The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-05-22

Selfish Purposes-May Gain Prece-
denee Over League of Nations In This
Purely American Dispute.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
tSpeclal Despatch to The Reformer.)
Copyright 1922.
WASHINGTON, May 22.-America' 5
resourcefulness as a mediator is being
taxed to the utmost in the unprecedented
situation which has led Chile and Peru
to endeayor to settle their dispute of
more than 80 years standing.
Theoretically Chile and Peru are ne
gotiating directly. The United States
IS merely offering its atmosphere and
| good will" but this is merely the pre-.
/ llhlinary. Everybody knows and has
known that the public opinion of Chile
and Peru respectively has been famed
INTO such intensity of feeling over the
dispute that direct settlement unas.
sisted by the friendly advice of outside
powers is improbable The deadlock i
still the same as it was, Chile insists
that the treaty of Ancon is unfulflled
Peru declares a referendum should have
| been taken in 1894 to determine the own
erShlp of the provinces of Tacna and
africa and since it wasn't taken the
whole treaty is invalid. And so the con
| trOversy goes. There is no new angle.
no new suggestion of equitable arrange
ment coming from the one which could
| be approved by the other
Like Shantmg Dispute.
The two powers are tired of the con-
slant controversy and want a settle
ment. They have reached the stage
where they would welcome some com
promise from the outside offered in such
way that neither side can afford to re
ject. There's where Americas Oppor-
tunity arises. Japan and China bag
gled for three years over the Shantun2
question. They started direct negotia-
tons again and again but never got
anywhere. Finally the United States
and Great Britain conceived the idea of
bringing the parties together in Wash
ington Ostensibly for direct settlement
but in reality for mediation. The dis
pute was settled satisfactorily.
The same situation has developed be-
tween Chile and Peru. The delegates
are already trying direct negotiations
and Will soon reach the deadlock of past
conferences. Then America will step in
either with a concrete plan or a pro-
posal for arbitration. which, if accepted
would mean that both sides were COM
mitted in advance to accept the award of
the arbitration tribunal.
Test of American Fairness.
American good faith, American fair
ness and judicial ability will be tested
in the Chile-Peru conference. There is
prestige and good favor awaiting the
United States if it settles the conflict
satisfactorily to both sides. There is
i'll, will awaiting if America makes al
misstep. The secretary of state of the
United States happens to be former
justice of the supreme court of the
United States. His court mind is being
applied to this dispute which is especially
a task for legal mind, anyhow.
For years the Monroe Doctrine, con-
Ceiyed as a means of preventing Euro
pean aggression in this hemisphere, has
been so variously interpreted and devel
oped that Americas designs in Latin
America have not been viewed as altru
istic 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 a big
brother attitude for selfish and not UNI
selfish reasons.
Peru has played little more closely
to American policy But Chile's doubts
American nations have expressed The
/ opportunity of the United States in the
premises is to show that she is inter
! ested in the peace and welfare of coun-
! tries far distant from her own bound
aries, and that she is willing to stop in
/ the midst of its intense absorption in
other problems to lend a voice of cOun-
/ sci and equity in the settlement of
/ perplexing dispute which has disturbed
I not merely the relations of Chile and
/ Peru but the equilibrium of the South
| American continent. Bolivia, for 'ex-
ample, wants an outlet to the sea
/ through the very territories, Tacna and
/ africa which are the basis of the Chill
/ ean-Peruvian quarrel. Some diplomats
4 aver it would be of more use to Bolivia
4 than either Chile or Peru. There is
some reason to believe that national
pride is much more involved in this mat
/ ter than the intrinsic value of the prov
/ inces.
/ Bit of National Pride.
4 Incidentally there's a little national
pride on the side of the Washington adj
/ ministratiOn. 1t was this dispute
which nearly got into the jurisdiction of
i the league of nations and there is con-
4 siderable debate still over the alleged
/ willingness of the Wilson administration
/ to let the league dispose of the matter
and the unwillingness of the Harding
/ league intervene in any American ques-
tons lest a precedent for the future be
established. Chile and Peru are both
members of the league of nations. If
they settle the dispute here through the
good offices of the United States, the
/ Washington government will have es-
tablished its prestige as mediator not
only in a Far Eastern tangle such as
was involved in the Shantung province
/ but in the healing of a sore in another
/ part of the world where, indeed, the in
r