Evening star., 1937-01-03
BY GASTON NERVAL.

N CONTRAST 10 the OlQ FAX 10
mana, imposed by sheer force from
above, the Americas are endeav.
L oring to give the world moderr
version Of 1t, expressed in treaties
conventions and diplomatic instru.
ments embodying the peoples will fol
peace.
Such is the real significance of the
Pan-American Conference just ended
at Buenos Aires. All other consid-
erations as to the extent of the task
still ahead before the American
dream has been made possible, and as
to the difficulties in the actual en-
forcement of some of the means de-
vised to prevent war, must be second
ary.
1t is true that much remains to be
done. To be realistic in extreme. al
most everything remains to be done
but what little has already been ac-
comphshed represents an improve
ment, tremendous improvement If
one is to judge by the record Of previ-
Gus attempts. At the Buenos Aires
conference. at long last, a real begin
ming has been made, and that is all
that was expected of it. The fault was
in imagining. childishly, that all the
ills and problems of pan-Americanism
were to be solved at Buenos Aires.
Purposes of Conference.
The real effort was to make that
beginning. to take that first step
ahead, for previously many obstacles
had to be removed from the way. To
eliminate the suspicious and resent
ment accumulated during a whole
century Of mistaken policies was no
easy job, but it was an essential re-
quirement before the main task of
inter American rapprochement could
be undertaken with any expectation of
success. If the Buenos Aires confer
ence had done nothing else but allay,
definitely. the fears and regained the
confidence Of the Latin Americans, 1t
would have already justified itself in
the eyes of history. But it did more
than that.
Before. however, listing the achieve
ments Of the Buenos Aires parley 1t
becomes necessary to correct a mis-
Interpretation which has been allowed
to spread, and on the basis of which
some have unjustly called the con-
ference a failure. Their story is that
the Buenos Aires conference had been
called, primarily. for the purpose of
getting all the American nations
agreed on a common policy of strict
neutrality toward all international
wars, which would have cut the sup
ply of South American raw materials
to any and all European powers at
war. The United States delegation,
according to that version, had pro-
posed to the conference that the 20
Latin American governments bind
themselves to decree a drastic en-
barge upon all the elements Of war
to any major power which became
involved in belligerent activities on
the other side of the Atlantic. The
American continents, "the principal
source of raw materials for the have
nots," would have thus presented a
common front in the event of another
World War. Not having obtained this,
the critics concluded. the Buenos
Aires parley was a failure.
Premise Held Erroneous.
To students of inter-American az
fairs the erroneous premise on which
that judgment is based will be only
too obvious, but the general public
might be misled into accepting the
alleged failure of the conference II
that unfortunate impression Is not
corrected.
The idea that Latin America should
get in line behind general embargo
to all nations at war existed only In
the minds of certain imaginative
writer's, never in the agenda OF the
Buenos Aires Conference. 1t certain
ly was not in the minds Of the dele
gates of the United States, as We had
an opportunity to confirm when, at
its first mention in the press, We ap-
preached them and inquired their
views on the matter. The neutrality
project prepared by the United States
was exclusively confined to wars be-
tween American nations.
Suggestion Of the U. S.
In the emergence Of q state Of war
between two or more of the American
republics, the United States suggested
that an embargo on arms and ammu-
nition be decreed by the other Ameri-
can countries, thus insuring neutral
ity and bringing nearer an early ter
nination of the hostilities. Beyond
this the project did not 60. And it
could not have gone for the simple
reason that the Washington states
men knew the insurmountable diff
culties which would have arisen If
the attempt had been made TO ex-
tend the embargo agreement to all.
and especially to European wars.
The State Department did not
Overlook the strong economic and
racial ties which exist between the
Old World and the South American
continent" as one of the critics as
serted, and, because it did not over
look them, 1t never intended that the
Bueros Aires parley should prevent
European nations from having access