Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-04-08
BY BEN McKELWAY.

1 hi BEN MchEL"A1.
! Jacobs renowned sale of a perfect
ly good birthright to Esau, who gave
! in return a paltry mess of pottage,
| with resulting bad feeling on both
| sides, is an ancient example of the
! disputes which always arise in trade.
! Imagine the complications which
might have resulted if Jacob had
! lived in the United States and spoken
English, while Esau lived in Argen-
tina and spoke Spanish, with the add
ed difficulties arising over the fact
! that Jacob made his sale under the
laws Of one land, while Esau made his
purchase under the laws of another!
AS long as there is trade there will
be the inevitable disputes between
| traders. And when there is foreign
trade, with the parties to the dispute
living in different countries, speaking
different languages and doing bust
ness under different laws and Gus
toms, these disputes do anything but
foster good relations. Their adjust
ment through litigation, always a
long, tedious and expensive process,
leaves bad taste in the mouths Of
all concerned, especially on the
tongue of the man who feels he got
the worst Of the deal
Americas Logical Field.
Mighty forces are working these
days to build up a greater trade, and
with 1t a closer understanding, be-
tween the business men of the Ameri-
can republics. South America, at, our
, very door, presents the logical field
for American enterprise. Naturally.
one Of the steps of prime Importance
in developing this trade is the provi-
sion Of an agency to settle peacefully
! the disputes in trade through the
logical means of arbitration.
Meeting now in Santiago. Chile. are
representatives of all but three Of the
American republics-Bolivia, Peru and
Mexico-who have gathered for the
fifth pan American conference. One
of the big things which should come
out of this conference Is an agree
ment among the American republics
to promote the arbitration of com
mercial disputes which arise between
their business men. For the first time
in the history Of the pan-American
conference this subject has been
placed on the program. and it's inclu-
sion augurs we'll for ultimate success.
Has Worked in Practice.
Arbitration Of commercial disputes
! is not a new idea. The subject has
been under discussion, especially in
Europe, for half a century. And
where it has been tried it has been
successful. The common bond be-
| tween business men of different ma
tionalities is the trade in which they
are engaged. and mediation by men
familiar with both the goods and the
| trade provides an efficient and expe-
ditious manner of settling disputes
that may arise. Disputes in foreign
! trade, it must be remembered come
not because men lack integrity. but
because there are honest differences
| of opinion and because there is al
ways the possibility of misunder-
| standing and misinterpretation of the
\ terms of sale or a contract. More
| over, circumstances over which nei-
| Their buyer nor seller has control may
! prevent one or the other from meet
! ing his full obligations.
| The first, and one Of the few, sue
| cessful arbitration agreements was
reached between the Chamber OF
| Commerce of the United States and
the Bolsa de Commerce. of Buenos
I Aires, Argentina, in 1916, and has
been effective since, with modiflca-
tions to meet new conditions. Since
then this plan has been extended in
the form of agreements between the
| United States Chamber of Commerce
| and the Association de Concrete of
, Panama, Associacao Commercial do
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Camara de
/ Concrete of ASuncion and similar
bodies in Bogota, Caracas, Montevideo
and Guayaquil. The International
Chamber of Commerce, with head
quarters in Paris: has recently estab-
| lished a world court of arbitration
for the settlement and adjustment Of
commercial disputes. the plan being
! based largely upon that followed by
the United States chamber and the
| aforementioned Latin American
commercial organizations.
Based ON Voluntary Assent.
The salient feature Of the arbitra-