Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-07
Our Latin American Policy,

has come under bitter fire. The Hoover
administration has been variously &C
cused of indecision and inepitude, and
on at least two occasions of fatally
backing the wrong horse. Addressing
the Council of Foreign Relations at
New York last night, and later the radio
audience of the country, Secretary Slim
son warmly defended the State Depar.
ment against the excited" criticism to
which it's decisions" have been sub
! jected. 1t must be said that Col Slim
! son, IN consequence Of the dispassionate
array Of precedents, traditions and obi
1 cations which he submits builds up a
st-cng case against the charge that we
have been guilty of bungling and wab-
/ bling in Latin America.
There is no more prescient passage
in the address of the Secretary of State
than the reminder Of the snail's pace
at which the ideals of true Democratic
government are advancing among the
republics to the South. THE hundred
years which have ensued since the an
nouncement of our policy towards these
nations have contained recurring evi-
dence," he says, "of how slow is the
progress of mankind along that difficult
I highway which leads to national ma
turity and how difficult is the art of
popular self-government."
The COLOSSUS of the North" reso-
lutely pursuing its policy of safeguarding
the sovereign rights and independence
of all the twenty-one Americas rejects
once again, through this highly official
pronouncement, the recurring inputa-
ton of North American imperialism"
Secretary Stimson bluntly suggests that
our conduct toward Latin America COM
pares more than favorably with cur
! rent international morality in other
hemispheres." Then he dares to give a
new and arresting definition of Mon
roe!sn. Defining our policy, in its gen.
eral conception, as "a noble one," Col.
Stirnson describes the Monroe Doctrine
as "a declaration Of the United States
versus Europe-not of the United States
versus Latin America"
Getting down to recent events, the
Secretary Of State deals with recogni-
ton and traffic in arms. The Wilson
administration, he recalls, broke with
the historic policy laid down by Presi-
dent Jefferson, whereby for nearly a
century the United States consistently
! accorded recognition to de facto gov
ernments, whether they came into
power through revolution or otherwise.
President wilson, finding himself with
Huerta's Mexico on his hands in 1918,
broke with the Jeffersonian policy and
decreed that the United States would
recognize no government that did not
hold Office by virtue Of legitimate con-
stitutional methods.
The present administration has re-
fused to pursue the Wilsonian program
and has reverted to JefferSonianism,
with the result that when de facto gov
ernments came into being in 1880
in Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and
Brazil the United States lost no time
in recognizing them. In the early
hours Of 1881 Washington similarly ac-
corded recognition to a de facto Pana-
man government. Different condi-
tons govern our attitude toward Cen
trail America. The United States con-
CURED in the treaty Of 1928 under
which Guatemala, Nicaragua, Salvador
Costa Rica and Honduras covenant not
to recognize a government unconstitu-
! tionally set up in any Of those coun-
tries. When a revolutionary President
recently seized ofice in Guatemala
neither the United States nor any OF
/ the other Central American states rec
ognized him. Not until a properly
I elected President was installed was he
able to command recognition.
AS to traffic in arms, Secretary Slim
son discusses the strange incidents
which accompanied the change in gov
ernmentS at Rio de Janeiro. Under
the 1928 Havana Pan-American con-
vention traffic in war materials is spe-
cifically forbidden except when in
tended for the government, while the
belligerency Of the rebels has not been
recognized" Acting under that pro-
vision, the United States allowed arms
TO be shipped TO the Brazilian govern
nent, but placed an embargo on their
export to the rebel forces. Forty-eight
hours later the revolut!onists were In
control. Secretary Stimson may have
backed the wrong horse" but he was
backing the Individually right horse
when he comported himself in strict
accordance with solemn treaty obi
cation OF the United States Government.
President Hoover has laid it down as
a fundamental feature of his policy
that our diplomatic posts in Latin
America shall be given to specialists
whose equipment includes the Spanish
language, and, in the case of Brazil
Portuguese. The Secretary OF State
paints too vivid picture of the mag
nitude Of our Latin American interests
to justify intrusting them to deserving
politicians, dilettantes or amateurs, II
there is need anywhere in the world for
a trained, conscientious and efficient
American foreign service personnel
those places are on either side of the
Isthnus of Panama With our posts
in South and Central America effective
ly filled, the State Department in fu-
ture will invite less criticism, excited
or otherwise.
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