Evening star., 1922-12-10

ment by the powers participating in
the conference at Washington In 1921.
the Central American states may car
ample to the world and. above all.
to the powers Of this hemisphere, by
adopting effective measures for the
limitation of armament In Central
America" In other words. how can
twenty-one nations. assembled at
Santiago in March. 1923, refuse to
follow the example which may be set
by five of Central America and ap-
proved by the United States, especial
ly when these five. supported by the
United States. will stand solidly
together for this noble purpose? In
asmuch as several Of the chief ma
tions Of South America proper, under
the initiation of Chile. have declared
or shown in their approval of this
principle in the shaping of the pro-
gram for the fifth pan-American
conference. it would seem that pow
erful majority Of the American re-
publics would vote for q forward
step in this direction Of continental
and International peace. Although.
of course, the situation in Central
America is in many respects quite
different from that in the leading
South American states. there Is un-
doubtedly a common ground on
which they can get together with the
United States. Central America, Mex
leo, Cuba, Haiti. the Dominican Re-
public and Panama, of the northern
hemisphere, for a disarmament pro-
gram which will prove to all Amer
lea and to all the world that the
western hemisphere is a unit for
world progress and world peace.
Arbitration Of Disputes.
The third proposition of the pro-
gram of the conference is: 'The
working out of a plan for setting up
tribunals of inquiry whenever any
disputes or questions regarding the
proposed treaty or treaties, which
cannot be settled by diplomatic
means. shall unfortunately arise be-
tween any two or more of the coun-
tries"
The opinion is almost unanimous
among the delegates to this confer
ence that something practical will be
achieved under this head. If 1t is ao-
complished it should spell permanent
peace among those Ave countries. II
they can do 1t, then the sixteen other
American republics can also do 1t. or
otherwise stated, the twenty-one can
do it This does not mean separation
from or opposition to the central or
world league Of nations already es-
tablished, but it does signify that one
most important section of the world
can get together in some kind of an
association, which might be called the
pan-American league of nations. that
will, through tribunals of inquiry and
arbitration, settle all purely PAN
American or inter-American contro-
versies and differences without refer
ence to the world league Of nations.
This is and will be Just as natural and
reasonable as state tribunals and
courts of the various states Of the
United States or Of other pan-Ameri-
can countries adjust their disputes
without reference to their respective
supreme courts. Ninety per cent Of
pan-American international contro-
versies do not concern directly Eu-
rope or Asia and can and should be
settled by pan-American tribunals.
Possibly here we see the beginnings
of the working out of the proposition
which Uruguay has submitted for the
formation of q pan-American league
Of nations at the pan-American con-
ference in Santiago next March.
Possibilities Of Unioa.
The hnal subject on the program ol
1Continued on Third Page.)