Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-05-23
ResourcefuIness of America
as Mediator Being Taxed
to Utmost in Taena-Arico
Affair
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
LEASED Wire Service to The Journal.)
(Copyright, 1922,

Copyright, 1929
WASHINGTON, May 2O.-Amer-
ica's resourcefulness as a mediator
is being taxed to the utmost in the
unprecedented situation, which has
led Chile and Peru to settle their
dispute of more than thirty years
standing.
Theoretically Chile and Peru are
negotiating directly, and the United
States merely is offering its "at
mosphere and goodwill" but this
merely is the preliminary. Every
body knows and has known that the
public opinion Of Chile and Peru,
respectively, fan into intensity of
feeling over the dispute that di-
rect settlement unassisted by the
friendly advice of outside powers is
improbable.
The deadlock still is the same as
it was. Chile insists that the treaty
Of Ancon is unfulfilled. Peru de-
clares a referendum should have
been taken in 1914 to determine the
ownership of the provinces of Tacna
and africa, and since it was not tax
en- the whole treaty is invalid and
so the controversy goes. There is
no new angle, no new question OF
settlement from the one which could
be approved by the other.
Want Settlement
The two powers are tired Of the
constant controversy and want a
stage where they would welcome
some compromise from the outside
offered in such a way that neither
Ia nff - fsni g
where America opportunity arises.
japan and China haggled for three
years over the Shantung question.
They started direct negotiations
again and again, but never got any
where. Finally the United States
and Great Britain conceived the
idea Of bringing the parties together
in Washington ostensibly for direct
negotiation, but mainly for DISPOSE
ton.
The same situation has developed
between Chile and Peru. The dele
gates are already trying direct ne
gotiations and will soon reach the
deadlock of past conferences. Then
America will step in, either with a
concrete plan or a proposal for ar
bitration, which, if accepted, would
mean that both sides were committed
in advance to accept the award Of
the arbitration tribunal.
American good faith, American
fairness and judicial ability will be
tested in the Chile-Peru conference.
There is prestige and good favor
waiting the United States if it set
ties the conflict satisfactorily to
both sides. There is ill-will await
in Yooorioa mn los Y11iSctpn
Hughes Aid
The secretary of state Of the
United States happens to be a for
mer justice Of the supreme court
of the United States. His judicial
mind is being applied to the dispute
which is essentially task for the
legal mind anyhow.
For years the Monroe doctrine,
conceived as a means of preventing
European aggression in this hemi- |
sphere has been so variously inter-
preted and developed that Americas
designs in Latin America have not
been viewed as a1truistic despite the |
protestations of her statesmen. |
Chile, in particular, has, through |
diplomatic channels, shown on more |
than one occasion a fear that the |
United States was adopting big |
brother attitude for selfish and not |
unself1sh reasons. Peru has played |
a little more closely to American
policy. But Chile's doubts are the
same doubts as other South Ameri- |
can nations have expressed.
The opportunity Of the United |
States in the premises is to show
that che ic itotnrncto6 i,1 thu
and welfare of countries far distant
from her own boundaries and that |
she is willing to stop in the midst |
of it's intense absorption in other
problems to lend a voice of counsel
and equity in the solving of a per-
picking dispute which has disturb |
ed not merely the relations Of Chile |
and Peru but the equilibrium of the
South American continent. Bolivia, |
for example, wants an outlet to the |
sea through the very territories of
Tacne and africa which are the basis
of the Chilean-Peruvian quarrel.
National Pride
Some diplomats aver it would be
Of more use to Bolivia than either
Chile and Peru. There is some rea-
son to believe that national pride is
much more involved in this matte,
than the intrinsic value of the
provinces.
incidentally, there's a little ma
tional pride on the side of the
Washington administration. 1t was
this dispute which nearly got into
the jurisdiction of the League Of Ma
tons and there is considerable de-
bate over the alleged willingness of
the Wilson administration to LET the