Evening star., 1925-12-03

that all Peruvian eXiles he returned
10 their homes. AT Chilean expense.
and that police interference be dis
continued.
Officials OF our Government are
strictly nOn-communicative rega riding
the entire situation. but one has stated
that since Mr. Edwards has attacked
he impartiality of Gen. Pershinc and
even OF the United States Govern
ment. the time would soon come when
he @el> will have 10 publish the
acts a iie finds them"
Sencr Edwards is = diplomat oC
many years experience. having heen
Chilean Minister 10 Great Britain
nearly two decades. He is man Of
great wealth and is the owner of sew
eral neWSpa pers. chief of which is l..
Mercurio of Santiago. the capital. An
| article in FL Mercurio of recent date
outlines Chile s position, in substance.
| as follows:
Peru appears TO be bent on depriv-
ing Chile of her sovereignty of Tacna-
africa during the taking of the pleh
| iscite, which is contrary TO the pro
visions of the treaty of Ancon. the
protocol submitting the question 10
| the arbiter and of the decision nf
President Coolidge. all of which pro
vide that the plebiscite shall be made
under Chilean laws Therefore. lit
is not anticipating things to say that
the plebiscite commission has ended
it's functions in a paralysis which is
for the present inCurable."
Prior to the first meeting of the com
mission, continues the editorial Chile
prepared a draft of the election Ia W
which she submitted 10 the commits
sion. Peru submitted no such draft
for 1t is notorious that the Peruvian
delegation went to africa with the in
tention of retiring on the first decent
preteXt. They knew they were lost
from the moment that the Coolidge
award included the taking of pop
ular vote. and so they began their
campaign of dema nding euarante
Gen. Pershing has formulated these
demands in summary fashion saws
FL Mercurio. which is 'rudely" or
'brutally" opposed to Chilean rights.
The editorial charges that the
plehiscite commission has failed in its
duties: that the repeated appeals %
the Chilean delegation tSenor Edwardel
TO take up the matter of the electora
law have been useless. The Peru.
vians, says FL Mercurio. refuse to con.
slider this primary duty of the com.
| mission, and Gen. Pershing. with a
kindness almost naive, to the farcica
charges of the Peruvians as to assault
has committed the commission to
plebiscite commission has fa lied in its
court, stopped all work toward the
plebiSclte itself and devoted his oh
servers and assessors to the investiRA-
ton of recent events of no impor-
tance whatever. and past events which
have already been carefully investi.
! gated and analyzed in President Cool
! idge'S award.
THE commission has not followed he
arbitral award. following instead the
| objective of Peru, namely. to frustrate
| the holding Of the pebiscite or to
cause IL TO he held without the author
ity of Chile. But Chile can
| not accept conditions which are in VIC
, Ia ton of rights acquired by the treaty
of Ancon, which are respected in the
protocol of arbitration and which the
award itself has several times repeated
as fundamental to the plebiscite.
1T is not Chile's fault that the
plehiscite is not now a fact accom-
| plished."
According TO press dispatches from
| Europe. the Chilean Minister at Bern
| Switzerland, has presented a memo
| randum of the Tacla AFRICA affair to
| the secretary of the League of Ne
| tions protesting against Gen. Per
| shing's action in delaying the pleb-
lscite, although the commission has
been sitting four months, although II
| is now explained that this was merely
, to inform the league and not as an
appeal for interference.
One-ninth of the budget by which
the League of Nations is sustained is
paid by Latin America. Peru paws
| into the league treasury SAG, ,766. .09 an.
nually. Chile pays S70,149.14 as its
share of expenses. The total paid by
Latin America Excluding Argentina
which has withdrawn) is $477,0l4.1 a
year. 1t is Significant that Latin
| American nations sometimes show less
! fear of European aggression than they
indicate confidence in the disinteresf.
edness of the United States of Ames
lea. Both Chile and Peru are members
OF the League of Nations. although
! they turned away from II in this ar
bitra ation.
tCopyright. 1928. BY PauI v. ColEns.'