Evening star., 1933-04-23
LATIN AMERICA SHARES
ROOSEVEETS ssNEW DEAL"
Presidents Address Marks Departure
From Old u. S. Attitude Feared
by Sister Republics.

the antithesis Of the policy Of the big
stick" of fateful memory for Latin
America.
In his pan-American address, Pres
ident Roosevelt emphasized that justice
and equality are the foundations Of ~
policy Of the good neighbo.f' which ne
intends to uphold TT involves" he
said, mutual obligations and response
bilities, for it Is only by sympathetic
respect for the rights Of others and .
'scrupulous fulfillment of the corre-
spending obligations by each member
of the community that q true fraternity
can be maiptained."
Bolivar's Words Recalled.
Latin Americans will be delighted to
learn that these words were uttered on
Pan-American day by the Chief Execu-
tive OF the United States. More than q
century ago, Simon Bolivar, the George
Washington of South America and the
real pioneer of pan-Americanism, ex-
pressed his views of continental union
in similar language.
About the pan American movement
| itself. President Franklin D. Roose-
welt added:
THE essential qualities of q true
pan -Americanism must be the same as
those which constitute good neighbor.
namely, mutual understanding, and
through such understanding, a sympa-
thetic appreciation of the others point
Of view. 1t is only in this manner
that we can hope to build up system
Of which confidence, friendship and
| good will are the corner stones"
Not since Elihu Root, in his famous
Rio de Janeiro address, set forth the
fundamental principles of pan-Ameri-
canism- forgotten since-has a
public leader of the United States In
terpreted SO perfectly the aspirations
Of the other Americas and promised
them fairer deal.
Yet, the announcement Of the policy
of the good neighboor" sufficient in
itself to mark the beginning of new
chapter in pan-American relations
is not all that the Presidents declafa-
tion on Pan-American day contained.
Two other statements in that bound
to-be- historical declaration, had a SIM
ilarly unusual significance.
One of them refers to the Monroe
doctrine, pan-American problem mo.
l." around which, justifably or not,
the whole scheme of inter-American
relations seems to move The other
one has to do with the elimination Of
trade barriers, the only way in which
pan-American material cooperation
can be achieved, and. also, the logical
corollary of the good neighbor policy"
applied to the realm of matters eco.
nomic and commercial.
Each Held MomentouS.
Each one Of these that I consider
mementouS statements will be dealt
with, separately, In subsequent articles.
Space requirements permit only brief
mention of them at this time.
AS for the Monroe doctrine, Presi-
dent Roosevelt had this to say:
In this spirit the people of every Ne
public on our continent are coming to
deep understanding of the fact that the
Monroe doctrine, of which so much has
been written and spoken for more
than a century, vas and is directed at
peoples of the coudnent. 1t was aimed
and is aimed against the acquisition in
any manner of the control of additional
territory in this hemisphere by any
nom american power. Hand in hand
with this pan-American doctrine Of
continental self-defense, the peoples of
the American Republic understand more
clearly. with the passing Of years. that
the independence Of each republic must
other republic. Each one Of us must
grow by an advancement Of civilization
and social well-being and not by the ac-
FQuisition Of territory at. the expense Of
any neighbor.'
Any one who is familiar at all with
the transformations and distortions
which the famous doctrine has suffered
at the hands of President Roosevelts
predecessors and any one who Is IA
miliar with the misunderstanding Of the
Monroe doctrine prevalent both here
and in Latin America, cannot fail to
grasp the significance of this presi-
dental pronouncement It goes farther
than any other Chief Executive of the
United States has gone before on the
subject. 1t goes back not only to what
| President Monroe said ITO years ago,
but even farther than that.
On the question Of economic inter-
course the Presidents message declared:
1t Is OF vital importance to every ma
tion of this continent that the Ameri-
can governments, individually, take,
without further delay, such action as
may be possible to abolish all unneces-
sary and artificial barriers and restric-
tions which now hamper the healthy
flow Of trade between the peoples of the
American republics"
This statement promises an economic
departure in the attitude of Uncle Sam
toward the Latin republics almost as
complete as the political departure rep
resented by the new Interpretation Of
the Monroe doctrine. Both these an
nouncements and the pledge of the
good neighbor" policy are harbingers
OF a new deal" in pan-American rela-
tions.
| Copyright. 1933)