Evening star., 1936-09-23
nv RRENT now ALLINsON.

apenda of the Buenos Aires Peace
Congress has been suggested by Presi-
dent Arturo Alessandri Of Chile in his
formal acceptance Of President Roose-
.velt's invitation to the congress.
At the same time he emphasized the
need Of measures to prevent, rather
than legal devices to settle. comph-
Gated quarrels, that may arise between
American states. After listing i've ma
,jor treaties and conventions providing
for general arbitration and concilla-
ton, concluded in previous pam
lean conferences and referring to the
kellogg and Argentine anti-war pacts'
President Alessandn wrote:
"The number of bilateral inter-
American peace pacts already IN erect,
or signed, is considerable. Their rati-
fication represents most important
STEP since your Excellency Is not un-
aware how slow and accidental Is the
process to which international agree
ments are subject, under our constitu-
tional systems. . All the American
states which have not as yet done 50
should agree to seek the earliest
means of ratifying the already-exlsting
.pacts. or to formulate Cat Buenos
Aires) the amendments which they
conceive essential Pending ratiflca-
ton of the new agreement, the existing
system would remain in force, thus &C
ccording with the general plan for the
eodiflcation OF international law agreed
upon at the Montevideo conference. In
1888. And. by opening inter-
American agreements to the adherence
Of nom American countries, we may
accelerate the world-unification OF in
ternational law, and preserve an essen
tial connection between the construc-
tive efforts of certain groups Of ma
tions, or regions, and the aggregate OF
all the states of the world
Argentine Pact Cited.
e Referring to the pact of 1902 be-
tween Chile and Argentina, which
prompted the erection on their lofty
Andean border Of the famous statue.
"The Christ OF the Andes the Presi-
dent Of Chile concluded his letter to
President Roosevelt, as follows:
Having suggested with moral dis
tinction to the American countries q
new and exceptional opportunity to
promote the work of peace, the es-
sential basis of all pan-Americanism,
as President of Chile. charged with
the conduct of its foreign relations, I
invite your Excellency to give thought
to the advantage of including in the
program of the proposed conference
the study of practicable methods for
the limitation of armaments."
This is the nearest any one in au-
thority has yet come to proposing that
the regulation or suppression OF
the international traffic in arms and
munitions Of war should find a con-
spicuous place on the program at
Buenos Aires. It's omission is inde-
fensible in view of scandals daily oc-
curing throughout the world, and
OF the recent munitions investigations
here and abroad.
No American government, except
Argentina and Mexico, has exhibited
so much official interest, or made as
detailed intellectual contribution to
the work Of the coming conference
as has President Alessandri and the
government of Chile. This is the
more significant because Chile has
been loyal member of the League of
Nations for is years, although there
has recently been popular agitation
against it, in Chile, since the break
down of the Leagues partial eco
nomic sanctions against Italy. and be-
cause Chile's most valuable exports
copper, silver, nitrates and other min
erals-fall in the category Of contra
band of war and undoubtedly would
be seized by any belligerents in COM
mand Of the sea- A pan-American
neutrality policy would be unlikely.
moreover. to defend rights Of neutral
trade with belligerents in this cate
CORY Of commodities, however strong
may be its insistence that foodstuffs,
in quantities necessary for civilian
needs, shall not be seized or their
transportation blockaded by belliger-
ents Of the future.
In addressing the Chilean Congress
at its convocation last May Il, Presi-
dent Alessandri declared that Chile
would seek fundamental revisions Of
the League Covenant, as the condition
Of its continued membership therein,
and stated:
I'm spite of their opposition to CO.
ercive measures in international re-
lations, the American nations which
are members Of the League have found
themselves recently required to apply
sanctions toward friendly nations,
contrary to their juridicsl traditions
and permanent interests. Chile does
not desire to continue to be exposed
to such contingencies, which funda-
mentally disturb her political and
economic life. Conscious. however, OF
the solidarity which the states must
maintain before the great questions
of our time, the government inter-
prets the popular clamor against the
League of Nations, not in the sense
that it repudiates the ideal repre-
oShOSA Ny Wiz 1S66dSy WV 90 ACAOA4 A11S
the reformation Of the means adopted
to attain it. In order not to weaken
the efficacy or retard the universally
Of the League. the American members
should consider our suggestions for its
revision, at the approaching session.
as constituting a regional undertak-
ing for the preservation Of peace, re-
ferred to specifically in Article II Of
the Covenant"
Embargoes Not Excluded.
1t is noteworthy that Chile's sugges-
tions for reform do not exclude effec-
tive embargoes against the war-trade
and war-loans Of neutral citizens to all
belligerents. But they do intend that
any future measures taken against
= single declared "aggressor" should
not pass beyond withdrawal Of diplo-
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