Evening star., 1935-10-13
LETICIA PEACE SUCCESS
ISHAILED AS PRECEDENT
League Seen ''Civen Teeth by Use of
Armed Force to Carry Out
Terms of Agreement.

On the contrary, every lnolcatlon IN
the new foreign policy of the United
States pointed to the shelving Of the
old conception of the Monroe Doc
trine in the emergency Of an Amer
ican conflict which demanded League
action. For the previous four years
the State Department had been get
ting further and further away from
the transformed and distorted Mon
roe Doctrine which had presided over
inter-American relations and given
rise to the charges of Yankee i'm
perialism and hegemony in Latin
America. Former Secretary Of State
Stimson had already restated the
purpose of the Monroe Doctrine in
its original cause, depriying it of some
of the corollaries and misinterpreta-
tions of Monroe's successors. And,
only a few weeks before, President
Roosevelt and Secretary Hull had in
sisted on this change in the views Of
the United States.
Monroe Doctrine Changed.
But, even if expected, the waving
of the Monroe Doctrine in the Leticia
case involved the carrying out, In
practice, of promises and changes Of
policy until then only made in diplo-
matte documents or after-d1nner
speeches of good will. It was the first
confirmation of the abandonment Of
one of the mistaken conceptions Of
the Monroe Doctrine which had
caused more misunderstanding and
suspicion In past decades.
And because it was a confirmation
in fact, not only in words, it served to
illustrate the changed position OF the
United States in the eyes Of public
opinion. For, even If those familiar
with the history of the doctrine-its
origins. its neutrality-suspicious. and dis
tortions-and those closely following
the march of international events
knew the changed position of the
United States in reference to the
Monroe Doctrine, the conception Of
the doctrine prevailing in the public
mind had undergone little change.
Public opinion, on both sides OF the
Atlantic, was still under the impress
sion that the ascendency which the
United States attributed to itself in
the Western Hemisphere, by way OF
the Monroe Doctrine, prevented the
interference Of any agency not ex-
clusively American In the political
affairs of the New World.
Naturally, only the unparalleled dis
tortion which the doctrine had suf-
fered in the course Of its existence
had made such q theory possible. So
many corollaries had been added, 50
many and such capricious interpreta-
tions Of it had been adopted, 50 many
abuses committed In its name, and
such an exaggerated stretching Of the
original principles of the doctrine had
been practiced, both by Anglo-Saxon
and Latin Americans, that the Mon
roe Doctrine had come to be thought
Of as giving the United States the
final saying on any questions affect
ing the relations of Latin America
with the rest Of the world.
It was because this misconception
Of the doctrine prevailed in the pub
lie mind that observers, not only here
but In Latin America as well, were
skeptical as to the efficiency of the
Leagues intervention in q purely
American dispute, and awaited eagerly
to learn the ultimate results Of the
agreement concluded between Colom-
bis and Peru under League auspices.
The successful carrying out Of that
agreement, the outcome Of which was
the Rio de Janeiro protocol return
ing Leticia to Colombia, and now the
final ratification Of the same, should
help to remove the doubts Of skeptics.
both as to the possibilities Of inter-
national police forces, when there Is
the will to make them effective, and
as to the limitations placed upon the
Monroe Doctrine.
(Copyrisht. 1851