the boundaries Of the Federation.
-. Commenting on developments thus far, Dr.
Julio Bianc'i Guatemalas Minister at
5 Washing ton says that while it Is difficult to
= forecast actions of Governments he belleVes
that "the Federation soon will have its own
missions assigne, to foreign capitals, replac-
ing those of Guatemala Honduras and Sal
4fIor. and an organization of consular Off
s-SciaIs throughout the world, replacing those
of the three States named" Further,
9expect to see(established, in the near future
free trade among these States UNIFORM sys-
TENS of highways, steam and electric trans
nortation telegraph and telephone, UNIFORM
-lexnort and import duties, and uniform cur
,s rency system. In fact, L expect the federa-
-%@tfoa to take every action deemed necessary
- to the molding of Guatemala, Honduras anu
Salvador into one nation which eventually
: will be firmly united as the States or. the
United States.
z THAT this cooperation will make for
larger measure of prosperity and progress
than the divided countries have known anu
larger thai they ever would be able to at
tain as iealo S competitors, appel g almost
self evident In the matter of transport cur
rency. education and other domestic con-
Germs the Cen raj American States compact
IL grouped and closely akin as they are, can
work together far more economically ana
= efficiently than they can work apart. Like
- wise in foreign affairs, particularly in COM
MERGE it would seem that they cen promote
their common interests, which are their
basic interests, to much better advantage
through union than through separate anu
DO1icioS.
Most important however, will be the Ell
- feet on relations am ongst the countries and
Leoples themselves. ''It IS no secret says Dr.
Bianchi, that the republics Of Central Amer
lea have maintained armies chiefly for pro-
- lection az inst e2nh other. With the Fedora
2 Z ton of Central America now fact, grad
: ual disarmament soon will start that even
tually will reduce the standing armies OF
Central America to mere police force size,
resulting in ,reat financial economy and--lt
is our hope and our prayCr-remoVing the
= chief cause Of inter-republic STRIFE, ending
the era Of wars and revolutions for all time.
Fruitage of this high and goodly ne~ture Is
not to be expected in abundance save
through the slow ripening of years, as the
minds of men widen and their sympathles
> reach out beyond provincial prejudice and
hate But it means much that a substantial
beginning has been made amongst our
neighbors on the Caribbean. They are moving
with the deeper trend of history. They are
The fact that those five States between
Mexico and Panama laid aside their rivalries
and suspicious long enough to draft treaty
of union WI h three have ratified and which
the others are considering not unfaVorably
this in itself is significant. Small States
Yes, but they illustrate none the less clear
s1y the great principle on which they are pro
ceeding. In some respects, indeed, co-opera
Z. It on amongst little coun' res is more difficult
than amongst great ones because they are
,,rless accustomed to doing things on large
scales and to thinking in broad terms, are
more individualstic, more rooted in loca
traditions.
Thus the Federation of Central Americ;
will be watched with peculiar interest at
time when the best thought Of all the worlt
turns to constructive co-wOr-ing as agains
- obstructive comDGtitiOn amongst nations
Every plan that facilitates, every exnerimen
that heartens the progress of this idea is
boon to mankind Ultimately nations mus
- harmonic in matters Of great common con