Evening star., 1938-08-07
nE|GHB0R POLICY
SEVERELY TESTED
State Department in Very
!, Delicate Position on
| Mexican Seizures.
BY CARLOS ]. vIDELA.

BY CARLOS J. VIDELA.
NEW YORK. Aug. 6 (N.A.N.A).-
With the eyes of all Latin America
gazing intently upon Washington. the
good neighbor" policy instituted by
President Roosevelt is undergoing a
severe test. Mexico's appropriation Of
American-owned lands. without COM
pensation, as provided by international
law. has stretched the good neighbor"
policy almost to the breaking point.
and the Mexican governments refusal
to arbitrate the matter has placed the
American State Department in a very
delicate position.
The dilemma is this: Either the
United States leaves American prop
erty abroad to its own devices, thus
putting in jeopardy billions of dollars
invested by United States citizens in
other lands, or the Washington Gov
ernment insists firmly on compliance
with the recognized principles of in
ternational law, which clearly say,
mo appropriation without compensa-
tion.'
Wave Of NationaliSm.
The danger involved in the first al
tentative is clear. There is a wave OF
nationalistic movements throughout
Latin America, aimed primarily
against foreign holdings. Most of
those countries have given conces-
sions to American and other interests
for the purpose of developing natural
resources and establishing new indus
tries. In not few cases it has come
to light that such concessions have
been obtained under extremely favor
able terms, after substantial amount
of palm -greasing had been resorted to.
For this and other sins. fancied or real
the leaders of the Latin American ma
tionalistic movements preach expro-
priation. If Mexico can do it without
having to pay anything. the example
may very well have a good many fol-
lowers.
But the danger does not end there
Many European nationals also have
invested great sums in building rail-
roads. ports, public utility enterprises
and radio and cable networks, as we'll
as manufacturing plants. in the
countries south of the Rio Grande
The Monroe Doctrine. which in fact
makes the United States a guardian of
the American republics, has pre-
cluded the forcible Intervention of
European governments on this side
Of the Atlantic. BY the same token,
the doctrine has. to some extent. made
the United States responsible for the
conduct of the Latin Americans
toward European interests. This was
illustrated a short time ago, when
Britain exerted pressure upon WASH
ington to have the Mexican govern
ment give back the British oil prop
critics it had appropriated.
Europeans May Act.
II the United States makes it clear
that it won't take energetic steps to
protect its nationals properties
abroad. It is quite possible that the
Europeans will see to it that their
property is respected and that. If 1t
is appropriated, payment is made ac-
cording to international law. That
in turn would place our country in a
difficult situation in relation to both
the Europeans and the Latin Amer
leans.
In the case of Mexico, the prob
lem takes on a serious aspect in view
of the sharpness of the note answering
the American proposal to bring the
land appropriation matter to arbitra-
ton, and of the fact that. on the
following day. as if in confirmation
of the note, the Mexican government
made further appropriation of 1900
acres of American-owned pasture land.
The arguments advanced in the
Mexican press favoring its govern
ment's policy are typical of the atti-
tude of its officialdom toward the
foreign property problem. One writer
says in Ell Universal. an authoritative
paper published in Mexico City, that,
If the Mexican government had de-
creed, instead of appropriation, the
outright abolition of private property,
which. Of course, would not entail
any compensation to owners, no out
side nation would have any right to
protest. inasmuch as such step
would be IAN act of purely domestic
policy" The general tone of Mexican
comment is that the good of the
Mexican masses should come before
the good of foreigners. It is not ex-
planned how the appropriation of
foreign-owned lands would help the
masses, in view of the situation created
by the Mexican government campaign
for collectivization of agriculture.
Ejido in Disfavor.
That Mexican agriculture has suf-
fered from the introduction of the
"ejido," or communal farm, which the
government wants to replace private
holdings, has been said time and
again in Mexico itself. The Governor
Of the State of Michoacan, Gen. Gill
dardo Magma, for instance, came out
openly last month for help to small
landowners instead of the "ejidos."
which have been called a failure in
the cotton growing Laguna region and
in the hemp zone of Yucatan.
Maganas S words Immediately found
an echo in the Senate. where a vote
Of confidence for Magma was pro-
posed But the vote on the proposal
was blocked through political maneu-
vering.
The incident again emphasizes the
split that is taking place in Mexican
politics, which will crystalize shortly
in either q reversal Of some policies,
including appropriation, or in a fur
ther plunge into extremism. As
things look now, many observers see
Indications of a more moderate course.
But meanwhile great question mark
cvershadows the future relations of
our country with the nations Of Latin
America.
iCopy-isht. 1898, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, 1nc.D
AUTHOR IS DISGUSTED
Anen 4-Np - Ar -@RRN