Evening star., 1934-02-11
BY GASTON NERvAL-

achievements OF the Pan
American Conference recently
L held at Montevideo, the more
one realizes that they were
exclusively of an academic nature.
But aside from the fact that this Is
a characteristic common to most in
ternational conferences, 1t Is neces-
sary. in the case OF Pan-Amer1can
gatherings, to differentiate between
two categories of academic results.
There are academic results, like the
Recommendations" in favor Of peace
treaties and in support Of lower GUS
toms tariffs, which are only the repe-
tition of platitudinous declarations
of policies which have become almost
a habit with pan-American confer
ences. These declarations are mvar1-
ably reiterated at each pam American
assembly, but, also invariably. they
are Immediately filed in the archives
of the respective foreign offices. and
forgotten. The peace treaties remain
just as ineffective as ever and the
tariff walls just as high as they were
before the conference started.
Another Result.
Different from these achievements"
which are neither new nor any
longer capable of deceiving skeptlcal
public opinion-there is another kind
of academic results, which, although
equally as theoretical, represent, new
ertheless, an innovation in theory. a
step forward, concrete gain IN the
field in which they are advanced.
This, again, may be merely an aca-
demic gain, a gain in principle only,
to be tested yet in practice, but, even
so, 1t is at least something new,
something on which an agreement
had not been possible in the past, and
something much more definite and
tangible than the beautifully phrased
but empty announcements for peace
and international cooperation.
At Montevideo there were, once
more, the two kinds of academic
achievements In the first category
may be listed: The recommendation
expressing the desirability" that all
nations which have not yet signed
the defective peace instruments IN
existence affx their signatures "as
quickly as possible; the resolution
urging greater commercial interchange
through elimination of high customs
tariffs "as soon as conditions permit
to do So: the resolutions indorsing
the almost traditional projects for i'm
provements in inter-American means
of communication. for greater intel
lectual cooperation. for uniformity
in customs and port formalities, and
for a number of other equally desir-
able things which have been desired
since the first pan-American meeting,
more than 40 years ago.
Second Category.
In the second category. Montevideo
has two outstanding achievements to
offer. and for these. alone, as we'll as
for the atmosphere Of good will
secured by the sincerity and tactful
diplomacy Of the American delegation
will the seventh pan-American con-
ference be remembered in years to
come. They ere the draft convention
on the rights and duties of states and
the draft convention on equal nation
ality rights for women. OF course. up
to this moment. both are only achieve
ments in writing. Its real merits will
not be ascertained until they have
been ratified and supported by the
test of application and practice. But
from the poirt of view of theory and
principle. they both constitute a de-
flnitive progress in the all-important
goal of codifcation of international
la VI in +ha A,,C
the significance of an agreement in
principle should not be underestimate
in the realm Of international law
Perhaps this is the realm in which II
should least be underestimated.
When the representatives Of 20
American republics agree on the JUS
tice and the convenience of extend
ing equal nationality rights to women
or when they pass upon a convention
regula ting the fundamental rights
and duties of States as members of an
international community. they are do
ing something far more important and
far more practical than when they
repeat in different words the same old
hymns to peace and the same Ole
wishes for economic cooperation
which they disregarded in the past
And which they know they will be
unable to carry out in the future. as
long as they lack the courage to pro-
vide the machinery to enforce them
Sanction Equality of States.
1t is the convention on the rights
and duties of states which is particu-
larly interesting to the student of in
ternational law, for it represents a SUBJ