Evening star., 1927-08-14
TACNA-ARICA SOLUTION
STILL HELD POSSIBILITY
Situation ''Quiet," Officials Say, Mean
ing Complicated Occurrences Are
Going On Under Surface.

4 ,
commission, places the whole failure
OF the plebiscite upon the administra-
ton and domination of Chile in the
disputed provinces. reciting alleged
outraSes against Peruvians and de
cIarng that the plebisCite could not
be held under present Chilean rule
This resolution is now in the hands OF
| President Coolidge as arbitrator.
Under the protocol Of 1922 only his
! decision in matters relating to the
plebiscite is final Whether he Is re-
| quired to accept and publish TO the
world the Lassiter resolution because
! it was passed by his plebiscitary com
mission. and declare the plebiscite an
| impossibility, is still an open question.
| If he does he casts a lasting cloud
over Chilean good faith, and, accord
| ing to some interpretations, Peru
would then have a right to claim the
| territory before some such tribunal as
| the Permanent Court at The Hague.
/ II the President rejects the Lassiter
| resolution the plebscite must be re-
! sumed, and probably no one. Chilean,
| Peruvian or American, now believes a
plebiscite possible in Tacna-AriCa. eX-
cept under conditions different from
those set down in the award. SO the
re lection of the LaSslter resolution
would be a virtual announcement that
the award was a failure. which is
step that seems hardly likely to be
taken at this time.
If, on the other hand. the President.
as arbitrator. never takes any action
on the Lassiter resolution, the Tacna,
africa situation apparently cannot be
resolved by other means. because it is
in his hands, as receiver, so to speak.
Actually, the President is now
theoretically sitting in the back
ground, while, also theoretically, Sec
retary OF State kellogg is negotiating
with the Ambassadors of the two coun-
tries in Washington as plenipoten
tiaries. He is trying to get thsas~to
agree to some solution of the difficulty
outside the plebiscite, and although
the negotiations which were going on
last Winter are now suspended, in
theory they are still on, and the final
proposal before both countries Is that
offered on November 80 last year,
when Mr.. Kellogg proposed the sale
of the disputed territory to Bolivia.
He had previously suggested divisions,
on various grounds, and other solu-
, tions. by means of cession and CORE
spending indemnity, but the Bolivian
proposal stands still as the last Offer
of Washington as mediator in this
ancient quarrel. The proposal was
questioned in terms which virtually re-
iected IT. by Peru and accepted in
principle by Chile. and the whole mat
ter of the fate of the provinces still
hangs. dangling, as it were, on the
raveled string of the endless efforts AT
its solution.
''Chileanization" Alleged.
There have been, from time TO time,
reports that Chile was planning TO an
mex the territories formally, but moth
ing of this sort has really come forth
Not long ago it was announced that
the "Chilea eaniZation' of Tacna-Arlca
had been ordered, or encouraged, this
consisting chiefly in more effective
representation of the sovereignty or
Chile, more elaborate observance or
Chilean holidays and festivals, etc. But
annexation formally remains unlikely,
particularly while the question re-
mains in theShands, SO to speak, or the
President of the United States as arbi-
traitor. =,
There is talk of war as well, and
this is always the danger, and indeed
the fact that the Tacna.Arica ques-
tion loomed always as a possible cause
of war was one of the chief reasons
why its solution was sought through
arbitration of the President. Peru
now has two new submarines ana
fears the strong and we'll trained
Chilean navy less than in the past.
The Peruvian navy is, In fact, one OF
the most efficient for its size in the
world. thanks TO long and successtui
training by an American naval mis-
sion. These facts are cited by the
I.nn rim
break. Chile. however. is quiet, with
political problems at home and eco
nomic adjustments to occupy her at
tention. War seems very far away,
| indeed, in Tacna a-Arica.
But why cannot the matter be solv
| ed, the American asks continually. 1t
seems easy to dispose of the territory
! to Bolivia who cannot use it as a
base for military operations against
! Chile. and who would not want to, but
| would appreciate and could use so
we'll the highway to the sea and the
! railway and port of africa, almost di-
rectly west. as it is. Of La Paz, the
| Bolivian mountain capital" Why not,
! indeed?
| Shrine OF Both Countries.
There is only one answer. and that
! IS not very high, nor very steep,
nor very grim mountain that rises
above africa like a great rock. 1t is
| called "El Morro,' or the castle. 1t
commands the port and the sea and
| the railway. 1t is on the southern or
Chile.ward side of the town and the
railway that goes to La Paz. That
rock is the reason the TacnaArica
question has not been solved. either
| ma terially or spiritually. For the
Moro is a shrine Of both Chile and
Peru There the Peruvians made their
! final stand when the Chilean army
encompas assed the city of africa in the
war Of the Pacific. close to so years
ago. And there they stood and died
/ 10 a man. shot down. or finally the
heroic remnant leaping into the sea
rather than surrender. No spot on
arth is % great a shrine Of Peruvian
| pa triotism as that old MORO at africa.
| The Chilean has his own sentiments
also, for the victory of the MORO at
africa is one of the great battles Of
| Chilean arms, won as it was by sheer
| bare hand fighting, not with artillery
; or with bombs, but man to man, a su-
perb achievement. The Moro Is the
symbol Of Chilean prowess.
There it stands. and g long as it
stands the TacnaArica question seems
destined to remain unsolved. The plan
| for a corridor TO the sea for Bolivia
leaving the land to the north to Peru
and that to the south TO Chile, failed
| largely because Chile would not allow
! the Moro to be within the Bolivian
zone, and Peru would not leave 1t to
either Chile or Bolivia. And so on
down the line that single rock. so TO
speak, has wrecked all the diplomacy
and all the generosity of our good
efforts. The problem of Tacna africa
is quiet" asleep on the Moro Of
AFRICA as it has been for nearly half
a century. A new thought, a new
mind may solve it, but those deepest
in it and wisest in its ways look up